Barton Town Old Boys striker Scott Phillips scored twice in their excellent 5-2 win at Bootle in the FA Vase
Barton Town Old Boys are one of only seven teams that are still flying the flag for the Toolstation Northern Counties East League in the FA Vase.
Barton Town produced an impressive performance to defeat North West Counties side Bootle 5-2 on Merseyside.
Two goals each from Ash Lattimore and Scott Phillips plus an own goal gave Barton the win they needed to progress onto the second round of the FA Vase.
Barton started the game well and looked to dominate Bootle in the early stages.
It didn’t take long for the pressure to count as Corey Mortimer fired across a ball into the box and panic for the Bootle defence as the ball is put into the back of the net to make it 1-0.
It didn’t take dominant Barton long to increase their lead as on 11 minutes Scott Phillips is brought down 25 yards out and Ash Lattimore stepped up to take the free kick.
Despite the distance Lattimore powered it into the top corner with the keeper helpless and the score now 2-0 to Barton.
It took 18 minutes for a serious Bootle attack and only a last ditch block from Sam Belcher saw the ball fly over the Barton goal.
Then a two minute spell from Barton should have seen the score line 4-0 but a missed diving header from Nathan Smith and a missed chance as Scott Phillips rounded the keeper saw the score line still only 2-0.
The inevitable then happened after the missed chances as against the run of play Bootle scored from a corner with a free header to make it 2-1 to Barton.
Another chance for Phillips as the Bootle defence were easily opened but then in 39 minutes another Corey Mortimer cross was this time handled by the Bootle defender to give Barton a penalty.
Ash Lattimore stepped up and fired home his second of the game to make it 3-1 at half time.
Barton needed a strong and professional second half performance to ensure the victory against a Bootle team with lots of attacking strength.
On 55 minutes the Barton lead was extended as Louis Kirk found Scott Phillips who rod a tackle and then rounded the keeper to put the ball into an open net to make it 4-1.
Minutes later Phillips grabbed his second and Barton’s fifth as good skill saw him on goal and then a lovely chip over the keeper to make it 5-1 to Barton.
Bootle though didn’t give this game up and on 65 minutes made it 5-2 and a tough finish to the game was in store.
Chances came at both ends with Bootle missing two clear opportunities but Barton held strong and saw out the game despite tensions around the ground from Bootle players, management and fans.
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