SOCCER: A LATE, late winner secured all three points for Ribchester in one of their toughest and most hard-fought games of the season so far.

Right from the start, a resurgent Barnoldswick set out their stall, taking the game to the visitors and dominating the first 15 minutes in search of the opening goal. Ribchester had to dig deep to keep them at bay, but gradually fought their way back with some dogged defending and started to look dangerous especially from set pieces.

Walsh came closest when somehow the Barnoldswick keeper managed to scoop over his point-blank header then Talbot saw his low drive fizz past the wrong side of the post.

With half time looming the referee dismissed Ribchester's strong claims for a penalty when Hollingworth was clearly brought down inside the area. To make matters worse, the injured centre forward was forced to leave the field of play and with the visitors down to 10 men, Barnoldswick took full advantage scoring from a corner. With Hollingworth fit to start the second half, Ribchester stormed back throwing everything into attack with Barton spearheading the front line supported by Talbot who was having a barnstorming game on the right hand side.

As the pressure mounted, Ribchester deservedly equalised when Parkinson turned in a low shot from Barton after good work from Talbot. Moments later, Lofthouse was unlucky not to grab a second when his powerful header was saved on the line.

With only three minutes of normal time remaining, Ribchester forced a corner which Barnoldswick struggled to clear. The ball was hooked back into the danger area where Hollingworth squared to play to Talbot.

The winger was quick to whip in a low cross right into the path of Clayton who guided his header into the bottom left hand corner of the net. Ribchester's defence, superbly marshalled by Walsh and Spall, saw out the last few moments of this enthralling game, the result of which may yet prove to be vital at the end of the season.

Man of the match was S Spall.

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