After a strong performance in last week’s draw against league leaders NPL, the Barbarians showed that they truly were back to their best in comprehensively dispatching Kingswood Falcons A.
The promise of a bright, sunny morning was soon dissolved by a steady drizzle, making the playing surface somewhat difficult, however this did not hinder the Barbarians settling into a rhythmic passing game with which Kingswood found it difficult to cope. The speedy back line of William Glenn and Ben Austin comfortably coped with the long ball game of the opposition which was their only means of evading tough-tackling centre-midfielder Bailey Osborne. Defensive solidity enabled left and right midfielders to get forward almost at will, and the deadlock was broken after seven minutes as a right-wing cross from Ben Mackenzie was played straight out to Callum Holder who made no mistake in hitting the back of the net.
Roles were reversed a few minutes later as Holder turned provider for Mackenzie, cross from the right for the latter to show that he could match his colleagues finishing prowess. 2-0 Barbarians.
Finally breaking out from the sustained pressure delivered by the Barbarians, Kingswood finally gave ‘keeper Josh Snow some action by calling upon him to demonstrate his handling skills by meeting and holding a shot just under the bar. Moments later, captain Lily Turner sent in a free-kick from deep which evaded defenders and attackers alike, and flew just past the post.
No let-up for Kingswood, as the introduction of the speedy Tom Ambrose to the right back position to combine down the right with Mackenzie led to the latter shooting from the right corner of the penalty area just inside the left post to give the Barbarians a 3-0 lead at half-time.
Kingswood had the advantage of the slope in the second half, however the Barbarians were in no mood to ease up. On those occasions that the visitors were able to break through from midfield, they were efficiently and effectively marshalled by Glenn and Ambrose and reduced to hurried, off-target shots, and a single scoring chance which was snuffed out by Ambrose’s superb sprint back to block-tackle.
On 28 minutes, Ben Mackenzie was rewarded for his best performance of the season when his high cross to the far post dropped into the net to earn him his hat-trick and player-of-the-match award. There followed a number of further chances for the Barbarians, including a shot over the bar from Ben Austin and from Callum Holder an outrageous Gascoigne-esque lifting of the ball over a defender following by a long-range shot. A re-shuffling of positons gave Lily Turner a run as striker and she was unlucky not to claim a goal as she shot narrowly wide.
Kingswood maintained their fighting spirit throughout, however, and for this earned a deserved consolation goal as they scrambled the ball home shortly before the final whistle, leaving the score at 4-1 to accurately reflect the Barbarians superiority on the day.
Barbarians: Lily Turner (capt.), Josh Snow, Ben Austin, William Glenn, Tom Ambrose, Ben Mackenzie, Bailey Osborne, Callum Holder.
Report by Frank Holder
