Swans and Church battle for goalless draw
11th March 2020| Barton Town | 0-0 | Penistone Church | Att |
| 148 |
Barton Town battled to a 0-0 draw against Penistone Church in a thrilling contest at the Easy Buy Stadium.
Neither side could find a breakthrough but both teams were playing attractive end to end football with chances coming thick and fast and two goalkeepers in form.
Swans boss Craig Denton only made one change from the side which defeated Bottesford Town 5-0 at the weekend. New signing Mark Gray came in for Callum Walmsley, who was unavailable.
| # | Player |
| 1 | Sam Riches ⭐ |
| 2 | Noel Burdett |
| 3 | Robbie Start |
| 4 | Taron Hare 🔻Barkworth 79 |
| 5 | Matt Plummer |
| 6 | Mark Gray 🔻Richardson 45 |
| 7 | Adam Millson |
| 8 | Waide Fairhurst (c) |
| 9 | Danny North 🔻Modest 62 |
| 10 | Jack McMenemy |
| 11 | Ben Hinchliffe |
| 12 | Nathan Modest 🔺North 62 |
| 14 | Jack Richardson 🔺Gray 45 |
| 15 | Ellis Barkworth 🔺Hare 79 |
| 17 | James Humphreys |
Waide Fairhurst had the first chance of the game as he took a shot from the edge of the area which went just wide of Max Dearnley in the Penistone goal.
Midway through the first half Penistone had two golden chances to take the lead. A fantastic surge forward by a Penistone player played in Kieran Ryan, whose shot was well saved by Sam Riches and put over the bar for a corner.
Riches then came out to meet the ball, but the Penistone attacker got a touch to it, the ball was heading towards goal before Taron Hare managed to clear it off the line.
On the half hour mark came Barton’s best chance. Jack McMenemy broke into the area and his first shot was saved by Dearnley. The rebound fell to McMenemy, but his second effort was saved also in a fantastic display of goalkeeping.
A hamstring injury to Mark Gray just before half time meant he made way for Jack Richardson at the break.
The second half was a brilliant tussle between two sides. Barton’s best chance came on 75 minutes when the Swans won a free kick on the edge of the area. Up stepped Noel Burdett and his effort curled over the wall but was saved by Dearnley.
In the latter stages it was becoming a game where a winning goal would have been unfair on either side. Both were defending resiliently and there were counter attacks galore but neither side could find the winner.
The Swans remain 11th but it was an encouraging result for Barton, who had contained one of the finest attacks in the league.
