FOOTBALL: Barrowby win by odd goal in three to go sixth

Notts Senior League

Division Two

Kirton Brickworks 1

Barrowby 2

Barrowby travelled early to this away fixture, determined to get their preparation right and everyone focussed on the task in hand.

Lee, fresh from completing his Level 2 coaching badge, set out what he expected from the team over the 90 minutes and the message was fresh in the mind of the players as the game kicked off.

llis Short, captain for the day, won the toss and chose to play against the clear slope on the Kirton pitch. This proved to be vital as the ground was heavy under foot and players would tire as the game progressed into the latter stages.

Barrowby started the brighter with the main battle taking place in the centre of the park, seeing Power and Sumner putting in some crunching tackles. On several occasions the Swans broke but just could not find that final quality ball to find the runs of Abel and Kevern.

Not to get the ball bogged down in the middle, the visitors played it out from the back at every opportunity, keeping it wide to the full backs and utilising the wide pitch. Curry, in the Barrowby goal, showed nifty footwork and was playing a sweeper keeper role, joining in the build-up and laying the ball to feet to start the attack.

In the 18th minute, Barrowby won a corner and Abel whipped in a deadly delivery which an opposing defender could only glance into the roof of the net, trying to stop a certain goal.

Kevern, starting after a long lay-off from injury, looked bright in the early stages and Abel found him in space on 28 minutes, but his snatched shot flew over.

Two minutes later, Barrowby were punished for a mistake at the back when a long clearance was misjudged by Coulson and allowed a free run on goal, which was dually dispatched after nearly being saved by Curry.

Just before the break, Curry was called into action again when a driven free kick saw him dive low to tip round the post.

Barrowby went into the second half full of confidence, knowing they had the downhill advantage and had not allowed Kirton to end the half with any kind of lead.

The home side started brightly and pinned Barrowby back in their own half for periods of the second half. The back four of Coulson, Mills, Short and Turner were defending for their lives at times and it was a goalmouth scramble that nearly led to Kirton going a goal up, but Barrowby were saved by the post on 48 minutes.

Unfortunately, Kevern suffered a reoccurrence of his injury and had to be replaced by Beaumont in the 49th minute.

On 53 minutes, Barrowby were saved by the post again when a back header hit the upright and was cleared to safety. Curry came to the rescue again following a defensive error, pulling off a fine save to keep things level.

The Swans started to swing the tide of play and showed their attacking intent to win a series of corners, one of which fell to Turner in space but his header flashed wide. Alex Roberts received the ball in his own half on 55 minutes and went on a mazy run, beating several Kirton players, but was unfortunate that his well-hit shot caught a defender and rose over the bar.

A further injury saw Coulson change the formation and pull Abel into the centre of the park.

The 72nd minute saw the move of the game. Abel received the ball in a central position and laid it off to Roberts out wide. Taking a touch, the youngster whipped in a dangerous delivery which found ‘Rooney’ Beaumont on the back post to smash home on his debut.

Barrowby shut up shop for the last 15 minutes and defended resolutely as a unit to see the game out and take the three points to lift them to sixth in the league.

Barrowby man of the match was Brad Curry.