THE66POW: Barrow Town 4 v Shirebrook Town 1

Saturday 15th September 2018
Buildbase FA Vase Second Qualifying Round
at Riverside Park, Barrow upon Soar
Barrow Town (2) 4
Zak Ginvert 23, 34, 60
James Parker 90
Shirebrook Town (1) 1
Carter Widdowson 45 Pen
Admission £5 inc. programme
Attendance 64
THE66POW Point and hope photo gallery: click HERE

Barrow Town (I'm told by people in the know, that it's a large village and not actually a town) have a great club badge, depicting a dinosaur skeleton... and there is a tale to be told of how, what is nicknamed locally as: the 'Barrow Kipper', became synonymous with Barrow upon Soar itself.

It transpires, that in 1851, the remains of a Plesiosaur (belonging to the species category known as: Rhomaleosaurus Megacephalus), was discovered and excavated from lime pit on the outskirts of the large village/town*.

The Barrow Kipper

The original Plesiosaur skeleton can be seen on display at the New Walk Museum in Leicester and there is a full sized replica at the Charnwood Museum in Loughborough.
While Barrow on Soar itself, has a brick monument/name signsign to commemorate the discovery of 'dem bones, tastefully positioned as a centrepiece stood on a roundabout in the middle of the large village/town*.

As the ground name suggest, Barrow play quite close to the nearby River Soar, and adjacent to the A6. Consequently unscrupulous free-loader types are afforded with a free panoramic view of games at Riverside Park from the public footbridge that spans the road from nearby Quorn.

Though the local dinosaur historians obviously know their stuff, the details regarding the formation of Barrow Town FC remain a bit sketchy, but the current club were borne out of a team that originally called Barrow Old Boys and came into being 'around' the outset of the 1900's and shared a ground on Mill Lane with an already established village team called Barrow Rising Stars.
Reading between the lines, it would appear that the Old Boys vanished off the face of local football (at least) a couple of times, only to re-form and re-emerge on dates that I couldn't find any concrete evidence or information about; though it is known that they played at grounds at both Cotes Road and North Street.

History buffs take note, as you pass through Barrow from Sileby, you pass both Mill Lane and Cotes Street, before taking the first left at the 'Kipper roundabout' signposted 'Quorn A6' to reach the ground on Barrow Road.
After winning promotion to the Leicestershire Senior League First Division at the end of the 1968-69 season, along with also winning both the Loughborough Charity Cup and The Sileby Cup, the Old Boys moved to their present ground and adopted the name of Barrow Town, 'sometime around 1970, or thereabouts'.
So now you (sort of) know.

If anybody feels like putting together book detailing the history of the club, please put me down for a copy, their are lots of gaps in my knowledge (and even that of Wikipedia) about today's host club that obviously need filling in.
One indisputable fact that I can tell you about Riverside Park, is that it's got a really good and well tendered pitch; in fact I would go so far as to say, that if you can't play football on a surface like this, then you probably shouldn't be playing football at all.

There is hard standing round the four sides of the pitch, which is also fenced all the way round, with mesh panels that alternate in red and black, which are Barrow's colours... and Shirebrook's of course, but they played in their change strip today.
There are two stands, set back between the 'dug outs' one of which has seating for fifty spectators while the other offers four steps worth of covered standing and another small covered standing area to the left of the home team dugout.

Once you enter Riverside Park through the turnstile and turn immediately to your right, there is a decent sized clubhouse and a kitchen area that serves hot and cold food and drink on the forecourt, where there is an outside seating area. The clubhouse offers visitors free WiFi too, which would be useful at a few other 'off piste' grounds, when you're struggling to send results in to league officials within the requisite time after games.
The dressing rooms are beyond the 'tea hut' and players reach the pitch from there, along a short hard standing footpath, that is flanked by red and black barriers.
Beyond the hedgerow at the opposite side of the ground, stand the Barrow Town Juniors pitches. Several of the clubs youngsters were in attendance today, enjoying a lively kick-about prior to kick off, before taking up mascot duties when the teams entered the field of play.

Shirebrook suffered from a setback before the game had even started, when striker Dec Brewin pulled up during the warm up and was unable to start the game, so Tom Widdowson stepped up from the bench as the visitors reshuffled their hand.

Initially though, the Derbyshire side looked dangerous at the outset, but didn't sustain their early promise and were ultimately turned over and punted out of the FA Vase, when Zak Ginvert converted three chances and set up another one for James Parker in stoppage time at the end of the game, while all Shirebrook could offer in replay was a well driven penalty strike by Carter Widdowson, right on the stroke of half time, which gave his side a glimmer of hopes for a second half comeback, but alas, that optimism was short-lived.

By the time that the final whistle sounded, it seemed like an age since the Langwith Road based away side had started the game with a flourish, when Carter Widdowson's cross from the left wing found Sam Martin beyond the back post, whose header back across the face of the Barrow goal, was turned around the post by the hosts keeper Grant Hartley. Martin delivered a low flag kick towards Sam Dockwray, who feigned a shot, but left the ball for (C) Widdowson who struck the ball first time, but his effort deflected wide.

Dockwray showed good skill to battle his way into the hosts area and when the ball was hooked away, it came down in front of (C) Widdowson, who lashed a dipping shot just the wrong side of the right hand post from twenty yards out.

If any of you Shirebrook lot are looking for any more highlights, you'll have to skip forward quite a way to find them, because effectively, once Barrow's management had duly noted that they weren't going to get any joy from knocking balls through the middle for Ndouma Chilaka and Ginvert to challenge for, while soever Chris Timons and Joe Cheeseman were winning anything and everything in the air... and switched Chilaka out wider to take the game to the visitors on the deck, the Riversiders never really looked back... and the change in tactics would probably have seen them home and dry by half time, had it not been for the efforts of Levi Owen, the visitors goalkeeper.

In the twenty third minute, Dan Sheahan advanced towards the visitors goalmouth from the left hand side of midfield and bided his time patiently, before knocking a great ball through the left channel, in front of Ginvert who never even broke his stride as he placed the ball just inside the left hand post and beyond the reach of Owen, through the narrowest of gaps.

Having plotted a way through the Shirebrook defence, Chilaka stuck to the template and threaded the ball through to Harry Solomon's who'd taken on the guise of the runner this time, who was denied the chance of doubling Barrow's lead, when Owen spread himself well and managed to block the resulting shot with his outstretched left foot.

Ryan Kirk spread the ball to his left where Chilaka let fly with a shot that Owen did well to block, but as the ball ran loose Ginvert was on hand to force it over the line and Shirebrook were now two goals behind, thirty four minutes in, and facing an increasingly steep uphill battle.

Martin and Danny Williams were battling on up top for the visitors, but it's difficult to deliver a feast of goals, from the few scraps and crusts they were getting (or not getting, to be more precise) in the way of service... in spite of Brad Holmes using the ball well when he was in possession, in midfield.

Cheeseman and Danny Bacon (y'know that Danny Bacon, who used to play for Mansfield Town (along with Shirebrook's number five Chris Timons), Lincoln City, England C and a who's who of highly rated local non-league sides), were both called upon to make important clearances and blocking tackles as Barrow upped the ante and threatened to finish the first half on a high note.

Right, Shirebrook Town fans, you can come from behind the sofa and uncover your eyes now.

At three-nil, it would have been 'game over' as the visitors came to a grinding halt on the road to Wembley, but it wasn't! And on the stroke of half time, massively against the run of play, they were offered the chance of salvation.

Dockwray played the ball out wide to Wilson, who was fouled, by Solomons, before he could get his cross in, From the resultant free kick Billy Simpson delivered a looping ball towards Cheeseman, who was denied by two blocks on the goal line, before the Barrow skipper, Chris Davis fouled him as he went to take a third bite at the cherry.

And up stepped (C) Widdowson to tuck the ball away in first half stoppage time... which gave the previously unimpressed visiting supporters a modicum of hope that they might be witness to a salvage mission after the break.

When the teams came back out, Barrow went straight on the offensive, which must've left Chilaka wondering how on earth he didn't bag a hat-trick inside ten minutes, when he headed wide almost immediately from the restart, had a swirling free kick held by Owen, and drilled a shot just wide from inside the D after muscling his way into space.

Meanwhile Sheahan put the ball wide with a free header and Ginvert lost out to Owen in a race to reach the ball first.

(C) Widdowson crossed towards Dockwray, who hung in the air to power a downwards header towards the Barrow goal, but Hartley had read the flight of the ball and snuffed out the chance.

Bacon won the ball in the middle of the park and fed the ball forward to (T) Widdowson, who tried releasing Wilson in the middle of the hosts area, but Chris Shaw pounced and put his foot through the ball to clear the danger.

But the Shirebrook comeback never materialised, because on the hour, Solomons picked out Ginvert with a knock forward from the right, who took Timons out of the game with his first touch and claimed his hat-trick with his second, a sublime dipping finish that nestled just under Owen's bar.
Chilaka set up Sheahan with the opportunity to net Barrow's fourth, but he sliced his shot across the face of the goal and wide of the far post.

If anybody didn't deserving to be on the receiving end of a four goal drubbing, it was the visitors keeper... and Owen was called into action again, when Ginvert exchanged passes with Kirk and forced another block from the Shirebrook custodian, while Sheahan reached the rebound first but narrowly missed the target.

Kirk was pulling the strings for the home side, in an advanced midfield role.

The visitors hadn't chucked the towel in just yet, but Hartley had stayed alert and sprinted from his area to clear as Dockwray made some space for himself just outside the area.

Shortly afterwards the same pair locked horns again, when the Barrow keeper pushed the visitors number seven's shot around the post.

Time was in short supply as Shirebrook made a last big push to rescue the game, and Timons cleared the bar with an overhead kick after Jack Dando had flicked on Simpson's corner. "Stick to ****ing heading it in future Timmo!" called out one of the centre halves unimpressed teammates.

Simpson once again delivered a dangerous ball into the Barrow area, that Wilson flicked on for Holmes, who was a fraction away from pulling a late goal back as his header skimmed over the bar.

But it was a case of too little, too late, for Shirebrook, as Hartley lofted his goal kick all the way to Ginvert, who sprinted towards Owen's goal, before unselfishly rolling the ball sideways to James Parker who picked his spot and claimed the home side's fourth and final goal.

FT: Barrow Town 4 v Shirebrook Town 1