Big away win for Barry after nail-biting finish

THERE was a tense finish to this tightly-contested match, as Barry secured a deserved victory, their second on the bounce. The victory was almost snatched away as Llanishen plundered a fourth try in the dying minutes, only for the conversion to drift wide.

Llanishen 22, Barry RFC 24

Barry then kept the Lions at bay without too much difficulty as the clock ticked down. “If the score had been the other way round, I would have been gutted,” was the post-match comment from coach Matt Silva.

Anything less than victory would have been harsh on the Bombers who were marginally the better side for most of the match, particularly in the scrum, which constantly drove Llanishen back and, following a penalty, surged over the line for what proved to be the winning try, 10 minutes from time, scored by Evan Prosser, Morgan Prosser converting.

The lineout once again was something of a challenging area for Barry, as Silva acknowledged. “If your lineout is hitting 30-40 percent, you’ve got to make it up somewhere else. There was lots of energy in defence, we filled the field well, but line speed could have been better. We let them come at us a little bit and they’re a dangerous team.

“But we’ve come to Llanishen away, a real quality outfit, and we’ve kept them to 22 points. We managed to contain them enough to win,” he said. “If it was a bit boring in the first half, I apologise to nobody.”

From the sidelines it was far from boring, with both teams prepared to play entertaining, fast open rugby, and the result in doubt until the death. It was certainly something of an emotional roller coaster for supporters of both teams.

Barry started well, Will Lewis putting them in front as he rounded off an excellent handling move in the 11th minute, Morgan Prosser converting. Cam Williams got the second following a scrum and pressure on the line after 37 minutes, Prosser again converting before landing a penalty from the halfway line for an interval lead of 17-5.

Llanishen hit back in the second half to level the scores before Barry’s scrum restored the narrow lead, setting the match up for a nervy finish.

*Barry host two cup games at the Reservoir Field on Saturday. In the Division One Cup second round the First team take on Div One North leaders Pwllheli, while the Youth team start their defence of the WRU National Youth Plate by hosting Rhiwbina in the first round.

Ken Watkins

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