Welwyn 46 - 7 BERFC

A mixed Barnet team made the short trip up the A1 to take on Welwyn on a crisp sunny morning. Weather and cup fixtures had conspired against us over the previous two seasons – in fact the last time we’d played each other was on a half-size pitch – at Under 12s.

With Welwyn having achieved consecutive promotions since the advent of our Herts Middx league days, and with them now sitting two divisions above us, this was always going to be a tough match.

For the first 10 or 15 minutes we put up decent opposition, with some good work in the forwards and some variation in play in the backs – with Welwyn playing some of their boys out of position to accommodate the strength of our team, but as the half wore on Welwyn began to gain the upper hand and ran in several tries.

A few injuries meant Welwyn had to bring additional members of their A squad, and in the second half the gulf in class became apparent, especially in the backs where Welwyn were dominant.

Fair play to the Barnet boys who kept plugging away, and were finally rewarded for their efforts with a try of their own.

Thanks to Welwyn whose coaches did their best to accommodate a mixed Barnet side. With a number of league games in the pipeline, we managed to achieve our aim of giving those guys who are unlikely to figure, a decent run out. In fact, we fielded eleven players who hadn’t figured in the previous week’s league fixture. Unfortunately, it was against a much superior opposition than they’d normally hope to meet.