Greenalls Padgate St Oswalds 1 Barnton 1

GREENALLS were held to a draw against Barnton in the Cheshire League top flight at Long Lane on Saturday.

Man-of-the-match Craig Hoyland opened the scoring, but the visitors clawed back an equaliser through Colin Quirk.

Gareth Johns was sent clear by Danny Topping 20 minutes in, but his shot drifted wide before Lee Vaughan’s jinking run ended with a cross-come-shot falling narrowly wide of the post.

Hoyland then sent Topping clear, but a recovering Barnton defender got a touch on the ball as the Greenalls man shaped to shoot and Topping’s effort fell into Adam Judge’s hands.

Five minutes before the break and Judge saved low down to his right after Topping had turned Hoyland’s cross goalwards.

Hoyland was brought down after the break, Topping’s resulting free kick found the Greenalls forward and he powered a header past Judge to open the scoring.

However, the hosts could not hold out and Quirk lashed beyond a stranded Craig Clare to level.

Greenalls boss Dave Bush said: "It's a shame we couldn't score in that first half, we had chances and couldn't convert. The players have put in a fantastic shift and dominated for an hour today against a very impressive team.

“That last 30 minutes was tough as we could see the quality they have, but we defended brilliantly all over the pitch.

“We're unbeaten in four now, which is testament to the lads, the way they have turned it around after we lost our way slightly.”

Greenalls Craig Clare, Paul Dobson, Gareth Johns, Alex Hardman, Jack Hynes, Danny Topping, Lee Hughes (Paul Benns), Mark Hughes, Robbie Hanley, Craig Hoyland, Lee Vaughan (Chris Rogers).