Barry RFC 7 St Joseph’s 45
IT IS proving a tough end of season for Barry, their penultimate match at the Reservoir Field ending in another heavy defeat. And the final league fixture on Saturday, with already promoted Aberdare the visitors, appears unlikely to be any easier.
Injuries and unavailability have dogged the season, and this match proved no different, with Barry having just three replacements. Another mix and match side found it hard going against a more fluid St Joseph’s, although the scoreline was harsh on the Bombers.
“We had more youngsters in, and players who’ve not been playing regularly this season,” said head coach Mike Morgan. “But we are trying to build a squad, which you have to do at this level. What these players are getting is time in the game. You can practice in training, but you learn when you play.”
With Barry’s place in Division One secure, Morgan had the opportunity to use the last three fixtures to further develop the squad. “Full credit to these players, they want to learn, and get better and better. It’s always tough when the scoreline is what it is, but we have to go through the hard times to get to the good times.”
And Saturday was another predictably tough day, although Barry weren’t really helped by some questionable official decisions. One of St Joes’ tries included an obvious forward pass in the move, and a couple of high tackles, with the Bombers in the visitors’ red zone, went unpunished.
But officials generally favour the team on the front foot, and St Joes took full advantage of that, and some defensive errors, to run in seven tries, four in the first half leaving Barry 26-7 adrift at the interval.
Four minutes after St Joe’s went in front, Barry levelled the score with a superb individual try by Cai Beasley, picking the ball up after a loose pass, changing direction, and racing through a gap to touch down in the 14th minute. Will Humphries converted.
It wasn’t all one-way traffic, with Barry applying pressure at various times, but St Joe’s, despite being a man down for 50 minutes following a red card, proved more incisive where it mattered.
Ken Watkins
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