BARELY BOUNCE BACK FROM REUNION DEBACLE

AXA 3 Barely Athletic 5

LINE UP: Steve in goal, back four of Andy, Danny, Phil and Sam, Midfield of Rich, Jim, Rich and Ioan, Mani and Nick upfront.

Rolling subs from: Tom, Jerry and Lee.

With the league two games old, Barely had a W1 D0 L1 record so this game really felt like it might be a defining moment for the team in orangey-yellow and black stripes. Would they fall away as against Reunion? Or hammer out a couple of points as they had done against whoever it was they won against?

Whatever happened it looked as if the breeze would play a part as it gusted across the pitch, making the players look stoic and interlocked with destiny. Rich Cormack (grey eyes, heroic, windswept) picked his namesake Rich Sloper (blue eyes, rugged, wistful) in midfield to give it a bit of aggression as the team vowed to win for Rich Batten (blue eyes, broken arm). Rich Jackson was disappointingly nowhere to be seen, steering this particular paragraph up a narrative cul-de-sac.

The game started in brisk fashion as the AXA forwards tested the pace of Danny and Phil at the back, turning sharply on passes into their feet. As ever, they found Barely's established centre-backs no slouches and Barely held firm. More than that, they were launching rapid counter-attacks, particularly down the left where Rich (Cormack, etc) and Andy Lilford were establishing an understanding that belied the embryonic nature of their relationship. Sure enough it was Andy who wellied a ball into the back of a net from the edge of the box to give Barely the lead, and make everyone reappraise exactly what the left-back role can be.

Shortly afterwards Barely were pressurizing again and after a couple of efforts were blocked, the loose ball fell to Lilford who duly dispatched it into the goal for his second.

However a team is traditionally vulnerable after scoring, and having scored twice in succession Barely seemed twice as vulnerable as AXA did exactly the same, bringing the scores level at 2-2 as Barely suddenly looked porous at the back. In the midst of this madness both Rich Sloper and Nick had pulled their calf muscles and been replaced by Lee and Tom, and it was the latter who finished sublimely from an angle to put Barely back in front. Either shortly before or after that Jim added another cracker from outside the box and Barely found themselves 4-2 up. The game then swung this way and that like an indecisive bisexual trying to commit to a long term relationship, before half-time came and Barely realized they faced not only AXA in the second period, but also the wind.

Despite some shaky defending early on Barely held firm, the back four relishing the challenge AXA were presenting. Sam in particular was relishing it so much he decided to give the ball away as often as possible just to see if he could get it back. But when AXA did break through Steve's positioning and sticky gloves meant all their reward was a display of catching from Barely's keeper. In an attacking sense Barely were unsurprisingly less demonstrative in the second half but they still had their moments. The best of them came when Jerry (on for Ioan at half-time) jinked his way past the left-back and was brought down in the area. There was little protest from AXA when the ref pointed to the spot, and penalty-expert Jerry generously handed over duties to penalty-amateur Andy (last effort seen heading over Catbrain) to see if he could claim a hat-trick.

With Barely's lead only one goal was this a luxury they couldn't afford?

No - Andy duly thumped it past the keeper to claim a hat-trick from left back and ultimately stage a coup of the man-of-the-match award, the voting for which was bypassed in favour of some jealous taunting. But before that happened Barely saw out the game with nary a flutter, their two-goal lead taking the wind out of AXA's sails somewhat. So, despite the patchy nature of the game, a good day at the office for Barely and some cracking goals as well.