Lauren Harris reflects on a big Barry win over Cardiff Met

The final whistle blows, and Barry players sink to their knees, punching their arms in their air as the claim their first win of the season.

After a small huddle, the majority of the players head towards friends and family on the sidelines, or straight back into the dressing room to celebrate a priceless victory.

However, three players stay out near the dugout, kicking the ball with a few of the mascots from today’s game; Erin Brennan, Chloe Tiley, and Lauren Harris.

For Harris in particular, Barry isn’t just the club she plays for, it’s a way of life. If she isn’t playing, she’s in the stands with the rest of the Yellow Army, banging the drums and waving the flags.

As a player she’s been in the thick of it during all of Town’s highs and lows in the Adran Premier. The final day survival in the first season and helping them steer away from relegation during last season’s turbulent term.

The beginning of this season isn’t what Barry had hoped for, with four straight defeats in all competitions, and a fixture at home to Cardiff Met Sunday certainly looked difficult.

But Barry rallied and put together a performance to remember with a 4-2 win over the university side.

“We went in at half-time just about in the lead, and it was a feeling we hadn’t had yet this season and that was nice. It’s a bit of an indescribable feeling this. I don’t think any of us actually expected to come away with all three points, especially against Cardiff Met.

“Everyone has seen the table; everyone knows what our goal difference looked like and it’s not the best. So, to come away with three points and score that many goals against a team that should be competing for the title was very satisfying.

“It puts us in a good place to go to Cardiff City Stadium next week and gives us a lot of belief.”

In their four previous meetings against the Archers, Barry have lost all four, scoring three and conceding a staggering 22 goals.

Their first ever win over Met will be one to remember, especially for Harris, who was grateful to have a one club atmosphere back at Jenner Park.

“I know Met were missing some key players, but that doesn’t take away from what we did on the pitch today. We hurt them on the counterattack when we went forward, yes, we did let in a goal, but the counter was always our gameplan.

“Full credit to the team today, it was a really good performance. Great to see a good crowd here too. Flags were up, music was blasting, commentary was on, and just nice to have that one club feeling back as well.”

In a team full of standout performers, Taite Trivett stood tall and powered her team to a fantastic performance.

She worked tirelessly down the wing and capped off a great display with a goal late on. Harris was delighted with her fellow right sided player.

“I think that was one of Taite’s best performances, if not her best performance this season. She was running down that wing all day, she was going box to box, and she completed most of her crosses this afternoon too. Credit to her, and great that she managed a goal and an assist to go along with a great performance.”

With a win now under their belts, there is a sense of belief around the squad and the club that Barry can now move up the table.

For Harris, it’s a victory that will live long in her memory. A win that makes the low points at the club all worth it.

“It puts us in a good place now going forward into the rest of the season. We’ve had however many losses on the trot home and away, so it’s really nice to come away with the win against a team like Met.

“We’ve got the belief behind us, we’ve got the confidence behind us, and hopefully we can take that all forward with us. We’ve been waiting for that win, and now we’ve got it, we can go and get a few more. The girls were buzzing at half-time, so they’ll be even more buzzing tonight!”

(Featured Image: Ashley Crowden/FAW)