MINEHEAD Barbarians RFC Under 13s took part in a triangular event on Sunday which involved Wellington and hosts Taunton - and they won both their matches after playing some great rugby.

First up Minehead played the home team, where the West Somerset side took an early lead with a great try from Arthur Gell in the centre to add to his mounting tally this season.. Minehead’s dominance continued and a pick up from the scrum half Charlie Tucker on the short side put them in front 2-0 at the break.

In the second half Minehead were very strong in defence and soon another score from Ben Lake put the visitors 3-0 in front. Taunton battled hard and nearly scored and were pushing Minehead on their own try line but the defence held strong. A great individual effort from Fred Bishop then sealed the first game at 4-0.

After a short break Minehead went up against Wellington. They looked strong, and soon Minehead took a lead through Ed White who showed great strength to put his side 1-0 in front. Wellington however were also strong and gave Minehead some grief with some penalties been conceded from both sides.

However Minehead’s tackling held up and with some good scrummaging to keep them in front, Billy Haller picked up from the breakdown five metres out to double Minehead’s lead. Harry Tucker gained some great metres before Ed White went over for his second. With Wellington feeling the game had got away, Minehead went over again, Charlie Tucker picking up his second of the day making it 4-0 in the end.

This was a great team effort from the Under13s with some really strong performances throughout, Charlie Tucker was Barbarian of the day against Taunton and Harry Tucker Gladiator of the day, while against Wellington Jasper Mayhew was Barbarian of the day and Wilfy Staley Gladiator of the day.

Meanwhile, on a lovely sunny Sunday morning, Minehead Barbarians Under 10s travelled to the Athletic Ground at Wellington where they found an ideal pitch to play some exciting rugby on and the visitors did not disappoint

The home side had 20 players, so with Minehead having 11 it was decided to play two shorter games. The first game saw the Minehead Barbarians carry on playing with their usual excellent teamwork. The visitors defence was good and their ability to tackle everything that moved, which combined with their rucking proved too strong for the opposition and they deservedly ran out the winners of the game by 14 tries to 4to gain a decisive victory.

In the second game the hosts fielded some bigger Under 10s, but this did not stop the young Barbarians from putting pressure on them at every opportunity in the match. Once again some strong running, fearsome tackling and rucking from the visitors proved just too much for the Wellington players and even though they did manage to score two tries Minehead Under 10s scored eight tries to complete a fine double.

The Barbarians Under 10s victories are being achieved because they play as a team and support each other in every aspect of the game . The Gladiator of the Day went to Henry Ellicott while the Barbarian of the Day was William Sellick.