BARNTON maintained their lead in the Mid-Cheshire First Division with a hard-fought and entertaining 4-2 win over plucky Grove United.

It took Barnton 32 minutes to make the breakthrough, which came when Richie Milne's cross was parried by the Grove keeper, allowing Steve Astbury to clip the ball in.

Six minutes later it was 2-0 as Milne and Davis combined to set up Dave Murray, who made the most of the opportunity.

Barnton appeared to be cruising, especially as Grove were down to 10 men by this stage. One of their players had to leave the pitch with an injury and because of transport problems, their substitutes hadn't turned up.

But it was Grove who gave themselves a lifeline on 44 minutes, Steve Jordan scoring from a free-kick.

Barnton regained their two-goal cushion on 53 minutes, Milne finishing off a nice move by shooting across the keeper and into the far corner.

But again Grove showed their fighting spirit by hitting back, Jordan scoring his second goal from a Justin Twigg cross.

Despite carving out plenty of chances, with Heywood, Davis and Milne all going close, Barnton had to wait until the 89th minute before making the game safe when Paul Nelson, having moved up to midfield, drove in a 20-yard thunderbolt from the right.

Barnton: Fortune, Heywood, Fraser, Jones, Nelson, Davis, Milne, Murray, Astbury (Warburton, 45 mins), Brodigan (Lambert, 71 mins), Tomlinson.

ON Monday last week, Barnton put up a good performance in losing 2-1 at Nantwich in the Mid-Cheshire Senior Cup. Dave Murray scored early on for Barnton, but Nantwich sealed victory with a goal 11 minutes from time.

THIS Saturday, Barnton are at home to Middlewich Town (3pm).

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.