THIS friendly fixture was an opportunity for several under-16s to show Barry’s Youth coaches what they could offer when they move up next season.
Instructed to “keep it simple and work hard” the players followed that advice and went at their opponents from the first whistle, scoring 10 tries, five in each half.
The team, led for the first time by centre Lloyd Beer, quickly found themselves five metres out under the posts, and when a snipe from No 9 Morgan Beasley was adjudged short, back rower and vice-captain Max O’Sullivan forced his way over.
Five minutes later, Beasley broke clear of the fringe defence at a ruck to stroll over from 15m out. Brynmawr responded, and after using the wind and slope to their advantage, squeezed in at the corner for their only score. Barry kept the ball, and their patience paid off with Beasley going over again for his second score.
A fourth converted try from under-16 second row Zach Gregg, after breaking clear from some weak defending, was followed by a fifth before half-time for No 10 Marley Paines-Lang. His try and four conversions gave him a personal haul of 13 points, with Barry leading 33-5 at the break.
With the wind and slope to their advantage in the second half, and with the ref highlighting he would be enforcing the ‘mercy’ 50-point difference rule, Barry brought on their entire bench to ensure everyone had game time and also opted to stop taking conversions.
The changes failed to halt the momentum, perhaps giving Barry an extra spring in their step with several players keen to show what they could do. Unfortunately Brynmawr, who had desperately tried to stay in the game, appeared to lose a bit of fight when replacement wing Charlie Bullen went over for the sixth score.
Four more tries followed, in a one-sided second half, two more from Bullen and one each for centre Dom Dukes and back row Dylan Little before the game was ended early by the referee.
The coaches acknowledged the opposition were not the toughest but were pleased with the first-time leadership of Beer and highlighted under-16s players Ryan Seldon, Dukes and Bullen for particular praise.
Head coach Peter O’Sullivan said he was “keen to try to add at least one more under-17 fixture to run alongside the full Youth team fixtures before the end of the season to give the squad a head start for the 2026-27 season.”
Peter O’Sullivan
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