Voyage of Discovery

Voyager 3 - 2 Barely Athletic

Gareth

Colin      Batts       John T

Sam        Chris       Paul L      Jim S        Adam

Nick       Lefils

Subs: Darren, Laurie, Mike, Danny

The last game of the season ended in disappointment for Barely, where despite their late pressure, they were unable to find an equaliser that would have perhaps reflected the balance of play overall.

Batts went with his favoured 3-5-2 formation and from the outset it seemed to suit the personnel. Early pressure however came from the home side, and the Barely back line had to be alert: Colin in particular seemed to be rather busy with a series of interceptions and clearances.

At the other end Barely weren't yet at the races, and Batts made early changes with Mike and Darren coming on to freshen things up. But the most the away team could manage before half-tie was a couple testing crosses that didn't quite result in anything positive, and a crunching challenge by Chris on the midfielder who was starting to dictate terms for Voyager. At the other end the walls had been breached, however, and the idea of signing off the season with a win looked depressingly distant as Voyager twice beat non-existent offside traps to saunter into the Barely box and plant the ball past a despairing Gareth.

It was a shame, because although Voyager had their moments and certainly could play some nice football, both goals were to an extent gifted them. So no formation change from Batts, and Barely trotted out for the second half determined to make a better showing.

That they did, with the mounting pressure from the away team finally telling when Sam swivelled to belt Darren's low cross into the net via the goalkeeper's outstretched hand. 2-1, and Barely back in it. But before you could say keep it tight, Voyager's two-goal lead was re-established, a whipped cross from the right headed in from about a yard out. And it might have been worse but for a great save from Gareth, getting down quickly to palm a low shot away.

Barely fought back, and a delightful team effort brought them a second: Chris released Sam down the right and he pulled the ball back for Jim to tuck away, bringing Barely straight back into contention.

But score-wise, that was that. Barely pushed and pushed and several players got a shot or two away only to see them charged down by a resolute Voyager back line. The only other feature of note was a running debate between the Barely forward line and the Voyager linesman: he did seem to be favouring his own defence, but it all got a bit silly and un-Barely-like, resulting in some feisty challenges in a game that was otherwise played in good spirit.

Man of the Match was shared between Chris, Paul and Jim, with a smattering of other names coming up too. And with that the season came crashing to a close, like the curtain closing on a comedian whose final one-liner has fallen flat. We've been Barely Athletic - goodnight.

Sun shines on the righteous!

Chew 1 Barely Legends 5

At kick off Barely arrived with 10 men with Lefils Essome having had a serious night out calling at 10.10 am to say he was sober enough to play.

The game started with Batts playing a 3-5-1 formation, leaving Dazza as lone striker.

                                                             Gareth

                                                  Colin    Mike     Laurie

                                    Alistair    Alex    Chris    Batts    John T

                                                             Dazza

Chew belied their lowly status peppering crosses into the box but with poor finishing . After 30 mins Lefils arrived and we reverted to 3-5-2.  Batts put a through ball to Lefils who then ran across the pitch left to right, turning down all invitations to pass and slotted away with aplomb.

Half time arrived and with the slope in our favour we stayed at 3-5-2 and took the game to Chew. Gareth and the back 3 kept the Chew team at bay but then disaster as Gareth Lewis allowed a deep cross from nearly the byline to dip into the net. 1.1.

Batts then told the boys to knuckle down and play the ball on the floor around the dithering Chew defence. Then Chris played the ball through to Batts who nodded through to John Trimble who was one on one with the keeper.

No problem: John slotted in 2.1, and in the process became the eldest Barely Player to score a goal over taking John Rossetti. 

Chris then plowed in another from close range: 3.1 and Chew knew the game was up. Lefils had time to hit the bar before Dazza rounded the last defender and slotted in 4.1. Gareth still had to make a few quick clearances and Chris and Alistair decided to play keep ball down the right which resulted in Lefils earning a penalty... Batts ran the whole length of the pitch and grabbed the ball. 

The quickest he had been all game on one leg. The keeper was given the eyes. Batts kissed the ball and stroked it into the net Richard Cormack take note. 5.1

It has to be said that Chew were a good footballing side that just ran out of steam.

Man of the match was Gareth for without his resilient net tending and booming goal kicks the scoreline would have taken a very different appearance.....

But at the Bear in they plied us with chips and roasted potatoes - can we play them every week?

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.

A Swift two halfs

Swift 4 Barely 2

A beautifully crisp Sunday morning saw the troops of Barely take on the mighty Swift who boasted 13 players against the 9 Barely regulars plus 2 mates of Richie: Scott and Bradley. 


The game started well with Barely playing 4 5 1 with John Rossetti the loan striker. 


Barely took the game to Swift and found themselves 1-0 up through a slick move from a Cormack corner the ball buried in the net by newcomer Bradley. This was followed up by Dazza bombing down the right wing and smashing the crossbar. Shortly before half time the minute but nimble Swift number 10 made the game level with a neat finish onto the bottom corner. 

Half time arrived and a buoyant but tiring Barely trooped off for a breather and to regalvanise. It has to be said that Mike and Danny put a decent shift on goal with Mike in particular making a finger tips save to keep the scores level.

The second half started with Dazza in goal and Mike returning to central defence. 

Barely started well and found themselves 2.1 up after some good interplay between Cormack and Rossetti ending up with Chris drilling a shot beyond their keeper. Chris was honest enough to admit he was going for the far corner, but contrived to curl it in off the near post. 

Swift were changing subs religiously every 15 minutes and unfortunately Barely boasted an empty bench nevertheless Rossetti and Batts had chances to make it 3-1 before Swift sucker-punched. A long ball over the top was majestically controlled by that Swift no 10 who placed the ball beyond Dazza. And then 5 minutes later the same ball over the top confused Scott and Mike, as they both went for the same ball and collided leaving the Swift no 9 with a tap-in past Dazza. Colin went between the sticks for the last 15 minutes, and had the pleasure of picking the ball out of the net when the no 10 finished the game with a deserved hat trick. 

Suffice to say Barely played well and peppered the Swift goal throughout the 90 minutes and there were certainly a lot of positives to be taken from the game.

Thanks to Swift for the pre Cup work out and well done to all who played .

report by Batts

A Little bit of History

One of the oldest buildings in Caldicot, Llanthony Secunda Manor, was built around 1120 as a grange for monks from Llanthony Secunda Priory in Gloucester.

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

Schoolboy Error

Barely Athletic 2 - 6  St Brendans

Gareth

Nick          Ian             Batts              John T

Sam            Mike                John R               Al

Chris   

Darren

                 

Sub: Paul Tovey 

Barely's run  had to finish sometime, but after an impressive start to the season it was a shame that it ended like this. Perhaps Batts' inclination to postpone should have been heeded: not only were Barely without several stalwarts, including their midfield engine, they also fielded the oldest Barely outfield ever. Not only that, they also had both Chris and Paul carrying injuries - unable to sprint and shoot respectively. Playing at all was their first mistake.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Barely began on the back foot, looking tentative. In fact they spent much of the opening twenty minutes looking second-best, with Batts and his defensive cohorts called on time and again. Gareth was busy too - St Brendans took advantage of the small pitch and their specialist throw-in guy to hurl ball after ball into the Barely box, and they eventually succumbed, as yet another aerial bombardment made its way into the net. Another followed from a corner, as the ball went both under Sam's foot and through Gareth's hands as if laser-guided by a particularly attentive drone missile operator. 

Barely's threat at the other end was sporadic. Darren was putting in a real shift but without the mobility of the likes of Richie and Adam in support, he ploughed a lonely furrow. Nevertheless, even a lonely furrow will bloom every now and again, and when Barely went route one with a big clearance from Gareth, Darren slalomed his way through some challenges before finishing neatly at the near post to put Barely back in the game. 

Maybe on another day that could have been a turning point, but St Brendans struck back quickly with a shot going in off a post, and despite Gareth's exhortations and a break in which to regroup, the game kind of went downhill from there. Paul Tovey came on and showed his usual composure and control, but whenever St Brendans got a throw-in the danger was there. And as always with St Brendans they are happy to play the physical game, the low point of which was an arm in John Rossetti's face that cut his nose open. 

But minor gripes over style aside, St Brendans were well worthy of the win; Barely's consolation goal coming off a defender's head when a cross was diverted into the net. Barely were not without chances, but they were not gilt-edged. Chris, Paul and Sam all had shots from distance, and Sam nearly grabbed a third at the death, but the defender's head just deflected Mike's cross onto his shin instead of his instep, and the ball ballooned up and over the bar. Most agonisingly Al's 20 yard volley sailed fractionally over the crossbar.

So after the highs of the cup game, Barely come back to earth with a bump. The running for Man of the Match was not an overflowing group: though Barely showed determination throughout and Gareth was a busy guy between the sticks, Darren walked away with it for application and a rather special goal. 

Barely now regroup and recalibrate for 2016 hoping to recapture the form they showed in the first three games of the season.