Barry Town Utd Ladies 5-0 Penybont

FOLLOWING a cup victory last weekend, Barry Town Utd Ladies returned to league action on Sunday taking on Penybont FC in their sixth league fixture of the season looking to maintain their perfect start to the season.

This was to be the second match between the two sides in three weeks following Barry’s FAW Cup victory in October but this fixture saw a change of venue with the Indoor Dome at Leckwith Stadium hosting the match. Barry made two changes from the previous week with Tracey White slotting into midfield and Erin Brennan returning in goal.

It was to be an eventful start to the game as Barry started strongly and took the lead inside 5 minutes. Chelsea Deacon won the ball wide on the right and she crossed the ball perfectly for Daisy Evan-Watkins to slot home to opening goal.

The hosts were looking in confident mood, dictating the play with intensity and wing back Alicia Cox and Olivia Townsend were finding lots of space in wide areas.

It took just another seven minutes for Barry to double their lead, this time a fine first time cross from Sian Rees was volley home by Evan-Watkins at the near post.

Barry were taking real control of the game at this point with the midfield unit of Alex Allen, Tracey White constantly breaking up play to get Barry ticking in central areas and the back 3 of Emma Thompson, Holly Vowles and Chloe Clarke more than comfortable to build from the defensive third of the pitch.

It was almost 3 after 25 minutes when White played a perfectly weighted pass to Cox who stormed down the left before cutting inside and unleashing a shot which cannoned back off the inside post. Deacon also raced through one of one but Penybont Goalkeeper made a fine save to deny the hosts.

However, Barry did grab a third goal on 35 minutes when Rees curled a shot from 20 yards that cannoned off the crossbar and Deacon reacted quickly to tap in the rebound to grab a birthday goal.

Evan-Watkins almost grabbed her hat-trick but was denied by another excellent save from the goalkeeper with the score remaining 0-0 at half time.

The second half sparked into life when both teams had a player sent off for an off the ball incident but this didn’t deter Barry who regrouped and continued to dominate the majority of possession.

Penybont to their credit kept working hard and did have a good chance to pull one back through a good counter attack but goalkeeper Brennan made a good save with her feet to keep the score at 3-0.

The hosts hit the cross-bar for the third time in the game when White hit a shot from 20 yards but she wasn’t to be denied moments later as she prodded home following a corner to make it 4-0 on 62 minutes capping a strong performance for the midfield player.

Barry made a number of changes with Laura Saliba, Emma Cannon and Taylor Page entering the field and it was Cannon who almost grabbed a fifth goal racing through but her lofted shot was well saved by the goalkeeper.

However, Cannon was to play a key role in Barry’s final goal of the game on 75 minutes when she ran into the penalty area and was brought down which resulted in Deacon scoring a penalty to make it 5-0.

Barry saw out the remaining period of the game to record their sixth straight win in the league and remain joint-top of the Welsh Women’s League alongside Caldicot Town and Aberystwyth Town.

Following the game manager Luke Williams commented: “We are delighted with the result and more importantly the level of performance today against a good team at this level. We managed to do all parts of the game well, created lots of chances in what was probably our most complete performance so far this season.”

The Ladies travel west next Sunday to take on newly promoted Rhos and will hope to continue their excellent form.