First half slump leaves Barry with a hill to climb

A STRONG second half fightback was not enough to save Barry from another crucial defeat, this one against fellow strugglers Abercwmboi. The damage was done in a poor first half which saw the Bombers concede three tries to trail 17-0 at the interval.

While Barry hit back with three tries after the break, Abercwmboi scored a fourth to secure a bonus point victory. They are now four points clear of the Bombers, who are doing themselves no favours in the battle to avoid relegation and are just above the drop zone with games running out.

“That first half really hurt us,” said head coach Mike Morgan. “It was an absolute must-win for us to put ourselves in a healthy position and provide a springboard to take us into the next game. Our first half performance wasn’t good enough, a complete departure from the game plan, and as a result we were 17-0 down at half-time.

“The second half, it was borderline heroic to come back. If our second half performance had been there from the off… But we’ve proved a point. If we don’t stick to the game plan, we lose. The opportunity to stay up is all in our hands. If we find our stride and put our game plan together, then we will win.”

The first half saw Barry concede too many penalties, kicking from hand giving the ball back to the opposition, and the familiar problem of missed tackles handing the initiative to the visitors, who made the most of it.

Barry hit back in the first minute of the second half, Alyn Evans rounding off a quick handling move with a close-range score, Owen Rees converting. Eight minutes later Evans got his second, a catch and drive following a penalty lineout as Barry dominated the set piece.

But Abercwmboi turned a brief spell of pressure into a fourth try on the hour, and although Barry reduced the arrears again six minutes from time, winning lineout possession and a swift handling move sending Josh Edwards in, Rees converting, that was as good as it got.

 While the scoreline was a vast improvement on the 44-3 defeat at Abercwmboi back in October, this was another game that got away, and Barry now have just six matches remaining to turn the season around, starting with another must-win fixture at Cambrian Welfare on Saturday.

“We know that a number of wins have gone begging, not because of the opposition, not because of the referee, but because we collectively didn’t get it right,” said Morgan. “We’ve got to focus on our game and not worry about other teams. We need five or six good performances and to put our game plan into gear for the 80 minutes.

Ken Watkins

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