Barry RFC's youth side began the Cardiff Rugby Premiership Blue season with a 27-14 victory at Pontypridd.
After four wins in four pre-season matches, the young Bombers clinched a bonus point victory at Sardis Road, but head coach John Dimond felt the margin of victory should have been much greater.
While he felt the performance was inconsistent, “and we could easily have been 40 points up at half-time,” he said, “to go up to Pontypridd and come away with five points sets us up nicely in the league.”
Dimond has a squad in transition, smaller than last season, with new players coming in.
On Saturday, with some players missing, some playing out of position, and a couple of his key players “not firing properly”, the emphasis on training this week has been rectifying the problems.
“We need to kick on against Aberdare,” he said. “We have the ability, the game structure and the plan to compete in what will be a tough league.”
Aberdare, who visit the Reservoir Field on Saturday, opened their league campaign with a 17-14 win over Treorchy, while in the other fixture, St Albans beat St Peters 18-12.
Despite errors which gifted the hosts their tries, Dimond felt that coming away with a win - despite not playing to their potential - augurs well for the season. “I gave the boys a pep talk after the game. They know they messed up, but we’ll work on it and keep going forward.”
Barry scorers:
Tries - Tyler Reinhold 2, Rauley Hunter, Austin Caffery, Joe Jenkins
Conversion - Caelan Hurley