Matherngate

Barely Athletic 3 Mathern 2.

Paul Loftus was guest manager for this 1st league game of the season and had a lot to live up to after Mike Graineys demolition of Voyager in the Cup.

Paul went for 442 with Kieran in goal Dave Harris Batts Mike and John Trimble at the back Dazza Loftus Chris Smith and Alan midfield with Gareth and Paul Tovey upfront.

We were blessed with John Rossetti Rich Cormack Bobby and Colin Smart as finishers!!

Jim James Semmence was also a sub but volunteered to ref first half.

Mathern arrived with only 11 men but started fiercely attacking Barely straight from the whistle however Paul Tovey Gareth both managed to put the ball in the net only to be deemed offside by a vigilant Mathern linesman who waved so often we doubted the fact he had a broken collarbone. Paul made some changes to combat the strong Mathern midfield only for Barely to get caught out by a quick throw which ended up passing Mike through his legs allowing the Mathern number 10 to slot home. At this time Alan had taking over ref duties allowing Jim S to get on the pitch. 

Half time arrived very quickly allowing Barely to regroup. John Trimble took over as ref allowing Colin to slot in at left back. Paul T left the field wishing us all the best for the second half. Gareth was rested after his lung bursting runs allowing the classy John Rossetti to play number 10.

The second half started better for Barely with some great link up play between Chris Dave Dazza and Paul Loftus the ball ending up wide right with Dazza who beat his left back and stroked the ball passed the Mathern keeper for 1.1

Now it is well known that Barely and Mathern always draw so with 25 minutes of the game left and Mathern tiring we all new the script........except Mike Grainey and Mathern.

Their small number 6 sent a hopeful ball to their number 9 which Dave Headed to clear but fail favourably for the Mathern number 8 who collected the ball in his stride and ran on towards Kieran in goal. Mike Grainey got at across and there was a meeting of shoulders and the ball skidded out for a goal kick. Mathern voiced a mediocre shout for a penalty. John Trimble asked big Mike who surprised everyone bar himself by taking the Corinthian spirit to the highest level....and confirming he felt a penalty was fair.

Much applause must be given to Mike for this as soon as the penalty was scored Barely had their tales up at the injustice of it all. 

Also Rich Cormack rocked up to play with Bob making way. 

10 minutes to go and Barely were knocking so hard on the Mathern door that a door bell was needed.

Corner after corner was defended until at last cometh the legend that is John Rossetti who rose like a salmon to deftly steer the ball over the Mathern keepers head 2.2

Barely and Mathern always draw so normal service was resumed. Even when the Mathern defender managed to hit the ball against his post and upright it would not go in because Barely and Mathern always draw. Even when Rich Cormack burst through the Mathern defence got barged but he didn't go down for a penalty . It just not the Barely way. We always draw with Mathern.

But not today!

With only seconds remaining Gareth got onto another Jim S cross . For once the flag did not go up. He was through on goal but got wiped out by the Mathern keeper.

Penalty!

Arguements were had but it was an obvious decision .

Jim stood up and sent the keeper the wrong way.

3.2 and game over.

Generally played in a good spirit and on chances alone Barely just about deserved it. 

Man of the match went to Dazza for his goal and never say die attitude. Dave Paul Loftus John Rossetti Kieran all got a mention too. But generally everyone put a shift in.

report by Batts

Third Dan

Voyager 0 - 3 Barely Athletic

Kieran

Dave             Batts             Danny           Scott

Sam             Chris             Paul L            John T

Adam          Gareth

Subs: Al, Paul T, Jim S, Ian, Allan

A new season, but Barely's unbeaten run reaches its ninth game. Today's opponents for the first game of the season were the ones Barely faced for the last of the last: Voyager, who gave Barely a torrid time after their cup-winning exploits back at the start of the summer.

With Autumn looming, it wasn't just seasonal change in the air though - up stepped Mike Graney for his first managerial outing. The pre-match team talk was very Mike: no Dave Bassett-style testosterone; more a nostalgic wedding speech from an avuncular uncle. Who was playing up front? Mike wasn't sure, and looked around, combing his internal files to match names to faces. However his Clough/Charlton/McKenna mash-up seemed to work wonders, as despite a reasonably solid start from Voyager, their chances on goal were limited and easily snaffled up by Kieran.

At the other end Barely couldn't quite find the killer ball - Adam was as industrious as ever, but as a result Voyager assigned their best defender to keep tabs on him. Barely pressed but were unable to really test the keeper at first, with tame efforts trundling wide of the post.

That all changed after about half an hour - as Voyager looked to break, Sam dispossessed them and played it into the box, where some neat interplay saw Jim Siemens (on for Adam) put Barely 1-0 up.

The half came and went as Mike rolled the subs on and off and told everyone how wonderful they were. Ian and Al came on in defence and Paul Tovey gave Gareth a break by joining the attack. Barely started the second half well, and with the wind now at their backs, they had Voyager on the back foot. Indeed the half was marked by several Barely shots - usually from Allan or Chris - that unfortunately often sailed a yard over the crossbar, as they seemed fated not to add to their score. Voyager still had their moments and the Barely defence were far from uninvolved, but most of the action was now in the Voyager half. And two splendid goals put the result out of the home team's reach.

Firstly Chris broke up play in his own half and tore forward, holding off an attendant opponent who was matching him stride for stride before releasing Paul Tovey through on goal. The big man seemed to take an age to shoot, but one thing you can say about Paul is he is rarely panicked, and he slid it confidently home to put Barely two up.

Barely didn't slacken off, despite Voyager still pushing for that elusive goal in the odd breakaway. Chris nearly added a third when he dribbled around a challenge in the box but poked the ball wide. Sam went close with a effort at the near post that the keeper put out for a corner. But the game was truly settled when a corner was headed clear and the cry of "Danny's" went up, before the old soldier  - bizarrely out of his own half - bludgeoned one into the top of the neat. When someone put it to him that he'd rolled back the years Danny admitted there was never a year where he'd done that before.

Three-nil and that was pretty much that. A raft of Man of the Match votes went to a number of names but in the end Danny finished runner-up to Chris, who with the help of Paul Loftus had bossed the midfield. A solid start to the season: now for the league!