Barry Town United goalkeeper George Ratcliffe admitted his side were not at their best against Baglan, despite his two penalty saves helping secure their Welsh Cup progression.
Tom Randall looked to have secured Baglan a memorable Welsh Cup victory when he fired the hosts ahead in the 69th minute, but Noah Daley struck in the 90th minute to force a penalty shoot-out.
Barry’s Dugan got the visitors off to a positive start by converting his spot-kick, but Randall, who had beaten George Ratcliffe during normal time, failed to find the net.
Daley then missed for Barry Town allowing Andezjs Dubjaga to put Baglan back on level terms before Kieran Parsons also converted.
However, Jonathan Davies and Lewis Holmes both missed for Baglan, leaving Barry with the opportunity to take control. Keston Davies and Sion Spence duly delivered from the spot, ensuring Barry emerged victorious and booked their place in the next round.
The goalkeeper acknowledged that his team’s overall performance was not where it needed to be, with difficult conditions and a poor playing surface making life challenging for the visitors.
However, Barry found a way through and Ratcliffe was delighted to see his side get the job done, even if they had made things harder for themselves than necessary.
Ratcliffe admits Barry Town were below their best
Reflecting on the performance, Ratcliffe admitted Barry had plenty of room for improvement after being pushed all the way by Baglan.
“The team performance probably wasn’t great,” he said.
“We’ve already gone in and the gaffer spoke to us, said we obviously need to be a lot better.
“It’s obviously tough conditions coming down here, obviously the pitch is not great, not quite what we’re used to. So that obviously made it a little bit difficult for us as well.
“But all in all, we got the job done. Even though we made it more difficult than what we needed to really.”
Barry’s evening became even more challenging when Baglan were awarded a penalty when the score was goalless, although Ratcliffe admitted he had not seen exactly what had happened in the incident.
“I don’t know whether it was a pen or it wasn’t. But fair play to the guy, at the time he stuck his pen very nicely.”
Despite the setback, Ratcliffe felt Barry grew into the contest, praising the bravery of his team and the impact made by the substitutes as they pushed for a breakthrough as Barry Town ound an equaliser late on through Noah Daley.
“Going forward I feel like we pushed on, we were brave, the substitutes that came on did well and we finally got that goal,” he added.
George Ratcliffe reveals mind games behind two penalty saves
With the tie eventually going to a penalty shoot-out, Ratcliffe produced the decisive contribution, saving twice to help Barry progress.
The goalkeeper revealed that nerves were not a major factor for him, explaining that his focus was instead on putting pressure on the opposition penalty takers.
Rather than feeling the weight of the occasion, he was determined to get inside their heads before they stepped up.
“I find as a keeper there’s not much nerves going into a penalty shoot-out. It is more on the player” Ratcliffe explained.
“So it was just trying to get it in their heads and be a bit like that and then just start to hopefully dive the right way and make a save in which I luckily did twice.”
Ratcliffe makes Welsh Cup draw wish after Barry reach next round
Having helped Barry navigate a difficult cup tie, Ratcliffe is already looking ahead to the next round and has one clear preference for the draw.
A home tie is what he wants, with the opportunity to play in front of Barry’s supporters potentially providing an important advantage.
“Just a home draw, if I’m honest,” he said.
“Obviously, it’d be nice to play a team at home who will be lower down the pecking order, maybe in a lower league, etc. But you can’t really predict what’s going to happen with that.
“So just a home draw would be nice. Obviously playing at home with the fans gives us that extra boost and hopefully we can put in a performance and go through the next round again.”
For Ratcliffe, the immediate task was to help Barry Town get through a difficult test against a tough Baglan side. His two shoot-out saves ensured they did exactly that, with the goalkeeper now hoping the next Welsh Cup challenge will come on home soil.
“Obviously if we played someone in the Cymru Premier we would try and get a little bit of footage to see where players go, where players don’t.
“So it was just a guessing game really, but it worked out in the end.”
