BARLA U23's 1 Point Defeat

Thompsons under 23s reeling in disapointment from 1 point defeat

Artur Martirosyan Snr Memorial Competition

The Unison BARLA GB under 23s are reeling in disappointment from the losing the inaugural Artur Martirosyan Memorial competition after such a strong start to the tour on Friday beating a Ukraine students side 46-12.

The under 23s side were on track for a similar performance when they beat convincingly the Ukraine Students and Ukraine national sides 48-6 and 32-6 respectively. The russian champions Moscow Vereya also beat the Ukraine delegates to set up a winner takes all finale.

Despite BARLA getting the ball over the line twice the tally remained scoreless for the majority of the 15 minutes each way game, until 5 minutes before the final whistle where Eduard Ososkov dropped the one pointer and hung on the for memorable win.

Kevin Thompson said
“It’s a bitter disappointment because we played so well up to the point against the Ukraine students and Ukraine national team. I thought we were outstanding and played some fabulous rugby league but in the final game against Russia (Moscow Vereya) it was quite an arm wrestle.
Only a 30 minute game and quite a few dubious decisions that we are unhappy with but don’t take anything away from Russia. They tackled very, very well and took the opportunity of the drop goal and hung on for the win.

I thought throughout the competition Dave Johnson played outstandingly well he played 2 and half games of the three and showed he’s a top athlete and a promising BARLA international. Leigh Rientoul lead the team around very well adding another 3 tries to his tour tally, Dave Lowery did his usual stint upfront and overall I can’t fault the boys for effort.
We played really well for 2 games scoring 15 tries but just at the final hurdle we fell because of a drop goal, we couldn’t get over line. We had 2 tries disallowed 1 of which I thought was fair enough and the over 50/50, we did have some strange decisions and we even thought the game was cut short by 3 minutes each half.
That sounds a little bit sour grapes, it’s not easy to lose and you don’t mind when you’ve been out played. I didn’t think that was the case today, circumstances and short games were against us.
We’ve just got to take this on the chin and come back fighting for the international match on Tuesday. I’m sure the lads will be completely switched and be eager to make up for today’s disappointment.”

Full Results
Ukraine Students 6, BARLA 48
Ukraine 6, Moscow Vereya 12
Ukraine 6, BARLA 32
Ukraine Students 0 Moscow Vereya 38
Ukraine Students 0 Ukraine 40
BARLA 0 Moscow Vereya 1

Final Standings
P W L D F A Dif Pts
Moscow Vereya 3 3 0 0 51 6 45 6
BARLA U23s 3 2 1 0 80 13 66 4
Ukraine 3 1 2 0 52 44 8 2
Ukraine Students 3 0 3 0 6 126 -120 0

Ukraine Students .. 6
BARLA .. 48

Ukraine Students Tries : Sergey Davidov (23) Goals : Vladamir Voitov 1/1

BARLA Tries : Shaun Quinn (1), Jamie Dodds (6), Andy Greaves (9,22), Leigh Rientoul (23, 16) Leon Brennan (20), Gavin Hunter (26) Andrew Groves (27)
Goals : Shaun Quinn 5/8

BARLA Team : 22 Shaun Quinn 10 Andrew Groves 14 Gavin Hunter 21 Leigh Rientoul 17 Sam Jones 2 Leon Brennan 8 Timmy Elliott 19 Dave Lowery 11 Scott Green 23 Steve Talbot 3 Dave Cookson 7 Jamie Dodds 16 Dave Johnson Subs 18 Ben Kendall 20 Keiron Johnson 12 Andrew Groves 4 James Craven

Ukraine .. 6
BARLA .. 32

Ukraine Tries : Artur Martirosyan (30) Goals : Alexander Skorback 1/1

BARLA Tries : Leigh Rientoul (3), James Craven (8), Shaun Quinn (10, 19), Dave Johnson (11), Rhys Davies (27)

BARLA Team : 22 Shaun Quin 10 Andrew Greaves 14 Gavin Hunter 21 Leigh Rientoul 4 James Craven 5 Jamie Dallimore 8 Timmy Elliott 18 Ben Kendall 11 Scott Green 19 Dave Lowery 16 Dave Johnson 7 Jamie Dodds 13 Tom Hill Subs : 6 Rhys Davies 23 Steve Talbot 3 Dave Cookson 2 Leon Brennan

BARLA .. 0
Moscow Vereya .. 1

Moscow Vereya Drop Goal Eduard Ososkov

BARLA Team : 6 Rhys Davies 12 Andrew Groves 14 Gavin Hunter 21 Leigh Rientoul 17 Sam Jones 5 Jamie Dallimore 8 Timmy Elliott 19 Dave Lowery 1 Aiden Bowden 18 Ben Kendall 7 Jamie Dodds 16 Dave Johnson 13 Tom Hill Subs 3 Dave Cookson 2 Leon Brennan 9 Lee Fewlass 22 Shaun Quinn