MINEHEAD Barbarians narrowly lost 15-5 away to Weston II on Saturday after a committed display.

Kicking off with a blustery and at times gale force wind at their backs, they took the game to their hosts but failed to make the important early breakthrough.

Instead it was Weston who broke the deadlock midway through the half, driving up to the 22 and using concerted short passing to force their way to the line despite some committed defence and finally creating the gap to score an unconverted try - the only score of the half.

With the benefit of the wind after the break, Weston might have been expected to take complete control, but Minehead were having none of it.

The pack gained the upper hand in the set and upped the work-rate in the loose, to such an extent that for the first 20 minutes of the half they harried so hard that play was mainly in the Weston half.

The back row, supported by Luke Gould and Craig Sutherland, never gave Weston a chance to settle and develop their kicking game, while the backs never took a step back and were always prepared to run into the wind and make vital yards by turning defence into attack.

Winger Chris James in particular made some determined carries and was safe under the high ball, while Ryan Nunn and Dom Westcott tackled hard throughout, with one big hit from Nunn standing out.

Inevitably, the wind advantage eventually told, and as it veered slightly more cross-field, two well-judged high balls enabled Weston to set up a platform and two tries score wide out.

Minehead had brought on Tom Lamacraft to replace Greg Richards at half-time, but Charlie Munson was forced off with a leg injury and Lamacraft had to move to the wing for the last ten minutes.

In that time, they lost Dom Westcott to the bin for a high tackle, but they continued to press forward and, having retained possession for the last four minutes of the half, they switched the ball wide for Lamacraft to use his strength and go over in the corner for a consolation try.

Minehead coach Dave Swann could take a lot of positives from the game, with the level of commitment praiseworthy throughout.

He himself had a fine game at loose head, and with newcomer Phillip Hobbs making an impact on the tight side, the scrum looked solid at all times.

Minehead worked hard to a man, but Luke Gould stood out for his non-stop effort in the unaccustomed no 9 shirt and claimed the nomination for man of the match, whilst Matt Lynch showed he is taking the difficult transition from colts to seniors in his stride .

Minehead Barbarians: K Lewis, C James, D Westcott, R Nunn, C Munson, C Sutherland, L Gould, D Swann, J Barrett, P Hobbs, M Lynch, L Parker, B Willes, R Henson, G Richards, T Lamacraft.