In their first match of 2020, Barry Town Vets Over 55s were just too good for a sprightly Merthyr Tydfil as they secured an impressive 9-1 victory, including a fabulous four goals for evergreen Mike Bobbett. It means that the defence of their over 55s League crown is now very much back in their own hands.
Although missing a number of key players, Barry were still able to field a strong squad at Abercynon, so much so that they dominated the match pretty much from start to finish and in fact the scoreline could have been even more emphatic!
Merthyr are always a tough nut to crack but with Barry in this form, Merthyr’s weaknesses were immediately exploited by the midfield of Huish, Price, Marshall and Dupuy, and full backs Staddon and Gibbins, whilst strikers Welsh and Bobbett terrorised their opponents. ‘Jonah’ Jones continued with his impressive scoring run, slotting home Dupuy’s corner with aplomb. Price scored shortly afterwards when he slammed home from close range after his header was parried.
The visitors went three up when Bobbett took advantage of a defensive lapse to finish from a tight angle. Barry stopper John Jones was a mere spectator, and apart from one defensive mix-up which allowed the Merthyr striker to score cheaply, this was a consummate back four performance from Gibbins, Jones, Averies and Staddon.
Merthyr’s momentary chink of hope was crushed however, when Bobbett scored his second and then completed his hat-trick with an audacious lob, proving that when he’s in this kind of mood he is almost unplayable.
In the second half Dupuy took centre stage, first supplying a superb cross, which was powerfully headed home by Welsh and then getting on the scoresheet himself with a delightful chip over the stranded keeper. The pack was shuffled with Brown and Taylor entering the fray, but man-of-the-match Bobbett was relentless, scoring his fourth after robbing the opposition number five.
But the best was still to come as Huish screamed a shot into the top corner from 25 yards to complete the rout and send out a clear warning to the other teams in the league.
Next week the over 50s travel to Cwmbran for a cup match against last years beaten finalists.
2019/20 Barry Town Vets fixtures and results
Sept 8 Penybont 2 -3 BARRY 55s
Sept 15 BARRY 50s 1-0 Cardiff Accies
Sept 22 BARRY 55s 4-0 Merthyr
Oct 6 Newport 2-6 BARRY 55s
Oct 20 BARRY 50s 1-2 Continental
Oct 20 BARRY 60s 0-0 Swansea
Oct 27 BARRY 55s 8-1 Llantrisant
Nov 3 Merthyr 4-1 BARRY 50s
Nov 10 Swansea 3-1 BARRY 55s
Nov 24 BARRY 55s 3-0 Penybont
Dec 1 Swansea 3-7 BARRY 50s
Dec 8 Barry 55s 4-0 Merthyr (CUP)
Dec 15 BARRY 50s 0-1 Nelson
Dec 15 BARRY 60s 3-0 Newport
Jan 5 Merthyr 1-9 BARRY 55s
Jan 12 Cwmbran Celtic vs BARRY 50s / Celtic Park, Cwmbran / 11am
Jan 26 Penybont vs BARRY 50s / Bryntirion Park / 2pm
Feb 2 Swansea vs BARRY 55s / LLandarcy Sports / 2pm
Feb 9 BARRY 50s vs Llantrisant / TBC / TBC
Feb 16 BARRY 55s vs Newport / TBC / TBC
Feb 23 BARRY 50s vs Mathern / TBC / TBC
Feb 23 Penybont vs BARRY 60s / Ystrad Mynach Centre / 4.30pm
March 8 Llantrisant vs BARRY 60s / TBC / 4.30pm
Mar 15 Llantrisant vs BARRY 55s / Tonyrefail Welfare ground / 2pm
Mar 29 Newport vs BARRY 50s / LLanwern Sports / 2pm
Apr 5 BARRY 55s vs Swansea / TBC / TBC
Apr 19 Cwmbran vs BARRY 50s / Celtic Park, Cwmbran / TBC