BARTON BOOST SAFETY HOPES

Waudby goal has Old Boys climbing table

BARTON TOWN Old Boys continued their great escape with victory at AFC Mansfield as only four Northern Counties East League games survived the bad weather. Despite travelling without Ryan Williams and Gary Bradshaw, Barton dug deep to emerge with the win through Tom Waudby’s lone goal, a victory that saw them climb out of the relegation zone. Both sides missed a horde of chances, including Mansfield rattling the post with a penalty and Barton Town spurning numerous gilt-edged opportunities. The hosts piled on the pressure at the end, but Barton held firm to take the points and and make it three wins in four games. Barton manager Paul Foot said: “We rode our luck and so did they, but I think our desire was greater than theirs. “Our determination to get out of the relegation zone was greater than theirs to win the game, and we deserved the win today.” Of the dozen goals that were registered in the League on Saturday, over half of them came at Albion Sports where Clipstone went home with a 4-3 victory thanks to Keaton Ward’s 89th minute winner. The visitors took the lead inside the first ten minutes thanks to Gareth Curtis, but Albion made it 1-1 after 28 minutes. As half-time approached, Ben Rogers cracked home a sumptuous volley from the edge of the box to give Clipstone the advantage at the break. Luke Walker made it 3-1 after 51 minutes, however Albion hit back with two goals in 12 minutes to make it 3-3 going into the final stages. The hosts then had a chance to win it from the spot with four minutes left but Gary Doncaster pulled off a flying save which allowed Ward to score a late winner. Elsewhere, Nick Langford and Matt Harris scored either side of half-time to give Rainworth Miners Welfare a surprise 2-0 victory at Staveley Miners Welfare, and Pickering Town grabbed a lastminute equaliser to snatch a 1-1 draw at Maltby Main.