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The Italian Job
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28/11/09 Minehead Barbarians 12 Okehampton 20
A disappointing result at home for the Barbarians, in what is becoming
a tough season, however once again the team were only minutes from
a notable victory.. Okehampton are another team which were promoted
into the Western Counties league, and look a young well organised
side, with a particularly effective fly-half.
Minehead welcomed back Avison into the back line and his influence
lifted the side, unfortunately the team then lost another player to injury
in the first minute of play, when Rob Webber was forced from the field
with a suspected broken finger. The loss of Webber did not help the
team as it forced them into an early reshuffle with Langdon coming on.
The to sides were evenly matched in the early stages, Cook making
some probing kicks in the wet conditions, and the experiment of
playing Swann at number eight looking good as he put in some
battering runs. The visitors also threatened, but with skipper White
given more freedom by his move to the openside flank the attacks
were contained. One problem which dogged the Barbarians all match
was the number of penalties awarded against them at the tackle, too
often this spoilt all the hard work previously done. After a scoreless half
hour, Okehampton claimed the games first try, from a five yard scrum
the visitors put on pressure, and as the home defence tightened up the
Devon sides fly-half chipped the ball perfectly into the corner for his
right wing to score. The try was converted with an excellent kick. The
Barbarians fought back immediately, Avison setting up a break-away
and linking with White and Bishop, who was working hard. Having
forced their way to the visitors line, a break by Cook was supported by
Henson, then Avison fed Bishop on the burst, he scored near the posts
for Avison to convert. The second half again started well for
Minehead, Dave Webber won quality lineout ball and the ball was sent
down the line, Bishop made ground and then fed Claydon. Jack
Claydon, making his debut on the wing stepped inside and then out to
cross for a memorable try.This score gave the home side a five point
lead, and set the game up for a pulsating second half. As the half
progressed the Okehampton team took heart from the numerous
penalties they were winning, and they were rewarded when Minehead's
skipper Tom White was sent to the sin-bin for an offence at the tackle.
Okehampton kicked the penalty to close the gap to two points. It was
greatly to the Barbarians credit that during the period the team was reduced to ten men,
they only conceded the original three points. As the game moved into the final five minutes,
a vital refereeing decision went against the Barbarians. The Minehead forwards broke away
led by Swann, as he delivered a pass to his supporting player, the referee judged this to
have been a offence of "crossing".
Despite the official's decision surprising not only the home supporters but also many of the
visitors, it stood and a fine kick by the visitors fly half gave them the lead. With only a
couple of minutes remaining, these points saw the Mineheads players shoulders drop a little,
and they were caught cold as Okehampton ran the ball from their own line, through a couple
of poor tackles and scored a try which sealed the game. Okehampton are to be appaulded
for their performance, but many at Minehead will feel more than a little dissapointed in the
desicion which gave the Visitors the lead. Minehead will hope that Rob Webber makes a
speedy recovery, the experiment with Swann changing position is worth another try, and
Avison's return was a big positive. What will need to be looked at is the number of penalties
conceeded, which hurts the team when opponents have highly effective goal kickers
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