MINEHEAD Barbarians lost 16-10 at home to Chew Valley II on Saturday in the heaviest and most persistent rain experienced so far this season – ironically a match re-arranged from February because of a waterlogged pitch.

There was little to choose between the sides as they battled to come to terms with the conditions, with Johan Van Wyk making some strong carries for Minehead .

Midway through the first half, the wind began gusting to gale force and Minehead failed to deal with a high kick then compounded the problem by playing the ball in an offside position from the knock on .

This gave Chew a platform to pressurise the Minehead line, and although the first driving maul was successfully defended, a further penalty enabled the visitors to get the upper hand, drive in-field and force their way over for an unconverted try.

They then added a three-pointer a few minutes later to lead 8-0 .

With half time approaching, Minehead got into the Chew 22 and exerted pressure of their own, and last year’s Colt Matt Lynch – whose development has been one of the plus points of this difficult season - completed the drive and scored his first try for the senior team.

The kick was missed, leaving Chew 8-5 up at the break.

In such a tight game, both sides realised the importance of the next score, and considering the conditions they did well to play enterprising rugby.

It was Chew who went over for the vital score, giving them a narrow but important 13-5 advantage at 13- 5, but Minehead hit back midway through the half and, having forced their way up to the visitors’ line, prop David Swann drove in hard and when he was held up Van Wyk was on hand to recycle and put his side back in the game at 13-10.

Now with their tails up, Minehead battled to gain the upper hand but Chew held out and added a further penalty to round off a 16-10 win.

As well as Lynch, two other young players caught the eye - Callum Beaver at scrum half urged his pack on and was always busy around the field, while Luke Gould, brought in as hooker, was everywhere in the loose in a performance which earned him the player of the day award.

Minehead Barbarians: K Lewis, C James, R Nunn, S Ford, J Parker, D Westcott, C Beaver, D Swann, L Gould, R Parsons, J Van Wyk, G Richards, R Henson, M Lynch, W Wilcox, S Howe, R Farmer.