Leighton fight back with last minute penalty

Barton kicked off and won themselves a corner 3 minutes in; thankfully Dave Murphy was there to head the ball clear. A close shave for Leighton came when Robbie Goodman stood watching Keshi Anderson with the ball, luckily it flew straight across the goal and there was no one there to tap it in.

With only 13 minutes gone Leighton had to make their first substitution, an injured Claude Senla came off to make way for Ash Farmer. A chance for Farmer came when Danny Watson found him in the box but as he slide in the ball went the wrong side of the post and out for a goal kick.

Bilal Hassan (ex-Leighton player) was determined to get a goal and managed to run past Alvin Rajaram but he took the ball one step too far. Barton were close to scoring in the 20th minute but Mahmut Caglar could only put it wide of the post.

Paul Lyon was unable to hold the ball up in midfield in the 26th minute and with Leighton's defence all just standing in a line, Ben Sawyer took a shot at goal, Dan Green got a hand to the ball but not enough to stop it from crossing the line, putting Barton into a 1-0 lead.

It looked like Leighton had equalised in the 30th minute with a good cross from Farmer to Watson and into the net but the referee blew his whistle as the lino flagged that the ball had gone out of play.

Leighton were forced to make another substitution in the 36th minute brining off Paul Lyon for Aaron Morgan.

Once again Leighton were asleep at the back and Sawyer made his way towards goal, the ball bobbled along the ground to find Hassan but he missed. Green made a brilliant save denying Barton of a second goal in the 40th minute, the ball ricocheted back out to Anderson but Chris Crook managed to put his body in the way of the shot.

With the second half underway Barton nearly found themselves scoring for Leighton, when a cross from Morgan found Michael Lyon in the box but was nearly headed in by the Barton defence.

Alex Condon was shown a yellow card in the 55th minute for Barton. A succession of saves were made by Kyle Forster to keep Leighton at bay with chances from Phil Draycott, Framer and Watson.

Draycott received a yellow card in the 66th minute for kicking the ball away. Only moments later Murphy headed the ball against the cross bar and then headed it straight into Forster hands.

A poor clearance by Murphy saw Sawyer come close to scoring again but his shot hit the side netting. Draycott hit a super strike in the 82nd minute but it fell wide.

With only 5 minutes remaining it all kicked off, Sawyer hit the post and then received a yellow card for a bad tackle on Murphy. A chance for Watson to even the score line took place but he skimmed the ball over the bar.

Then in the 90th minute Condon was shown a second yellow card and sent off the pitch for taking down Rajaram in the box. Leighton were awarded a penalty and Watson didn't disappoint, sending the ball into the back of the net, making it 1-1.

Farmer was shown a yellow card in injury time for a silly foul and Murphy hit a powerful shot along the ground for Forster to save before the final whistle was blown.

Leightons next game is at home to Biggleswade United in the Beds Senior Cup on Tuesday 11th November, kick off 7:45pm.

Barton Rovers

Team- Forster, Condon, Dhillon, Gatti, Andrews, Kilroy, Sawyer, Lee, Caglar, Anderson, Hassan

Subs- McDent, Vincent, Keating, Ottaway, Young

Leighton Town FC

Team- Green, Rajaram, Ridgway, Goodman, Crook, Murphy, P. Lyon, M. Lyon, Senla, Watson, Draycott

Subs- Morgan, Farmer, Halia

Attendance-81

By Hannah Sellman