Barnoldswick Barons 1
Barnoldswick Town (EL) 8
BARNOLDSWICK Town (EL) produced an emphatic win to beat neighbours Barnoldswick Barons to reach the Craven Cup semi-final.
There was an early flourish from Barons who hit the crossbar inside two minutes.
Town centre forward Nathan Taylforth thought he was fouled when he literally hit the back of the net, but watched in astonishment as the match official waved play on.
But the early scare just galvanised the visiting East Lancashire League side and they were never in any danger of exiting this famous old cup competition again during this tie.
The bandwagon started rolling on 11 minutes as Jordan Slade’s free-kick was expertly converted at the back post by Oliver Venn.
Danny Paton had his mazy run brought to an abrupt halt in the penalty area on 17 minutes and it was Paton who hauled himself to his feet before converting the penalty.
Slade added a third on 34 minutes and Town were in cruise control.
Complacency was likely to be the only enemy as Town went in search of their first ever Craven Cup semi-final place.
The team managers stressed the need to keep up the tempo and go for more goals as the teams went into the break at 3-0 up.
Paton got his second goal with a rasping drive on 50 minutes and midfielder Venn also secured a brace with a superb turn and shot in to the bottom corner on 60 minutes. This made up for the one he had put on to the tennis courts a minute earlier.
Paton was denied a hat-trick when his goalbound shot was converted by defensive kingpin Matt Holt with a brilliant diving header after 65 minutes.
Taylforth made it seven on 80 minutes before Barons got a consolation goal on 82 minutes.
But it was the non-stop Jonny Davies who had the final say when his persistence saw the home keeper spill the ball to allow Davies to roll it home for a huge win.
The only midfielder who did not get on the scoresheet was man-of-the-match Joe Brown, but he was excellent throughout the game as were all 14 players on the day.
Town’s next game is at home to Read United in the East Lancashire League Division One this Saturday. Kick-off is at 2pm.
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