REPORT | Early Goals See Tad Advance In County Cup

In a commanding opening; Josh Greening was given a gift to turn in from just a couple of yards after a failed clearance before Tom Corner tapped in from an Aiden Savory cross for number two.

The North West Counties side fought back into the cup tie and endured long spells in the ascendency with Taddy having Greg Hartley to thank on a number of occasions in the second half.

Brewers boss Michael Morton said he wants his side to do the “ugly stuff” at times and this is what they did and had to do in order to brush aside a hard-working Barnoldswick Town side.

Taddy have been drawn against another North West Counties side in Round Two of the competition when they welcome Silsden to the i2i Stadium, date to be confirmed.

The winners of that tie will then host National League side Guiseley in the Quarter-Finals.

Morton made a couple of changes to the defeat at high-flying Bamber Bridge, both of which were enforced with Andy Milne and Michael Ingham away with i2i’s International Soccer Academy and were therefore replaced by Jason Mycoe and Greg Hartley.

The Brewers kicked off the cup tie on the front foot and threatened early on with Corner playing Cam Murray in down the left-hand side only for Liam Blades to recover and deflect over the bar.

A couple minutes later and Albion got in again down the left-hand channel when Conor Sellars threaded Tom Corner in behind but a brilliant last ditch tackle from Adam Yates denied Corner a clear shot at goal.

Nevertheless it was third time lucky for Taddy as they did in fact take the lead just short of the fifteen minute mark.

A Conor Sellars corner kick should have been comfortably cleared by the Barnoldswick skipper Shaun Airey but he got it all wrong and ended up heading off his own knee which fortunately fell kindly for Josh Greening who couldn’t really miss from just a couple of yards.

It was one-way traffic in the opening quarter of an hour with Taddy looking like they could go on a score any number they wanted to, but this soon started to chang as the home side battled back to endure a promising spell of their own.

They almost cancelled out Greening’s opener instantaneously when Zack Dale played Joel Melia in behind Howarth but goalkeeper Greg Hartley shot off his line to thwart the attacker.

The aforementioned save proved to be even more important as the Brewers doubled their lead after twenty minutes.

Conor Sellars sprayed a great ball down the left setting Aiden Savory away who simply drove across the face of goal giving Tom Corner a tap-in.

Town continued to battle as the first half wore old and had the better of the second part of the half but long-rang efforts from Andrew Hill and Adam Yates was food and drink for the experienced Hartley.

Barnoldswick pushed hard for a way back into the tie in the last five minutes of the half and came agonisingly close to pulling one back right on the stroke of half-time when a ball down the corridor was inches away from being slid in by Zack Dale.

Half-Time: Barnoldswick 0-2 Taddy

The hosts began the second forty five where they left off in the first half forcing Albion back towards their own goal and looking the most likely to find the net next.

And they must have thought they were back in it on the hour mark as a brilliantly executed half-volley sliced ferociously towards the top corner from the edge of the box was superbly kept out by Greg Hartley.

As Barlick committed more bodies forward, this opened more space up all over the pitch and Taddy almost made sure of the victory three minutes later.

The diminutive Cam Murray danced down the left-hand side; breezed past Airey, chopped outside Wilson and quickly inside goalkeeper Connor King only for Jake McEneaney to hook clear with the goal gaping.

Two minutes later and another opportunity quickly came and went for the Brewers as Corner did well to power beyond his man but the cross was just out of reach for both Murray and Sellars.

Joel Melia was by far the most dangerous man for Town as his blistering pace and marauding runs into the penalty box were difficult to deal with and a nuisance but Barrett and Mycoe pinched and pinched cleanly on several occasions. This certainly wasn’t an easy feat as with the pace that Melia was travelling at, any kind of contact would lead to an almost certain penalty kick for the home side so the Taddy defence picked their moments superbly.

The home side squandered two good chances in the final seven minutes as Mark Threlfall turned narrowly wide before Greg Hartley made another top draw save to keep out Alex Doyle’s powerful volley at the back post.

Credit to Barnoldswick who pushed and pushed all night and will feel unfortunate not to have got on the score sheet but the Albion back-line deserve great credit also, in particularly Josh Barrett and Jason Mycoe who defended very well.

Full-Time: Barnoldswick Town 0-2 Tadcaster Albion

Barnoldswick: King, Blades, McEneaney, Doyle, Wilson, Airey ©, Dale, Hill, Threlfall, Yates, Melia
Subs: Broadleday, Simpson, Beckwith, Cavanagh, Turner (GK)

Tadcaster: Hartley, Howarth, Hunter, Sellars, Mycoe ©, Barrett, Murray, Roper (Akeroyd 63), Corner, Savory (Dixon 63), Greening
Subs Unused: Marshall