Barry town is a club that have done it all. They’ve been Welsh champions seven times, won games in Europe and are six-time Welsh Cup winners. Today they find themselves in the Cymru south after a disappointing campaign last season and have bounced back in style in the past few weeks. They’re top of the league after 11 games. However, this year Barry’s Welsh Cup run ended sooner than they would have liked.
Their opposition was Gresford Athletic, who made the 150-mile trip from north Wales to get to Barry’s Jenner Park that day. Gresford currently find themselves second from bottom in the Cymru North but none of that matters when it comes to a cup match, both sides were out there to win and Gresford knew that they had a chance to cause an upset.
Jenner Park is a brilliant ground steeped in history. On the day, the low winter sun shone brightly over the ground’s unique grandstand stand with its tall, undulating roof. On the opposite side, the east stand basked in the sun so brightly its yellow steps looked iridescent. Long shadows were cast over the artificial turf. Although both sides of the ground were quite sparsely populated, Barry’s fans made themselves heard all match.
This was Lee Kendall’s first match as Barry Town manager, after the departure of Gavin Chesterfield. Barry, however, didn’t seem to have that ‘new manager bounce’. The game started off slowly, most of the chances were created by Gresford with an intimidating long throw that caused problems often. The first half was a war of attrition and neither side found a breakthrough. Both sides were physical and wanted to win. Apart from a few heavy tackles, yellow cards and a spectacular save from Gresford’s keeper Jonathan Hill-Dunt there was little to note.
The second half started brighter, both sides began to play long, expansive passes that created an end-to-end game. The opening goal came after 63 minutes. A rocketed shot by Gresford forced Barry’s keeper Mike Lewis to pull off a wonderful, outstretched save on his left-hand side. Lewis palmed the ball off the line only for it to fall to Gresford’s number 11’s Charlie Mann who dutifully tapped it into the back of the net.
After the goal Barry tried desperately for an equaliser. The fans in the stands were screaming their boys on to grab a late goal. They thought they had their chance when winger Michael George floated in a sublime cross into the six-yard box from the right-hand side but the resulting header skimmed just over the crossbar, if the header was on target it surely would have been just the thing Barry were seeking.
Gresford were just that little bit stronger than Barry, and they defended heroically. They put the game to bed on 93 minutes, Jacob Barratt scored a fantastic goal from the edge of the penalty area. His thunderous shot left Lewis motionless in the Barry goal. Barratt wheeled away in jubilation and his entire bench had ran out to meet him. Every Gresford player celebrated together while Barry’s men flopped on the floor, dejected.
Shortly after, the referee blew his whistle and Gresford were through to the next round. They had played valiantly, and Barry fought against them strongly. They didn’t have it that day, unfortunately for them. Missed chances meant that Barry crashed out of the competition they once dominated. The beauty of the cup is, that next week, Barry are back to being top of the league, flying high. Perhaps this great win for Gresford can spur them on to success in their league and a loss may be just the thing that Barry’s new management needed to kick themselves into gear.
Leave a comment