FOR the second successive season Barry Town have been dumped out of the Welsh Cup by a Connah's Quay Nomads side which had been reduced to ten men.
The Town conceded the goal that cost them the game in the ninth minute when, following a quick break by the Nomads, the Dragons defence failed to deal with a low cross from the right. Terry Evans put in one goal saving tackle, blocking a shot on the line, but could do nothing to prevent Stuart Raine from slamming the ball into the back of the net.
From then, Barry knew that they had a battle on their hands. Connah's Quay started to stretch the laws of the game to breaking point and there was a flurry of bookings. Among them were Jamie Hughes, who tripped Gary Lloyd and Raine, who was cautioned for kicking the ball away.
As the temperature of the game started to heat up, Hughes, who had looked dangerous throughout, slid in late on Barry's goalkeeper, David Wells, and referee, Mr.H Griffiths from Merthyr, had no hesitation in producing a second yellow card for Hughes and then a red one. A storm erupted as the Connah's Quay players surrounded the ref to protest and Hughes was reluctant to leave the field.
There were just eight minutes of the half remaining, but the Nomads managed to defend their lead until the interval.
Barry, who had started with Danny Carter and Terry Evans, as well as welcoming back Wales B internationals Gary Lloyd and Eifion Williams, replaced Paul Mitchell with Justin Perry at the start of the second half, hoping that the extra fire power would help them get back into the game.
Barry forced seven corners in the first ten minutes of the second half as they went in search of an equaliser but the Nomads defence stood firm and they always threatened to hit Barry on the break. Raine should have done better than just send a weak shot into the arms of Wells following one swift counter-attack involving Kenworthy and Futcher.
Barry were camped on the edge of the Nomad's penalty-area for all of the second half and Justin Perry looked to have put the Dragons back in the game when he finally beat Collister in the Nomads goal, but his effort was disallowed for an earlier foul.
The Nomads work rate was phenomenal, as they hounded and harried Barry, who were having great difficulties in playing their normal crisp passing game, with the Connah's Quay tactics knocking Barry, sometimes literally, out of their stride.
At one point, Barry's passing was so woeful that you had to wonder if it was being done deliberately, to give Eifion Williams a taste of what it might be like playing for Cardiff City!
The Town were forced into shooting from the edge of the penalty area, but never to a degree that really tested Collister. Raine had a superb chance to finish the game when he robbed Andrew York but his finish was poor.
In the last minutes of the game, Perry had an excellent chance to earn the Town a replay, but he somehow managed to get under the ball and head it over the bar. Just seconds later Williams found himself in an almost identical position. Techically, Williams got the header right, but the Nomads defence cleared the ball off the line to give the Deesiders a second famous Welsh Cup victory over the Town.
This defeat will act as a timely reminder, especially with an FAW Premier Cup tie against Merthyr coming up soon, that despite being a professional outfit, if Barry are not on top of their game, there are plenty of teams out there who are good enough on their day to cause an upset.
Those clubs still in the tournament will have had their appetites whetted by Barry's demise, none more so than Connah's Quay who reached the final last year only to lose out to Bangor City and will be keen to go one better this season. In the next round they will play the winner of the Inter Cabletel v Pontardawe tie which was played yesterday afternoon (Wednesday, February 17).
The full draw is: Connah's Quay v Inter CableTel or Pontardawe; Carmarthen v Port Talbot; TNS v Cwmbran and Ammanford v Conwy.
The talented Ryan has some fond memories of his time with the Town, particularly his first season, when the club won everything.
"That first season when we did a clean sweep of all the trophies, sticks in my mind as one of the highlights of my time at Jenner Park, as does our run in Europe, when we won in Latvia and beat the Hungarian side from Budapest," said Darren.
A need to move closer to home, he hails from Oswestry, resulted in Ryan putting in a number of transfer requests, before the club decided that he could leave with a year remaining on his contract. A possible move to Shrewsbury didn't materialise and he signed for TNS Llansantffraid.
He is now happily settled, is in the process of buying a house and is enjoying his football with TNS.
Said Ryan, "The move back home has been great and TNS are not doing so bady. It is a bit different from winning every week, but we are on a run at the moment and I'm looking forward to returning to Barry and meeting a few familiar faces."
He still keeps in touch with Gary Lloyd and Danny Carter, visiting the Carter household over Christmas.
Ryan will be remembered at Jenner Park for moments of brilliance, madness and occasional indifference.
At his best, Ryan's ball skills and unpredictability would torment any defence and he scored some outstanding goals; Ryan's own favourite being the curling shot against Bangor City in the Premier Cup.
Then there were the moments of madness, such as the ball throwing incident against Dynamo Kiev at Jenner Park in the European Cup qualifying round, which resulted in Ryan being shown the red card, and there was the occasional game when he would just withdraw into himself and appear uninterested.
If he is on top of his game, then the Barry defence will have to watch him like a hawk and if he comes up against his old pal Gary Lloyd, then that will be worth the admission charge on its own.
Despite new manager Andy Cale, bringing a new team to TNS, the Saints, who were tipped as possible title contenders at the start of the season, have failed to justify that pre-season optimism, suffering, as they did last year, from far too many draws (eight of their twenty league games have ended level).
But Ryan is confident that the Saints can turn things around in the remaining months. Their recent run has taken them into fifth place and they are still in the Welsh Cup, with Ryan scoring one of the goals in the 2-1 defeat of Rhayader last Saturday.
"I had a brilliant time at Barry, the club really looked after me and I made a lot of friends there. They are still the club to beat, the club which sets the standards.
"We would be happy to qualify for the Premier Cup and there is also a possibility of qualifying for Europe, maybe through the Welsh Cup." added a chirpy and contented Darren Ryan.
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This page edited by the Yellow Dragon, 1999.
This article first published in the Barry Gem, 18.02.1999.
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