SPORT – Barry and Dinas Powys slug it out in the wind and rain:
Admiral National League Division One East Central
Barry RFC 7 – Dinas Powys 5:
Barry RFC duly completed a derby double and, more importantly, ended their run of four narrow defeats with a close, but vital, victory over near neighbours Dinas Powys.
The visitors, beaten heavily in their previous three games, came to the Reservoir Field looking for revenge for their opening day 8-7 defeat, and certainly made Barry work hard for the victory.
The match was dominated by the conditions. A fierce wind, a pitch which inevitably cut up after all the recent rain, and a large number of hold-ups for injuries made for a stop-start game, not one that will live long in the memory.
“The message before the game was simple,” said head coach Liam Scott. “Get a W. After four losses, it’s a massive relief. I certainly didn’t expect it to be that scrappy as a game. But we’ll take the W and bounce into next week.
“We needed some winning momentum. But if I’m honest, we’ve played a lot better in some of the games we have lost before today. There is one real positive, and that’s the four points.”
The scrappy second half featured uncontested scrums, after Barry suffered a host of injuries to the forwards. Prop Findlay Edwards, who left the action early in the game after taking a blow to the head, is ruled out for two weeks.
Ellis Cockram, Jamie Oaten and Josh Trewartha, also had to come off, although all three are expected to be available for the visit to Porth Harlequins on Saturday.
In a physical, and often niggly, local derby, flowing moves were few and far between, and with the conditions inevitably making handling a challenge, both sides were often able to force turnovers.
Kyle Barros was narrowly off-target with a couple of long-range penalties in the first half, when Barry had the wind behind them, and Dinas Powys went ahead after 37 minutes, their scrum driving over in the corner for Alfy Johnston to claim the try.
Barry took the lead with the last move of the half following a yellow card for Dinas Powys. From the penalty, Barry swung the ball out right, and then back across the pitch for Barros to score in the corner. He duly added the conversion.
Ken Watkins
Photos by: Judith Dutton
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