Barry Town survived a late scare at Jenner Park from Aberystwyth Town to steal a 2-1 win as they look to secure that 7th playoff spot.
Barry made a commanding start, progressing effectively down both flanks. Aberystwyth struggled to gain a foothold, with the Town’s high press keeping the visitors pinned back.
It was the home side who made the early breakthrough on 7 minutes, deservedly taking the lead after a goal line scramble for the visitors left the ball on a plate for Ieuan Owen to smash home into an open goal. Owen’s 6th of the season was almost cancelled out with Aberystwyth’s first clear cut chance of the game coming 10 minutes later when a long ball over the top found front man Abdi Sharif. He left the encounter with a yellow card instead of a goal however, as his attempt to round Liam Armstrong in the Barry goal was deemed to be simulation by referee Benjamin Williams.
The visitor’s momentum was short-lived, with an onslaught of chances following for the Town. An error from Aberystwyth’s Ben Davies gifted the ball to Owen who’s cross found Ollie Hulbert but the league’s top scorer’s strike was parried away routinely for a corner by Dave Jones.
The Black and Greens once again survived, with Owen Cuddihy and Ryan Kavanagh both seeing their shots blocked heroically on the line by Iwan Lewis.
Cuddihy was in the thick of the action again, linking up effectively with Hulbert to create a string of good chances.
Aberystwyth weren’t without their chances but again struggled to take advantage with Jonathan Evans scuffing a shot wide from the edge of the area on 28 minutes.
A fine save was needed by Jones to deny a curling Kavanagh free kick, and Owen sliced the rebound wide to keep the advantage at one.
The away side came close to grabbing a goal back just before halftime when Rico Patterson’s free kick had the full attention of Armstrong who was relieved to see it sail wide.
The second half saw the league’s bottom side start with a bit more conviction, making for an end-to-end period of the game. Iwan Lewis blasted a shot wide early on and Patterson came close shortly after but saw his effort fly past the top right corner.
Barry were quick to respond as Cuddihy rattled the woodwork with a close-range header. Jones made a pair of important saves from Hulbert and Kavanagh respectively, with the latter struggling to keep down his header on the rebound.
A chaotic sequence on 70 minutes saw Aberystwyth unsuccessfully appeal for a penalty in the Barry box, only for Ollie Hulbert to go unnoticed and fly through the offside trap at the other end before being chased down and forced into narrowly missing the target.
Substitute Kayne McLaggon almost made a winning impact off the bench, as in the 85th minute he burst onto the counterattack and played through Owen and was yet again shut down by an excellent save by Jones.
Barry hearts sank in the final minute of regulation as Rico Patterson’s thunderous strike flew past Armstrong to restore parity. The hosts however managed to use this to spur them on, and Eliot Richards proved to be the super sub as on 92 minutes his header bounced and narrowly crept under the bar to earn his side a well-deserved 3 points.
Barry face 3rd place Flint Town United on Saturday, 22nd March, looking to continue a good run of form and solidify their spot at the top of the Play-off Conference.
