Same Old Story for Old Boys

Barely Athletic 0  Nailsea Old Boys 4

Goal: Tom
Defence: Nick, Batts, Jacko, Colin
Midfield: Chris, Richie, Mike, Sam
Attack: Lefils, Adam

Subs: Danny, Ian

With the Keynsham pitches waterlogged, Nailsea had generously stepped in and agreed to host today's tie at short notice. One would assume playing at home suited them better anyway, as the immediate challenge for any opposition team is finding the ground, located as it in a tear in the space/time fabric somewhere between the A370 and the Atlantic Ocean - en route the team witnessed a succession of vintage vehicles - or as Mike would have them "old bangers" - on their way to a rally. The comparison with Barely is so tempting that your correspondent must leave it fallow, so as not to invite accusations of lazy journalism. Anyway, having made it to the pitch, Barely had taken the first step toward what would be a historic victory, given that Nobs have apparently only been beaten once in two years (by Barely, as it happens).

With "recognisable" keeper Tom between the sticks, and new boy Adam providing the pace to abet Lefils' guile up front, Barely hoped to cause a shock. But when the whistle went it was Nobs who controlled from the off, the new breed of Old Boys looking a little less aged than the old lot. In fact Barely's main  points of focus in the early period of the game were mostly clearing their lines and trying to get Lefils to calm down, as a series of wayward passes into touch, or to the hosts, or just into randomly unhelpful destinations had him at fury-factor five with only ten minutes played.

But even Nobs could not expect to have the game all their own way, and as Barely looked to break Fizzy made inroads down the right only to see his cross sail over Adam. They had broke so quickly that the rest of the team were still struggling to get into the box. And the pressure came back again, only with half an hour now played Barely were feeling the heat. Sure enough, a blocked shot and the ball fell invitingly to a Nobs midfielder who deftly chipped Tom from the edge of the box.

Ian came on for Adam as the subs began to roll, and Barely saw out the rest of the half still hanging on, and agreed that as good as Nobs clearly are the boys in orangey-yellow and black-fading-to-grey stripes were not performing at their best. Danny came on at centre-back and other than that the team stayed as they were.

But the second half was not kind to Barely. They started well - Richie powering through the middle and getting a shot off - and for five or ten minutes one could even say they were the team on top. But expectation is rarely a faithful companion in football, and Nobs scored again to put themselves 2-0 ahead, and regain the box seat in terms of attacking threat for the remainder of the game.

Still, Barely had their moments. They drew several last ditch clearances and headers from the Nobs back line as they sort a way back into the game, but unfortunately those stats are not what counts. Nobs showed Barely how it's done with two more goals - first as a striker dribbled past a curiously static Danny - who later admitted he thought Batts was behind him - and then a thumped finish from the penalty area as the resistance cracked like a British Leyland engine's head gasket.

So the season did not end on a high for Barely, but there are encouraging signs for the future - not least another season in the top tier. Add to that Tom between the sticks (runner-up in the man of the match vote today), the possibility of prising Adam from the Downs League as a hungry young (ish) recruit and Paul Loftus from his Saturday league as a slightly older one... the championship may be beyond them, but if Barely can shake off their terrible Cup form, who knows? Next season could be the one.

Well done to everyone for today's effort, in particular hats off to serial man-of-the-match winner Richie for his input (other votes besides Tom went to Colin (who ran a marathon at right-back*), Sam and Jacko). Danny also deserves kudos for steering the team to safety on his maiden season as a top-flight manager, assisted ably by Mike and Colin. And you too - if you're reading this you can no doubt say you were there, forever now part of the rich Barely tapestry: the team who don't deserve to lose 4-0.

*not literally. That would be silly.