Match Report - Minehead Barbarians 22 - 32 Nailsea & Backwell
It was the battle of the top two in the league on the west coast of Somerset on Saturday afternoon.
Nailsea came out of the blocks firing as Luke Caswell scored from Dickie Palmer's good line out work. The Ravens continued the pressure with goal line pick and go’s which saw Ciaran Askew power his way over. Ten minutes later a fantastically accurate passing move saw left wing Charlie Bircham Davies go over in the corner.
Nailsea could have had the bonus point wrapped up by half time when an Alex Jones break left Ryan Love with one defender and the space of the pitch, the last pass was deliberately knocked down by Minehead’s winger James Day, with the referee giving a scrum as he unsighted to the incident.
Before the break Minehead brought on former Exeter Chief and Jersey Red back row Charlie Walker Blair to save the match for them. It nearly worked as they scored two good tries through James Day and Jack Claydon.
At 12-15, the Ravens had to dig deep and responded with Jamie Elswood going over followed by a perfectly executed backs move that saw Joe Collins set up Alex Jones for a try. Elswood slotting both conversions.
At 12-29 it seemed the game was in the bag but Minehead came back again scoring two tries to enter the last nail biting five minutes 22-29. The Ravens have a togetherness this season that makes them tough to breakdown, winning a penalty for Elswood to slot to take a bonus point win in what can only be described as an absolute classic.
Next week the Ravens are compete in their Covid delayed Combination Vase Final at Lockleaze Sports Complex against Imperial to try and win the first piece of senior silverware in the clubs history. The kick off is at 4.45pm and supporters coach will leave at 3.00pm.
