Barry RFC under 14's fall to defeat in Cardiff Bowl Final

A season which has seen a complete turnaround in their fortunes, with Barry’s under-14s the only team at the club to reach a final, ended in disappointment at Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday.

St Peter’s 47 Barry Under-14s 0

One year on from a difficult season at under-13 level, when the team struggled to win matches, the players have picked up silverware at a tournament in Devon, and produced a superb fightback victory in the Bowl semi-final, only for St Peter’s to dash their hopes of further honours.

In truth St Peter’s were the better side on the day. After an even and fiercely contested opening spell, three tries in the closing ten minutes of the first half took the game away from Barry. To Barry’s credit, despite trailing 26-0 at the interval, they kept battling away, but St Peter’s were in no mood to be generous.

If anything, after the initial sparring, they were clinically efficient, their speedy defence rarely allowing Barry a clear sight of the line, and their equally effective attack swift to exploit the slightest weakness in their opposition.

“To win the tour and to get to a final is massive for the boys,” said head coach Joe McCann. “We said to them after the game today, yes the result didn’t go our way, but if at the start of the season you were offered a tour win and a cup final at Arms Park you would have snapped it up. It’s a massive achievement.”

It was a sentiment echoed by team manager Richard Gordon. “Eighteen months ago we were at our wits end, we didn’t know where the next win was going to come from. We questioned whether there was something different we could do as coaches. Credit to the boys. They stuck at it, as we have. We asked them to stick together. It hasn’t gone our way today, but onwards and upwards.”

And captain Jude Fox, despite the disappointment of defeat, said the players were “happy to get to the final, and about how far we have come since last season. Quite sad that we lost, but it was quite an achievement to get to the final.”

McCann felt that perhaps the occasion had got to his players. “They were a bit nervy in training on Thursday. We’ve played St Peter’s in the past and it was a lot closer scoreline, but fair play to St Peter’s they turned up and it all went well for them, and they deserved their win.

“They were the better team. We didn’t get our game plan going, and had a few injuries as well, key players who came off and had to stay off, which disrupts the plan. But we have loads to look forward to. We’ve got a good group of boys, and I think they’ll stick together and we’ll be stronger next season.”

St Peter’s: tries – Raffaele Coppola (11 minutes, 32), James Paul (20), Rhys McCarthy (25, 30), Teifi Thomas (40), Rhys Karseras (55); conv – Charlie Evans 3, Lyle Lewis 3.