MINEHEAD Barbarians beat Imperial 72-12 away in Counties Two Somerset to give coach Isaiah Graham-Cooper the best “send off” as he leaves the West Somerset club to take up a similar role in NSW Australia.

Imperial’s ground is never an easy place to win, and that made the victory even sweeter. It was the pace of the Barbarians outside backs that did the damage, the back three scoring ten of Minehead’s 12 tries, as the pack kept them supplied with ball.

This win consolidates the Barbarians in third place in the table, nine points ahead of St Bernadettes who they play at home in two weeks’ time. The match also gave a debut to new recruit Andy Huysamen and he demonstrated his skills in midfield.

James Day excelled and scored five tries showing his pace on the wing. His first was after only five minutes when sharp passing by Milton, Huysamen, and Gower provided the chance, Day sprinting in. Only moments later Day was in for his second, as Willes set up a ruck, the ball moved out, and Gower burst through. His pass sent the wing in under the posts, for Milton to convert.

Then Chinn on the left wing took his chance. Strong carries by props Hollingsworth and White made ground, but it was the pace of Chinn that saw him over the line.

Day achieved his “hat-trick” within 15 minutes, as he came into the line from the opposite wing and rounded the cover; Milton added the extras.

The Minehead pack showed their abilities, hard carrying and solid defence, while Buckingham took some excellent lineout ball. Their hard work provided a chance for Chinn to race away into the corner.

Now Imperial raised their game building pressure in the Barbarians’ 22, until a vital turnover relieved the situation.

Huysamen was next on the scoresheet, as he slid through the Bristol side’s defence to score on his debut. Then it was Day again, as he benefitted from the carries of White and Beaver who drove forward powerfully. Huysamen converted. Day rounded off the half with a try created by his teammates Chinn and Gower, but finished by the juggling Day!

Imperial started the second half positively, but were hit by a spectacular try from the Barbarians. A powerful burst down the touchline from his own half by Chinn was finished by Hawker on a fine supporting line, with Huysamen adding the two points.

The home side finally gained a reward when from a 5m scrum their No8 broke a tackle to cross in the corner. This relief was short lived as livewire scrum-half Hawker took a quick tap penalty and gave Gower the chance to dive over.

Minehead used their replacements and Claydon carried hard through midfield, pulling in the cover, then a cross kick by Milton was taken on the burst by Chinn who raced away under the posts.

Imperial gained a second try following some typical hard forward drives at Minehead’s line. However, Minehead had the last word, as a hard carry by Nunn, was followed by an excellent miss-pass from Wilcox, gave Chinn the space and he sprinted away to the line.

For Minehead, while the tries came from the backs, the player of the day was front rower Jack White.

This coming Saturday the Barbarians play Rebels at their Milverton ground.

Bryan Stevens