Vikings win ugly at Barns Green

Ray Smart’s side which was overseen by assistant coaches Matt Chammings & Niel de Kock this week, produced a measured performance against the side relegated from Sussex Division One last season, and who were also unbeaten heading into game.

It was expected Barns Green would be a step up in class for the visitors, and they were certainly stronger than any team the Vikings had faced this season. They were keen to play rugby across the park, but the conditions were far from conducive to this style of play with heavy rain and strong winds battering down. In the end it became a battle of the forwards, which ultimately the Vikings won convincingly, which showed in the final result.

Ahead of the match Vikings lost the services of George Shannon who was scheduled to start at hooker. Captain Leon Gardner resumed his usual hooker position in his absence, and James Regnard replaced him at Number 8.

The Vikings preparation for the match was further disrupted after travel delays departing Guernsey caused kick off to be pushed back by 45-minutes. They had to get changed on the coach on route to the ground, and only had time for a 10-minute warm up before kickoff.

The short preparations did not have any negative effects on the Guernsey side initially however, as from the kick off they were immediately applying pressure to Barns Green, using the steep downward hill to their advantage early on. The hosts were moving the ball around, however the Vikings defence was solid. Both teams who clearly aim to play an expansive game were understandably unable to keep hold of the ball with knock on’s a regular occurrence throughout the match.

The Vikings were managing to apply early sustained pressure on attack, and were building phases and making metres into the home half. Mitch Smith and James Regnard were exceptionally impressive all game in the forwards, and made huge drives into the opposition half regularly and were a constant threat. Mitch Smith was named man of the match upon completion of the action, and it would be hard for anyone to disagree with that decision.

The first points of the match were scored by the Vikings after the referee award a penalty in the home 22, just front of the posts. Fly-half Matt Lomas slotting the most simple of kicks. It was not long before that lead would be extended as James Regnard scored the first of his two tries. The big back-row saw an opportunity to strike early into the first half, and he suitably dispatched several would-be defenders to burst over and score. Lomas was unable to add the conversion but Vikings were in early control.

Both teams had significant opportunities to attack, with possession changing over regularly due to the high number of knock on’s. Vikings were at this point still trying to play a fairly expansive game, but this was often for little avail as the first half drew on. Using the slope and with the wind behind them Lomas was excellently pinning back Barns Green into their half with a series of clever kicks in behind.

Whilst the Vikings could not transfer possession into points at this time and were struggling to make their initial game plan work in the conditions, their defence was exceptionally strong. For the final 20-minutes of the first half it became a stalemate, with Barns Green showing good organisation on attack and Vikings remaining resilient in defence, but also became sloppy in other areas which was no doubt frustrating for their coaching team.

During the break the visitors agreed a change of tactic, and resorted to a tight old fashioned forwards led game. Their big runners were now devastating the home defensive line, and along with Lucas Barker at inside centre they continually trucked deep into the Barns Green half and gaps and opportunities were opening up.

They extended their lead with another try from Regnard, this time from short range. The Vikings had been knocking on the hosts door for a while, and whilst they initially struggled to find a way of the line, Barns Green had no such power to stop Regnard from just a few metres out attacking with pace.

Vikings were now in full control and were enjoying long periods of possession. They executed the revised game plan to perfection and gave very little opportunity to the hosts to threaten, although they did slot a penalty in the second half.

As the game drew on Vikings went on to score two further tries through Brad Webb and deservedly for his immense showing, Mitch Smith, and penalty to take the game well out of Barns Green reach.

Whilst it was still not a perfect performance, the it was encouraging to see the Vikings adapt their style of play in the second half to match the conditions, and to score four tries and not concede against a good side was pleasing for coach Matt Chammings.

“I thought our second half performance was excellent today, but the first half not so much. Whilst we started strongly we went to sleep again for 20-minutes and didn’t adapt our style of play to the conditions. When we went to a tighter game in the second half I was relieved that it worked really well, and I felt we handled the conditions much better. It was pleasing to see we can play ugly when we need to.”

"It was very pleasing to see us score 4 tries in those conditions however, and to keep them out was equally as impressive. We must keep learning, but the second half today was an excellent. Mitch, James Regnard and Lucas were really good today, they stepped up when it mattered most and helped us get the job done."

B Paul
L Gardner (c)
N Ashplant
M Smith
B Webb
C Croft
T Rihoy
J Regnard
B Holland
M Lomas
P Le Noury
L Barker
C Gladstone
C Le Prevost
T Chammings

J Mroch
T Ritchie-Bandy
J Smith