Match Report: Barry Town United 1-1 Bangor City – Barry rally to earn fine point against in-form Citizens
Barry showed superb desire and determination as Kayne McLaggon’s second-half penalty earnt the hosts a point at Jenner Park.
Player of the month Dean Rittenberg did give the visitors the lead midway through the first-half, but Gavin Chesterfield’s side rallied and earned a fine point as Kayne McLaggon found the net with a second-half penalty.
Barry can take real confidence out of this outing, with games against Carmarthen away, and Prestatyn Town at home to come before christmas.
kevin Nicholson’s side on the other hand, will travel to both Cefn Druids and Carmarthen, and will be looking to take positive results out of both of them games, to keep the pressure on the leading pack.
Match Report
From the offset, Barry looked the brighter of the two teams in the early stages of the game as Chris Hugh’s corner found Luke Cooper unmarked in the box, who’s header was superbly denied by the finger tips of Matthew Hall.
In the first-half the game failed to conjure up many clear-cut chances, but the visitors were a constant threat, especially on the counter-attack as George Harry found freedom down the left-side, before firing in an effort, which drilled into Joe Massaro’s side netting.
With the visitors growing in confidence, they took the lead, as JD Welsh Premier League player of the month, Dean Rittenberg gave the Citizens the lead midway through the first-half, as Rittenberg played a delightful ball to Gary Taylor-Fletcher, who returned the favour to slot in Rittenberg, who calmy slotted the ball past Joe Massaro, who was making his Welsh Premier League debut.
Barry tried to press as the half came to a close, with Macauley Southam and Jordan Cotterill pressing the Bangor backline, but to no avail.
Bangor continued to press the Barry backline in the second-half, and good work from Harry, found Luke wall unmarked out wide, who crossed the ball back into Harry, who couldn’t quite get a strong enough connection with the ball and it went out for a Barry goal-kick.
However, Barry have shown on plenty of occasions this season that they have real character about them, and Luke Cooper found himself just outside of the box, hit a ferocious shot, which was excellently tipped over the bar by Hall.
Barry weren’t done there, though as Barry continued to force the issue, and Ryan Evans was the next player to have a chance but he headed just wide from Troy Greening’s free-kick into the box.
Chesterfield’s side were soon level, and it was fully deserved following their second-half display as McLaggon coolly slotted the ball home from the penalty spot after Drew Fahiya was brought down by Tom Kennedy in the box.
Kevin Nicholson, keen for the Citizens to take home all three points brought on Brayden Shaw, and he almost made an immediate impact, but saw his low struck strike divert just wide of Massaro’s posts, with the shot-stopper well beaten.
Bangor rallied to try to find a winner, but Barry also looked dangerous on the break, and the points were eventually shared, which was a fair reflection on the game itself at Jenner Park.
Man of the match (Jordan Cotterill)
After a long injury lay-off saw him miss the opening few months of the season, Jordan Cotterill has yet to hit the heights of the Welsh Premier League, but this was a taster of how good the playmaker really can be.
After a quiet first-half, he grew more and more into the game in the second-half, dictating play, and showing real zest going forward as Barry earned a fine point against one of the in-form teams in the Welsh Premier League. He really is a quality talent, make no mistake about that.
