GOAL hungry Barnton powered four past Padgate St. Marks in midweek put their hot-shots coulSteve Astbury, Dave Murray, Richard Milne and an extremely rare Mark Warburton strike gave Barnton a comfortable win in Warrington, taking their goal tally to 18 in only four games and the team to the top of the league.

Their reputation had definitely travelled along the M56 and the Manchester men came well prepared to defend against the Greens Insulation league leaders.

With a number of first team regulars missing through injury and holiday commitments, Barnton struggled to find their rhythm and it was Chorlton who almost took the lead after 23 minutes when a shot scraped Derrick Fortune's post.

Barnton soon took control of the match but couldn't find the key to unlock Chorlton's solid defence.

Their best opportunity came in the 70th minute when Adrian Brodigan appeared to be brought down from behind inside the area but the referee waved away Barnton's appeals.

The home side continued to push right up to the final whistle but Chorlton held firm, despite the continuous pressure, to take a hard-earned point back to Manchester.

Barnton: Fortune, Heywood (Dunn 85), Nelson (Garvey 52), Jones, Lambert, Davis, Milne, Murray, Astbury, Brodigan, Tomlinson (Warburton 79).

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