Barry Town 1-2 Haverfordwest County (From Western Telegraph)

Barry Town 1-2 Haverfordwest County

9:00am Thursday 23rd February 2012 in Sport

A well-crafted win at Jenner Park saw the Bluebirds bounce up to third place and set up a six-pointer with second-placed Cwmbran Celtic on the Conygar Bridge Meadow this Saturday.

The Bluebirds started the game with a slightly defensive formation, with Chris O’Sullivan playing just behind Darren Griffiths up front, as part of a five-man midfield, and Rhys Jones deputising for Declan John at right back.

They have sometimes struggled in away games, on tighter pitches, but found the wide open spaces of Jenner Park very much to their liking, and were able to spread the ball fluently. They took a deserved lead in the 33rd minute, when O’Sullivan and Darren Griffiths put Richie Lewis through, and Lewis, who is better with his right peg than most left-footers, lashed the ball in right-footed.

Ex-Bluebirds manager Gavin Chesterfield re-shuffled shrewdly at half-time and the Dragons came back dangerously as the second half started, getting a deserved equaliser in the 53rd minute when Josh Bell was able to curl his free kick around the wall and in at the far post.

The Bluebirds were still pressing for a lead, and re-shuffled after 65 minutes, with Nicky Woodrow coming on for Anton Owens and the side reverting to the orthodox two-striker formation.

The winning goal came ten minutes from the end, and again it was the Griffiths-Woodrow combination as Woody sent Darren clear for him to cut past two defenders, draw the keeper and drive in for a fine solo effort.

A side of Barry’s quality were always going to mount a strong comeback at this point, but the Bluebirds’ defence was able to weather the inevitable ten-minute attacking wave and the side left Jenner Park with a deserved win from a fine competitive game.

This Saturday the Bluebirds entertain Cwmbran Celtic for that big six-pointer at the Conygar Bridge Meadow Stadium, with the kick-off at 2pm.

Haverfordwest County: Peter Blain; Rhys Jones; Dale Griffiths; Phil Cattlin; David Evans; Richie Lewis (Declan Carroll, 85); Ricky Watts; Owen Thomas; Chris O’Sullivan; Anton Owens (Nicky Woodrow, 65); Darren Griffiths.

Sub not used: Jay Brockway.