Swans defeat table topping Staveley
24th February 2020| Barton Town | 1-0 | Staveley Miners Welfare | Att |
| Plummer 37 | 158 |
Barton Town held on to defeat league leaders Staveley Miners Welfare 1-0 at a blustery Easy Buy Stadium.
A first half Matt Plummer goal sealed the win for the Swans, who shut out one of the most prolific strike forces in the NCEL Premier Division.
New signing Callum Walmsley made his debut at the heart of defence as he came in for the suspended Eddie Rogerson, Plummer moved to right back.
| # | Player |
| 1 | Sam Riches |
| 2 | Matt Plummer ⚽ |
| 3 | Ash Cooper |
| 4 | Adam Millson |
| 5 | Taron Hare |
| 6 | Callum Walmsley |
| 7 | Josh Baker ⭐ |
| 8 | Jack Richardson 🟡 |
| 9 | Jack McMenemy |
| 10 | Waide Fairhurst (c) 🔻North 75 |
| 11 | Ben Hinchliffe 🟡 |
| 12 | Danny North 🔺Fairhurst 75 |
| 14 | Ellis Barkworth |
| 15 | Alfie Usher |
It took just two minutes for Barton to have their first chance. The wind blew the ball into space and Ben Hinchliffe ran onto it, he bared down on goal but saw his shot go just wide. The Swans top scorer, who hasn’t scored in 2020, had plenty of chances to break his duck.
12 minutes into the game and the Swans had another chance to take the lead. The ball fell to Waide Fairhurst on the edge of the area and his first time effort smashed against the cross bar. The visitors were struggling to adapt to the conditions but soon found their feet again midway into the first half. On the half hour mark a Staveley player had a shot from the edge of the area which sailed over the bar.
Shortly before half time the breakthrough finally came. Jack McMenemy’s shot was parried by Staveley ‘keeper Myles Wright into the path of Plummer, who scored his second goal of the season with a simple tap in.
The Swans went in ahead at the break, and deservedly so, with Barton adapting to the swirling wind better than Staveley.
Seconds after the restart however Staveley had their best chance of the game. A fine header was looping over and seemingly into the back of the net, but debutant Walmsley was there to head it clear off the line.
As the second half wore on, Staveley were starting to pressure the Swans defence. Barton continued to carve out chances, through Fairhurst and Hinchliffe, but couldn’t find that second goal that would have killed off the game.
Danny North was introduced in place of Fairhurst for the last 15 minutes, as Barton looked to seal out a massive three points.
Josh Baker, who was the Lindsey Relay man of the match, pulled off a fantastic sliding tackle to neutralize a brilliant Staveley counter attack.
The final whistle blew and Barton held on for a massive win over the table toppers, consigning them to just their third defeat of the season.
