THE best thing about this Barbarians' squad playing in Counties Two Somerset is that despite being ravaged by injuries and unavailability, the players just grit their teeth and work hard for their team, writes Bryan Stevens.

In this tough, long away fixture it was particularly the dogged efforts of the often less lauded players that caught the eye as Minehead lost 38-12 at Oldfield OB’s.

As usual Willies, Cox and Bullard showed their skills, but Dunton, Winter and especially Govier made an impact.

The powerful carries and driving forward play kept Minehead in the game when the young home side could have run away with it.

A reorganised backline saw Hollingsworth in the centre, with Reeder and Handley on the wings. These numerous changes meant that an organised defence was very difficult to achieve, and Oldfield scored a couple of early breakaway tries as they exploited gaps.

The first came after a dominate Barbarian scrum near the home line, their scrum half broke away, linked up well and a try resulted. The second came when a mid-field gap in the Minehead defence was exposed.

The Barbarians were still committed, the forwards found gaps as they drove forward with Cox to the fore. They won penalties which Cherry kicked down the touchline. While there was little fluency in the backline, Hole carried hard and made tackles along with Hollingsworth, and as always Day looked to counter-attack as much as possible.

Minehead camped in the home 22 and drove from line-outs to the line, but a turnover let Oldfield off the hook as they ran the ball from their own line to score at the other end.

The second half saw the Barbarian pack take it to their opponents even stronger, with lots of short drives and Beaver running tight to his pack. The set pieces became a weapon, with scrums driving Oldfield back and winning penalties.

Minehead gained some reward for their work when they kept driving at the home line. Govier was stopped just short, Bullard tried again, and when he was checked Hole claimed the try converted by Cherry.

The Barbarians lifted by the score continued to work, and good drives by Floyd and Dunton made ground towards the line. A lineout take by Willes saw the forwards drive on, then joined by the backs the maul crossed the line, Govier touching down.

Minehead continued to fight but Oldfield finished strongly with a couple more tries to ensure a deserved victory.

The scoreline does not really do justice to the efforts put in by the Barbarians' players. James Day at full back must be one of the team's most consistent performers, but this was a day for the forwards to shine, and the evergreen Chris Govier was Man of the Match.