Swans draw with Brigg in friendly encounter

Barton Town continued their preparation for the league restarting with a 1-1 friendly draw with local rivals Brigg Town at the EC Surfacing Stadium.

Scott Phillips opened the scoring on 25 minutes but the Swans couldn’t add to their lead, and Dayle Hutson added an equalizer on his debut for the hosts.

The Swans were only missing Nathan Peat (work) and Taron Hare (slight knock) as Barton had the first real chance of the game. Three minutes in Matt Plummer surged into the opposing half and shot from the edge of the area. His effort going just over the bar as the Swans looked for the early advantage.

However this seemed to wake up the home side, who had a strong spell of pressure. Plummer ushered their attacker wide as he ran in towards goal, sending the ball out for a corner.

In what was an end to end first half, Robbie Start and Jack Varley combined well on the right side, with the latter squaring the ball to Scott Phillips. His shot at point blank range was saved well by the Brigg goalkeeper.

Phillips seized his next chance on 25 minutes. Varley got the better of the Brigg defender and squared it to Grant Tait on the edge of the area. His first time shot ricocheted in off Phillips to give Barton the lead, and Phillips his second in as many games since returning to the Swans.

There were chances to double the lead for the Swans but the final ball wasn’t quite coming for them. The build up play was encouraging to see, but they couldn’t find that pass in attack.

Swans boss Rob Watson brought on his five substitutes and it was one of those who kept the hosts out on 52 minutes. Craig Disley was on hand to head the ball off the line twice in quick succession as he denied Brigg.

But Brigg drew level on the hour. The ball was played in to Hutson, making his debut having signed from Bottesford Town earlier in the day. He took a touch and shot low past Charlie Dixon to equalize for the hosts, much to the delight of the home crowd.

The equalizer only galvanised the hosts who were turning the screw and putting pressure on the Swans, which was handled well by Barton. A couple of free kicks from Noel Burdett and Scott Matthews weren’t far off putting the Swans back ahead.

Brigg had a few opportunities to take the lead before the end of the game, with Ben Hinchliffe going close for the Swans. Phillips almost had his second when the ball fell to him in the area, but his goal-bound effort was blocked by a defender and cleared.

There were no points up for grabs, but local pride and making sure the team were ready for the restart on Saturday was important. The Swans now face Knaresborough Town at Manse Lane at the weekend in their first competitive game since the beginning of November.

Dixon, Varley, Matthews, Plummer, Fisher, Lacey, Baker, Tait, Phillips, Batty, Start, Eccles, Burdett, Disley, Hinchliffe, Anderson