A cloudy Saturday at the Kennel saw Barkers (sixth) host Berwick (seventh). Barkers were keen to build on last week’s 3-2 win over Knox and fielded an unchanged side for the third game in a row.
The most exciting moment of the first 15 minutes was when James Barber got a ball in the meat and two veg. Jimmy almost became Jemima, and he’s going down the karaoke next week to sing some Bee Gees. Then Berwick played a ball in from the right to Luca Maio, but the shot succeeded only in worrying some passing birds.
Barkers’ first threat came on 25 minutes when Ray Markley played out to Danny Aye on the left, and he hit a shot past the post. Then keeper Vladi Velikin had to come out quickly to snuff out a City attack. Ten minutes before the break, a Sean Perrin throw found Marcus Watson, whose turn and shot was deflected for a corner. Watson sent the corner to the far post, where Ryan Smith soared like a trout (the word “salmon” having been retired along with Brett Tronconi’s number four) to head over.
The City right winger drew a good save from Velikin, then Barkers won a free kick 25 yards out. Tristan Walker crashed his kick against the bar, then Aye blazed the ball over. Right on half time, it was Velikin who kept the score at 0-0 with a flying save from Maio then holding on to the follow-up from Stefan Mandic. An exciting half on a slippery pitch, with yellow cards and free kicks aplenty, but no goals.
Three minutes into the second half, a neat move from Barkers saw the ball come out to Smith, who hit a low drive at keeper Pedro Formosa. Then Markley brought the ball out of defence and hit a long ball to Watson, who ran on and shot at Formosa. Next a cross from the right saw a shot from Aye turned round the far post.
After all this huffing and puffing, Barkers did finally blow the Berwick house down. A City error in their own half was seized on by Watson, who ran on and shot for goal. Formosa parried, but Walker was on hand to tuck away the rebound to make it 1-0 Barkers.
Aye and Watson were giving the City defence plenty to think about, but Barkers now had a new threat – Joe White had come on at half time for his debut. Watson played a one-two with White but his touch was too heavy. Then City failed to clear, Aye was surrounded by defenders but found White, and he turned smartly and hit a low shot against the post.
Further chances fell to Aye and White before a Potter free kick found Aye, who blasted the ball from point blank range at Formosa, who amazingly held on to it. Barkers continued to pour forward, much as they did against Knox the previous week, while City didn’t look like equalising. Full-time: Barkers 1-0 Berwick.
A scrappy first half and a sloppy pitch were overcome by a very hardworking Barkers side today, who have now won two in a row, but need to keep winning to close the gap on the sides above them. Next is another home game, against bottom side Doncaster.
