Swans surrender lead in 3-1 defeat at Handsworth
21st August 2019| Handsworth | 3-1 | Barton Town | Att |
| Austin 21, Howarth 55 PEN, 77 | Hinchliffe, 2 | 114 |
Barton Town fell to a disappointing defeat against Handsworth at Sandy Lane on Tuesday night. Ben Hinchliffe gave the Swans the lead before Jamie Austin levelled for the hosts. A second half Leon Howarth double sealed the win for the youthful Ambers side.
| # | Player |
| 1 | Harvey Cartwright |
| 2 | Joe Busby (🔻 Steel, 65) |
| 3 | Will Waudby |
| 4 | Ellis Barkworth |
| 5 | Matt Plummer |
| 6 | Levi Tarbotton |
| 7 | Eddie Rogerson |
| 8 | Craig Disley (c) |
| 9 | Marc Cooper (🔻 Moody, 65) |
| 10 | Ben Hinchliffe ⚽⭐ |
| 11 | Tom Sawyer (🔻 Waudby, 71) |
| 12 | Reece Moody (🔺 Cooper, 65) |
| 13 | Tom Waudby (🔺 Sawyer, 71) |
| 14 | Braedon Steel (🔺 Busby, 71) |
| 15 | Jamie Goddard |
| 16 | Joel Sutton |
The Swans were involved in another early goal but this time in their favour as the ball was played in and Hinchliffe, fresh from his hat-trick heroics on Saturday, was on hand to tap in. Barton started the game the better side and played some fantastic football.
It was almost two when the ball was laid off to Swans captain Disley, but his effort from the edge of the box went just over the bar. The Swans had chance after chance in the first 20 minutes, limiting Handsworth to a small amount of time on the ball and controlling the game.
The hosts won a free kick 21 minutes into the game, the ball was floated in and Austin rose to meet it, heading past Cartwright. It was Handsworth’s first real foray into our area, and it resulted in an equalizer.
The rest of the first half was a tighter contest, with the hosts growing into it and stopping Barton from playing their free-flowing football. Levi Tarbotton was booked for a foul when neutralising a Handsworth counterattack. On the stroke of half time Barton were given a golden opportunity to take the lead.
There was a foul in the area and the referee pointed to the spot. With usual penalty taker Reece Moody on the bench, Marc Cooper stepped up. His driven shot was parried by Handsworth ‘keeper Ben Townsend, who saved low to his left to deny Cooper.
This miss proved costly as ten minutes into the second half the Ambers won a spot kick of their own. They were more clinical with their chance as Howarth slotted past Cartwright to give Handsworth the lead.
It had been a tight start to the second half, with both sides wrestling for the ascendancy. On 62 minutes Disley was played in and played the ball in from the byline. Handsworth cleared the ball but only as far as Hinchliffe on the edge of the area. He drilled a shot at goal which was deflected out for a corner.
Frustration was starting to set in for Barton, who had let the game slip and were fighting for their first point of the season. However in the fight they let in Handsworth again, and Howarth bundled the ball into the back of the net to seal the win for the youthful Ambers side.
In the dying moments Barton were all over Handsworth, with a Matt Plummer ricocheting off the crossbar, as well as Tom Waudby shooting at goal, only for Townsend to pull off another good save in the Handsworth goal.
The referee blew for full time and Barton remain winless in the league, and were punished for not taking earlier chances.
