MINEHEAD Barbarians RFC Under 13s welcomed Bridgwater RFC - and the game didn’t take long to warm up.

Minehead came out firing, with George Tucker powering over the line from a strong pick-and-go to open the scoring.From the restart, Oscar Cox wasted no time in adding to the tally, darting through the defence for Minehead’s second.

Harry Colwill followed with a well-worked score, before Oscar struck again with a superb breakaway try. Minehead continued as Oliver Bishop finished off a lovely move set up by great vision and distribution from Dylan Paige. Harry Parfitt then showed his trademark pace, diving into the bottom corner to extend Minehead’s lead.

With the scoreboard starting to stretch, the coaches made the decision to even the numbers and swap several Minehead players over to Bridgwater to balance the contest. This immediately changed the flow of the game, as Bridgwater scored their first try.

Minehead’s defence had to step up, and Harry Blackmore put in a series of outstanding tackles to halt several threatening Bridgwater carries to make it 30-15 at the break.

The second half began with Bridgwater narrowing the gap with an early try. Minehead responded brilliantly through Harry Parfitt, who scorched through from halfway for a fantastic solo effort, before adding another soon after.

Justin Mapuranga delivered a crucial defensive moment, with a solid tackle but Bridgwater hit back before Jacob Coles powered over to keep Minehead ahead. Bridgwater battled hard and added more tries as the game tightened but as the match entered its final stages, Ed Coates put in a huge shift with several strong tackles as it ended 45-40 to the Barbarians.

It was a great performance from both sides and a brilliant morning of rugby all round. A special mention goes to the Minehead players who stepped across to help Bridgwater.