Bradford Town FC 0-2 Barnstaple Town FC | Match Report

Barnstaple Town made the trip up to Trowbridge Road on Saturday 21st February in what would be a cagey Jewson Western League Premier match.

The match started off well-contested, with each side building momentum and creating chances. It was a cagey afair, with a number of heavy challenges being made by both sides.

We grew into the match, with our first chance of note being in the 22nd minute  when Harvey Woods played through Wakefield, whose attempt on goal went wide of the post. The deadlock was broken in the 33rd minute, when Barnstaple opened their account with a close range effort that found the back of the net, following a strong initial save from Tom Creed.

We continued to fight back, and Leo Gallazi nearly got his name in the score sheet in the 36th minute, however his attempt was well saved by the Barnstaple goalkeeper Oliver Saunders, who was able to stretch down to his right and palm the ball past the near post. The momentum only built from there, as Stan Pagett found Pearce with a headed flick-on, but Saunders was once again able to make a good save.

As we closed out the first half, Curtis Dunn found himself on the end of a Gallazi cross, however his attempt was poked just wide of the post. We went into the interval down a goal, with plenty of positive chances to build on. 

Starting the second half positively, We won an early corner in the 50th minute which resulted in an attempt which was headed goalward, but the momentum ceased when Barnstaple won a free kick in their own half.

We continued to put our opponents under pressure, and Dunn took a chance on goal, spotting the goalkeeper off his line, from distance in the 56th minute, however it ended up wide of the post. another chance came to Dunn two minutes later, this time in the form of a half-volley on the edge of the penalty area, but it once again went wide.

Pearce nearly put himself on the scoresheet in the 60th minute with a close range effort, but the ball ended up hitting the side netting.

Pagett was shown a yellow card in the 70th minute, in what was our third booking of the match.

Tom Creed came to the rescue, making a decisive sliding challenge to deny a promising Barnstaple move. we made a triple change which saw Charlie Maddison, Owen Allison, and Tom Mack enter the action midway through the second half. Maddison challenged the goalkeeper with a driven effort in the 75th minute, however Saunders was able to collect.

The 77th minute saw a further substitution, with Josiah McKayle coming on for Fabian Stanislas. Tom Creed was booked for a pull in the 80th minute, before Jack Farlon replaced Jacob Mead in the 81st.

Barnstaple scored a second goal in the 85th minute, making the scoreline 2-0, despite consistent pressure from the Blues throughout a resurgent second half. We were able to create a final chance in the first minute of stoppage time, as Pearce headed the ball to Gallazi, but the eventual effort wound up going wide.

The final whistle was blown and the match ended 2-0 to Barnstaple Town, after what was a well fought match until the end.

Bradford Town are in action next on Saturday 28th February, when we take on Ivybridge Town in the Les Phillips Cup semi-final at Trowbridge Road.