Barton made the journey to Yardley looking for their first points on the road for the season and to continue to string together some good performances. Again changes in continuity saw veteran Jon Leason slot into scrum half and Dick Taberner at number 8 and Matt Bird returning at full back for this weeks fixture. Barton lost the toss and played up the slope and were immediately on the back foot failing to gather the kick off. Yardley showed some good power in their pack with their blindside flanker making good metres with the ball in hand. Yardley used their sizeable pack to work the ball into the Barton 5 metre line to crash over from short range for a converted try.
Barton immediately hit back and dominated possession and territory for the next 5 minutes and were camped in the Yardley 22. Keiran Hall and Ollie Phillips were making in- roads into the home defence for fly half Dom Phillips to collect a neat chip and chase for a converted score. A strong carry for Dick Taberner from the base of a scrum earnt Barton a penalty but the attempted drifted wide along with a further attempt 5 minutes later. Yardley then had their centre yellow carded for repeated high tackles and during this period when down to 14 the balance swung in Yardley’s favour again using their pack to drive over from short range for an unconverted score leaving it 12-7 to Yardley with 10 minutes of the half remaining. Prop Matt Bayley was then also yellow carded for an infringement at the ruck. While down to 14 men Barton defended valiantly with Dave Tiplady, Skipper Mike Traynor and open side James Thorpe all making try saving tackles. Eventually Yardley worked the ball to the right hand side for their full back to dive over for an unconverted score. A further warning shot was fired into the Barton defence as the Yardley winger showed a deceptive turn of pace from a scrum on the half way line to take a scorching outside line and break into the Barton 22 and cut inside heading towards the Barton try line. Cam Gaunt came thundering across the part to make a solid try saving tackle turning the ball over in Barton’s favour as the half came to a close and Yardley rueing their missed chance with Barton facing a 17-7 deficit in the second half.
Barton kicked long from the kick off and another solid tackle from James Thorpe stopped the Yardley blindside flanker and set the tone for the second half. The Barton scrummage solidified to thwart Yardley from having a solid base to play from. Barton played territory well with Dom Phillips kicking well into the corners. Yardley then had another player sin binned for a further high tackle with Barton kicked to the corner. Clean ball was won and the ball moved wide for winger Jason Walker to show good footwork and score from 15 metres out for further score. The conversion was missed however the referee demanded it be retaken due to ill -discipline from Yardley and Matt Bird made no mistake and cooly slotted it over to make the score 17-14.
Yardley again immediately gained field position from the kick off as again it wasn’t gathered and immediately Barton were under pressure in their own 22. They forced a turn -over and kicked to clear with the Yardley winger returning the ball who chose to chip into the Barton 22, his kick posed no threat as it went straight into touch however he made contact with a Barton player which the referee deemed a late tackle which saw skipper Mike Traynor receive a yellow card. Yardley made the extra man pay again using their forwards to make yards until space emerged for their fly half to cross the line for a converted try leaving Barton still looking at a 24-14 score line. Barton then made some crucial substitutions with Veteran prop Tom Robinson and Ash Reid entering the second row and Dave Tiplady replacing the injured Rich Taberner at No 8. Robinson was straight into action at the scrum which saw clean ball won and the ball recycled quickly for Ash Reid to crash over several tackles for a good try as Barton reduced the deficit to 24-19 and building good momentum into the final 10 minutes.
Dom Phillips was on the receiving end of a high tackle which again Barton kicked to the corner as they knew that their line out was functioning well. The ball was moved along the line only for a knock on as Barton failed to take their chance of a well worked overlap. The resulting clearance from Yardley was poor and again Barton piled on the pressure with Kieran Hall and Matt Williams making rampaging runs into the Yardley 22. Ash Reid again made a strong run and made it to the Yardley line and lost control of the ball with what should have been another try. Yardley cleared the ball to the 10 metre line. Phillips put the ball into the corner and the Yardley winger hesitated and was caught in possession by Kieran Thomas who turned the ball over for Max Williams to score out wide for Barton. Again the conversion was missed leaving the score board even at 24 -24 and 5 minutes left to play.
Barton piled on the pressure taking a clean restart and recycling the ball to again put play deep into the Yardley half. Some sloppy handling saw the ball slide out of grasp and it looked like the momentum was lost. Jon Leason dropped onto the ball and as he regained his feet he was caught with another high swinging arm. The referee duly awarded the penalty on the edge of the 22 and just inside the 15 metre line. Matt Bird kept his cool to slot the penalty to leave the final score 27-24 for Barton’s first win away of the season.
Barton immediately hit back and dominated possession and territory for the next 5 minutes and were camped in the Yardley 22. Keiran Hall and Ollie Phillips were making in- roads into the home defence for fly half Dom Phillips to collect a neat chip and chase for a converted score. A strong carry for Dick Taberner from the base of a scrum earnt Barton a penalty but the attempted drifted wide along with a further attempt 5 minutes later. Yardley then had their centre yellow carded for repeated high tackles and during this period when down to 14 the balance swung in Yardley’s favour again using their pack to drive over from short range for an unconverted score leaving it 12-7 to Yardley with 10 minutes of the half remaining. Prop Matt Bayley was then also yellow carded for an infringement at the ruck. While down to 14 men Barton defended valiantly with Dave Tiplady, Skipper Mike Traynor and open side James Thorpe all making try saving tackles. Eventually Yardley worked the ball to the right hand side for their full back to dive over for an unconverted score. A further warning shot was fired into the Barton defence as the Yardley winger showed a deceptive turn of pace from a scrum on the half way line to take a scorching outside line and break into the Barton 22 and cut inside heading towards the Barton try line. Cam Gaunt came thundering across the part to make a solid try saving tackle turning the ball over in Barton’s favour as the half came to a close and Yardley rueing their missed chance with Barton facing a 17-7 deficit in the second half.
Barton kicked long from the kick off and another solid tackle from James Thorpe stopped the Yardley blindside flanker and set the tone for the second half. The Barton scrummage solidified to thwart Yardley from having a solid base to play from. Barton played territory well with Dom Phillips kicking well into the corners. Yardley then had another player sin binned for a further high tackle with Barton kicked to the corner. Clean ball was won and the ball moved wide for winger Jason Walker to show good footwork and score from 15 metres out for further score. The conversion was missed however the referee demanded it be retaken due to ill -discipline from Yardley and Matt Bird made no mistake and cooly slotted it over to make the score 17-14.
Yardley again immediately gained field position from the kick off as again it wasn’t gathered and immediately Barton were under pressure in their own 22. They forced a turn -over and kicked to clear with the Yardley winger returning the ball who chose to chip into the Barton 22, his kick posed no threat as it went straight into touch however he made contact with a Barton player which the referee deemed a late tackle which saw skipper Mike Traynor receive a yellow card. Yardley made the extra man pay again using their forwards to make yards until space emerged for their fly half to cross the line for a converted try leaving Barton still looking at a 24-14 score line. Barton then made some crucial substitutions with Veteran prop Tom Robinson and Ash Reid entering the second row and Dave Tiplady replacing the injured Rich Taberner at No 8. Robinson was straight into action at the scrum which saw clean ball won and the ball recycled quickly for Ash Reid to crash over several tackles for a good try as Barton reduced the deficit to 24-19 and building good momentum into the final 10 minutes.
Dom Phillips was on the receiving end of a high tackle which again Barton kicked to the corner as they knew that their line out was functioning well. The ball was moved along the line only for a knock on as Barton failed to take their chance of a well worked overlap. The resulting clearance from Yardley was poor and again Barton piled on the pressure with Kieran Hall and Matt Williams making rampaging runs into the Yardley 22. Ash Reid again made a strong run and made it to the Yardley line and lost control of the ball with what should have been another try. Yardley cleared the ball to the 10 metre line. Phillips put the ball into the corner and the Yardley winger hesitated and was caught in possession by Kieran Thomas who turned the ball over for Max Williams to score out wide for Barton. Again the conversion was missed leaving the score board even at 24 -24 and 5 minutes left to play.
Barton piled on the pressure taking a clean restart and recycling the ball to again put play deep into the Yardley half. Some sloppy handling saw the ball slide out of grasp and it looked like the momentum was lost. Jon Leason dropped onto the ball and as he regained his feet he was caught with another high swinging arm. The referee duly awarded the penalty on the edge of the 22 and just inside the 15 metre line. Matt Bird kept his cool to slot the penalty to leave the final score 27-24 for Barton’s first win away of the season.
