The early exchanges were hard fought with gain line breaking advances at a minimum. However a lineout steal on the Barry 22m line saw scrum half Jess Kavanagh go off on a blind side run that took her to within yards of the try line and following quick recycled ball prop Emma Edwards picked up and bulldozed her way to the line to score the opening try on seven minutes.
Both teams to their credit attempted to play attacking rugby despite the bitterly cold wind with Barry scrumhalf Louise Shanahan instrumental in trying to vary the Barry plan of attack.
On 20 minutes a Kavanagh kick and chase was fielded and momentum was maintained by ever-present Jenny Davies who on being prevented from releasing, allowed Jess Kavanagh to take a quick penalty to dash the required 30 yards to score close to the posts. Malen Williams slotted the conversion with ease to open a healthy 12-point margin.
Solid tackling was at a premium with flanker Grisial Pugh as prominent as most in Caernarfon colours.
After one of Barry’s most promising and sustained attacks towards the end of the half a penalty given away led to a devastating 70m breakaway and try for the Cofis.
Jenny Davies opted to run out of defence as opposed to clearing the lines and this caught the Barry rearguard cold as she sprinted all of 50m before the resultant pop-up saw Kavanagh at hand to complete the charge and score.
Before Barry could regroup a charge by centre Rhian Pritchard brought the Cofis close to the try line once again and from the resulting ruck captain Ceris Davies crowned a solid display by pirouetting to score and draw the half to a close.
Playing uphill after the break the Cofis overcomplicated matters thus playing into Barry hands. An offside from a kick and chase resulted in a series of short penalty charges but finally the ball was swept wide and Chelsea Cashman was able to squeeze in at the corner and bring Barry just reward.
At the time Barry were a lady short following a yellow card issued for a reckless but unintentional high tackle on flying centre Rhian Pritchard.
Despite the bitterly cold wind and having been starved of ball for much of the match wing Elin Evans’s good hands were instrumental in bringing Caernarfon within striking distance.
The match was made safe for the Cofis when a short penalty move was taken up by young flanker Morfydd Ifans who battled her way to the line and grounded beneath a heap of bodies. Malen Williams added the extras after a very promising standoff display.
Further yellow cards were issued during the final quarter for transgressions that would have had no bearing on the result but Barry made one final push and were rewarded for their efforts when Kim Jones found a gap following a short penalty charge and grounded out wide.
Caernarfon have two league games remaining being a trip to Croesyceiliog next week followed by Gorseinon at home a week later.
