This was the 43rd meeting between these clubs who have specialised in games ending at two-nil. Nearly a third of meetings (13 in all) have ended that way so this score should be no surprise. Paul Halsey won’t agree. He felt both goals were conceded as a result of mistakes by Ware and without those mistakes it would be a different score and Ware would have had at least a point.

Well, that may be true but after a first half in which Barton clearly had the better of things, it would be hard to deny them their victory, their pressure being in part responsible for the mistakes. Their first goal after the opening eight minutes during which the Ware defence had come under almost constant pressure came when Jack Grosvenor, running towards his own goal, failed to connect with his attempted clearance. Alfie Warman, hard on his heels, seized on the loose ball and, despite defenders closing in on him, gave Fred Burbidge no chance with his shot.

Much of the first half then followed a consistent pattern with Barton finding their men almost instinctively whilst Ware were too often gifting the ball away with wayward passes. The home side looked confident on their own ground, the visitors sometimes looking lost.

After three home games on an artificial surface a return to grass seemed to give them problems. More than once as the ball was brought forward an unexpected bobble broke down the move or lost the ball to the opposition. One result was that Ware did not have a shot on target until the mid-point of the half, Sam Mayuma’s low strike being saved confidently by Charlie Warren.

After that Ware did come more into the picture and on the half hour a good cross into the Rovers box caused momentary problems before being cleared. As Barton broke Taylor Rhiney was in on goal where Burbidge blocked his shot. The rebound was hit over the Ware cross bar by Matthew Moloney when it looked easier to score. Rovers could make mistakes too.

Ware answered with Stef Georgiou bringing the ball though the Barton defence but his shot was cleared as the home side stood firm.

Ware looked much brighter after half time and started to have more of the game with plenty of action in the home team’s half. However, you could sympathise with Halsey’s point of view when Barton doubled their lead.

A quick break after the ball was given away saw an unmarked Rhiney receive the ball on the edge of the Ware area. He took the ball towards goal before shooting past Burbidge. It was a coolly taken goal but where was the defence?

It was now an uphill task both literally on the sloping pitch and figuratively. Could Ware repeat their home victory over Barton, a game in which they came from two down to win in the last twenty minutes? They made a good attempt at it and in the last ten minutes play seemed to be almost exclusively in the Barton half and around their penalty area.

There were shots and scrambles in front of the home goal but in the end the home side defended well to take the points and improve their chances of reaching the play-offs. Ware’s hopes of doing the same for the fourth successive year look a little slimmer with this result.

Ware: Fred Burbidge, Stef Georgiou, Joe Dearman (David Sota 63mins), Max Granville (Gabriel Chapps 46mins), Mackye Townsend-West, Jack Grosvenor, Theo Ofori (Johnny Allotey 63mins), Gucci Soulya-Osekanongo, Jon Clements, George Ironton (Mitch Hahn 76mins), Sam Mayuma. Unused sub: Chukuma Okotcha.