Widnes 1-3 Barnton

Widnes FC failed to provide some Christmas cheer as they were beaten 3-1 by an impressive Barnton side at the Select Security Stadium in their final fixture of 2015 meaning that their barren run of form continues, with Steve Hill’s side without a win in their last 10 games in all competitons.

Widnes started the game poorly and were punished as the second-placed Villagers raced out in a 2-0 lead through strikes from Kevin Towey and Kevin Pollard inside the opening 10 minutes of the game. Ryan Malone made it 3-0 less than two minutes into the second half to all-but secure three points for Barnton, who were denied a clean sheet as Luke Edwards slotted home, netting his 10th goal of the season to provide his side with a late consolation.

Widnes manager Hill made one change to the side that drew with Rochdale Town a week ago as Jamil Campbell-Joseph returned from a one-game absence, replacing Jamie Casson who was unfortunate to drop to the bench. As for Barnton, they fielded two debutants in their side as former Runcorn Linnets duo Richard Anane and goalkeeper Richie Mottram started for the visiting Villagers.

Widnes began the game with a 3-5-2 formation, and looked comfortable on the ball in the early stages. However, Barnton took the lead five minutes into the game. Widnes cheaply gave the ball away in midfield, with Kevin Pollard filtering the ball through to Kevin Towey, who calmly slotted the ball into the far corner as the on-rushing Widnes keeper Ben Morrow narrowed the angle.

It was a brilliant start from the visitors, who seemed to be unaffected by the absence of manager Leon Knight in the dugout, who was serving a stadium ban during the encounter.

Knight’s absence meant that assistant manager Andy Burgess took the reins for Barnton, and he watched his side double their lead shortly before the 10-minute mark. Widnes poorly defended a Daniel Laverty corner, which was helped on towards the far post by Jason McShane with the ball eventually falling to captain Kevin Pollard, who volleyed the ball home on the spin past the outstretched Morrow to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.

Widnes already had a mountain to climb as Barnton raced out into the lead. It was a well-disciplined start from the visitors, who were stout defensively from the get-go as they relentlessly pressurised the hosts who saw most of the ball early but didn’t do a lot with the possession they were enjoying.

Barnton should have increased their lead shortly before the half-hour mark. A glorious reverse pass from Richard Anane allowed Ryan Malone to evade the offside trap and advance on goal, one-on-one with Morrow before letting himself down with the finish, as he blazed his effort over.

Widnes began to show some promise offensively around the 30-minute mark. Their first shot on goal failed to trouble the debuting Mottram as Campbell-Joseph’s deflected pass fell to Luke Edwards who sliced his shot well-wide.

Widnes should have pulled a goal back five minutes prior to the halftime interval. A Barnton corner was headed away before Ronnie McCarthy beat McShane to the second ball as McCarthy then went on a surging run forward. He squared the ball to Campbell-Joseph who returned the ball to McCarthy who couldn’t quite get his shot away as Adam Garner made a vital interception to avert the danger.

Halftime: Widnes 0-2 Barnton

Barnton started the second half in similar fashion to the first, as they netted an early goal. McShane linked up with Towey as the latter lifted a well-weighted cross towards the back-post that was headed into the top-corner by Ryan Malone, beating Morrow who couldn’t quite get a stronger hand behind the ball to make the save.

Widnes’ hard-work to grow back into the game late in the first half was undone by a clinical Barnton move. They didn’t go away though as the Whites came back at Barnton as Alex Davies laid the ball off to Tom Hackett who rifled an effort towards goal that stung the gloves of Mottram who pushed the ball over the bar.

Davies then had a free-kick comfortably gathered by Mottram before Barnton launched a counter-attack as Mottram punted the ball long to Malone whose shot was charged down by Carney before McShane fired the loose ball over.

The game’s pace picked up around the hour-mark. The two teams again exchanged attacks as Ben Cartwright made a magnificent tackle to deny Malone before Towey fired over. Widnes then launched a counter-attack which culminated in Paul Carney driving an Alex Davies pass wide.

Barnton rattled the crossbar with 15 minutes to go. Towey was again involved as his drilled cross into the area was met by Malone who rattled the bar with his effort that left Morrow with no chance.

Minutes later, Barnton again went close as Towey evaded the offside trap before forcing a solid save out of Morrow, who reacted quickly and got down well to make the save.

Widnes then made the late stages interesting as they pulled a goal back with 77 minutes on the clock. Luke Edwards raced on to a Jamie Casson through ball before slotting the ball beyond on Mottram to net his 10th goal of an impressive debut season with the club.

This encouraged Widnes to raise their game as they began to take the game to the visitors. An excellent long-ball from keeper Morrow dispatched former Barnton man Tony Wynne who burst forward with the ball for the hosts before being hacked down by a poor challenge from Matthew Rigby, who received a correct yellow card despite Widnes’ cries for a red. Edwards drilled the resulting free-kick into the 6-yard area that was turned wide by Wynne.

Barnton had a penalty shout turned down inside stoppage time, as Malone appeared to get the better of substitute Braian Strutz-Rivelli before going down under the challenge of the Argentine defender. The referee wasn’t interested however, and booked the Barnton man for diving.

Fulltime: Widnes 1-3 Barnton

Speaking after the game, manager Steve Hill bemoaned his side’s defensive naivety but went on to praise to victorious visitors.

He said: “I thought Barnton were the better side, with a bit more hunger about them. We conceded two goals early and I thought we needed to net the game’s third goal to put them under pressure but the two-goal cushion proved to be a bit too much for us. The second half was a lot better but we need to play for 90 minutes, not 45.

“We were naïve in the way we gave the goals away. It gave us a mountain to climb. They were really good defensively, and it looked as though at times we lacked the offensive prowess to threaten them.”

Widnes probably deserved more out of the game for their efforts, and had they not started each half poorly, the end result could have been completely different.

The defeat ensures that Widnes end 2015 on a sour note, a particularly poor calendar year for Hill and his side in terms of results. They will be looking to start 2016 on a high-note, as they welcome Bacup Borough to the Select Security Stadium on Saturday 2nd January. The game kicks off at 3pm.

Widnes: Morrow, Davies, Carney, Wilson (Strutz-Rivelli 79), Mitchell (C), Cartwright, Lomax (Casson 36), McCarthy, Campbell-Joseph (Wynne 70), Hackett, Edwards.

Subs not used: Clarke, Burthem.

Barnton: Mottram, Garner, Rigby, Pollard, Meadowcroft, Burke, Towey, McShane, Laverty (Hayes 69), Anane (Graham 64), Malone.

Subs not used: Billington, Crellin-Myers, Stafford.