Goal: Nick
Defence: Sam, Batts, Chris, Ian
Midfield: Mike, Lefils, Jacko, Mani
Attack: Jim, John
Sub: Injured Colin
Lino: Very injured Phil
So, Barely signed off the season, and Rich Batten's last match in charge - save for a coerced u-turn in the face of peer-pressure - with a defeat. But the story of the match was one of defiance as a scratch team containing no less than three newbies - 'Tats' Chris, 'Striker' John and 'Jacko's brother' Ian - put together a performance that belied the threadbare structure. In the end, it was fatigue that did for them, as with 80 minutes on the clock and Mathern subbing like an editor with a late-night deadline, the pressure told.
But it was Barely who twice led, though both goals had an element of luck. The pattern of the game was set as Barely soaked up the Mathern pressure and then counter-attacked at speed; but the goal was down to harrassing the Mathern back-line as Mike forced a defender into an under-hit back pass - and Jim was on it in a flash, belting the ball first time past the keeper.
The game returned to it's normal pattern of to-and-fro, but to be fair Barely were sailing close to the wind on a number of occasions as runners came through from the Mathern midfield and weren't picked up. A combination of blocks, catches from Nick and the odd wayward finish kept Barely ahead, but when Mathern did force the ball in, it felt it had been coming. 1-1.
Again, Barely went ahead, and this time Chris' deep free kick from only ten yards past the halfway line was allowed - bizarrely - to bounce in the box, from where it sailed over the Mathern keeper to put Barely 2-1 up. And it might have been 3-1 had John's snap-shot effort clipped the other side of the post - who knows what that would have done to Mathern? Instead though, they came back off the ropes, and after another period of sustained attacking scored the best goal of the game with a far-post finish after they sliced the Barely back line apart.
Halftime came with the score at 2-2, and Mike and Nick swapped positions with all else staying the same, save for Colin's periodical appearances to give people a breather. But with the wind against Barely in the second half they began on the back foot, and credit to the back line that the opening salvo from Mathern led to nought. Barely eked their way back into the game through the midfield promptings of Lefils and Jacko and the control of Jim upfront.
But the goal wouldn't come for either side, and as the half wore on Mathern used the roll-on subs to good effect, utilising their eighty-four subs at every dead ball to keep their legs fresh. And as the game reached it's closing stages the pressure told when they finally broke through the back line to go ahead for the first time in the game. And having conceded, Barely lost all shape as they went for broke looking for an equaliser, and instead let another one in. It might have been worse - the ref disallowed what looked like a valid goal at 3-2 and Mike produced an astonishing double-block from point-blank range as the Barely collapse took on proportions that were probably visible from space. It was a shame to end a tightly contested match as a bit of a shambles but, as we have noted above, by this time Barely were spent from their valiant efforts, and in that sense it crystallized a stirring season.
Jim took man of the match by a distance, though there were nods to Rich, Fizzy, Chris and Ian. Your correspondent would like to nominate the whole back line for their bellicose obduracy, but perhaps that's because I don't normally play there... anyway, nobody was too down after this, and the Barely Reporter would like to thank Batts (and Nick and Ioan for organisation roles) for taking the management mantle these past two seasons. Barely will finish fourth or fifth and for an aging team who often struggle to get an eleven out, that has to be defined as a roaring success.
Well done everyone.
