Liversedge battle to 4-2 win and end Swans unbeaten run
6th January 2020| Barton Town | 2-4 | Liversedge | Att |
| M. Cooper 4 Burdett 45 | Walker 36 Raw 71 pen, 83 Hardacre 89 | 177 |
Barton Town’s unbeaten run was abruptly ended by a strong Liversedge side at the Easy Buy Stadium as they ran out 4-2 winners.
Marc Cooper opened the scoring for the Swans before Paul Walker equalized. Noel Burdett scored a fantastic free kick to put us 2-1 up at the break. However the second half was all Liversedge as an Alfie Raw double, one being a penalty, and a Jack Hardacre goal sealed the win for the visitors.
| # | Player |
| 1 | Sam Riches |
| 2 | Noel Burdett ⚽ |
| 3 | Robbie Start 🔻Barkworth 29 |
| 4 | Chris Salt |
| 5 | Taron Hare 🟡 |
| 6 | Matt Plummer ⭐ |
| 7 | Jack Richardson |
| 8 | Craig Disley (c) 🔻S. Cooper 86 |
| 9 | Waide Fairhurst |
| 10 | Marc Cooper ⚽ 🔻North 61 |
| 11 | Ben Hinchliffe |
| 12 | Adam Millson |
| 14 | Stephen Cooper 🔺Disley 86 |
| 15 | Danny North 🔺M. Cooper 61 |
| 16 | Ellis Barkworth 🔺Start 29 |
The opening exchanges were all Barton, the Swans settled into the game quicker than the visitors and got a reward for their efforts four minutes in when Marc Cooper gave Barton the lead. Some nice interplay between Ben Hinchliffe and Burdett saw him square the ball to Jack Richardson. He flicked it on to Cooper whose first time effort went low beyond the ‘keeper.
The goal seemed to awaken Liversedge, who quickly found their rhythm and started to press. An injury to Robbie Start meant he left the field after half an hour, being replaced by Ellis Barkworth. There were tackles flying in everywhere from both sides, with some bookable offences on both sides going unpunished by the referee.
‘Sedge equalized after 36 minutes when a headed backpass from Taron Hare was underhit, allowing Paul Walker to run through on goal, before rounding Sam Riches and tapping into an empty net.
On the stroke of half time the Swans won a free kick around 25 yards out. Burdett was on it, and he curled his effort over the wall and past the ‘keeper for his first goal in a Swans shirt. A fantastic finish from the wing back.
The second half was a different story, Liversedge came out fired up after being behind at the break and started to turn the screw.
A largely uneventful half burst into life when Liversedge felt they should have had a penalty for a foul in the area. The referee played on, but five minutes later the same thing happened, this time the referee pointed to the spot. Up stepped Alfie Raw, who sent Riches the wrong way and brought ‘Sedge level.
On 83 minutes the visitors took the lead, a ball was squared across the area and Riches, who had come out to meet it, was caught out, meaning the ball was squared to Raw, who scored his second the game.
As the game went into injury time the Swans appealed for a penalty after a clear push on substitute Stephen Cooper. The referee waved play on and Liversedge countered, scoring through Jack Hardacre to seal the points, and leave Swans fans feeling aggrieved.
The unbeaten run ends but the Swans remain 15th following other results.
