Swans lose out to late Frickley Athletic winner
20th September 2022| Barton Town | 1-2 | Frickley Athletic |
| T. Waudby 27 | Att: 352 | Keita 7, 88 |
Barton Town were condemned to their first defeat of the season at the Easy Buy Stadium as a late Alhassane Keita goal secured the three points for Frickley Athletic.
In a game which the Swans should have been comfortably ahead, Frickley took their chances. A Keita double sealing the win while Tom Waudby scored for the Swans in the first half.
| # | Player |
| 1 | Charlie Dixon |
| 2 | Josh Lacey |
| 3 | Scott Matthews |
| 4 | Henry Cook 🔻Tanser 69 |
| 5 | Tom Davie |
| 6 | Taron Hare |
| 7 | Tom Waudby ⚽🟡 |
| 8 | Nathan Hotte |
| 9 | Ben Hinchliffe 🟡 🔻Parr 87 |
| 10 | Harrison Coley 🔻Jarman 80 |
| 11 | Will Waudby 🔻King 75 |
| 12 | Mitchell Levi-Lewis |
| 14 | Jack Tanser 🟡 🔺Cook 69 |
| 16 | Henry Parr 🔺Hinchliffe 87 |
| 17 | Craig King 🔺W. Waudby 75 |
| 18 | Nathan Jarman 🟡 🔺Coley 80 |
It was an unchanged starting 11 for the Swans from the win over Hemsworth Miners Welfare in midweek, with Henry Parr and Craig King returning to the bench in place of Kian Salter and Danny North.
The Swans were slow out of the blocks, and Frickley capitalized on it, after a fine run down the left, the ball was crossed in to Keita at the back post who side-footed it past Charlie Dixon to give the visitors the lead.
It took 15 minutes for the Swans to have their first effort at goal, with Harrison Coley shooting low but the Frickley ‘keeper was able to get down to save it. Ben Hinchliffe then went close, with Dixon’s goal kick being flicked on by Will Waudby into the path of the Swans striker, but his first time shot was in to the side netting.
On 27 minutes a cross was swung in from the left, with Tom Waudby rising highest in trademark fashion, with a looping header beating the ‘keeper and giving Barton an equalizer. It was Waudby’s fifth goal of the season.
Ten minutes before the break Dixon spilled a cross, but thankfully the Frickley rebound was struck over the bar.
Moments later, Tom Waudby ran into space, cutting onto his left and squaring it to Hinchliffe. He took a touch to steady himself and shot, but it was cleared off the line by the Frickley defender. An excellent chance for the Swans denied by good defending.
The second half was largely dominated by the Swans. They began with a few corners, which came to nothing. The best chance was when the ball fell to Tom Davie on the six yard line. He struck but it was saved by the face of the Frickley ‘keeper and cleared. It just wasn’t going in for the Swans.
Henry Cook struck wide and high from a Will Waudby pass in the latest Barton chance. Substitutes were introduced to try and change the game, with Nathan Jarman bringing himself on for the final ten minutes to try and grab a winner against his former side.
With just two minutes of normal time remaining, Frickley broke down the right, and in an almost carbon copy of their first, Keita was on hand to roll the ball into the bottom corner to secure the win for the visitors.
Resolute defending, and a lack of luck at times the downfall for Barton, who lost their first game of the season.
