CAN'T SCORE FOR TOFFEES

Barry making friends but he needs goals

- BY ANDY DUNN

EVERTON fans love a cult hero and in a nonscoring, expensive, accident-prone striker, they might just have found a very unlikely one.

When he finally left the field - after some amateur dramatics when his number went up - Thierno Barry was treated to a standing ovation from all four Hill Dickinson stands.

He was also treated to some words from David Moyes, the gist of which remained unclear. But the Toffees manager might not have been overly impressed by Barry's public show of dismay at being substituted.

If that was the case, Moyes did well to disguise it. Instead, he read the room and went with the flow, lauding Barry for his selfless, hardworking display in the win over Fulham.

Barry certainly worked hard. His commitment and attitude were beyond reproach and he produced moments of quality that made a £27m transfer fee slightly more comprehensible.

The talk after what turned out to be a routine victory over alarmingly mediocre opposition was that this might have been a breakthrough game for Barry.