Barry 4 Caernarfon 0

A SECOND-MINUTE goal from Kayne McLaggon set the tone on Saturday, as Barry Town United rolled over Caernarfon Town at Jenner Park in the JD Welsh Premier League.

After a testing five-match winless run, Barry's first victory of Phase Two would prove their biggest of the entire campaign, with a crowd of over 700 turning out to witness a rousing return to form for Gavin Chesterfield's third-placed team.

Back from a successful stint with the Wales C side, it was marksman McLaggon who got Barry's show on the road, getting on the end of Mo Touray's ball into the Cofi box and redirecting it beyond Alex Ramsay to break the deadlock early on.

Teammate Touray had spent the week with Robert Page and his Wales U21 squad, taking part in a four-day training camp at Dragon Park, though the talented talisman, on loan from Newport County, showed little sign of fatigue as he doubled Barry's advantage, running onto Jordan Cotterill's forward pass and threading the ball through Ramsay's legs to score minutes before half-time.

As the second half followed the lead of the first, Barry would soon make it 3-0, with unmarked Jonathan Hood capitalising on a rash backpass by Caneries captain Gareth Williams, before firing into the bottom corner with a ruthless aplomb.

Then, after 66 minutes, Touray shrugged off calls for offside to race away and convert his second, putting the game way beyond Barry's well-supported visitors.

Things got even worse for Caernarfon as Joe Williams was dismissed for bringing down the final man Touray at the cusp of the penalty area, though there was some ironic respite when McLaggon's follow-up goal was subsequently chalked off.

The terrorising Touray would then only be denied his hat-trick by the woodwork.

Ultimately, it was a fruitful afternoon's work for Touray and his Barry Town brethren, with goalkeeper Mike Lewis making a low save from Ryan Williams in the first half and the tipping Danny Brookwell's flighted effort over the crossbar in the second to complete a 39th clean sheet on his landmark 100th appearance.

With this victory, Barry now stand nine points clear of fourth-placed Newtown, with four matches apiece to complete to before the regular season concludes.

As it stands, a point for Barry in Bala on Saturday 6th April will be enough to secure a top three finish should Newtown lose at league leaders The New Saints.

Barry can still overtake the Saints and second-placed Connah's Quay Nomads in the battle for the title, but will need both to slip up on the final furlong, with the Town more than two wins adrift of the top two at the time of writing.

Barry's penultimate home game of the season is on Saturday 13th April against TNS at Jenner Park (7.30pm), their second high-profile meeting in a fortnight.