Sport – It all comes together for young Barry RFC

BARRY RFC dashed Penarth’s hopes of going into Christmas at the top of the division, scoring seven tries in the local derby at the Athletic Field as they took revenge for a heavy defeat by The Bears on the opening day of the season.

It was, said head coach Mike Morgan, “a complete performance, really strong. All we have been doing in defence, in attack, worked really well. We changed a few things in our game plan from an attacking perspective, and it really paid dividends.”

Penarth, second in the table behind St Joseph’s, and the division’s leading try scorers, were hot favourites to complete the double over the Bombers. “But they also bleed tries,” said Morgan, “so as long as we could stop them scoring, we would be in control.

“We contained them defensively and were able to play some great rugby and score some fantastic tries. And the scoreline would have looked more impressive if we hadn’t made a couple of mistakes that gifted them tries.”

In a lengthy, injury-interrupted first half, Barry reached the vital four-try bonus point target after 30 minutes of play. Morgan has been stressing the importance of picking up at least a try-scoring bonus from every game, crucial for the league position. On Saturday they took five points.

The bulk of the 12 tries in the game came in the first half. “In the second half we got on top and were in control, and in the last 10 minutes, at 47-33, Penarth pressed, but our defence was as good as it had been at the start,” said Morgan.

“Penarth weren’t complacent, they came out to beat us. A win would have taken them top and given them bragging rights in a local derby but we played exactly as I would want us to play. We minimised the errors, but emphasised the positive aspects of what we can do. It was everything we have been working towards, a performance filled with pride and passion.”

Barry have now scored 29 tries in 10 games, an improvement on last season’s 31 tries in 20 games, and the team – 11 of the starting line-up, including five of the pack, were under 22 – are a young side maturing quickly. “We are not the finished article yet,” said Morgan, “and our feet are firmly on the ground.”

Barry: tries – Aled Rees (two), Dafydd Jones (two), Rhys Forse (two), Flynn Baker; conv – Jack Davies (six).

Barry’s next league fixture is at Rhydyfelin on 4 January.

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