BARRY TOWN 2 RHYL 0
BARRY TOWN stand on the verge an astonishing fourth successive League of Wales championship after battling out a hard-earned victory over relegation-threatened Rhyl at Jenner Park yesterday.
The win means that they need a solitary point from their game against Carmarthen Town at Jenner Park on Tuesday to set the champagne corks popping yet again.
That game should draw a bumper crowd and it is well deserved for Barry have set the standards for the rest of the sides have yet to follow.
Some may have thought that Barry would struggle after selling Eifion Williams to Torquay in midweek.
They shouldn't have worried though because Mark Dempsey pounced after 36 minutes and Justin Perry got the second 12 minutes into the second half.
The big striker from North Wales was signed by the Division Three outfit on deadline day this week for �70,000 and helped his new side beat Hartlepool 3-0 and clinch the vital three points.
Wales B cap Williams has finally proved the critics who thought he didn't have what it takes to make the grade wrong.
As a League of Wales hotshot, he was trailed by both Cardiff City and Swansea City, but neither club was willing to gamble on him. He also spent a week on trial at Portsmouth "I came here hoping to do well and have had a dream start scoring a hat-trick, " said Williams. "My parents came all the way down to watch me play from Caernarfon.
�I always believed I had the ability to score goals and that is why the manager here bought me.
�I have always believed I could do it in the football League and I think I proved that today.
"This is only the beginning. I still have ambitions to make it in the Premiership, but I am with Torquay for three years and can�t wait for the next game.
�The pace of the game is much quicker than in the League of Wales but I managed to find some space and made Hartlepool pay today."
The shock announcement was given to the players yesterday morning as they prepared for a training session.
It is believed an advertisement for the sale of the club, which has a full-time professional squad, will appear on Monday.
One player, who did not want to be named, said: "It's a bombshell for the players with families, it's a real kick in the teeth.
"General manager Chris Aust came into the changing rooms and said that chairman Paula O'Halloran could take the club no further. The players had heard rumours, but we did not think it was going to be that bad."
The Dragons are on course for their fourth consecutive League of Wales title needing just four points to retain their crown this term,
Their prize asset, striker Eifion Williams, was sold to Torquay on Thursday for �70,000.
Earlier this year Barry Town signed a new sponsorship deal with Bass
Brewers. The three-year deal replaced sponsors Vale of Glamorgan Council.
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This page edited by the Yellow Dragon, 1999.
This article first published in the Wales on Sunday, 28.03.1999.
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