MINEHEAD Barbarians bounced back from the disappointment of the previous week to gain a 26-14 away victory over Oldfield Old Boys in Counties Two Somerset.

The home side had a lively set of backs, but Minehead had a clear edge in the forward exchanges, with Swann in particular dominant in the front row.

It was Oldfield that scored first with some good handling, and the fullback put the winger into the corner for a converted try.

The Barbarians soon hit back. Hawker took a quick tap penalty with Willes carrying hard into the defence, then when the ball was moved to the right, it found Day on the overlap from the left to score.

It was clear that the work done by coach Graham-Hooper to keep moving the point of attack, and spread the ball quickly is taking shape in the team. This made for an entertaining game as both sides moved the ball whenever they could.

The Barbarians took the lead with a powerful lineout driving maul which started on the 22 and became unstoppable, Beaver getting the score, which Milton converted.

The Barbarians had improved their defensive pressure making it difficult for Oldfield to break through, with Senior and Chinn to the fore.

Another powerful driven lineout put Minehead on the home line and Swann was only inches from a try.

Despite dominating possession, Minehead went behind to another period of clean handling by the home team as they moved the ball across the field to put the left wing over. Half time saw the Barbarians two points behind but with the slope now in their favour.

The coach’s pep-talk at the break encouraged his team to continue to play with confidence and look for the vital scores that the team’s performance deserved. Oldfield started the second period brightly and it took strong defence to keep them at bay. However, the Barbarians were not to be denied and soon retook the lead.

A vital steal at the tackle by Griffin set up another attack for Minehead. The ball was quickly moved to Chinn who burst away past attempted tackles to score, with Milton adding the extras.

With only a five point lead the Barbarians could not relax, and had to work hard to repel Oldfield’s attacks, with Ruddenklau, Willes, Buckingham, and Beaver knocking them back epeatedly.

Then came the vital bonus point try! With Oldfield running the ball wide, a big tackle in midfield dislodged the ball, White scooped it up and sprinted all the way to the posts for the try which Milton converted.

With the final whistle a few minutes away, Minehead defended their lead solidly, ensuring they would deny their opponents any points from the match. This was a fine effort with all the squad contributing. The team will reflect on some tactical choices, and will be hoping for the return of some of the players that were out injured. Ben Willes was Man of the Match for his efforts in attack and defence.

Victory enabled Minehead to move up to fourth in the table, 11 points behind the leaders Clevedon who remain 100 per cent after eight matches following their 45-5 home success against St Bernadettes Old Boys who drop to fifth place. Burnham on Sea, in second spot, beat Rebels Rugby 52-7 at home and trail Clevedon by eight pointsl