BARN’S SPIRIT HAS WAKEHAM FULL OF HOPE

DEE WAKEHAM is delighted to say his comeback kings Barn United never know when they are beaten this season.

Tyler Waide and Omar Aitsiaabad were on target on Saturday as the hosts extended their perfect home record to four with a 2-1 win over Colin Valley, keeping the Carrickfergus men in the mix at the top of the table, three points shy of leaders Rosemount.

Not for the first time this season, however, Barn had to dig deep after trailing at the break.

Wakeham has given debuts to five youth team players this season – Adam Smiley, Cameron Robinson, Dylan Hanley, Ciaran Mccormick and Aaron Morgan – so it’s a fairly new group of players fending for themselves in 1B.

But so far so good, with the early target of staving off relegation all of a sudden looking too modest.

“I’m over the moon to be honest,” said Wakeham of Barn’s bright start to the new campaign.

“I had a meeting with the chairman at the start of the season, we were struggling to get players, I asked him about expectations and he just said to stay in the league.

“So our start helps. That’s usually around the 26-point mark and I think we’re halfway to it already. Our home record is 100 per cent, but away is not so good with the Mossley thrashing (7-2).

“We still seem to have to go a goal down before we turn it on second half. That’s a concern, but also a year or two ago, we would have got beaten, so we’ve come on there as well which is good.

“After the start, it does come into your head. But for me, there are four teams, Rosemount, Mossley, Aquinas and Dunmurry Young Men, and I still think they are the teams to beat.”

Meanwhile, Wakeham also had a word of praise for the evergreen Andy Waide, one of the Amateur League’s finest during his heyday at Islandmagee a decade or so ago, and still doing it now at 41 years young as a maverick sweeper.

“What position does he play now, I don’t know,” laughed the Barn playermanager. “The last pre-season game, he was playing as sweeper, one minute he was behind our two centre backs, and next minute he was up in their box with the ball.

“He just seems to do what he wants, he’s that good a player, you just let him get on with it, and he’s still our match-winner… at 41.”