Bridport 10 Ivel Barbarians 43

BRIDPORT suffered a fourth defeat in five in Dorset & Wilts One South as they had no answer to the league leaders’ supremacy.

The visitors scored the first of their half-a-dozen tries as early as the sixth minute but Bridport did hit back with a Bob Lester-Card penalty.

But 5-3 was as good as it got for the hosts who conceded three further tries in the first half as the Barbarians secured a bonus point inside 40 minutes.

All three were converted while a penalty made it 29-3 at the break, leaving Bridport with a daunting second half ahead of them.

However, they came out the stronger after the restart and got a try of their own when flanker Dan Postles touched down and Lester-Card converted.

But there was to be no great fight back and the Barbarians responded just two minutes later with a fifth score then in the 75th-minute they repeated the feat. Both were converted to make it 43-10.

“They are the best team we’ve played in the league,” said Bridport team manager Arthur Barclay. “They were well-drilled in all departments.

“We had a few players out but should have put on a better show.

“We had a good spell after half-time and put pressure on them but they defended well on their own line.

“We nearly had a try when Rob Sullivan was held up over the line but other than that we were chasing the game.”

He added: “We’ve had so many players missing and got such a small squad.

“When you lose five or six you’re struggling anyway, especially when you’re try- ing to field a second side as well.

“We’ve had about seven or eight injured and we have to make half-a-dozen changes every week. We have already got the same number out for Saturday when we go to Wimborne Seconds and that’s without any injuries we might pick up in the week.”