Hall provides passage to next round

Rovers arrived at Barton in buoyant mood, having secured progress in the FA Cup last weekend and named a very strong side, including a first start for Jermaine Hall against one of his former clubs. Alex Collard was back in the squad as well, but could only make the bench.

Hall could’ve been celebrating as early as the first minute, when a Josh Crawley knockdown sat perfectly for him, but the finish was hurried by the defender and skewed wide. From then on, Barton were the dominant side in the opening half. Victor Osobu saw a tenth minute free kick find its way through a crowded area and miss the far post by a matter of millimetres. The Barton forward line of Osobu, Jimmy Hartley and former Kempston man, Drew Phillips were creating chances at will it seemed, but for stout defending from Kyal McNulty and Seb Simpson providing two last ditch clearances, the hosts could’ve been several goals to the good within half an hour. Kempston though, steadied their ship and found the breakthrough before the half. A corner routine straight from the training ground led Luke Heneghan to have a better angle for the cross, which was met by the glancing forehead of Hall. The goal just before the break took the wind out of the Barton sails heading into the dressing rooms.

Three minutes after the break and the sucker-punching was complete. Kyal McNulty seemingly fouled in the build up, found Hall over the top with a long ball that the forward duly dispatched across goal on the volley. Some dissenting voices in the crowd were asking for an offside flag, but there were no protests on the pitch. Barton rallied and had a glorious chance when Osobu put the ball across the box but there was no one there in a blue shirt to meet it. Moments later, in somewhat bizarre fashion, Barton hit the cross bar. Andrews steamed into a clearance on the halfway line, reminiscent of Peter Kay’s famous “ave it” advert, leaving Martin Conway back pedalling and breathing a sigh of relief when the ball came back off the woodwork and into his arms. Phillips then forced Conway into action with a good save from a header. Barton frustration was growing and Osobu was warned by the referee to kerb his verbal outbursts. Clearly his head was in the wrong place, literally, moments later when he inadvertently glanced a long ball up field into the path of Hall. The forward got to the ball ahead of the onrushing figure of Jones in the Barton goal to lob in his third of the afternoon. Osobu was substituted in the aftermath of the goal. In search of the goal that their performance in the first half had merited, Nzuruba and Jarvis had good chances saved by Conway before two minutes from time, Barton did find the net. A corner was played in and met by Drew Phillips, several Kempston players looked to the referee as it appeared Conway had been impeded off the ball as the corner came in, but the official was unmoved and the goal stood. Phillips forced Conway into one final save from point blank range before the final whistle.

The win sets up an away tie for Kempston in the next round at Isthmian League side Dereham Town, this is due to take place on October thirteenth. Next up for Rovers is this Tuesday’s home clash in the league cup against AFC Rushden & Diamonds before the FA Cup date at Woking. There is limited space available on the coach to Woking, departing on Saturday morning from the club at 10am and priced at £10, anyone interested should contact markkennett@hotmail.com