MINEHEAD Barbarians gained their first double of the season when they beat Oldfield Old Boys 34-5 away in Counties Two Somerset.

The team welcomed back Huish into the pack, and Handley came onto the wing. Both teams contributed to an entertaining game with the ball moving through the hands frequently. The Barbarians’ first score came when a strong drive by Willes gained ground, and the ball was moved back to the short side. Richards made ground and slipped the ball to Martins who powered past defenders to score.

Gower grabbed the next try, Senior drove the ball forward and as Hawker and Lynch passed quickly, Gower cut a sharp line back to cross.

Oldfield struck back, and a smart lineout play sent a forward crashing through midfield, quickly recycled, a looping pass was collected by their hooker who dived into the corner.

However, Minehead were on a roll, and scored twice more before the break. Despite losing scrum-half Hawker to a shoulder knock, with Reeder coming on, and Howe moving to the wing, constant Barbarian pressure told. Senior made the break, offloading to Fritz, who again offloaded to Day who scored by the posts.

After a flowing move had taken play to within a few feet of the line, the Barbarians won the ruck and Swann sprinted over to score.

The break saw Minehead with a strong lead, but knowing that they would need to keep up their work-rate to get the final result. Swann was later rewarded for his try, by being replaced with Holness.

The second half was a little more even as Oldfield strived to get back into the match. Eventually Minehead broke through their defence, Gower made ground, Lynch provided a nicely delayed pass and Fritz finished in the corner.

Fritz also collected the final try as he finished off a move which involved numerous team mates, with Martins giving the final pass, for Gower to convert from the touchline.

This was a solid team performance with all players showing their worth, but Reece Hollingsworth was a worthy Player of the Match.

Victory enabled Minehead to stay second in the table, 12 points behind leaders and title favourites Midsomer Norton who won their tenth gme in 11 matches, beating Chew Valley’s second string 66-0 away. They have a points difference of 645, compared to the Babas’ 109.

Avon, in third spot, gained a 52-7 home success against St Bernadettes Old Boys to stay only two points behind the West Somerset outfit - and they also have a crucial game in hand over the seasiders.

At the other end of the table, Wells stay bottom after they slumped to a 50-7 home loss against Imperial who moved up to eighth.