Rovers get their revenge and beat Leighton to the points

Barton Rovers 2-0 Leighton Town FC

After a close game against Kettering on Tuesday night, it was time for Leighton to face Barton. They played them back in November and managed a draw to earn themselves a point.

Craig Bicknell welcomed back, Christian Lester, Tyrone Taylor and Phil Draycott to his starting line up after all being unavailable on Tuesday.

The first half an hour Leighton were on the attack looking strong and they came close in the 8th minute but Danny Watson's shot fell straight into Kyle Forster's hands.

Draycott worked well to overcome Barton's defence and his shot was just over the bar in the 12th minute. Robbie Goodman made a fantastic tackle to stop Ben Sawyer in his tracks towards goal. 

Lester won Leighton a free kick just outside the box in the 17th minute, Aaron Morgan stepped up and his shot was just wide of the post, yet another missed opportunity. 

A powerful shot by Jack Keating saw Zaki Oualah jump to push it over the bar to deny Barton the lead. Leighton's best chance came in the 31st minute, a great header by Taylor fell then to the head of Lester but he couldn't put it across the line.

Connor Vincent was the first to put the ball into the back of the net for Barton. Winning the ball from the throw he turned and fired the ball home. Things only got worse for Leighton, when Michael Lyon took down Rhys Hoenes in the box and was given a penalty.

Keating stepped up to the spot and thankfully, although not the best of penalties, Oualah divided to his left pushing the ball away for Taylor to clear down the pitch.

Leighton kicked off the second half and made their first substitution in the 54th minute bringing off Lyon for Billy Lobjoit. 

A mistake by Alvin Rajaram gave Tuki Tayali space to charge freely at Oualah, luckily a fast moving Gary Ridgway managed to stick his foot in to divert the ball over the bar for a corner.

Smallest man on the pitch Morgan made a big difference when he cleared the ball off the line in the 62nd minute to stop Barton from lengthening their lead. 

A second substitution for Leighton came in the 73rd minute brining off Morgan for Ash Farmer. 

A brilliant goal kick by Oualah found Watson near the centre half, he did well to keep the ball and came face to face with Forster. 

Unfortunately Watson hesitated and lost the ball, Farmer followed it up and tried to lob Forster but he aimed too high.

In the 81st minute Taylor was replaced with Dave Murphy. Lester did well to win a free kick when he was elbowed in the head but his good luck didn't last long when he clattered into Jhai Dhillon and was shown a red card. 

With Leighton down to 10 men substitute Russell Bull fancied his chances at goal but his strike went wide. With only injury time left to play it looked like Leighton might have got away with just the one goal against them.

But with a player missing Barton took advantage. Bull charged past Murphy and Rajaram, with only Oualah left to defeat, Bull managed to squeeze the ball just past the inside post making it 2-0 to Barton.

Leighton's next game is away to North Greenford United on Tuesday 10th March, kick off 7:45pm. 

Leighton Town FC

Team- Oualah, M.Lyon, Ridgway, Goodman, Rajaram, Taylor, Morgan, Bunker, Lester, Watson, Draycott

Subs- Lobjoit, Farmer, Murphy, Forrester, Green

Barton Rovers 

Team- Forster, Hassan, Dhillon, Gatti, Andrews, Kilroy, Hoenes, Keating, Vincent, Tayali, Sawyer

Subs- Bull, Perry, Brown, Peveral, Caglar 

Attendance- 130

By Hannah Sellman