27/04/2024
By Chris Gibbs
Langston brace earns Chasetown win
Newcastle Town 1, Barry (90 +3)​
Chasetown 2, Langston (7, 61 pen)
A goal in each half from Chasetown’s midfielder Jack Langston earned his side three points in a drab end of season encounter at Buckmaster Avenue.
Langston nodded in Luke Yates’s 7th minute cross and then stepped up to double his side’s advantage from the spot just after the hour mark.
Chasetown’s victory was well merited having dominated at the start of the game – they should have been two up within ten minutes but Ryan Shaw sidefooted over the bar with the goal at his mercy shortly after Langston had put the visitors ahead.
We improved as the first half progressed but didn’t really carry much of a threat on Bradley Clarkson’s goal.
Substitute Nathan Barry, who Neil Baker later said in his post-match comments was very unlucky not to start this game, spurned a great chance when he placed a firm shot too close to Clarkson four minutes after we had fallen 2-0 down.
Although we had a reasonable amount of possession after that, our visitors were relatively comfortable until an exquisite chip in injury time from Nathan Barry halved the deficit.
But it was a case of too little too late. Chasetown played out the last couple of minutes without any cause of concern and our season ended with a disappointing defeat.
We ended the season in 14th spot just behind our arch-rivals Hanley, who marked Louis Dodds’ last game as a player by thrashing Vauxhall Motors 4-0.
There is much work to do in the close season for Neil Baker. He came in at the halfway point with a rescue mission being the job that was needed. With that done and in a closely contested league, it was hoped that we might kick on from there but as key players, particularly in midfield, picked up injuries, the season did fade away a little.
The rebuild starts here.
Come on ‘Castle!