Aretians RFC 15 Bedwas Barbarians 35 RFC
Saturday 19 August 2023
Match report by Bedwas Barbarians, photography by Angela Brideaux.
Aretians RFC of Bristol welcomed Bedwas Barbarians in changeable weather conditions.
From the start the Barbarians put immediate pressure on the Aretians. Jo Hole, playing his 1st game for the Barbarian’s in over a year gave some great plays, smashing himself through their defence line and off-loading providing platforms for the team.
With Saul Down playing at scrumhalf, the two dominated set plays and scored a wonderful try from the back of the scrum which was scored by Saul.
Captain Tyler Picton was not happy with the workload and shift that the team put in and quickly turned a talk into further great tries by Jo Hole and Saul Down again.
The pack started to generate some good possession with great line-out jumping by Gavin Evans and Sam Graves.
One particular move saw at least half the team have the ball where it eventually ended up with Prop Ashley Mathew’s bulldozing through the first tackle and offloading on the 2nd to Owain Brideaux who ran for 20 metres for a fantastic try underneath the posts.
The try was converted by Owen Thomas who kicked every conversion throughout the afternoon. The downside was Luke Handley, playing in the back row going off injured.
At half time the score was Aretians 5 Bedwas 28.
The second half started with some great defending by the Ba Ba’s especially from the centres Kyle Jackson and Ieuan McMurray.
The Aretians ramped up the pressure by scoring a great try following great play by their backs. Bedwas started to struggle and fitness was the key.
Changes were made whereby Gavin Evans went to scrumhalf and Ryan Butcher, Rhydian Winslade, Osian Davis and Martin Evans made their appearances.
Good tackling and sheer determination saved the day for Bedwas.
Some great play from a line-out followed by great rucking allowed Gavin Evans to dummy pass and cruise over for his 1st try of the season.
Another try by The Aretians rounded off a great afternoon.
A BIG thank you goes to Ben Wisker, who played 40 mins for Bedwas and 40 for Aretians RFC and was a major force in organising this fixture.
Also, Ieuan Harding for playing the full match for Aretians for match practice and surviving a massive tackle from Ieuan McMurray.
A great afternoon and some fantastic hospitality by Aretians RFC.
Man of the Match Saul Down.
NEXT MATCH
The Barbarians welcome Mountain Ash to the Bridge Field on Saturday 26th August, ko 2.30pm
