HALF TIME Swindon Town 1 Barnet 0 (2-1 on aggregate) (From Swindon Advertiser)

HALF TIME Swindon Town 1 Barnet 0 (2-1 on aggregate)

8:39pm Tuesday 7th February 2012 in Sport By Andrew Warren

SWINDON Town are only 45 minutes away from a Wembley final after Alan Connell gave them a 1-0 half time lead in their Johnstone’s Paint Trophy area final second leg clash with Barnet. Town lead the tie 2-1 on aggregate after Connell connected with a deep Paul Caddis cross to nod the ball into the bottom corner and get the County Ground rocking.

Paolo Di Canio’s side enjoyed the majority of possession in the first half, and Matt Ritchie went close on a number of occasions while Paul Benson only just failed to connect with a driven Caddis cross.

Raffa De Vita had a golden chance to double the lead, but the Italian took one touch too many and allowed visiting keeper Dean Brill to make the save.

Barnet rarely threatened, but the pace of Izale McLeod and the trickery of Ricky Holmes kept the Town defence on their toes.

Here are the key moments from the first half.

4 mins: Town’s first real attack comes to an end as Matt Ritchie’s fierce shot is blocked.

10 mins: Alan Connell goes down in the area after a clash of heads with Barnet captain Mark Hughes, but referee Darren Deadman waves away the penalty appeals.

17 mins: GOAL Town fly forwards down the right hand side and captain Paul Caddis swings in a deep cross, which allows Connell to pick his spot and head the ball back into the opposite corner.

26 mins:Caddis flashes a cross across the box but the outstretched Paul Benson can’t quite get the vital touch.

29 mins: Callum Kennedy fires a free kick just wide after Hughes brings down Ritchie.

33mins: Superb link up play between Simon Ferry and Connell allows Ritchie to fire in a long range shot, but his effort is straight at Dean Brill.

42 mins: Raffa De Vita finds himself in spares and bears down on goal, but he takes one touch too many and his shot from a tight angle is saved by Brill.