Barnoldswick Town (EL) 4 Rolls FC 2

BARNOLDSWICK Town brought home the Morrison Cup in a pulsating final which was staged at the Silentnight Stadium on Thursday evening.

Rolls started the stronger and Town did not get a toehold in the game for the first ten minutes until Teal Amos was prevented from giving Town the lead by a fine save from the Rolls Royce keeper Jonothan Syrad.

This appeared to settle the youthful Town outfit down and they started to play some fast attacking football, harassing and dispossessing their opponents at every opportunity.

Bailey Coates made no mistake when clean through and he gave his side the lead after 15 minutes.

A superb interchange between Chris Richardson and Jonny Davies almost extended Town’s lead on 35 minutes but Richardson’s shot flew narrowly over the bar and Town went in at the interval 1-0 in front.

The expected onslaught by the Rolls Royce players arrived straight after the break and Matt Holt turned the ball in to his own net after 48 minutes.

Instead of demoralising the young side this seemed to galvanise them and they tore in to the Rolls Royce defence to support their unfortunate team-mate Holt, who was otherwise exceptional throughout.

Teal Amos beat the last defender after 55 minutes but rolled the ball agonisingly wide of the far post and a minute later Bailey Coates hit the crossbar.

It was now apparent that superior fitness was starting to impact but Rolls were still in the contest and it took a breathtaking one handed save by the Town keeper Adam Wormwell to keep the score at 1-1 from a Liam Garbutt shot from the edge of the penalty area.

Amos restored Town’s lead after 66 minutes and then made it 3-1 following a superb through ball by Ellis Harling who had only been on the pitch for two minutes.

The mercurial Amos and his co-striker Coates were threatening to take the game completely away from Rolls Royce at this point, supported by almost total control of the midfield areas where Isaac Turner seemed to be involved in everything.

Wormwell made another incredible one-handed save after 75 minutes as the game opened up and both teams attacked relentlessly.

The pressure was eased after 80 minutes when man-of-the-match Amos hit the post and was denied a hat-trick.

There was huge consolation as the energy of Jonny Davies found him in the perfect place to effectively win the cup for Town by giving his team a 4-1 lead.

Rolls Royce never gave up and pulled a goal back after 82 minutes from Nick Schofield, but skipper Aidan McCusker ensured that they were not going to get any more and Town lifted the trophy again after five long years of ups and downs.

It was a superb performance by the young Town side who started as underdogs but demonstrated that the players from THE junior section are more than capable of making the transition to senior football.

Over 300 people turned up to the final and were enthralled by match which was a credit to both sides and to Barnoldswick as a whole.