Barry Town United 2-0 Airbus UK Broughton: McLaggon and Fahiya strike to send Linnets top of Cymru Premier
Kayne McLaggon’s penalty and substitute Drew Fahiya’s injury time goal helped Barry Town United to a 2-0 win over battling Airbus UK Broughton at Jenner Park.
McLaggon fired home from the penalty spot just before the hour mark after he had been brought down in the area, before Fahiya tapped home from close range to settle the game.
The visitors competed throughout, and on a different day could well have taken something from the game.
Andy Owens – who scored a brace in last week’s 2-0 win over Newtown – should have put Airbus ahead in the first-half with a header from close range, and hit the crossbar after the break.
The Wingmakers began brightly and with purpose, and had the first opportunity when Matt Sargent found Jordan Evans with a through ball, with the forward firing wide of the right post from inside the area.
Steve O’Shaughnessy’s side were not afraid to go forward when the opportunity arose, but they were reminded of Barry’s threat when Momodou Touray’s curling effort from outside the area narrowly evaded the bottom right corner.
The Dragons’ were into their attacking groove early, and a quick counter-attacking move saw Keyon Reffell with the chance to shoot on goal from the right side of the area. His effort could only find the side netting, and should really have tested Lewis Hall.
Wingmakers midfielder George Hughes was alert to cut out Jon Hood’s header, aimed for Touray, preventing the forward from having a clear run on goal.
Sion Spence, the Cardiff City loanee, hit the post with a fizzing effort after Airbus had headed clear from inside the area. The midfielder charged forward and connected well, and could count himself not unlucky not to have found the bottom right corner.
Sections of the home support were becoming increasingly frustrated as the half went on, and they could have found their side a goal down when Jake Phillips’ pin-point cross found Owens, with the striker heading wide when it was perhaps easier to score.
Owens was involved again at the beginning of the second-half, his header from a corner was on target and forced a sharp reaction save from Welsh international George Ratcliffe.
You felt as if the Linnets needed a break from somewhere, and they were awarded a penalty after McLaggon had broke into the area before being brought down. The striker stepped up and fired past Hall to put the hosts ahead just before the hour.
Airbus went close to levelling the game when Owens – unmarked inside the area – got his foot to a free-kick and saw the ball come back off the crossbar.
Evan Press, the centre-back, had an opportunity to kill the game off when he met Rhys Abbruzzese’s corner, but could only direct his effort onto the post.
The visitors lacked discipline in the second half, with captain Steven Tomassen, Sam Hart and Owens all going into the book.
The Broughton outfit remained in with a shout heading into injury time, but Fahiya showed a predatory instinct to pounce on Airbus uncertainty to poke home the decisive goal.
Barry Town United manager Gavin Chesterfield said: “I thought the first half was one of the best halves of football I’ve seen in the Cymru Premier this year. I thought they were excellent, and I thought we were too.
“It was a really good game tactically, technically and physically.
“The second-half was a bit different, it was a war of attrition and a bit more defensive-orientated from us which sometimes you need to do.
“I’m really pleased that we’re showing lots of different faces to us. We showed in the first-half that we can be possession-oriented and that we can play counter-attack really well, but we also showed that we’ve got a real defensive resilience as well.
“Six clean sheets in 11 games is something to be really proud of.”
