Swans secure late win over Spalding in FA Cup
2nd September 2020| Spalding United | 1-3 | Barton Town | Att |
| Floyd 5 | Batty 82 Hinchliffe 85 Tait 87 | 152 |
Barton Town advanced to the next round of the FA Cup with three goals in five minutes to win 3-1 at Spalding United.
The hosts took the lead after five minutes with a nice finish from Scott Floyd but the Swans grew into the game and were arguably the better side for most of the game.
It looked like the goal would never come for Barton before Josh Batty equalized with a volley. Ben Hinchliffe gave Barton the lead on 85 minutes before Grant Tait scored from 35 yards out in a goal of the season contender.
| # | Player |
| 1 | Charlie Dixon |
| 2 | Josh Lacey |
| 3 | Scott Matthews |
| 4 | Matt Plummer |
| 5 | Taron Hare © |
| 6 | Chaz Fisher 🔻Wheeldon 65 |
| 7 | Grant Tait ⚽ |
| 8 | Nathan Peat |
| 9 | Luke Anderson 🔻Hinchliffe 63 |
| 10 | Josh Batty ⚽ |
| 11 | Noel Burdett 🔻Baker 69 |
| 12 | Luke Wheeldon 🔺Fisher 65 |
| 13 | Craig Disley |
| 14 | Adam Millson |
| 15 | Josh Baker 🔺Burdett 69 |
| 16 | Ben Hinchliffe ⚽ 🔺Anderson 63 |
The hosts started the game the stronger, and dominated the first five minutes. A venomous shot from Shane Clarke was deflected out for a corner. However their dominance brought reward on five minutes when a bouncing ball was met by Scott Floyd who struck a fine curling effort past Charlie Dixon to give Spalding the lead.
The goal woke up the Swans as Barton grew into the game and were starting to pressure Spalding’s defence. Nathan Peat struck from the edge of the area but his effort went over. Luke Anderson was next to test the goal, Josh Batty teed him up but the ball bobbled just before Anderson struck, sending the ball high and wide.
The second half saw Barton well and truly dominant, however the first chance of the half fell to Spalding. They managed to break and close in on goal, but a nice block from Taron Hare sent the ball out for a corner.
On 69 minutes Noel Burdett came off with what looked like a nasty ankle injury, being replaced by Josh Baker. Five minutes later fellow substitute Ben Hinchliffe saw an effort cleared off the line and then a follow up go into the side netting.
With just eight minutes to go Batty received the ball with some space in the area. He flicked the ball up and volleyed it past the ‘keeper to finally bring the Swans level.
Three minutes later a lobbed through ball wasn’t cleared as Hinchliffe was first to it, he coolly smashed the ball past the ‘keeper to give Barton a deserved lead.
On 87 minutes the win was confirmed and what a way to do it. Charlie Dixon hit a goal kick high, it was headed by a Spalding defender, and Grant Tait volleyed it from 35 yards out, with the ball looping over the ‘keeper.
The Swans secured the win and boss Rob Watson was happy with the win. “I’m delighted to get our first win of the season and to progress in the FA Cup. We had a clear game plan and stuck to it throughout. I felt in the first half we missed some opportunities that would have made things easier but in the second half I felt if we scored 1 we’d go on to score more and win the game.
“We battled hard for 90 minutes and pushed ourselves against a team in the league above. We have a good squad this season and competition for places, everyone involved in this squad contributed to the win last night. The attitude and application from the lads is something i want to see every week. We played as a team and deserved our win.
“The club have backed us and we need to back that up on the pitch. Hopefully we can do the same in the next round and have a competitive edge before we start our league campaign.”