By Ashley Cox
IT was déjà vu all over again for Barry Town this week, as Gavin Chesterfield's squad snagged another 1-0 win on Saturday before falling to Penybont by the same scoreline, for the second successive Tuesday.
Sending Barry goalkeeper Mike Lewis the wrong way, Kane Owens' 73rd-minute penalty, after Curtis McDonald was booked for a foul on Kostya Georgievsky, enabled the Bridgend outfit to open up a narrow, one-point lead over fourth-placed Town in the chase for European football.
Boosting their goal advantage to four, Penybont still retain a game in hand, which will be played this Saturday when strugglers Flint make the long trip to the SDM Glass Stadium.
Jamie Bird takes aim in Barry's 1-0 win over Aberystwyth
Tuesday's result saw Rhys Griffiths' men complete their first derby double against a Barry Town XI since the merger of the Bridgend Town and Bryntirion Athletic clubs, almost eight years ago.
With the games now coming thick and fast, Barry headed up the File Mile Lane on Tuesday evening boosted and buoyed by their late winner at Jenner Park, a mere three days earlier.
Saturday's reunion with former striker Gavin Allen and his Aberystwyth Town protégés was set for a stalemate, before midfielder Robbie Patten showed skill and vision to pick out an invading Michael George with an exquisite, long-distance pass in the 87th minute.
George then squared for Nathaniel Jarvis to tap home, giving Barry their third consecutive weekend win on home 3G turf, albeit against the JD Cymru Premier's current bottom three.
With Rhys Abbruzzese a first-half injury casualty, manager Chesterfield took advantage of the league's temporary increase in permitted substitutes, switching in Kyle Patten on 37 minutes before making a triple substitution in the 67th minute that saw Rhys Kavanagh, Curtis Hutson and Callum Sainty replace Jamie Bird, Evan Press and Theo Wharton.
One Aberystwyth director later remarked how these changes made a big difference and while the Seasiders had scored at the death in both of their prior outings, they were unable to three-peat the feat at Jenner Park, in spite of Geoff Kellaway striking the post with a minute to play.
Battling on behind-closed-doors, Barry's record remains markedly mixed, with the league's lesser lights typically outshone, but only a single point achieved against any of the top four.
Town's last opportunity to add to that tally before the split will be on Saturday 27th March, when third-placed Bala travel to Barry for Jenner Park's final Phase One fixture this season.
Eight points clear of Barry, but nine behind second-placed TNS, Bala were beaten 3-1 at home by Connah's Quay Nomads on Tuesday, helping the champions build a three-point lead at the top.
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