Barry RFC relegated from Division 1 East Central

The spectre of relegation has hung over Barry RFC all season and, following fellow strugglers Cambrian Welfare’s 32-27 victory at Penarth on Saturday, the Bombers will be playing in Admiral National League Division 2 East Central next season.

“Obviously everyone is bitterly disappointed at being relegated,” said head coach Mike Morgan, “but it is how we react to it.” And messages he received on Saturday from his players and fellow coaches underlined his belief that “players, coaches and everybody at the club will react with another level of determination.”

That determination is, of course, to get the club back to Division 1. “We have to go back to the drawing board and prepare in a way that allows us to win tight games. We have to learn quicker, train harder. At crucial moments in certain games we have fallen just short.

“That will be experience, and what the young players have had this season is a great deal of experience, being exposed to this level of rugby and the competitiveness. The players and coaches have had experience they can all learn deeply from.”

Five of the season’s 11 defeats were by a margin of seven points or fewer, enough to earn the Bombers losing bonus points, but not enough to lift them out of the bottom three at any time during the season. The teams immediately above Barry, Cambrian Welfare and Llanishen, despite winning fewer games, crucially picked up more bonus points.

And that, really, was the story of much of the season. Frustration at the ones that got away, and in a handful not being able to close out winning positions. Two more victories to add to the seven achieved and the Bombers would now be enjoying the close season.

There were some excellent results, beating champions Llanharan 26-21 a week before Christmas, and winning 24-22 at Llanishen, always a difficult venue for visiting teams. The Bombers duly completed the double over the Lions, and also doubled Cambrian Welfare.

But crucially Barry stumbled at the run-in, picking up just six points from their last four matches, two from narrow defeats, and four from the last day victory at Rhydyfelin, which left the door open for Cambrian Welfare to escape the drop.

“As a coach I don’t have time to wallow, there’s work to be done. Now is the time to roll up the sleeves, reflect on the season just gone and learn from it,” said Morgan.

“What we saw were healthy signs of going in the right direction. Perhaps it needed a little more time to mature. So we will go away and continue the path of maturing our game plan, and with the players getting more game time, mature as a squad. Plus we have Youth players coming up which will give us more strength in depth.

“We have to look forward. Being relegated doesn’t define us. What defines us is the amount of commitment we have. We will bounce back.”