2 Jan 2008 - Nailsea V's Barbarians
Nailsea & Backwell were at home to Bristol Barbarians. The only side to beat them in the first half of the season in the league they were under no illusions as to what would be expected of them. With the holidays out of the way it was going to be a tough encounter and a battle upfront. Barabarians chose to play down the slope in the first half and a forward battle ensued. In fact on occasions if you were a Nailsea back you might of wondered why you were there! The mud, rain and coldness of a bleak winter afternoon all helped the away side. The home team front row of Smith, Kemp and Lee held their own against a significantly heavier and older pack. Infact the front five grafted their way to half time in fine fashion never taking a backward step. Seidle the captain was everywhere from 8 and he gained hard yards when they were needed. The down side was that the support play led occasionally to turnovers as no one was close enough to hit those rucks or drive on that ball when it really mattered. The problem of identifying when to go wide and when to hit holes still remains a problem for the team however on the occasions that the ball got to the outside channel Lawrence Trinnick made huge inroads into the Barbarians territory. The supportive running of his back three counter parts helped him as well. Jason Patch and Jonny Watkins showing what was to come. The ball went quickly away from the breakdown to see Patch come into the line and Trinick eat up thirty metres of pitch as if it was not there. It was stale mate at half time 0 – 0. In fairness N&B had worked very hard and had no rewards other than they could look forward to playing down the slope in the knowledge that if they generated quick ball and supported in numbers rewards would come.
The second half started well with Nailsea playing all the rugby. Some might say too much on occasions all things taken into account. However ten minutes in and the ball came out, a Seidle charge and good hands opened the door for Trinick to canter in from 25 metres. Trinick is one of a number of home grown players coming into the side from the youth section which continues to produce quality. So important for the future of the club. Nailsea suddenly seemed to recognise what they were capable of even in these conditions. The support play of Dickie Palmer from an excellent line break from Dan Goodman off a scrum showed that they had listened at half time and that Palmer is developing into a excellent all round rugby player as he crossed the line for his try. Paul Stephens stepped up to add on the points with a difficult kick. Sadly it looked as though N&B decided that was the game as they reverted back to running into big strong opposition for fun. Some changes were mad as Trinick was taken off on the hour and Balsam replaced Crossman. Balsam another young player with huge potential showed that he has much to offer and in a back row. The game was brought to an end with Jonny “jet shoes” Watkins making a huge hit late in the game which got the two hundred watching fans crying out for more as the larger than life Barbarian failed to get up from the floor for a minute or more.
Not a great game but a hard fought “W” that will count for a lot as the season goes into it’s second half.
Tries – Trinick, Palmer
Conv - Stephens