Fixture

An exhilarating derby day fixture was on display at the school playing fields as nearby rivals Barry travelled to Llantwit Major on another blustery Sunday morning. In recent seasons the gap between these two teams has narrowed and both wanted to go one better than last years 5-5 draw.

The AmmoKnights started the brighter and in stark contrast to recent weeks looked full of life during the early exchanges. After some neat team play an attacking platform allowed Pete Mitchell to burst through the rush defence and he proceeded to gobble up the ground to run in from 45 yards and open the scoring. Ethan White stepped up to slot over the conversion and in similar fashion to 2014 Llantwit took an early lead. Stung into action Barry stepped up a gear and both teams were now poking and prodding trying to open up gaps in the opposition defence. At the mod point of the first half it was the home team that buckled next. Poor discipline at the breakdown gave Barry a good attacking position and after recycling possession at the ruck they broke through to score. With the conversion missed the hosts held a slender lead and it stayed that way until just before the end of the half. With Barry beginning to starve the AmmoKnights of quality possession, some sloppy tackling allowed Barry’s winger to step through three players on his way to the try line. The try again went unconverted and the half finished with Barry holding a slender 10-7 advantage.

With both teams desperate to have local bragging rights, players were throwing everything into the game in an attempt to get the first score. Llantwit enjoyed some early pressure and after some impressive handling in which they moved the ball right then left, centre Leighton Pawsey picked the ball up off his toes to feed wing Morgan Hestleton who crossed for his first try for the club. The AmmoKnights sensing an opportunity to get a grip in the game moved the ball with great width and after stretching the visiting defence, Pawsey this time found himself the recipient of a good pass to score in the corner.

In the space of five minutes, Llantwit found themselves leading 17-10 and as the Barry players started to tire, Ethan White finally found himself in that little bit of space and sprinted through to score under the posts. Following a quick breather White stepped up to slot over the extra 2 and Llantwit were sitting pretty with a 14 point lead. Barry, however, were not done in just yet and after a sloppy kick return they found themselves holding Llantwit on the own line. With no-one securing the ruck ball, the Barry flanker rucked straight through and scooped up the ball to score. With the conversion going over a grandstand finale was set up and both teams didn’t disappoint. Barry held onto the ball for the final 3 minutes trying to find the gap that could let them back into the game. Unfortunately for the visitors tiredness and ill discipline gave Llantwit a penalty and the clearing kick resulted in the final whistle.

A top game played in a great spirit by both teams and both should be proud of the way in which they represented their club. Llantwit’s extra replacements could well have been the difference as both teams tired near the end and all the players can look forward to next season.