Barely FC 5 - 3 SCS Vets
Goal: Tom
Defence: Ian G, Danny, Batts
Midfield: Adam, Richie, Jacko, Mike, Sam
Attack: Jim S, Chris
Subs: Paul T, Ian J, James, Colin
The print is still drying on last week's report but here are Barely again, building a head of steam as the season reaches it's inevitably climactic conclusion. Will they stay up, and celebrate yet another year in their 20 year plus stay in the top division? Will they go down in a blaze of belated glory? Either way, they are in the mix and have put their destiny in their own hands.
Word from the gaffers was that this would be a tricky game, and for 50 minutes it was just that... only for Barely - and Jim in particular - to turn on the style and notch up some impressive finishing. But the drama of the second half was all to come when he scored his first - giving Barely a lead with a collector's item - a header from a corner. At that point it was half-way through the first half and though SCS were shading possession, they had only forced one save of note from Tom - a sprawling left-handed dive to push the ball away for the corner. SCS were attacking in waves, but they were unable to penetrate the Barely back line, which is growing into its 3-5-2 formation. And SCS's own defence looked vulnerable to the pace and trickery of the Barely attack. As the half wore on the home team grew in confidence, only to have a mini-implosion shortly before the break.
Having finally scored with half-time looming, SCS were suddenly on top and encamped in the Barely half. Clearances were ever more desperate as the confidence proved to be fragile, and sure enough another goal came with a far-post header from a left-wing cross, sending SCS off for their oranges with their tails up. Barely, in contrast, could hardly bring themselves to speak after Danny's pep talk; tumbleweed all but blowing through the wheezy, despondent air. One or two substitutions were made and they traipsed out for the second half looking anything but vengeful and motivated.
However, as Mike has before attested, appearances can be deceiving. As he and Sam decided to yell at the team for the duration of the half (thereby giving themselves an assist of sorts) Barely set upon SCS like gangbusters, tearing at them like the last five minutes of the first half had never happened - and after their third attack they scored, Jim finishing with aplomb to put Barely level.
Belief surged through Barely - if an observer had written the game off at half-time as dead, the corpse had risen from the grave and was staggering around in midfield, kicking wildly. SCS were in no way out of it, and remained a threat, but every time Barely broke forward they looked capable of adding goals to their tally. And so they did; Adam breaking in from the left to put Jim in on goal for number three, then Jim again with a cracking finish from the edge of the box. Somewhere before, between or after those goals Chris got in on the act again, scoring with an insouciant flick after the goalkeeper had saved an effort from man-of-the-match (another walkover) - Jim.
There was time for late drama still - Sam tripped a man in the area and he probably would have got a penalty had he not dived quite so theatrically, hurling himself skyward in order to fall from the farthest possible height. In the ensuing melee/protest the game continued and SCS rifled in a late consolation.
But another game played in the right Casuals spirit - hats off to the opposition - ended, thankfully, with Barely snaffling the points. Two games to go and the thinking in the camp is one victory would do it. They're not out of the woods yet. But they are in quite a nice glade eating a bit of Kendall mint cake.
Sunday 28 April 2013
Sunday 21 April 2013
Barely Grab a Lifeline
Bathelona 1 Barely Athletic 3
Goal: Tom
Centre-backs: Ian, Danny, Batts
Wingbacks: Colin, Mike
Centre-mid: Jacko, Richie, Paul
Attack: Adam, Chris
Sub: Sam
With three tough games remaining the odds are still very much against them, but Barely handed themselves a lifeline to first division survival today with a long-awaited and much overdue first win of the season.
The team selection was a bag of pluses and minuses - still without long-term injury absentees and Barely stalwarts of the like of Sir James Fry, Mani, Jim Banton, Colin and Danny also had to contend with the absence of Jim Siemens, Barely's first choice striker. (Into his stead stepped Chris, partnering Adam upfront) On the other hand the presence of Tom in goal is always reassuring, as is the sight of Paul Loftus haring around in midfield staying - usually - just the right side of mayhem.
The home team kicked off but in short order Barely were on top. Playing very much unlike a team without a win in months, Barely - arranged in a possibly ambitious 3-5-2 by Danny - were first to every ball, it seemed, whether in the air or on the bobbly ground. They pressured the Bathelona goal without quite having the cutting edge to get the goal their play deserved. One feared that the storm would blow itself out with no reward, and Barely's season of pain and frustration would continue. But with 20 or so minutes on the clock Richie scuttled past a challenge to the byline and hooked the ball across the face of goal - it was the easiest of tap-ins for Chris, the right man in the right place, and Barely were one up.
Danny started the rolling subs with Sam coming on for Colin and right wing-back, but at this point Bathelona managed to capitalise on one of their occasional sorties forward. Having forced a corner on the right, the ball was swung into the far post where it was headed deftly into the top-corner of the goal, beyond the despairing dive of Tom and above the not-particularly-elevated head of Sam.
One each.
And so the scores remained until half-time, when Colin returned in place of Mike and Barely confirmed among themselves that despite the disappointment of conceding an equaliser, there were points to be had from this game. They just didn't suspect they would come in quite so spectacular a fashion.
When the second half started the teams were about honours even in terms of possession and goal threat, but as the minutes ticked by it was Bathelona who finally were having a period on top. They even celebrated a goal-line clearance by Sam as though they had scored, which was wasn't exactly the type of incident that Mark Lawrensen would say he's "seen them given". However Bathelona's purple patch was nullified by probably the finest Barely goal you'll have seen this season (admittedly there haven't been many). Chris took up possession in the middle of the Bathelona half and strode forward past a challenge, releasing the ball to Adam. Adam pushed it wide, past his marker and into the box, reaching the ball first and flicking it across into the danger area, where Chris was running in. It looked like the move might actually end there, as the ball came behind him, only for Chris to flick up a heel and knock the ball up over his own head - and the goalkeeper's grasp, coming to rest in the Bathelona net.
2-1 then and Barely's belief was reinvigorated. Suddenly they were back on top, with Chris and Adam combining well with Richie's surges forward. The Bathelona threat was still there, but with the clock ticking away so was their energy, and it felt that if there was another goal in the game it would probably come from Barely.
And so it was, with Chris completing his hat-trick with a cool finish over the keeper as he engineered some space for himself in the box.
The final whistle blew and a game played in great spirit, by and large despite the ref rather than because of him, concluded. Barely decamped to the pub to discuss the likelihood of survival, and the vote for man of the match was forewent as the universal agreement was that it should go to Chris. Not, as Mike authoratively clarified, simply for his goals, but for his all round play and drive on the day - serially clearing the Bathelona corners, pestering the Bathelona back line and at one point even popping up at centre-back, which is a rarity even when he's allegedly playing there.
But though Chris' award was just for all the reasons given above, it was a good day for the whole team, with Barely's first half performance in particular coming under the umbrella of 'vintage'. And who knows, with a win and three points under their belt, perhaps they have given themselves a chance of pulling off the great escape and prolonging their 1800 year stay in the Casuals top flight. The word on everyone's lips may still be relegation, but they've shortened the odds just a little...
Goal: Tom
Centre-backs: Ian, Danny, Batts
Wingbacks: Colin, Mike
Centre-mid: Jacko, Richie, Paul
Attack: Adam, Chris
Sub: Sam
With three tough games remaining the odds are still very much against them, but Barely handed themselves a lifeline to first division survival today with a long-awaited and much overdue first win of the season.
The team selection was a bag of pluses and minuses - still without long-term injury absentees and Barely stalwarts of the like of Sir James Fry, Mani, Jim Banton, Colin and Danny also had to contend with the absence of Jim Siemens, Barely's first choice striker. (Into his stead stepped Chris, partnering Adam upfront) On the other hand the presence of Tom in goal is always reassuring, as is the sight of Paul Loftus haring around in midfield staying - usually - just the right side of mayhem.
The home team kicked off but in short order Barely were on top. Playing very much unlike a team without a win in months, Barely - arranged in a possibly ambitious 3-5-2 by Danny - were first to every ball, it seemed, whether in the air or on the bobbly ground. They pressured the Bathelona goal without quite having the cutting edge to get the goal their play deserved. One feared that the storm would blow itself out with no reward, and Barely's season of pain and frustration would continue. But with 20 or so minutes on the clock Richie scuttled past a challenge to the byline and hooked the ball across the face of goal - it was the easiest of tap-ins for Chris, the right man in the right place, and Barely were one up.
Danny started the rolling subs with Sam coming on for Colin and right wing-back, but at this point Bathelona managed to capitalise on one of their occasional sorties forward. Having forced a corner on the right, the ball was swung into the far post where it was headed deftly into the top-corner of the goal, beyond the despairing dive of Tom and above the not-particularly-elevated head of Sam.
One each.
And so the scores remained until half-time, when Colin returned in place of Mike and Barely confirmed among themselves that despite the disappointment of conceding an equaliser, there were points to be had from this game. They just didn't suspect they would come in quite so spectacular a fashion.
When the second half started the teams were about honours even in terms of possession and goal threat, but as the minutes ticked by it was Bathelona who finally were having a period on top. They even celebrated a goal-line clearance by Sam as though they had scored, which was wasn't exactly the type of incident that Mark Lawrensen would say he's "seen them given". However Bathelona's purple patch was nullified by probably the finest Barely goal you'll have seen this season (admittedly there haven't been many). Chris took up possession in the middle of the Bathelona half and strode forward past a challenge, releasing the ball to Adam. Adam pushed it wide, past his marker and into the box, reaching the ball first and flicking it across into the danger area, where Chris was running in. It looked like the move might actually end there, as the ball came behind him, only for Chris to flick up a heel and knock the ball up over his own head - and the goalkeeper's grasp, coming to rest in the Bathelona net.
2-1 then and Barely's belief was reinvigorated. Suddenly they were back on top, with Chris and Adam combining well with Richie's surges forward. The Bathelona threat was still there, but with the clock ticking away so was their energy, and it felt that if there was another goal in the game it would probably come from Barely.
And so it was, with Chris completing his hat-trick with a cool finish over the keeper as he engineered some space for himself in the box.
The final whistle blew and a game played in great spirit, by and large despite the ref rather than because of him, concluded. Barely decamped to the pub to discuss the likelihood of survival, and the vote for man of the match was forewent as the universal agreement was that it should go to Chris. Not, as Mike authoratively clarified, simply for his goals, but for his all round play and drive on the day - serially clearing the Bathelona corners, pestering the Bathelona back line and at one point even popping up at centre-back, which is a rarity even when he's allegedly playing there.
But though Chris' award was just for all the reasons given above, it was a good day for the whole team, with Barely's first half performance in particular coming under the umbrella of 'vintage'. And who knows, with a win and three points under their belt, perhaps they have given themselves a chance of pulling off the great escape and prolonging their 1800 year stay in the Casuals top flight. The word on everyone's lips may still be relegation, but they've shortened the odds just a little...
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