Barry Town United 3-2 Caernarfon Town: Advantage to Barry in rehearsal for next week

Barry Town United claimed a 3-2 win over Caernarfon Town at Jenner Park in the rehearsal of next weeks Europa Conference League play-off.

The Canaries went ahead on the cusp of half time thanks to a Darren Thomas strike, but David Cotterill restored parity from the spot shortly after the break.

Barry added another five minutes later through Ryan Kavanagh, before Jordan Cotterill made it three with a glancing header.

Thomas scored his second of the afternoon in additional time, however, it wasn’t enough for the Caernarfon as the hosts stood firm to seal all three points.

The victory meant that the Linnets maintained fifth place- although likelihood always leaned towards that. A three point gap had separated the two prior to kick off, but the Canaries would’ve had to overturn an unlikely 11 goal swing to leapfrog their opponents.

Initially, Gavin Chesterfield’s side began on the front foot and set the tone with some intricate, composed passing play.

David Cotterill posed an early threat with a host of menacing deliveries from out wide, however, there was an absence of connecting red jerseys to make the most of them.

Their dominance soon wavered, though, something which Caernarfon would take optimal advantage from. Max Cleworth carved out his side’s first real opportunity of the afternoon as he fired a well-struck effort from range at Lee Idzi, before Noah Edwards tested the Linnetts’ stopper two minutes later.

Not only had they nullified Barry’s offensive threat, but they had also put their defence firmly under the cosh by exposing gaping holes in behind.

Before long, it came to fruition, with veteran Darren Thomas’ drilled effort into the bottom corner opening the scoring on the stroke of half time.

A response was needed from the Barry players, who had came up second best for much of the first half. They came speeding out of the blocks after the interval, displaying an extra sense of creativity and endeavour going forward.

The hosts relentlessly plugged away and a deciding moment of the clash came when substitute Josh Graham was brought down in the area. Up stepped David Cotterill, who made no mistake in converting his spot kick in cool, composed fashion to level the scoring.

High on momentum and confidence, Barry deservedly went into the ascendancy shortly as Ryan Kavanagh went through on goal and fired past Harry Rees. They weren’t stopping there, either – Jamie Bird fired wide from a good position, whereas Jordan Cotterill came agonisingly close to scoring a memorable goal.

He pulled off an exquisite piece of skill of skill to tee up a shot outside the area, though his emphatic effort was palmed away by Rees.

The attacker was at the forefront of the action moments later as he crafted a through ball into the path of David Cotterill, who surged through and found himself one on one with Rees, only to see his shot saved by the youngster. And then, he went from creating to scoring, heading home his side’s third in the 81st minute to wrap up the game.

Despite the best efforts of Caernarfon late on, they couldn’t find the elusive goals to get back into the contest. Jack Kenny’s outside of the boot effort sailed wide in the closing stages, though they notched one back through Thomas, scoring his second of the afternoon in the process.

Barry defended well to hold out for all three points in the end and secured their first win eight matches. Coincidentally, their last victory before their 3-2 win over Caernarfon had also came against the Canaries, with a late Curtis Jemmett-Hutson goal proving decisive last month.

Barry Town United: Lee Idzi, Luke Cummings, Luke Cooper (C), Kyle Patten, Rhys Abbruzzese (Jamie Bird 46′), Clayton Green, Robbie Patten (Evan Press 82′), David Cotterill, Jordan Cotterill, Curtis Jemmett-Hutson (Josh Graham 52′), Rhys Kavanagh (Callum Sainty 67′)

Goals: David Cotterill 57′, Rhys Kavanagh 62′, Jordan Cotterill 81′

Caernarfon Town: Harry Rees, Joe Williams (Daniel Jones 89′), Gruffydd Williams, Gareth Edwards (C) (Telor Williams 46′), Sion Bradley, Darren Thomas, Noah Edwards (Mohammed El-Arab 82′), Ryan Williams, Cai Jones (Cian Evans 82′), Jack Kenny, Max Cleworth

Goals: Darren Thomas 45′, 90′

(Featured Image: Rhys Skinner)