Ivel Barbarians Under 19s hosted their visitors from North Petherton on Sunday in the first round of the Somerset Cup.  The two sides have enjoyed hard, close games in recent years and with excellent weather conditions the scene was set for another battle. 

The initial pressure came from the Ivel youngsters who rucked aggressively and secured quick ball for the backs.  The large Petherton pack conceded a series of penalties and when one was conceded within kickable range, Tom Flynn stepped up and took the three points on offer. 

Ivel defended well, absorbing a lot of pressure and turning over the ball on several occasions enbabling the backs to move the ball wide and quickly and soon Connor Hartley cut a great line through the North Petherton defence to score a try, converted by Flynn. 

Ivel began to raise the intensity and started to dominate the scrum and breakdown area and once again the visitors conceded a kickable penalty which Flynn duly converted.  The game plan of playing a wide game was working well with both wingers, Will Hopkinson and Josh Galloway enjoying several great runs.  A kick ahead from Galloway resulted in a chase which Rob Burnell won to score another try. 

Up front the Dunn brothers, Jason and Craig provided a solid platform in the front row against a larger pack used to dominating in this area.  The Ivel forwards not only produced great set piece but were also running great support lines and it was no surprise to see lock Sam Reeves out in the back line and scoring another try, converted by Flynn. 

The second half started with Ivel continuing to mount the pressure on the visitors.  Some great offloading and support work then saw Flynn going over for a try which he duly converted.  At this point the game became scrappy with several stoppages and the game seemed to lose its fluidity although the Ivel defence remained resolute and stood firm. 

The Ivel bench of Ben Watkins, James Donnelly and James St Clair all made an impact when they came on and did not reduced the effectiveness of the Ivel side at all.  A tug on a Petherton shirt resulted in a converted penalty try which seemed was the only way that the visitors looked like scoring. 

Final score of 32-7 to Ivel sees the youngsters through to the quarter finals.