Albion Sports manager Kulwinder Sandu saw his team play with ten men for 50 minutes in the 1-1 draw with Barton Town Old Boys
Predatory striker Gareth Barlow broke brave ten man Albion Sports’ hearts by scoring a last gasp equaliser for the Toolstation NCEL Premier Division leaders Barton Town Old Boys at Throstle Nest.
Daniel Facey had given Albion after just two minutes, but the home side had goalkeeper Aaron Brian sent off close to half-time which put their winning position in doubt.
Midfielder Malachi Farquarson went between the sticks for Kulwinder Sandhu’s side and he made a fantastic save at the death before Barlow scored.
The result does second-placed Tadcaster Albion a huge favour as Barton’s three point lead at the top has only been extended to four.
Barton were extremely lucky as their second half display did not warrant a share of the spoils. Facey’s brilliant low strike from the edge of the penalty area gave Albion the lead and his 25th goal of the campaign.
Barton responded strongly. Louie Kirk forced a good save out of Brian before Barlow crossed for new signing Scott Phillips whose powerful strike cannoned back off the crossbar.
Phillips, who signed from Bridlington Town last week, was a constant threat to Albion defenders James Stansfield and captain Danny Brown.
Phillips wasn’t involved in the game’s biggest turning point. Saturday’s hat-trick hero Ryan Cooper latched onto the loose ball and was clear on goal. Brian came rushing out and when Cooper took it past him, the goalkeeper pushed him to the ground 25 yards from goal.
Although Cooper did have his back to the Albion goal, the midfielder would have turned and put the ball into the empty net – the reason why popular semi-professional referee Mick Denton correctly pulled out his red card for Brian.
After a delay Farquarson was the chosen one to take over as the Albion goalkeeper. However, Barton failed to advantage of the situation.
The stand-in goalkeeper had little to do until the final few minutes and Albion could have easily scored a decisive second goal. Facey pulled a good save out of Barton stopper Ben White before the visitors came strong at the end.
In the final minute, Luke Thompson, on the edge of the penalty area, cut inside his marker and fired a shot towards the bottom corner. Farquarson somehow steered the ball away from goal for a brief respite.
However, the danger wasn’t over as the ball was soon back in the box. Despite a suspicion of offside, Barlow kept his cool and placed the ball into the bottom corner from close range to salvage a point for Barton.
Given how well Albion had defended, the sucker punch will have been hard to take..
Albion Sports: Brian, Redhead, Dugdale, Farquarson, Stansfield, Brown (captain), Jones, Ormsby, Facey, Ettienne (Maturine 86), Cusack. Subs unused: Del Facey, Riley, Hussain.
Barton Town Old Boys: White, Bruce, Gowen (Thompson 71), Belcher, Dexter (captain), Cooper, Ricketts, Kirk (Owen 71), Barlow, Phillips, Taylor (Slater 57).
Referee: M Denton (Todmorden)
Attendance: TBC
Men of the match: James Stansfield and Malachi Farquarson (Albion Sports)