The Hundred Club

Barely Athletic 0 Cardiff Accies 1

Gareth

Colin       Danny       Batts      Laurie

Al        Paul L        Richie          Sam

Adam        Darren

Subs: John R, Mike

What a shame that for the hundredth post on this blog Barely couldn't hang on for a winner!

However, a hard-fought 89 minutes followed by an at-the-death capitulation does seem more apt. Possibly they threw the three points away, in a gallant and sacrificial nod to thematically-appropriate results.

Batts started with a 4-4-2 with Adam and Darren leading the line. Cardiff went for the same formation. From the get-go the game had a high tempo with both teams looking to break quickly. However both back lines were in unforgiving mood, and neither keeper had much to do for long periods. When Gareth was called upon the Accies efforts were fortunately straight to him. What he did offer though was a willingness to come for crosses and, breaking with Barely tradition, reach them. Only Mike would even attempt anything like that.

With the teams fighting out a tediously dull tactically tense stalemate Batts began rolling the substitutions, taking off Danny - who'd taken a knock - and putting Mike in at centre-back. The big guy was involved quickly and rose to the challenge - often literally. Despite never looking like a man in a hurry Mike was regularly first to the ball as the occasional attack from Cardiff broke down.

At the other end it was the same story, and Batts shook things up a bit at half-time, going to 3-5-2 to give Barely an edge in midfield. But despite seeing more of the ball, Barely simply couldn't seem to break through and give the Cardiff goalkeeper any meaningful work. Adam, Batts and Sam all had half-chances they put either over or wide, and other efforts were charged down. And when Cardiff finally got past the Barely defense at the other end, they found Gareth well-positioned and with safe hands. The game had all the workings of a drab shrewdly-balanced nil-nil, until that is the inevitable happened and Barely succumbed to a cross.

With the clocking ticking down to 90 minutes Barely cleared a corner only to have it come straight back at them. It was nodded on in the box, and at the far post an attacker nodded it deftly down and over the line - despite the attentions of Colin and the presence of Sam and Gareth on the line.

With the wind out of their sails Barely pushed for an equaliser in the last few seconds, but it simply wasn't on the cards today. They didn't deserve to win, but even the most biased Accie would probably admit they were unlucky to lose.

The team trooped off with heads hung low - a real gutting result compared to last week's fateful penalty shoot-out, which despite knocking them out of the cup had felt like a great performance. Paul, Batts and Richie picked up some votes but Gareth was a resounding man of the match.

Cup Half Full

Mathern 2 - 2 Barely Athletic 

Mathern tragically win on penalties

Mike

Colin           Batts           Danny             Laurie

Sam           Paul L           Paul Tovey        Richie          Paul Taverna

Adam

Rolling subs: Nick, John R, Al, Jim S, Chris

It was a beautiful day for football as Barely headed west over the Severn for a date with destiny. Sadly destiny hadn't put her glad-rags on on this occasion, but more of that later. The pressing question for Barely was whether they could put on a better showing than the last half an hour of the last time they played Mathern, when they seemed hell-bent on self-destruction.

The early showing proved such worries unfounded as Batts' 4-5-1 system put Barely into an unconventional position of, if not exactly lording it, then at least shading things in midfield. If they could only match their possession stats and approach play with a finish before their weaknesses for conceding from crosses struck agai--- whoops! There goes a bullet header from a corner in to the back off the net. With only a quarter an hour or so played, Barely's steely resolve had been bent like Uri Geller's most regularly employed teaspoon. 

They tried to get back into it and almost did so spectacularly when Richie's 25-yarder thumped into the base of the post before cannoning back into play. But a bad start got worse when Sam dawdled to the touchline, attempting to shepherd the ball out of play for a throw. He was swiftly dispossessed and in a matter of seconds the ball was in the Barely net a second time, a low finish giving Mike no chance. 

Half-time arrived with Barely feeling fully still at the races, albeit with an uphill climb to the final furlong. They lost the combative Paul Loftus to a long-distance air flight needing a pilot, but received the silky skills of Jim Siemens as worthy consolation. With Batts rolling the subs on and off at a regular basis, Barely stayed reasonably fresh for the second half - something of a rarity these days.

fresh

The second half contained so many offside calls against Barely the linesman is probably bathing his right arm in ice right now. How accurate they were or weren't was debated at length. Probably too long. Either way, Barely continued in the vein they left off - Mike for the most part unflustered as Batts and Danny marshalled the defence. Chris unfortunately tweaked his hamstring again and had to retreat to the position of official photographer, so Adam took a spell in central midfield whilst Colin, Al and Sam rotated positions on the right and Nick and Laurie took turns at left-back.

fast

All the chopping and changing might have bamboozled a lesser team, but no, Barely like change as much as the penny arcade man does, and they rolled with the punches . They were right back in it, too, when a defender bizarrely punched the ball away at a corner - the eagle-eyed ref spotted it, and Paul Tovey tucked the ball away from the penalty spot to make the score more competitive: 2-1 Mathern.

Tovey!

Only minutes later Barely were level. A somewhat soft free-kick was given but with Jim S in merciless mood, maximum punishment was dealt out as he sent a pearl of a dead ball execution into the top of the net with the keeper beaten: 2-2.

Now what? The subs and the collective effort from all the Barely players meant a capitulation in the style of the 5-5 draw a few weeks ago was never on the cards. Could they grab a winner in the ninety minutes? As it turned out, no, although half-chances were manufactured and John Rossetti attempted a tricky near-post header that sailed a yard over.

So, to the lottery that is penalty kicks. With his family watching on from the sidelines, Paul Tovey tucked away his second penalty of the day to put Barely one up. Sam scored the second. Jim S's effort was never going to miss. But in-between times the crappy, fateful brutality of penalties hit Barely hard, with Richie hitting one post and Nick the other. Colin's effort was struck with power, but sailed a foot over the bar.

Jim!

Thankfully Mathern also missed a couple, but they made no mistake at the death, with the winning penalty billowing the net like an angry turd fired into a half-inflated hot-air balloon.

With that moment Barely's cup hopes were crushed. Mathern will march on to the final as Barely return their attentions to the league, and the possibility of not finishing bottom. It was their fourth draw in a row with the team from Wales, but despite the end, the team remained upbeat. They had, after all, just surged back from 2-0 down away from home to end honours even, and been a post's whisker from knocking Mathern out before sudden death loomed. 

Man of the Match voting was widely spread as you might expect, with many names garnering a vote. But the rapid, slaloming runs of Paul Taverna gave Mathern a headache on their right flank (- if that's possible) and he nipped ahead of Batts and Richie to claim the gong. 

Overall then, Barely exited the cup with bodies weary but heads held high. A cup half-full indeed.