Barry Comprehensive School

On a fresh Tuesday afternoon two neighbouring schools battled it out on Bro Morgannwg’s home turf in a dramatic league game. The last match result between these two was an emphatic 8-1 victory for Barry, a score line that left the Barry manager saying that it was a “Freak result!’’

Both teams set out with a 4-4-2 formation, which resulted in the ten opening minutes, being ten non-action minutes. Despite the neat touches from Barry striker Seon Shakespeare, neither goalkeeper was tested.

Possession brought pressure producing an opening goal for Barry! They scored the opening goal, good work from Jordan Prosser, a great save from the goalkeeper, but there was Josh Manning to tap in the rebound.

A groin injury to Seon Shakespeare lowered the confidence of the away side and that led to the home side getting a grip on the game. They had a goal disallowed for offside which left the players constantly arguing with the referee. The man in the middle stood his ground and kept his decision to disallow the goal.

After the half time break, Barry made substitutions which inspired them to take a two goal lead as David Bryan finished off a good passing move from the visitors. What a team talk that was from Barry manager Mr Ingle! As the game wore on, the home side got better in every aspect of the game and shortly after they pulled a goal back to make it a nail biting last ten minutes for Barry.

All in all it was a scrappy second half, with Barry trying everything, even a dive in the box from Jordan Prosser couldn’t get them a penalty. On the counter attack Bro Morgannwg won a corner with seconds to play to full time. The corner was fumbled by the Barry goalkeeper and that left the home side’s defender to slam the ball into an open net. As soon as the net bulged, the final whistle blew. What drama!

Good luck to both teams for the rest of their season.

Report & Photo
by Craig Lowry

BCS v Bro Morgannwg - Frantic Semi Final

A frantic semi-final football match between neighbouring schools took place just before Easter, ending in penalty shoot-out drama.

The last meeting between Barry Comprehensive School and Ysgol Bro Morgannwg, only a couple of weeks ago resulted in a 2-2 draw.

The semi-final venue was Ysgol Bro Morgannwg's home turf and there was a decent amount of support for both teams, which only added to the nerves of the twenty-two players as they set out in their formations to commence.

Both teams set out with a 4-4-2 formation, a change of personnel to the Barry team unbalanced them a touch and their first-half display demonstrated this. It was mainly a scrappy half of football with no team dominating the game. The goalkeepers from either side were spectators as they watched possession thrown away cheaply from their teams. Barry started to give away unnecessary free kicks; this led to the first piece of attacking play of the match, with the home side's attacker hitting the crossbar twice with one header!

Barry reacted immediately and Ryan Newman helped them get a hold of the game with some good long range passing. Seon Shakespeare beat the offside trap for Barry but fired over. Continuous corners from the away side led to another fired shot from Shakespeare, but this time he hit his shot wide of the left hand post. The home sides defence stayed strong and at half time their goalkeeper wasn't really called into action.

After the half time interval, Barry changed their formation to a more attacking one, leading the home side to counter attack. This brought them the first goal of the game, against the run of play; a tidy finish from the attacker gave his side the lead. The game did not change a great deal after the goal; it was still a scrappy game. The attacking formation from Barry wore away the home side's defence and Josh Manning slotted home to bring the game level for the visitors.

With full-time looming, both teams were anxious to get the vital winner, but nothing came of these attacks and the referee blew the whistle to take the game into extra-time.

The extra period of time was not much different from the game itself. Barry pressed on to get the winner and they looked like the team to score as the manager put another attacker on to grab a much needed goal. With penalties in mind, individual players felt the pressure and some mistakes were starting to occur. Chad Clarke had a free header in the box but he couldn't make it count as he saw his attempt loop over the bar. That was the last action of play, into a penalty shootout, which is meant to separate the men from the boys. Who had the bottle to step up and take a penalty?

After five penalties for each team, the score was 4-4. It was now the sudden death stage, with no time for nerves. Rhys Davies had a penalty that was judged to hit the bar and fly out, Bro Morgannwg's team thought they had won until the referee gave a goal for Davies' effort. Ben Stait for Barry, had to score to keep their chances of getting to the final alive, his strike seemed goal bound until the goalkeeper produced a top quality save to tip it around the post. Trauma for Barry, delight for Bro Morgannwg.

The game was played in the right manor, both teams showing respect for the other, but at the end of the day; the lottery of the penalties proved crucial for the home side as they progress into the final. All the best to Ysgol Bro Morgannwg in the final, and to Barry Comprehensive School for the rest of the season.

Report & Photo
by Craig Lowry