Barry Town through to second round of Welsh Cup (From Barry And District News)

Barry Town through to second round of Welsh Cup

8:10am Thursday 11th October 2012 in Sport

CAERLEON 2 Barry Town 5

HAVING lost home and away league games to the same opponents already this season, Barry Town faced a tough task when they travelled to Caerleon to start their 2012 Welsh Cup campaign.

The Dragons are hoping to emulate or better last season when they reached the third round and, with Scott Jones, Atif Bashir, Michael Hartley, Ryan Evans and Bobby Briers all unavailable, Damon Searle came into the starting line up along with Ryan Jenkins as changes from the two previous games.

The first chance fell to Caerleon but the shot did not trouble Dragons' keeper Dan Bradley. Town immediately replied with a cross from TJ Nagi, and when the Caerleon defence failed to clear the ball, the same player fired in another cross which saw a defender deflect the ball into his own net to give the visitors an early lead.

Rather than being unsettled, Caerleon tried pushing forward and should have had a quick equaliser but a shot went over the bar. From the goal kick, Caerleon won the ball back and another chance was created but this time the shot went wide.

Nagi then had a run down the right but the resulting cross was headed for a corner. From the kick, the ball fell to Dale Howarth but his shot was not enough to beat the Caerleon keeper.

The game was end to end but both defences kept chances to a minimum until a break down the right by Caerleon saw a cross into the box missed by Bradley, leaving a Caerleon attacker with the simple task of heading into an empty net. Caerleon should have taken the lead when a great ball across the box was missed by a home forward and rolled just wide.

The home side paid for this miss on 35 minutes when Bradley rolled the ball to skipper Dan Clare who cleared to Nagi some 25 yards out. Turning a defender, he fired a shot in which whistled past a stunned keeper to put the Dragons back in front.

Just before half time Barry thought they had a third but the assistant referee flagged for offside.

Within five minutes of the restart, the Dragons did get a third when Ryan Jenkins beat a Caerleon player and chipped to Howarth who took one touch before blasting past the keeper from 20 yards.

The Dragons were dominating and, although Caerleon were not giving up, they were relying on the occasional quick break. On the hour the game was all but over when a long ball from Lewis Cosslett found Howarth whose great cross was met with a goalscoring volley from Christian Doidge from 10 yards.

Cosslett then had a great chance from a free kick but his shot was just wide. With 15 minutes left, Jenkins and Nagi were replaced by Josh Bell and Lee Baldock and, minutes later, Bradley made his first real save of the game when he brilliantly tipped a long range shot over the bar. Caerleon forced the Dragons back and won two corners and then, to the surprise of all, the referee awarded a penalty to the home side, which was converted.

The Dragons pushed Caerleon to prevent any thoughts of a comeback and were rewarded when Bell and Baldock linked up before the latter chipped the ball to Doidge, who headed past the keeper to finish the game off.

A great all-round display by the Dragons who have now won five successive games.

It was also great to see Kurt Bettles back in the squad after being out for so long with injuries.

The LDS Motor Factors/RIM Motors Man of the Match was presented to TJ Nagi.

Dragons: Dan Bradley; Geraint Frowen, Damon Searle, Lewis Cosslett, Dan Clare, James Saddler, Nickie Jones, Dale Howarth, TJ Nagi, Christian Doidge, Ryan Jenkins. Substitutes: Josh Bell (for Jenkins), Lee Baldock (for Nagi), Paul Morgan, Geraint Goodridge and Kurt Bettles.

* On Saturday the Dragons travel to Treharris Athletic Western in the second round of the Welsh League Cup. Treharris are currently bottom of Division Three having lost all five of their league games.

 

THE Dragons' reward for the win at Caerleon is a second round cup clash with Ceredigion-based outfit Penrhyncoch – at the West Walians’ Cae Baker ground. Heralded as “the pick of the ties” on the official FAW website, the match will mark the first meeting of the tournament between a Welsh League side and a club from the equivalent Cymru Alliance.

The Roosters are no strangers to Barry supporters, the two teams having met in the Welsh Cup quarter-finals in 2000, and again in the third round in 2001.

Penrhyncoch are currently seventh in a competitive Cymru Alliance League, amongst former Welsh Premier outfits Rhyl, Caersws, Rhayader, Porthmadog, Cefn Druids and Flint Town United.

The match, to be played on the weekend of November 10/11, will be Barry’s last before beginning their 100th anniversary celebrations the following week – and their furthest away trip since relegation from the top flight in 2004.

At least one return coach will be heading to the match from Barry, with supporters encouraged to book early at www.ticketsource.co.uk/BarryTownSC

With all 12 Welsh Premier clubs set to enter at the third round stage, Gavin Chesterfield’s side will be keen to progress to pit their skills against top tier opposition – with old foes Bangor City and TNS among those waiting in the hat.