Bottesford Town v Barton Town – 13 August 2024

Attendance: 177

Barton Town line up:
Hitchcock, Thompson, W Waudby, Barkworth, Papprill, Bulless, T Waudby, Norfolk (C), Moody, Tait, Aydemir

Barton Town Subs:
Pulford, Boyd, Clayton, Broughton, Heeley

The first away game of the 2024-25 campaign saw the Swans off to local rivals Bottesford Town for their third NCEFL Premier Division match. There were a couple of enforced changes from the side that beat Beverley Town just a few days earlier.

It was fast paced from the referee’s whistle with Barton Town having to defend in the opening minutes with just the occasional foray into the Bottesford Town half. The pressure from the home side saw them take the lead after 10 minutes from a Matthew Broadley goal.

Not to be outdone, The Swans redoubled their efforts; Jack Bulless showing intent when he headed onto The Poachers crossbar soon after. It was pretty much end-to-end for the remainder of the first half with each team getting some chances, although the visiting Swans were finding it tough to find ways through the Bottesford defence. A couple of good chances appeared; first a mis-kick back to the Bottesford keeper and later a cross into the box from Will Waudby that found no-one had gone with him. By the end of the first half Barton seemed to be making headway once again.

The second half saw The Swans out early and looking to get an equaliser but it was the home side that found the net after 57 minutes with Aristides Cunha getting on the scoresheet. Soon after Swans manager Anthony Bowsley “rolled the dice” and made three substitutions – Heeley on for Barkworth, Pulford on for Moody and Broughton on for Aydemir.

However… The Poachers Josh Fawcett got a third for the home side on 65 mins which really looked to have finished the game. Two final substitutions followed for The Swans – Clayton on for Papprill and Boyd on for Thompson. The visitors hadn’t given up though and were still working to find a way to break through. it looked like Grant Tait had found the net from distance but his shot was parried away by the keeper.

But with just two minutes of normal time to play Tom Waudby got back to his goal scoring ways and pulled back a goal. 5 minutes of added time were indicated so perhaps salvaging a point might be possible. However the home side were still working hard and it needed a double save from Hitchcock to prevent The Poachers from getting a 4th.

A disappointing result for the Swans and their travelling support.

Barton Town Subs Used:
61′ Barkworth off; Heeley on
61′ Moody off; Pulford on
61′ Aydemir off; Broughton on
74′ Papprill off; Clayton on
74′ Thompson off; Boyd on