Rosetti Steps In

Mathern 1 Barely Athletic 1

Mike

Sam          Toby           Ian           Batts

Laurie         Richie          Al             Nick

John R

Adam

Sub: Gareth

Barely Athletic arrested their early-season slump in form with a hard-earned point over the Severn in Mathern. With key players Danny, Jacko and the two Pauls (Loftus and Tovey) absent, not mention long-term casualties Tom and Sir Jim, and it was down to the bare bones. Stepping up to the plate for his Barely debut was Toby, thrown in at the deep end by partnering Ian at centre-back. Al also returned to the fray after a long absence. With Gareth desperately covering the miles fro Winchester - surely some sort of prize for dedication to the cause there? - Mike stepped into the sticks at a delayed kick-off.

Mathern made the early running. You wouldn't say Barely were swamped, but forays forward were few and far between during the first ten minutes. Gradually they worked their way into the game and even managed a shot - courtesy of Richie - but on the whole it was Mathern's half, even if Mike was only called upon to collect the odd shot trundling straight at him. Gareth arrived and after the briefest of warm-ups took Mike's place in goal, just in time to see Mathern step up the pace a little. There was a flurry of attacks and one of them led to the goal - Mathern broke through the middle and although Gareth got down well to block the ball, it ricocheted off him and inside the near post.

Half-time came with Barely feeling they had perhaps a bit more to offer. Although it had been Mathern's half they hadn't really looked like scoring - until they did of course. We have to give them that.

The rolling subs routine was up and running and Barely upped their game in the second half, possibly unlucky not to get a penalty when Richie was barged to the ground. Though Mathern were still breaking forward, the Barely back line usually got the upper hand. However their counterparts at the other end of the pitch were similarly dominant - for now. As legs began to tire Adam embarked on a series of runs as the likes of Richie and Nick dinked balls over the top for him to chase. Once he even set off courtesy of a back-pass and was erroneously ruled off-side.

But the Barely goal came out of sheer persistence - Al and Sam combined to win the ball back on the right, and Sam sent a ball into the box. Adam clambered past a defender and shot - the keeper saved, but the ball bounced to the feet of John Rosetti, who finished with aplomb, more than justifying Batt's shrewd decision to play him as a number ten. 1-1, and with not a great deal of time left in the game, both sides went for a winner, and both back lines matched each other for obduracy. Aside from the challenge on Richie and a couple of Adam dribbles, Mathern held firm. And the away team similarly kept attempts on Gareth's goal to a minimum.

A game played on a splodgy pitch came to a close with honours as even as the spread of mud on Adam's knees.  Man of the Match voting reflected a very good team performance with a wide spread that included new boy Toby and returnees Al and Gareth. Rejoicing in their shared victory (two votes each) were Adam, John and Sam. More importantly though Barely have shown that they don't have to lose every game between not and 2020 by five goals to nil. Well done everyone!

Axbridge Crossing Troubled Waters

Axbridge 5  Barely Athletic 0

Danny

Batts       Mike      Ian       Laurie

Sam       Jacko      Paul L      John T

Richie

Paul T

Rolling subs: John R, Nick. 

It was an idyllic day for football. A slip nip in the air in a two-hour gap between downpours and Axbridge's scheduling was spot on. If only the same could be said of their crossing...

With no recognised goalkeeper, Danny, Mike and Nick gamely took the gloves and did respectively one half and two quarters each of the game. Barely went with a 4-4-1-1 formation with Richie playing just behind Paul Tovey. They began very well... in fact, although they lacked the composure in front of goal to bemoan the result, they played very well throughout. But they were hit by a series of goals so freakish as to imagine Axbridge had some kind of pact with the footballing Gods. 

Three times intended crosses looped over the Barely keeper and into the net - and two of them came in the first half, which ended with a slightly bewildered Barely team trudging off 2-0 down. The away team had had their chances, with both Paul T and Richie shooting narrowly wide, Jacko heading a fraction over and Sam clipping the post. But they had been not so much sucker-punched as twatted on the head with a plank of wood, Keaton style.

The talk at half-time was to carry on as they had been doing, but although Barely did that, creating more chances, they left themselves open to the counter-attack and Barely's back line had to be alert. Barely carved open more chances but couldn't quite take them. Paul T headed and shot just over the bar. John T and Sam couldn't quite get half-chances on target. Even when they got something on target - Mike's long-range effort; Nick's drilled attempt - it was snaffled up by the keeper.

Meanwhile Axbridge accidentally scored a third, got a face-rubbing fifth when a shot heading wide diverted in off a defender, and in-between times scored a decent goal, a sublime finish from outside the box. The ref mercifully called time and, in a wide spread of votes Paul Loftus was a clear man-of-the-match winner. 

Nobody had a bad game and indeed, Barely could play this well and win. It was a game played in the right spirit by both teams too. Sometimes you just don't get the rub of the 3G.

No Blessed Relief

St Brendan 5 Barely Athletic 0

______

Marcus

Ian    Mike   Danny

Laurie      Paul L     Jacko    Richie    Sam

Adam    Paul T

Subs: John Trimble, John Rosetti, Nick, Batts

St Brendan might be the patron saint of sailors and travellers, but any sense of watchful benevolence dissipated early on in this game. Maybe Saint Barely could be the patron saint of wake-up calls, as if the gentle trials of the previous game had possibly led the the squad to think they could perambulate in a similar manner today, they were sorely mistaken. Though Barely started reasonably well St Brendan's first real meaningful chance - several attacks having been stymied by a hitherto resolute back line - ended up in the Barely net.

There was an element of chance about it. A goal-bound header was heroically pushed onto the post by Marcus, but it ricocheted off his body and into the path of an attacker, who slotted in just inside the opposite post. And before Barely could regroup, they were three down. A cross from the St Brendan left hurtled into the box and Sam's volleyed clearnace went straight into the body of an attacker. Two or three ricochets later and the ball was in the net. Shortly after Ian's accidental handball was penalised in the harshest way when the penalty was given and slotted away.

Having begun, if not brilliantly, then decently, Barely were reeling, and at this point getting to half time without conceding further should be considered an achievement of sorts. They switched to a back four but kept five in midfield, with Adam earmarked to burst forward in support of Paul Tovey up front. However despite his best efforts the main thing Adam burst was a bloodvessel, as the usually philosophical wing-back-cum-striker took one heavy challenge too many and told the perpetrator what he thought about it. The physicality was an unwanted feature of the game - there were a few shoves and barges from St Brendan's that didn't exactly resonate with Corinthian spirit -and moments after flattening Adam he repeated the trick with Jacko.

But minor gripes aside, their football was a class above Barelys', who couldn't even get a semblance of mojo going. Two neat finishes in the second half added to the home team's tally to give them a deserved scoreline gloss - and it could have been worse for Barely, but for some alert keeping by the debutant Marcus.

On a day where nobody really excelled themselves - Richie picking up an injury didn't help their cause - the man of the match vote was spread wide but Adam clinched it - quite possibly for telling the centre-back what everyone else was thinking, as much as his usual tireless efforts. But overall it was the type of day at the office where everyone goes home with sweat stains on their shirt and coffee stains on their trousers. Barely must away to the metaphorical laundromat and return for the next fixture as new men.

Goodbye to all that.....

Here's a bit of history from the climax of last season - a final appearance in the top flight of the two last remaining founder members teams from the casuals league. At the beginning of May both Barely Athletic and Hill Farm met in a bottom of the table clash that saw both say goodbye to their continuous runs in that division. That had both been there when the casuals were a single division of misfits, sufficiently old fat and knackered even back in the day when we rekindled a true Corinthian spirit of Sunday football that has characterised the league ever since. The picture of the teams has Tony Wilner of Hill Farm shaking hands with Barely’s Nick Ambler to his right and Richie Cormack to his left. All three played in the first fixture between the teams when they first met. For the record it was Barely who this time took the spoils but it was a new form of local football that has been the real winner. Almost a generation ago we started a new kind of local league and after the final whistle Barely have gone forwards with a new adventure in the beautiful game, for the really old, very fat and totally knackered and the new over 45s league.

Barely's New Horizons

Barely Athletic 3 Voyager 0

Tom

John      Mike      Danny

Sam      Jim       Jacko       Paul L        Adam

Nick      John

rolling subs from
Laurie, Batts, Paul T, Al

Barely's great new adventure - the inaugural fixture, in the inaugural over-45's league, with the inaugurally bagged-up kit - ended with the strangest sensation, not felt for something like two or three seasons: of being deserved and clear winners.

At half-time there must have been one or two flutters, however. Having bossed the first half in terms of possession and chances, Barely hadn't managed to break the deadlock - the exception being Sam's dribble around the keeper to finish after a through ball from Paul, which was tragically chalked off due to the ref having blown up for a handball by the Voyager back line. WHAT KIND OF A DECIS- - anyway, Sam took the free kick, but it was pushed out for a corner by the keeper.

Barely had had the lion's share of possession, but were also finishing like lions - lions in football boots - with Paul's long-ranger flying over the bar and Nick's header, after good work from Adam, drifting wide. Onion bag apart, Barely's 3-5-2 was looking golden at this point, with Jim Fry adding some deft footwork to Paul Loftus' aggression and Jacko's calm distribution. Key to the whole shebang though - as recognised in the man of the match vote later - was Mike Graney's work at the back. Tasked with man-marking Voyager's danger man, he didn't give him a sniff all game. Barely haven't looked this well-drilled since the last time they organised a night out.

But despite their good work the break came with things all square. And when the game restarted Voyager had regrouped. The away team's best spell came over the next fifteen minutes, as Barely took a turn on the back foot. Tom was called upon a couple of times, although not stretched.

Then Barely took the lead out of nothing. Paul Tovey - having his best game by far in a Barely shirt (maybe it's the new kit), turned and hit a powerful shot from distance - a great effort, matched by a great save from the keeper, who pawed it up in the air. But as the keeper landed the ball came down behind him, and bounced into the net. 1-0.

Barely took heart and took hold of the match again. Whilst Voyager still looked more threatening than they had in the first half, Barely were scything through the defence again with Adam and Sam dashing down the wings, Paul controlling every ball hit near him and John terrorising the Voyager back line with his constant running. Another attack down the left and the ball fell to Adam, who took a touch before doubling Barely's lead with another cracker, going into the top of the net from outside the box.

As Voyager threw everything they could forward Barely broke on the counter at will. John - on for John (surnames would be handy!) scored on his Barely debut when Sam sent Paul away down the right, and his low cross deflected off the desperate glove of the keeper. There was nearly a fourth when Al capitalised on confusion in the box to poke a shot fractionally wide.

It's unlikely the whole season will be this delightful. But three points, a clean sheet, and a great squad performance - Barely couldn't have wished for a better start. The only blot on their day's work was poor Jim's knee caving in on his return after three years away. It looked like a hospital trip at first but it was a relief to see him walking normally after the game: like a man broken by life.

That aside, it was the perfect start in Barely's brave new world.

Past it

Pass Masters 4-0 Barely Athletic

Goal: Pete

Defence: Colin, Batts, Al, Chris

Midfield: Craig, Paul L, Jacko, Sam

Attack: Adam, John

Sub: Mike


It's like a footballing purgatory - another fixture, another defeat, as Barelys struggle to maintain a flimsy veneer of 'squad football' continues. It was another trawl across Bristol for willing volunteers to make up numbers yet again, as injury absentees Jim, Ian, and Scott were joined by an ill Richie, and Danny made the trip to Liverpool to watch his beloved reds wallop Spurs.

Sadly his beloved orange and blacks, meanwhile, were being handed a lesson in chance-taking. Batts counted 14 efforts on goal for Barely in the first half, yet they came into the break 2-0 down, as the clinical finish of the Pass Masters forward was added to by a rather harsh penalty - Batts again the alleged perpetrator, but he clearly got the ball and nobody had seen a pen except the ref. Pete - who was arguably Barely's best player on the day - got a hand to the spot-kick but it had the power to deflect into the net.

With a goalkeeper between the sticks it looked hopeful, but missing Richie's incision and Jim Siemen's finishing, Barely created half-chances in the main, generated by the industry of Adam and John up front. They did get the ball in the net - Sam heading home Jacko's cross from the right - but it was disallowed for offside. A shame, as Jacko being the furthest man forward and Sam winning a header are two things that only come around once every few years - having them coincide was like a lunar eclipse.

Craig was feeling an injury at half-time so Mike came on in his stead. And, as the first half had been, there was a sense of to and fro to the game in that both teams had their moments, but neither could make much of them. Home and away goalkeepers excelled and frustrated the attacks. Halfway through the second half Jacko rejigged the team, with Mike going between the sticks to give the energetic Pete a run-out. However although Pete had an impact outfield, Barely missed his athleticism in goal, where Mike was beaten twice in quick succession. Mike's willingness to don the gloves is admirable, but perhaps Barely should be volunteering somebody who doesn't admit in the post-mortem that they "can't bend".

Barely knocked at the door but in fairness the legs were slowing and the footballing pendulum that had begun looping from one end of the pitch to another was swinging slower, and more centrally, as the seconds ticked away under the hot sun. And the whistle went on another hiding.

Barely have gotten out of a similar situation before of course, but at the moment they just don't seem to have any momentum, and getting anything from this season looks like a big task.

There was no man of the match award but all the "guests" - Pete, Al, Chris and John - made a good impression and would have been in the running. Maybe there's something in Adam's suggestion of replacing the entire team after all...

if it looks like a defeat, and it smells like a defeat

AXA 3-2 Barely Athletic

Goal: New Colin

Defence: Scott, Nigel, Batts

Midfield: Chris, Richie, Jacko, Paul L, Sam

Attack: Adam, John

Subs: Mike, Colin, Jim


... it's a defeat.

But it could have been oh so different.

After a series of cancelled matches due to Barely being unable to muster a team, Colin's plaintive round-robin email about the club's very existence must have struck the odd nerve, or tugged on a heartstring, as suddenly the team had assembled a decent-sized squad for a crunch game, away to AXA or whatever they are called these days.

Paul had pulled in centre-back Nigel and goalie Colin, Sam had recruited occasional Barelyite Chris and John had also answered the call. All began the game in an alleged 3-5-2 that in truth was more like 5-3-2, but in either capacity it served the away team well enough. They began unusually alertly - closer to a squirrel awaking from a nap than their usual bear-in-spring opening - and shocked everyone by taking the lead in the opening minutes. Chris Scott careered down the right and centred for John to prod the ball goalwards. The keeper pushed it away only to find both Sam and Adam rushing in with intent - the latter was better placed and steered the ball home to give Barely an unexpected lead.

AXA came knocking on the door, as both teams seemed to reel from the shock. Through-balls were batted away, corners cleared and balls in the fabled channels were wellied into touch. There were at least two goalmouth scrambles farcical enough to merit a few hundred hits on youtube had anyone had the foresight to film the game - sadly they didn't, and missed John bravely blocking a shot with his face.

But Barely rode out the storm and reached the break still 1-0 up, if not exactly bossing the game. Mike made an appearance up front as John made way, and Jim and Colin Smart were told to be ready for when the time came. Midfield dynamo Paul Loftus was due in the cockpit soon and would have to dash off halfway through the second half.

But in the meantime it was back to the action and Barely, perhaps finally believing it could be their day, were doing more in the way of attacking. And one such surge - saw Chris take Richie's through-ball and scamper into the box, only to be unceremoniously upended (this correspondent has yet to see a ceremonial foul, to be honest). With the Holy Grail of a 2-0 lead moments from their grasp, Barely had to hunt for someone willing to take the spot-kick, and found a calm head/glory-seeker in Sam, who steered the ball beyond the keeper's glove and into the net.

Suddenly Barely found their long-misplaced collective mojo, and for the next ten minutes it looked almost certain that if anyone were to score again, it would be Barely. They pressured an AXA back line who suddenly looked distraught, as though they'd been holed up in a fortified basement only to find zombies had broken in.

Paul had to go, and Jim came onto the right wing as Chris moved infield. Chris later blamed himself for the subsequent events, mooting that he was an inadequate replacement for Mr Loftus. But let's face it, no-one can replace Paul. He's a badger.

And Chris' hairshirt can stay in the cupboard either way, as there was a fairly obvious foul on Batts in the lead-up to the first AXA goal that the now-refereeing John - perhaps unsighted, or perhaps feeling the same sense of tragically misplaced invincibility that the team were - let slide. Having pushed Batts aside the attacker then lobbed Colin to give AXA hope, and set a tremble to the Barely legs.

There was no crumbling. Barely tried to continue with what had been working so far - harass, and attack. But maybe the average age difference between the teams began to make itself felt as the minutes ticked toward the 90. Maybe Barely's tiny seed of doubt didn't need much water to grow. Or maybe the planets aligned in an elaborate formation, spelling 'Fuck You' across the sky, because before anyone knew what was happening AXA had won.

First Batts - perhaps subconsciously seeking revenge - hurtled into his earlier assailant in the box. Although he later insisted he got the ball first, nobody contested the penalty, which was dispatched into the bottom corner to make it 2-2. And then, despite Richie and Adam leading a late charge that resulted in a salvo of Barely efforts on goal, there was just time for AXA to run into the box and slot the ball neatly inside the far post for a somewhat fortuitous win. Barely simply cannot buy a result at the moment.

It was a very good game and the team effort was reflected in the voting for Man of The Match with a wide spread of names include perennial favourite Richie, Jacko, Nigel, Paul and Chris, But Adam's commitment to the cause and insatiable appetite for pain (he cartwheeled through the air after a challenge in the first half and came off the field with a black eye)  saw him a convincing and deserved winner. The hastily-rigged award reflected the result - shit.

They're all crunch games now.

nil point

Wick Burn Barely Out

Wick 4 Barely Athletic 3

Goal: Tom

Defence: Batts, Danny, Scott

Midfield: Adam, Jacko, Pete, Paul L, Sam

Attack: Richie, Christov

Subs: Paul T, Mike, Colin

With the incessant rain providing thematic backdrop to Barely's season so far, the planned game at Wick's home ground was moved to an astroturf pitch somewhere in East Bristol. Locals Batts and Adam were on home turf - the rest of the squad were at the mercy of the GPS.

Barely have a decent track record playing on astroturf - they've meted out hidings to people in the past. But the past is, of course, a different country, and the last time Barely took to a synthetic surface they took a beating themselves. This time they hoped things would be different - they actually had subs.

Barely began the game on the back foot - probably a good sign, as breaking from tradition might have confused everybody. But thanks to the efforts of a rugged back three - Scott filling in for Ian in the rumbustious challenge department - and the adroitness of Tom in goal, Barely saw off the early surges and worked their way into the game. However they couldn't quite work their way into the goal, as an equally-rugged Wick back line produced a fine line in quick feet and cool heads. Barely's glimpses of goal were half-chances, or belted from distance like Sam's effort, which was unfortunately straight at the keeper.

Then disaster! For all Wick's elegant midfield play they scored in the most inelegant manner, bundling home a corner as it pinged around in the Barely box like a rubber hand-grenade. Could this be the start of the latest collapse?

No. Barely instead scored a lovely goal, from one end of the pitch to the other with Richie clipping a fine ball to Adam, who looped a cracking finish over the keeper from an acute angle. All Barely needed to do was keep a clean sheet until half-time... but disaster! Another Wick attack down Barely's left ended with the ball at the feet of an attacker on the edge of the box - he swept it in gracefully around Tom, and it was back to square one.

Jacko had already brought Paul T on in his stead at half-time and made no further changes in the break. Barely were playing pretty well on the whole, and their was an air of tentative optimism, the kind David Moyes' wife might have if United make the champions league this season.

If Wick edged the first half it's fair to say the second was a more even affair, with Christov and Richie seeing more of the ball, running at the Wick defense and causing a bit of panic. Richie had a shot into the side netting and set a chance up for Paul Loftus, sliding in Gazza-style, who put it just wide. Both teams were threatening though and Tom was busy. And then disaster! - it was Wick who got their third that seemed to put the nail in the coffin - 3-1 with less than a quarter of the game to go.

But then out of nowhere Barely scored the type of goal that gets tight-trousered pundits purring on Match of the Day: Scott and Sam combined on the left, Richie turned in the box, somebody (Adam?) threaded the ball to Jacko as he scampered through the back line - and showed immense composure in  chipping it to the back post, where Richie volleyed in. An absolute delight and the best team goal this correspondent has seen since those halcyon days of the Lilford-Fry-Jackson triumvirate.... ah, that was a triumvirate, that was... where was I?

Oh yes, so it was 3-2 and then Wick went up the other end and - disaster! - scored again. Everyone on one side of the pitch thought it was offside but Danny - now running the line on the other - kept his flag down, later saying it was "close", with an admirable air of Zen. Now it was 4-2 in Wick's favour, and with time ticking away like time tends to do, Christov's lovely through-ball and Adam's calm finish for 4-3 was just too late in the day. The horse had bolted. The ship had sailed. The baby was sitting in an empty bath, looking pissed off.

It was a grim result but a good game played in the right spirit. Everybody contributed but as well as the usual suspects (Richie, Adam, Tom) and man-of-the-match Batts there were a some of stand-out performances from Scott and Colin in defense, and Paul's recruit Pete made himself known in the midfield. Added to the calm and guile of Jacko and Paul T, the mercurial feet of Christov and it added up to a good performance - man of the match voting went to seven candidates.

But the end result was a disaster.