First half burst ease Town past battling Nomads
by Stephen Johnson
TWO first half strikes were just enough to give Barry Town FC a 2-1 win against a highly organised and determined Connah's Quay Nomads who forced the town on to the back foot for long periods of the second half in a highly enjoyable game at Jenner Park.
Not since the second half against Kiev have Barry come under such pressure. Full credit to a Nomads side that had been hammered 5-1 the week before at Cwmbran and found themselves 2-0 at half-time, that they could bounce back.
"On the day, they worked harder than us in putting pressure on the ball and we only played to our potential for about 20 minutes, but during those 20 minutes we scored the two goals . We have had a great start to the season and expectations are very high, with people expecting us to win by five or six goals every week, but anyone who knows anything about professional football knows that it is not possible and with winter coming, we will have to grind out a few results", said coach Gary Barnett.
It is not often that Barry have to concede such a great deal of possession, but the Barry defence, with both Gary Barnett and Danny Carter dropping deep to help out, did a great job in protecting Ovendale, and while the Nomads did close down, Barry quickly fought hard for the ball and pushed forward with some purpose and it was Phil Collister in the Nomads goal who was by far the busiest keeper on te day.
Deflection
While it may have been a lackluster Barry performance, the Town still created a hatful of chances, but Collister was in fine form and it took a cruel deflection from a Phil Johnson shot which clipped the heel of Carl Smyth to leave Collister stranded, which finally beat the keeper, who hadf shown great agility in coming off his line and keeping the Dragons at bay. Smyth did redeem himself a little later when Eifion Williams robbed Collister and side-footed towards an empty net but the big defener arrived in time to clear off the line.
Just before half-time, Barry managed to get behind the Quay's defence when Terry Evans and Danny Carter combined and Carter's near post cross was volleyed home by Darren Ryan.
That should have been that. Barry started the second half looking for more goals and both Johnson and Lloyd brought fine full-length saves from Collister inside the first two minutes of the restart. But it was the Nomads who scored on 48 minutes when Chris Davies slipped between two Barry defenders and slipped the ball past the advancing Ovendale.
Blocked
With the reinvigorated Connah's Quay pushing forward, Barry found it difficult to work those telling passes in behind the Connah's Quay defence. When they did, they came up against Collister who continued to thwart the Town. On one occasion, he blocked shots from Ryan and Williams in quick succession to prevent a third goal.
Three more points for the Dragons who maintain an eight point lead over second placed Cwmbran Town, who like last week, played Barry's next opponents, Rhyl.
Cwmbran won 2-0, but overall, Rhyl have been this season's surprise club. With the team based around a nucleus of the British Universities side. in Leon Gierke, who has been offered at trial with Nottingham Forest, and Steve Jones, Rhyl have a lively strike force. The Town could have Richard Jones back from injury.
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This report first published in the Barry Gem, 13.11.1997.
League of Wales match report, Barry Town - Connah's Quay Nomads, 08.11.97
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