Sport – Barry on the ropes as Llanharan cut loose
Admiral National League Division One East Central - Barry RFC 10, Llanharan 40
BARRY conceded six tries and remains firmly anchored in the bottom three following this defeat.
Chairman Mike Prosser pulled no punches post game, saying: “This was a hard, disappointing, frustrating day at the office. We can train, set the structure, put all the tools in place, but ultimately today there was no fizz in the bottle. We lacked intensity in defence, we lacked intensity in attack. The tyres went flat today.”
Llanharan were rarely severely tested, and Barry too often put pressure on themselves when clearance kicks went straight to an unchallenged opponent, allowing the speedy visitors to launch yet another, too frequently profitable, attack.
Barry didn’t have possession of the ball often enough, or long enough to really trouble their visitors. Llanharan kept possession for lengthy spells, and when Barry did get the ball, potentially promising attacks were all too often brought to an end by errors.
“At this level we can’t afford mistakes when margins are potentially slim,” said Prosser. “We should have been looking at keeping play in their half. If you are going to drop balls, do it in their half of the field.”
There were brief glimmers of hope, Barry hitting back with a 24th minute penalty from Jack Davies in response to Llanharan’s first try, and then again four minutes into the second half when the Bombers were awarded a penalty try to cut the gap to nine points. Both proved false dawns.
“It’s a valuable lesson,” said Prosser. “It’s something we will talk about, go away and look at, and be honest with ourselves. You’ve got to bear in mind the age of the side. It’s a young side, and we’ve got to be patient.”
It’s small consolation that bottom of the table Porth, like Barry, failed to pick up any points on Saturday. Fellow strugglers Rhiwbina, unable to raise a team, called off their home fixture against Abercynon.
Barry, in eighth place, are six points ahead of Rhiwbina, who have a game in hand, and nine points adrift of Llanishen. The Bombers face tough trips to Abercynon (30th November) and Penarth (14th December) before the Christmas break.
Ken Watkins
Photo by Judith Dutton.
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