SOCCER: Barnoldswick, sponsored by Vicarage Road Motors, entertained last year's West Lancashire League Premier Division champions in what turned out to be a hard-fought encounter.

The Barnoldswick manager was very encouraged by the clean sheet - the first his side have managed to achieve this season.

John Hall, who has been out of the picture for over a year with a broken ankle, was a rock at the heart of the defence alongside Nick Waugh and Lee Barrett.

John, playing only his second full game of the season after previously starting a game with the second team, was Barnoldswick's man of the match.

United started the game very poorly and their passing was not really up to scratch. They gave the ball away far to often which allowed the visitors to dominate possession.

Luckily for the home team, the Fulwood outfit are struggling for penetration at present, so Mitch Walker in the Barlick goal had little to do. The second half saw a much-improved performance by United and they had several chances to get the win that, their overall second half performance deserved. But the breakthrough never materialised.

Team: Walker, Waugh, Barrett, Hall, French, Iqbal, McDowell, Carling, Grey, Corrigan, Bannister. Subs: N Iqbal, Akbar, Ditta.

Barnoldswick travel to Freckleton tomorrow with a full squad to choose from.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.