MINEHEAD Barbarians maintained second place in Counties Two Somerset with a 34-24 away win over St Bernadettes Old Boys.

It was another difficult away trip for the Barbarians, but their fighting spirit shone through to grasp the vital five points.

With only three forwards starting who had played last week, the Minehead scrum struggled from the off, with the Bristol side winning a number of penalties to build pressure. Eventually this told, and the home eight forced their way over from a 5 metre scrum.

The changes in the Barbarian pack meant debuts for Davis and Langdon, while the bench saw welcome returns for Lynch and Hollingsworth after lengthy injury breaks.

Minehead struck back, Buckingham provided fast ball from a lineout, moved quickly to mid-field, Fitz cut a line-break and raced diagonally to the corner to score, excellently converted by Gower.

The game developed into a battle between the St Bernadettes forwards and the Barbarians’ backs, with the Minehead forwards fighting valiantly to free up some ball. Surprisingly Minehead took a scrum ball “against the head”, and Hawker burst away feeding Chinn who broke away to score.

Another home try came after a period of good defence by Minehead, but a gap left behind a ruck saw a forward burst through to score. The half time break came with a small lead to Minehead, but could their pack stay in the game. With Hollingsworth now on, Richards moved to the second row, and later to the front row, to show his versatility.

Bernadettes continued with their tactic of short, hard carries, and worked their way upfield, and from a 4 metre scrum scored again.

For a period the Minehead pack gained parity, and Lynch took advantage, working a switch with Fritz which sent him racing in for his second.

It was no surprise when the Bristol side roared back with another dominant scrum on Minehead’s line, providing another try to give them the lead. From the restart, the Barbarians won the ball back and moved it sharply through their hands, Fritz rounded his man and flew over to secure his hat-trick, and regain the lead.

It was obvious to the team that their win was dependant on constantly moving the ball away from the heavy home forwards. Lynch kicked long, and when the kick was returned, Martins linked with Day who fed Chinn and he raced in to secure the game.

A hard fought win, with great credit due to the forwards who fought to the end, giving the backs a chance to flourish. I should also mention the 100% goal kicking of Gower.

The outstanding play of Mu-eed Fritz, earned him the Man of the Match award.

BRYAN STEVENS