Barwell crash out of FA Trophy to 10 man rivals

A DISAPPOINTING afternoon in Cheshire saw Barwell knocked out of the Buildbase FA Trophy by 10 man Nantwich Town. The home side came from behind to progress to the next round and leave the Canaries wondering how they had let this tie slip from their hands.

Nantwich started the stronger team and enjoyed a lot of possession in the opening ten minutes. There was some good passing from the home side as they looked to probe the Barwell defence.

The Canaries did break away in the seventh minute and it resulted in a Brady Hickey shot, made possibly by some great hold up play by Tristan Dunkley. The Barwell forward had a couple of shots himself but both were blocked.

Prince Haywood was sent off for Nantwich Town after 21 minutes. He went in to a challenge with Harry Bower and then, once he got up on his feet, clearly stamped on Bower’s leg. The referee was right in front of it and didn’t hesitate to reach, rightly, for the red card. This was a boost for Barwell and momentum swung towards Guy Hadland’s men.

Liam Castle was tested twice from the impressive Tommy Montefiori and David Vaughan but the Barwell keeper was on fine form. These stops helped Barwell to take the lead. A good piece of hold up play by Dunkley allowed him to pass the ball to Kyron Stabana. Stabana composed himself and fired the ball out of reach of Andy Wycherley for the lead.

Castle was called in to action again with a smart save that saw the ball go out for a corner. The corner led to an equalising goal by Connor O-Riordan. He bundled the ball in to the net after a header from the corner had been tipped on to the bar by Castle.

Nantwich started the second half well and dominated the next 45 minutes. Joe Mwasile saw a header hit the post after just two minutes of the second period. This was a warning of what was to come and it was Mwasile who gave Nantwich the lead on 59 minutes. Cockerline’s cross from the byline found Mwasile who brought it down and fired home from close range.

Barwell were trying to recover from going behind but rarely caused Nantwich too many problems. Brady Hickey had a shooting opportunity but the ball was blocked and the pace was taken out of the shot and Eddy Nisevic had a cross collected easily by Wycherley.

Liam Castle was called in to action again when he tipped the ball over the bar from Heath. This was an excellent stop with many in the crowd expecting the ball to hit the back of the net.

Guy Hadland made three changes in the half to try and turn the game in his favour but they weren’t enough to trouble a stubborn Nantwich defence. Right at the death one of these substitutes had the best chance of the half when Jahvan Davidson-Miller crossed the ball well, only to see Wycherley tip it away from the on rushing Barwell attack.

Nantwich saw the final few minutes out to take the win and move in to the next round.