MINEHEAD Barbarians Under 16s ended their season with a thrilling 35-32 home victory over Wellington.

Well refereed by Mr Bishop, the game was played in good spirits, with Wellington building a lead, and Minehead fighting their way back. Both sides had a number of regulars missing, and for Minehead this meant that Ahern moved to scrum-half, with Clavey at 10, and a new centre pairing of Cudmore and Bishop.

The visitors struck early, moving the ball wide with their full back finishing the movement. The Barbarians soon bounced back; from a lineout inside the 22 Krawczyk caught the ball, his pack drove forwards, and White peeled away to dive over.

Wellington came again; a tap-penalty near the home line caught the defence napping and a Welly forward barged over. It took ten minutes for the Barbarians to fight back. Another driven line-out forced its way to the line, with White again claiming the try.

Next came the individual moment of the game. Untidy ball from a line-out, but as the ball came back Clavey stepped out of a tackle, dodged 2 more, and raced under the posts to score. Cudmore converted. From the restart Wellington quickly their third try.

The second half saw Wellington build a lead by scoring two more tries. Once again the Minehead pack showed their strength; another penalty expertly kicked to touch by Ahern saw the forwards drive on, and Clavey’s pass sent Swann sprinting into the corner.

With the game swinging back, a Barbarian tap-penalty sent Lock storming forward and when the ball came back Cudmore dropped a goal for three points. Cudmore added a try as his team created pressure, another tap-penalty and the centre drove low to cross. Minehead’s hooker added a final try, forcing his way over from close.

Players of the day were Danny Wing and Ollie Ahern.

Bryan Stevens