Mens 1XI maintain strong promotion push

Barton maintained their Midlands One promotion push by keeping the pressure on 2nd place Loughborough Town with a resounding 8-1 victory over 5th placed Edgbaston.

After throwing away a 4-1 lead to draw 4-4 in this fixture last time round Barton were determined from the off to take all three points.

With captain Adam Foster unavailable, Roger Craig made a welcome return alongside Mark Moore. Coach Nigel Taylor had clearly emphasized the point of keeping the pressure on second place to the players as Barton dominated the game straight from the push back and this early pressure lead to a break through within 5 minutes through some fantastic team play involving Alister Gardiner and Jacob Buxton to set Ash Parr up for a tap in. The lead was soon doubled a few minutes later after Jacob Foster and Gardiner linked up through the middle to again put Parr through to score his second. With Mark Moore boosting Barton’s attacking ability from the back and Roger Craig commanding the centre, Edgbaston became pinned back in their own half and really started to feel the pressure.

With Jamie Foster and Jacob Foster transferring the ball nicely round the back and keeping possession for long periods it looked like Edgbaston were in for a long afternoon. Barton soon scored again thanks to constant pressure by Craig Tilke and William Rawbon who hunted the ball down helping the ball find its way to Gardiner who smashed home from the top of the D. To add insult to the opposition just before the half time interval Parr was relentless in hassling the Edgbaston defence and it paid off as he managed to steal the ball from the centre back and round the keeper for his hatrick.

Edgbaston came out strong after the break and scored straight away. Barton were caught out high up the field leaving Mike Parr who had rarely seen the ball until this point helpless in the D. This seemed to shock Barton back into action though and they soon found joy again down the right hand side this time with an in form Tom Gardiner who breezed past his man to play the ball into the circle for Tilke to finish nicely in the bottom corner. With Barton shutting up shop at this point helped by a solid defensive performance by Craig and Foster, it was time for Barton to enjoy the game.

Mark Latham started to really tease Edgbaston along with Buxton who began to bring out some high class skills. The score became 6-1 when Jacob Foster played a neat reverse stick ball into Rawbon who rolled strong around to the far side of the D to let fire into the bottom corner. Tilke scored moments later with another great lead from Craig who battled well to set Tilke up for his brace. With 5 minutes to go Gardiner began to control the middle, waiting for the right opportunity to come which to no surprise it did again through Ash Parr to round off a great performance.

This Saturday sees Barton face Coventry & North Warwick away. 2pm push-back at Coventry University.