Penybont were narrow winners over Barry Town United at Jenner Park as they moved above them in the Cymru Premier.
Sam Snaith, formerly of Barry Town, scored the solitary goal in the match to give them the vital three points, as they came out on top in a closely-fought encounter.
The meeting between these two sides at Jenner Park on a windy Tuesday evening saw an energetic and tactically astute Penybont side given the chance to affirm their top six status and as genuine challengers to Barry Town of whom they have competed with closely with in the league standings.
Prior to the match, Penybont knew a victory would put them above Barry in the table with a game in hand.
If we examine the key approaches of both sides in the game it appeared Barry Town were well aware of the consequences of losing it, as they set up largely to stifle the play of Penybont and leave with a point.
The formations of both sides
Playing a narrow 4-3-3 and content to defend, the game was largely played in the Barry Town half. In possession they often looked to play long balls to their lone striker Jarvis (9), but also initially tried to pass out from the back. This was done largely down their right hand side through ex Wales international David Cotterill (11). Their narrow formation contributed to central areas being heavily congested throughout the match.
Penybont played in a 4-2-3-1 and out of possession look to press high up the pitch. This effectively shutdown Barry Towns early attempts play out from the back and as a result Barry increasingly looked to play long as the game continued. Once in possession the energetic wide attacking midfielders of Penybont, Mael Davies (6) and Kostya Georgievsky (7) drifted inside to interplay with the technically gifted Ahmun (9) up top. This largely served to further congest the middle of the park and their best chances often arrived when Georgievsky stayed wide on the right utilising the vacant space before delivering the ball to central areas. Most notably leading to a Mael Davies miscontrol near the penalty spot, a chance which could easily have led to the opener.
If the Barry Town ‘Plan A’ was direct play to the head of Jarvis, with players in and around him looking to collect the second ball, then ‘Plan B’ was the crossing of Cotterill senior. While Jarvis was well marshalled by Penybont’s centre backs and two deep-sitting midfielders, Barry’s few dangerous moments came from Cotterill crosses, whether taking corners from left or right, or crossing from deep.
Snaith’s winning goal
Barry Town captain Clayton Green could have seen two separate yellow cards for two challenges around 60 and 64 minutes, both times a little high and catching an opposition player. Ultimately the referee gave a straight red for the second.
Once down to 10 men the front four of Penybont focused almost entirely on attacking and sometimes even matched up man for man with the opposition back four. As Barry moved to 2 up top to keep their defensive shape, a back 4 with 3 narrow central midfielders, Penybont had less to do defensively and Captain Kane Owen (3) pushed on constantly from left back.
Penybont still created relatively few opportunities however with the Barry Town defence solid and the excellent Curtis Macdonald controlling strikers Ahmun and later Snaith with close man-marking, sticking tightly to each of the strikers in turn as they looked to drop into space between the lines.
The one occasion Mcdonald failed in this role led to the winning goal.
As Snaith dropped to collect a pass into feet, McDonald went with him and challenged him as the ball arrived. A combination of the stronger build of Snaith compared to Ahmun, some tiredness from Mcdonald who had defended manfully for 80 minutes and a slightly fortuitous touch, got Snaith out of McDonalds grasp and into a few yards of space. From about 20 yards out a powerful swerving shot with some late dip was past the keeper before he moved.
A deserved win for the Bont
In a crucial game where neither side looked to get their widemen into wide areas, time on the ball was at a premium and chances few and far between. A determined high press out of possession and imaginative play from their front four when in possession gave the men in black the edge.
So a deserved win for The Bont after having the majority of the chances and playing the more enterprising football. This game may ultimately convince Barry Town of a change in game plan when the two renew their rivalry next week.
(Featured Image: Rhys Skinner)
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