Positive performance but no points to show for it...
BARWELL 1 AFC RUSHDEN & DIAMONDS 2
BARWELL fell to a narrow defeat at home to play-off chasing AFC Rushden & Diamonds but it was a positive performance by the Canaries as they continue to impress.
Two goals by Ty Deacon gave the away side the win, one of which was in injury time and was closely followed by the 18th goal of the season for Ben Stephens to give the match an exciting conclusion.
The game opened with a plethora of chances for both sides. The first of these was from Liam Dolman with a free kick in the first minute. The experienced defender decided to use the strong wind to his advantage and struck the ball from just inside the Diamonds’ half. The wind made it tricky for Liam Castle to judge the ball but he did enough to palm it away from the top corner. Nathan Tshikuna went close just four minutes later when his firm strike was tipped on to the bar by the Barwell ‘keeper.
Barwell’s first chance fell to on loan James Rowland. Ben Stephens ran well with the ball and threaded it to Rowland. Rowland took the ball in to the box on the right hand side and shot towards goal. The shot wasn’t quite on target, however, and it struck the side netting. The role was reversed later in the half when Stephens hit the side netting himself.
Liam Castle was the Barwell man of the match for this game, although there were other contenders for that title, and he was in action again saving well from an Alex Collard header. The midfielder rose well to head the ball from a corner but Castle was equal to it.
Ben Stephens was looking to turn provider when he managed to slot the ball across the area for Tristan Dunkley. Dunkley went for a clever flick to try and take the ball away from the defenders and it almost paid off. There was agony for the Barwell faithful as the ball rolled slowly from Dunkley’s foot and wide of the post.
The best Barwell chance came after 26 minutes when William Edjenguele ended up with the ball at his feet just 4 yards out. There had been a real scramble in the Rushden box and the ball wasn’t cleared. Edjenguele tried to force the ball home past a number of bodies on the ground but his shot was blocked. There were other chances for both sides as the half headed to its end.
Lucas Powell shot over for Barwell and Ben Diamond did the same after a good cross from Connor Furlong picked him out. Despite all the excitement in front of goal, the first half ended goalless.
Half-time: Barwell 0 AFC Rushden & Diamonds 0
The visitors started the second half well and would have been playing in to the wind had it not dropped in speed over half-time. A very early Tshikuna shot almost caught Castle out but the goalkeeper did well to recover when he spilt the ball. Adriel George shot over the bar for Rushden as the continued to press.
Barwell battled back in to the game and as the hour mark approached there were two chances for Brady Hickey. Hickey put in a fine performance in this game and led the team extremely well.
His first of these chances was a shot over the bar from just outside the area. The second was set up by Dunkley and it found Hickey in a similar position again. This time his shot struck the bar and rebounded clear of the area.
The opening goal for Rushden
came after 62 minutes. Rushden pulled the Barwell defence wide and then played a good through ball over the top to find Ty Deacon in space. He controlled the ball well and calmly slotted it past Liam Castle for the lead.
Barwell looked to come back in to the game and it was Brady Hickey who went close again. His low shot was saved by Dean Snedker in the Rushden goal. Lucas Powell then shot over after some good work by substitute William Warren had set him up. Ben
Stephens also tested Snedker late in the game as Barwell applied a lot of pressure in final 10 minutes of the game.
In the first minutes of stoppage time, Ty Deacon slotted the ball home again to secure the points for his side. He latched on to a loose ball and, again, applied a cool finish to make no mistake. There was an immediate reply by Barwell with Ben Stephens knocking home a good pass but it was only a consolation as the game ended once it had kicked off again.