Barry RFC were held to a 27-27 draw at St Albans in their penultimate group game in the Cardiff Premiership Blue league.
The Bombers are set for a winner-takes-all match on November 16th when Treorchy are the visitors to the Reservoir Ground, with a place in the semi-finals of the Premiership Cup at stake.
Saturday’s draw leaves Barry on 13 points from their four games, and with one match left to play, they are three points ahead of Treorchy who have two fixtures remaining. Victory for Barry would guarantee second place in the group.
The Bombers came within inches of winning at St Albans. A penalty, with the clock in the red and the scores tied, was long enough and high enough, but the ball struck the outside of the uprights to leave the visitors frustrated.
“It was a good game between two very good sides,” said head coach John Dimond. “We dominated possession for most of the game, but on a couple of occasions when we had easy options, we made bad decisions and gave possession to St Albans."
“We were probably 10-15 points better than them, but we didn’t always do the right things at the right time.”
Barry scored four tries, two of them converted. But the draw means “we’ve put a little bit of pressure on ourselves. We are where we need to be,” he said, “in the top two, but Treorchy could overtake us.”
He expects to have a full squad available for the Treorchy game, but first Barry have a WRU National Youth Plate fixture at Whiteheads this Saturday. Bassaleg-based Whiteheads, who play in the Dragons Green group, have won two and lost two of their matches.
“I’m happy being in the Plate, which is probably the level we need to be in, and which will allow is to compete,” said Dimond. “If we can finish second in the league, and get a run going in the Plate competition, that would be a bit of success for us."
“If we win the next two games, then we will have achieved all we hoped to achieve before Christmas.”
Barry scorers:
Tries - Zac Edwards, Movado Hall, Jack Huggins, Tyler Reinholdt
Conversions – Morgan Prosser 2; penalty – Prosser 1.
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