Match Report: Barton Town Old Boys 4-3 Tadcaster Albion

Manager Billy Miller made one change to the side that beat Rainworth Miners Welfare last week with Andy Milne recovering from a knock to take the place of Matt Heath.

The Brewers flew out of the traps on a scorching day in Barton as they took the lead inside the first 60 seconds. Josh Barrett raced down the right wing and clipped a cross into the box in which The Swans made a real mess of and failed to clear and Nick Black fired low into the back of the net.

With the midweek games over for a few weeks, it seemed as though Taddy were fresh, hungry and raring to get going and should have been two goals up after two minutes as Adam Baker poked agonizingly wide from close range.

The home side woke up at approximately 3:06pm as Ashley Dexter's header was tipped onto the crossbar by Gary Stevens.

Back up the other end and The Brewers had another sight of goal a minute later as Barrett again crossed to the springboard that is Nick Black but his header was wayward.

Barton fighting back into the contest hit the woodwork for the second time in the 11th minute as Tom Darwood let fly from all of 30 yards and Stevens again pulled off an incredible full stretch save to tip onto the post this time.

The game eventually slowed down after a frenetic opening fifteen minutes but The Swans did equalise just shy of the half hour mark from the spot. With Phillips bearing down on goal, Paddy Miller sprinted across the striker who went to ground after the Tad defender brushed past him and the referee deemed it to be a foul and a penalty kick. Brad Ricketts stepped up and side-footed the penalty to the bottom right and Gary Stevens just couldn't stretch enough to save and Barton were level.

The home side galvanised after the equaliser and really stepped it up as they went 2-1 ahead just six minutes later with a cracker. A corner kick was cleared out only to the edge of the penalty area and Brad Ricketts was teed up by a teammate and he belted a shot from 30 yards into the right side of the net which flew past Stevens.

Things got even better for Barton as they scored their third goal in an eleven minute spell. Gareth Owen struck goal wards from the right flank which looked as though it took a deflection and as a result meandered into the corner.

The first half action did not stop there as Taddy reduced the deficit once again to one as a corner was cleared out to Tom Claisse who sliced a half-volley towards the target and Paddy Miller cleverly and instinctively flicked into the top corner left-hand corner.

Half-Time: Barton Town Old Boys 3-2 Tadcaster Albion

Taddy had to come out in the second half and go for it if they were going to keep top spot in the NCEL Premier Division and they thought they were going to be awarded a penalty on the hour mark as Nick Black looked to clearly be pushed over however the referee didn't think it warranted a spot kick.

However having said this, The Brewers were given a penalty just a minute later as full-back Jordan Armstrong was brought down. Captain for the day Jimmy Beadle stepped up and hammered home the penalty to level the match at 3-3.

The thrilling encounter was now on a knife edge, you felt that there would be a winner but it was difficult to see which way it would go as the pendulum swung back and forth.

The pendulum swinging was evident again as the home side go up the other end and hit the woodwork for a third time as Ashley Lattimore bent a free-kick onto the crossbar.

I did mention the game wouldn't finish level and it didn't as Barton netted the elusive seventh goal eleven minutes from time. Scott Phillips bounced and barged his way into the penalty box and the striker who has a knack of scoring against The Brewers scuffed a shot which somehow trickled into the back of the net.

Taddy were to throw everything at The Swans in the final ten minutes to try and come away with a point which in the end would have certainly been a deserved point. With this being said they got the perfect opportunity to make it 4-4 in the 88th minute as Josh Barrett easily got the better of his man down the left by-line and the defender clearly didn't like it as he dragged the attacker down for a second penalty kick. Once again Jimmy Beadle picked up the ball to take the penalty but he struck tamely down the middle of the goal and Dave Bramley trapped with his legs to all but deny Tad a point.

Following the penalty miss, the referee aggressively blew on his whistle and looked to reach to his back pocket. He called Brad Ricketts over to him and pulled the red card out of his back pocket, to be honest it is unsure what the red card was for as it was an off the ball incident however this appeared to be the last action in an enthralling and dramatic encounter.

Full-Time: Barton Town Old Boys 4-3 Tadcaster Albion

Tadcaster Team: Stevens, Armstrong, Clayton, Miller, Milne, Claisse, Barrett, Beadle (c), Black (Conway 82), Greening, Baker
Subs Unused: Woodhead, Ormsby, Mycoe, Beestin

Barton Team: Bramley, Belcher, Gowen, Barlow, Dexter (c), Ricketts, Owen, Darwood, Phillips, Lattimore, Mortimer