Handsworth RFC have scored a lot of points so far this season despite not having the wins that they seek to move them away from the relegation zone. Its clear to see where their points come from with their powerful runs taking a lot of stopping especially when defending up hill on their home pitch.
Barton travelled to Handsworth with growing confidence after losing their last two league games, albeit after displaying encouraging performances which are improving every week. Whether this can be put done as teething problems whilst playing at this higher level is left to be seen, however their performance on Saturday certainly installed more confidence in Peter Weedon and his coaching staff.
It was also encouraging to see more new names on the Barton team sheet with Connor Hutchinson playing scrum half and Richard Fleming joining the village side. It was also a first start at this league level for Ash Reid-Marshal despite being involved a car crash on Thursday.
Barton started with keeping the play in the home sides half for much of the game, although unescessary missed tackles allowed Handsworth to break free and score two tries early in the game.
This initial hard work was soon rewarded with winger Sam McGinn scoring under the posts which was duly converted by Matt Bird.
At half time Handsorth had complemented their score with a 32- 7 lead, however it also meant that they now had to defend against the hill and were clearly wondering whether Barton could take advantage?
Handsworth kicked deep from the whistle and showed great team work with chasing it up and pressuring the visitors defence resulting in an early second half try. However Barton also showed real character and got themslves back into the game with Matt Bird doing exactly what Weedon had asked for at half time, and used the line speed to break through the Handsworth back line to score a well deserved try.
The second half also welcomed on board James Smith who supported well on the wing and helped a great run from Kieran Thomas playing against his old childhood club . Thomas fed the ball to hooker Luke Day who did well to break through and set up debutant Richard Fleming to score his first try for Barton. Not only did this provide a confidence boost for the visitors but also gained them a well deserved four try bonus point. This certainly showed in the remaining twenty minutes as Barton dominated the possession taking advantage of a red card shown to one of their opposite numbers.
On Friday evening Myles Tydenham took Barton 3rd team to Newcastle for their floodlit fixture extending Barton's welcome to new players to the club and even old players returning to the game.
Next Weekend Barton 2nd team take on Swinfen whilst the first team take a rest in readiness for their home game against Harborne on Saturday 4th November.
