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Home >Story Index> Swansea 2 Barry T 0 |
| Caretaker managers Nick Cusack and Roger Freestone elected to go into the game with the same line-up as that which had drawn against Darlington last Saturday leaving the Swans lining up as follows |
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Freestone De-Vulgt Todd O’Leary Howard Brodie Mumford Coates Casey Watkin Williams |
| Barry have an excellent record against us in recent seasons and they went into this game with the BBC commentators saying that they would fancy their chances against a side that had seen more than it’s fair share of problems over the course of this long and turbulent season. |
| And it was Barry that showed first, although not before the game was 20 minutes old. Barry won a free-kick on the right hand edge of the Swansea penalty area and one-time Swans target Gary Lloyd steeled himself for a long run up to the ball. As he struck the free-kick curling towards Roger’s left hand side it was a solid defensive header from Kristian O’Leary that put the ball out of play for a corner although in fairness, Roger probably had it covered had Kris missed the ball. |
| Barry then had the second chance of the match as a Lloyd corner from the left was half cleared by Watkin to Mike Flynn on the edge of the area who hammered a shot goalbound only to see it cleared off the line by the well placed Michael Howard. |
| Barry were looking the side most likely to score at this stage with Swansea’s best effort coming from a Jon Coates shot which he screwed wide after John Williams had knocked the ball back to him after it dropped at the edge of the area. |
| Swansea’s opening goal did arrive before the half-time interval when a ball from the left was knocked down by a Barry defender and the resulting bounce of the ball struck the hand of Jamie Moralee and the third official raised his flag to signal for the penalty which was duly despatched by Steve Watkin to put the home side ahead. |
| Barry though weren’t finished and Jon French found himself with a good chance to equalise before half-time but he seemed to panic and hit his shot hopelessly wide as Swansea went in one goal to the good. |
| Barry came out and tried to make an immediate impact in the second half as both Gary Lloyd and Tovey shot high and wide when perhaps they should have been looking to score and you begun to wonder if the visitor’s incapability to find the target would see them punished at some stage. |
| That punishment could have come sooner rather than later as Steve Watkin charged down a Simon Raynor clearance and was then bundled over in the penalty area amidst several claims for a penalty but this time the decision went Barry’s way much to the disgust of Nick Cusack on the Swansea bench. |
| But the goal wasn’t long in coming. A Steve Brodie header was looped back into the penalty area where it fell at the feet of an offside looking John Williams who kept his nerve to turn and slot the ball past Raynor despite the appeals of the Barry defence for a flag. Less than three minutes later Andrew Mumford showed his eye for a spectacular goal when he tried to lob Raynor from fully 40 yards and watched as the ball narrowly missed it’s target. |
| In reality this was the last of the decent goal chances although Steve Watkin should have had a third as the game entered injury time but he shot wide after being played through by Williams. |
| Two minutes of injury time turned into three for some unknown reason but the shrill of the referee’s whistle means a final date with the sleeping dwarves from up the road at a venue which will be decided by the toss of the coin. |
| Speaking to BBC Wales straight after the match, Nick Cusack said “I’m absolutely delighted. We passed the ball well and although Barry are known for their passing game I thought we outplayed and outpassed them. We knew that this would be a difficult game and once the second goal went in we were more comfortable. I’m now looking forward to a game with Cardiff” |
| John Williams, scorer of the second goal echoed those sentiments by saying “The club has been through a bad patch with financial difficulties and this is a boost for the club. It is always good to play against your own club and the prize money on offer is another big incentive” |
| Roll on the Bluebirds? |
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