More great entertaining rugby

I think we first played against Worthing 13 years ago; their outside centre in this game, Kiba Richards, played against us 12 years ago. Matt Mclean, their fullback, has caused Barnes a lot of trouble since March 2012; Ciaran played in that game. Nick Van Buuren played in several 1st team games in 2011-12.

The home team regained their shortish kick-off then recycled 6 times before kicking through the defensive line to get their line-out 13 metres out. From that they advanced to 5 metres out with 2 more tight recycles; after another 3 recycles their fly-half Forrest chipped through again. Backstop McLean raced to get the ball just before the dead ball line, catching Barnes off guard. This before two and a half minutes then the try scorer's conversion from wide out missed. Worthing returned the high restart to the 22 with an up-and-under; the visitors' no.8 set off running. Recycling wide their inside centre made ground and following 2 recycles the defence was penalised 21 metres out. Barnes' scrumhalf ran the penalty and one recycle sent lock Seabright to the line wide out just after 5 minutes. Again the conversion missed.

The second restart resulted in a scrum for the visitors 16 metres inside their half. At that the opposition were penalised and the touch gained 26 metres. From the line-out Barnes went wide; after 5 phases they lost possession and Worthing went wide then their error resulted in a Barnes' scrum 6 metres into the opposition half. The ball was kept in to get a penalty that was kicked for another line-out at the 22. Their pack's drive from there went down then they recycled blind to get to the line. Their 5 metre scrum followed and from it they soon released. The defending fly-half anticipated his opposite number's pass and ran to the posts at the other end at 13 minutes; McLean added.

Worthing soon used an up-and-under after the restart; the visitors secured the ball then another error enabled Worthing to hack the ball to the opposition 22. Barnes got the ball and soon cleared to touch 3 metres from halfway. Worthing went wide from the line-out then passed forward at the visitors' 10 metre line. From the scrum Barnes went blind then after 7 mixed phases the defence forced an error to get a scrum at their 10 metre line. Following that Worthing went wide then retained possession for 3 close phases before a near interception gave then another scrum at the same distance. After this one they broke through at centre with an almost flat pass and made a lot of ground; they were penalised at the next breakdown and the visitors kicked for a line-out 10 metres past halfway. That was stolen and Worthing went wide; after 4 mixed recycles they used an up-and-under. Soon three more kicks followed then the visitors forced an error to get a scrum put-in 8 metres into the opposition half. The ball was first kept in then the defence was caught offside after release 2 metres ahead. The kick took Barnes to 15 metres out and the pack set for a drive that was held. The forwards recycled close twice then inside centre Van Buuren broke through and when tackled stretched over to score not far from the posts after 25 minutes. O'Toole added.

The visitors soon used an up-and-under after the restart and that resulted in their penalty 12 metres inside their half. The kick gained 13 metres and after releasing from the line-out and one recycle they passed forward. From the scrum 5 metres inside their half, an almost flat pass put centre Richards through the line of defence and 2 passes sent McLean to the posts at 29 minutes. He added.

Worthing secured the high restart and recycled twice before launching an up-and-under; Barnes no.8 set off and made good ground resulting in a penalty 8 metres past halfway. That was run but the defence quickly forced a turnover; they recycled close 3 times before trying another up-and-under. The visitors got that and after 4 mostly close phases kicked ahead to the 22; Worthing cleared to touch 5 metres from halfway. They stole the slow-thrown line-out and went wide; after a near intercept the Ref. went back to another line-out for the home team, but 3 metres ahead. Just after that Barnes won a turnover and advanced with 4 phases before their scrum put-in 14 metres into the opposition half. At that they kept the ball in then their scrumhalf made a half break before the ball was recycled to outside centre Cornish who rounded the first defender and went to the line near the posts after 36 minutes. The fly-half added. The visitors just secured the restart; they recycled once close then once wide. A very good run by left wing Ruddock stretched the defence and made space for the other wing Martey who finished well at the posts within 2 minutes of the previous try. An easy conversion. The halftime whistle went soon after the restart; Barnes had a 7 point lead.

The second half restart resulted in a line-out for the home team 18 metres from their line. After some short exchanges in Worthing's half that included 3 kicks and one line-out the visitors were penalised for not releasing. The kick went into touch at halfway and after the line-out Worthing put together half a dozen mixed phases before sending a good kick into touch 16 metres from the opposition goal line. The visitors soon used a very good up-and-under that went into touch deep into the other half. From this line-out Worthing put together their best set of phases of the game. From 18 metres inside their half with 11 varied phases they got close to their opponents line before the defence forced an error to get a scrum put-in. Barnes were penalised in the scrum and Worthing chose another. From that McLean came into the line close; the ball was recycled close 7 times before the defence was penalised again and lost a man for 10 minutes. Another scrum was chosen and after 8 close phases lock Lee got over not far from the posts at 13 minutes. The fullback's conversion surprisingly missed. Worthing cleared the restart to touch 4 metres from halfway. Barnes scored from the line-out with an excellent attack. First they released to centre then 9 mostly close phases preceded a couple of passes that sent replacement centre Holmes over wide out at 17 minutes. The conversion was wide.

For the next 10 minutes Worthing had good possession and did most of the attacking but were held out. Details: the visitors used and up-and-under soon after the restart; that resulted in a penalty for their opponents at halfway. The kick gained 11 metres then from the line-out Worthing put together another very good sequence of 9 phases often using wider ball to get close to the line. After another 5 close recycles they got a 5 metre scrum but the defence was restored to 15 players. After a back row pickup and one close recycle they went wide then were turned over. Barnes soon kicked for territory; Worthing got the ball and recycled close 3 times before breaking through the defence. Another 3 phases got them a penalty 27 metres out that they kicked to touch to almost 5 metres out. Following the line-out their drive was held then after 2 recycles the defence forced an error and got the loose ball. The visitors kicked long into the other half; Worthing kicked and Barnes ran back. This resulted in a scrum for the home team 13 metres from their own line, after having been 5 metres from the opposition line less than 2 minutes previously. From the scrum they soon used an up-and-under that resulted in their line-out 14 metres from halfway from which they quickly advanced to another 19 metres ahead. A high tackle penalty after that was kicked for a third line-out 29 metres from the visitors' line. From this one they quickly released and after one recycle the opposition fly-half intercepted and ran off before passing to Martey who went to the line not far from the posts after the half hour. The backstop kicked for the extra 2 points but missed.

Barnes soon used and up-and-under after the restart and got the ball back; they attacked quickly with 6 phases before kicking to Worthing's line. They used another up-and-under after the long 22 drop-out then won a turnover that turned into their penalty 17 metres into the opposition half near centre field. Worthing were sent 10 metres further back and the fly-half kicked the 3 points after 34 minutes.

The visitors used another up-and-under following the restart; this was nearly vertical and their opponents got it. Worthing kept the ball for 5 phases, trying wider, and got a penalty 26 metres from the visitors' line. They kicked for a line-out 9 metres out; their drive was held but resulted in another penalty. A trivial altercation involving several players followed. The next line-out resulted in an opposition scrum; after it Worthing forced a turnover recycled mostly close 5 times before McLean chipped through for wing Forrest to chase and touch down near the posts. McLean added to take his tally to half his team's points before the whistle.

100% blue sky, dry, the Sun warming but cool later; some wind and the pitch firm.