Home News Contact Us Committee Our Location Sponsors & Affiliates Links The Italian Job The Club 07/11/2009 - Minehead Barbarians 11- 5 Tiverton The real significance of this result was the vital two points that lifted Minehead above their Devon neighbours in the Tribute Western Counties League but it is also worth noting  it was the first time that they had beaten them  at 1st Xv level in the last 40 years and possibly  ever.  With  Rob Webber still out with a broken finger, Minehead welcomed the return of Tom Claydon to inject power  in the second row and for the first 20 minutes they totally dominated the game up front but were again unable to create space in midfield and had only a Dave Farmer penalty to show for it until just before half time whilst Tivvy  were down to 14 with a man in the bin, scrum half Martin Cook spotted a blind side  gap on the top touch  to showed real  pace  beating  the winger  and  the covering fullback to touch down half way out.  The kick failed but with an 8 -0 halftime lead Minehead looked well set to go on and improve things in the second half.  Tiverton , however , had other ideas, they too had limitations in the backs but their fly half kicked effectively and penned the home side down in the bottom corner , where eventually  the pressure told and prop Rob Simmons force his way over to bring things back to 8-5.  The game then took a bizarre turn as the ref showed the yellow card to three  Minehead players in quick succession  Richard Henson for pulling a man down in the lineout , Tom Claydon for an alleged slap and  Richard Parsons for emulating the All Blacks  and failing to retire quickly enough from an offside position  and receive his yellow on hearing the ref pronounce ‘Lazy Running ‘ ! At this stage, it seemed that Minehead’s 3 point lead  could not be enough but to their eternal credit , down to twelve men  for almost 10 minutes  , they not only held out but succeeded in wheeling a couple of vital scrums on their line  to gain the put in and a few precious yards.  Restored to full strength for the last 10 minutes they eventually forced Tiverton into holding on and conceding a penalty in a kickable position. Dave Farmer made no mistake and Minehead were able to close the game out at 11-5. They have been on the wrong end of several similar tight games this season and thoroughly deserved this morale booster. Hopefully with a few players returning from injury  they will be able to close out more vital games in the second round of matches in the new year. The bad news is that Justin Harris  , whose versatility has  been  of such value in recent weeks , has suffered further damage to his cornea and will be out for at least three months.  Scott Langdon who defended superbly at no 12 is rapidly becoming another Mr Versatile having appeared at Flanker, Hooker and on the wing so far. Colin Howells  made a welcome return to celebrate his 44th birthday a couple of days before and as always played a key role not only leading the pack and organising the defence  but ensuring  that the Minehead lineout jumpers could win their own ball with his accurate throwing in. However, even he was out done in the Veteran Stakes  by the Tiverton scrum half who was also restored to add his many years experience.  He  was 47! Team. T. Bishop, O Thomas, S. Langdon, J White, J Claydon, D Farmer, M Cook, R Lewis, C Howells, R Parsons, D Webber T Claydon  R Henson D Swann, T White.(capt)     D Thresher, R Cox, D Westcott HOME    1XV    2XV   STAGS   COLTS   PAST P & S   MINIS   NEWS   CONTACT   COMMITTEE    LOCATION   SPONSORS   LINKS    GALLERY   DOWNLOADS   HISTORY               Discover Websites     1st XV      2nd XV      STAGS       COLTS BACK TO MATCH REPORTS Minis and Juniors Sponsor