MINEHEAD Barbarians roared back into action after a break of a fortnight to beat Imperial 74-5 at home to stay second in Counties Two Somerset.
Before the start the players and crowd stood in respectful silence as the Last Post was played in Remembrance.
The beautifully presented pitch made up for the grey skies as the home side ran in 12 tries.
From the outset Minehead looked to move the ball at every opportunity, but were also very solid in their defence when the visitors had the ball. Cox took the first try as he finished off a belligerent run by Hole. Next a break by Senior sent Fritz flying away but he was taken out illegally by the last defender, and a penalty try awarded.
A long kick out of defence by Gower ended in a scrum at the visitors’ line, Hawker broke blind and found Chinn who dived over for the third score. Imperial had a heavy pack but Martins, Swann, Huish, and Willes had the strength to hold them with ease.
Next, Fritz scored probably the try of the day. Buckingham provided lineout ball, Hawker whipped it away, and two long miss-passes gave Fritz room to sprint around the defence to the posts. Hawker again showed fine form as he broke through to make space for Gower’s first try.
The Barbarian forwards joined in the fun, with some excellent off-loading to create space for attack. The game was stopped for an injury to a visiting player, and the match was moved to the neighbouring pitch.
A super try by prop Martins came next, as he collected a cross-kick from Gower to race over. A Scott Gibbs style burst by Hole through mid-field freed room for Gower’s second.
This remained the score till half time as Minehead survived a flurry of pressure.
The first score of the second period came when Martins burst through the centre and his pass found Fritz racing up in support. Full-back Fritz gained a hat-trick as he finished a play created by Hole and then Day, whose pass off the ground released him.
The Barbarians brought on Roberts, How, and Handley to refresh the team. Chinn showed his class with some tremendous defence, and then a try in the corner following a break by Richards.
Day was not to be left out, and a solo burst from deep took him through the cover at up to the line. Finally the diminutive Handley dodged, ducked, and weaved through the tiring defence a claim a fine score.
The play of both centres, the relentless Buckingham, and the finishing of Fritz all deserved praise, but Man of Match went to Gower with his 24 points.
BRYAN STEVENS