Barkers (5th) paid only their second visit to Chisholm (9th) and first-ever for a league game. Conditions were chilly and windy and the pitch, as last week, was synthetic. Barkers welcomed back Ross Clark and Ray Markley from suspension, with Dan Burrows and Liam Seaye making way.
United had an early chance on 3 minutes when a free kick at the edge of the box led to a shot blocked by Mark Naumowicz. Eight minutes later came Barkers’ first chance when Danny Aye ran through the middle and found Clark, but the shot wasn’t strong enough to trouble keeper Rani Dowisha.
Ten minutes later, the carnage began. Barkers failed to close down a United player who cut in from the left and unleashed a shot into the top corner of the net for 1-0 Chisholm. A rare Barkers chance came on 24 minutes when a long ball from Jerome Valadon was held up by Markley and laid back for Harry Rushton, who hit a first-time shot over.
The last 15 minutes of the half were the stuff of nightmares. On 31 minutes United played the ball in from the right, and the receiver hit another stunning shot into the net for 2-0. Six minutes later, United played a ball in from the left, it struck a Barkers hand, and the penalty was put low to Naumowicz’s right for 3-0. Then five minutes before the break, a free kick on the right wing in midfield was played short, and a United player hit a long, looping shot from at least 30 yards to make the half-time score Chisholm 4-0 Barkers.
What could Barkers do in the second half with the wind behind them? Well we kicked off, and after fully 8 seconds, Ben Cooper shot from the halfway line, but Dowisha had it covered. Then Christian Porcaro suffered a nasty flying kick from Kosta Karazisis which earned the offender only a yellow.
Six minutes in, the huge bustling Chisholm #2 was through on goal, until a great tackle by Ahren Angulo saved Barkers. The game was more even than in the first half, with Barkers playing some good football, but the Chisholm defence looking solid. Just after the hour, a lovely move involving Max Burrows, Sean Perrin and Cooper ended with Aye hitting a first-time shot over.
All this was to no avail when, on 67 minutes, United’s Andrew Simpson beat his man on the right and crossed from the byline. Curcio’s first shot was blocked by Naumowicz but the follow-up was hit into the net for 5-0.
The last quarter of the game saw Barkers look the more threatening side with a couple of half-chances falling to Perrin. The one bright spot of a miserable evening was the introduction of Sam Gommers for his debut. Barkers’ youngest player for 11 years showed he wasn’t scared to mix it with the big boys, and it was nice to see the encouragement he received from his reserves’ teammates on the sidelines.
