This was a match approached with some trepidation, given that Aber have conceeded 18 goals in their last 3 fixtures against the champions and scored only 3. However, Aber have generally enjoyed good home form this season (apart from occasional matches against Anglesea sides we shall not mention) so an upset could not be ruled out. It didn't happen, but Aber emerged from the match with credit, and some may perhaps have felt they were a little hard done by. Aber, playing an unchanged 11 from the game at Carmarthen, opened the match with an attack which ended with Ovendale in the Barry goal tipping Allen's shot over his bar. That was as good as it got for a while as Barry camped out in the Aber half for the next 20-odd minutes, the strong wind aiding
their attacks and making Stewarts kicking look very shoddy. But Aber defended stoutly enough and all Barry gained from their pressure was a close range headed goal from, predictably enough, Williams, although they did hit the woodwork on two occasions in the half and their finishing was below their usual standards, perhaps due to the absence of Darren Ryan. Aber came back in to the match more towards the end of the half, but the main incident of note was Chris Pike being brought down by K in his area and almost getting booked for diving before the ref saw he was hurt and had him wheeled off, not to re-appear. Merry must have been even more inspirational than usual during the interval as Aber began attacking strongly, only to be hit on the break by Barry, with Lee Barrow scoring a looping header from a corner. With a two goal cushion and with their attack weakened by the absense of Pike, Barry seemed happy to sit back and defend for the rest of the half. Aber attack well at times, forcing Ovendale into
several saves from long range with perhaps the best effort coming from Hayden Fleming. Barry's main attacking threat was the pace of Williams on the break, but he was well dealt with by the Aber defence, especially the ever dependable Kane. Aber did conceed a penalty with about 10 mins to go but Kinninmonth, who had a pretty faultless match, saved well diving to his left from Gary Lloyd. Supersub Hughes was introduced late on for the injured Evans and did bewilder the Barry defence on occasion, but the
champions were too organised and Aber were to be denied a goal.
Overall, it was a creditable performance from the seasiders and most would have settled for a 2-0 defeat before the match, given the opposition. Well, I would have anyway. The defence played well, and even managed cover for Vick and Fleming when their attacking sorties had them caught out of position. In midfield Griff was as courageous and as lacking in control as ever and Dai Parry had a less anonymous game than usual. Up front, Gav, Ry
and Andy all performed well while failing to creat any clear opportunities. Andy was probably the pick of the three, especially in the first half, with Allen incurring the wrath of the shed and Ryan showing his usual pace and skill along with his usual habit of spending too much time on the ball and getting dispossessed. K did everything that could be expected of him in
goal, with the penalty save an added bonus. Overall, it could perhaps have been better, but it could have been a whole lot worse.
