In 1158 the manor of Caldicot passed to Humphrey II de Bohun, who was responsible for building the stone keep and curtain walls of the present-day castle. In 1376 it passed to Thomas Woodstock, third son of King Edward III, when he married Alianore de Bohun. It began to fall into ruins around the 16th century.
Caldicot town expanded with the building of the steelworks in the twentieth century, and shortly after that, a football match occurred between nearby Mathern, and visitors from across the Severn, Barely Athletic.
The game began with the away team playing an unexpectedly adventurous 3-5-2 formation:
Gareth
Ian Danny Mike
Sam Chris Jacko Darren Adam
John R Lefils
sub: Batts
Whilst Mathern preferred to stick to a more traditional 4-4-2. As the stragglers from the morning's rugby session watched on, the game kicked off and immediately took on an entertaining and fast-paced tempo, giving what was a league game the feel of a cup match. Mathern pressured: Barely played on the counter-attack. The early stages set a precedent for the whole game - there was no cagey sense of playing their way into the game, both teams were going for it. And a Barely counter only fifteen minutes in put the Bristolians in front, when a clearance fell at Chris's feet outside the box. One touch set him up; the second was a sumptuous half-volley over the keeper's head and into the roof of the net. One-nil Barely.
Mathern came back at them, and of the two goalkeepers Gareth was the busier. Barely were also fortunate to see one or two efforts sail wide. But at the other end Lefils was giving the Mathern back line all kinds of trouble. As well as his patented dribbling and strength, Fizzy was also out-pacing the defence with alarming ease. Four times he was sent away on goal, and even when they caught him, they couldn't catch him. Lefils had a hat-trick before the first half was through (he fell over the other time) and despite Mathern pulling a goal back, Barely went into the break 4-1 up on the league leaders.
Despite the almost glorious scoreline however, nobody was under the illusion that the game was won. Barely knew that Lefils' efforts had flattered them somewhat, as much of the half had been spent defending. Batts observed tiredness creeping in already, and changed the line-up to 4-4-2. (They would discover Mathern had changed their approach to 3-5-2 to match Barely's first half formation).
But the second half was only moments old when Barely built on their lead - Adam was sent scampering away from the halfway line, and ignored the old adages about hares and tortoises by scampering all the way to the goal and tucking away a neat finish to put the score at 5-1. As Mike said later in the changing rooms; "At that point, I thought we might have a chance". But as Barely learned to their cost, you cannot relax against this Mathern side. They renewed hostilities as if affronted by the scoreline, and with one or two exceptions - Chris' 50 yard dash along the sideline being the highlight of them - Mathern spent the rest of the game on the front foot. Barely's rolling sub kept the demons at bay - Darren's thigh, Fizzy's head - but Mathern had no less than five willing deputees, and they used them to good effect, pummeling Barely until something had to give.
It gave.
Gareth could be held responsible for one goal when he elected to air kick a reasonable simple save - but considering his catches and clearances in this game probably set some kind of Barely record, it would be churlish to do so. Especially as he was protecting an injured knee. Without him there, this would have certainly been a defeat.
The simple fact of it is Barely - fatigued - allowed too many crosses to sail into the box, and Barely - not as big - allowed too many headers to be won. Mathern's finishing was good: efforts always seemed to be an inch or two beyond Gareth's reach, towards the corners of the goal. And Mathern's pressure was rewarded as they racked up four goals in the final quarter of the game, and ended proceedings hunting for a winner. They might well have got it - they hit the crossbar twice, the post once, and Sam cleared two goalbound efforts off the line. There would have been no complaints from Barely if they did.
But Barely's rearguard efforts deserved something from the game, and the fact a clearly exhausted Barely held on for a point speaks volumes of the collective spirit this season. Mathern, Batts revealed afterwards, were currently top of the league with only seven goals conceded in their previous games.
Your correspondent could have given man of the match to any of the 12 Barely players out there; such was the effort they put in. But Fizzy's goal haul and general quality of play saw him scoop the award, with Chris a deserved runner-up for his almost-indefatigueable turn in midfield (and goal). Other votes speckled the squad.
Despite the sense of a victory lost, there was also the seemingly paradoxical feeling of a point won. That second half was perhaps the hardest Barely have had to work to preserve something from a game, and in the end they pulled it off. Many of the team limped off the pitch, and the local pub was treated to the unusual sight of Mike and Darren performing a warm-down with pints in their hands.
Ah, Caldicot.
Mathern 5 - 5 Barely Athletic
