BARNES GOAL PUTS REDS THROUGH

FordePark is fast becoming a barren place to come to these days for visiting forwards.

The Reds claiming a fourth clean sheet in successive home matches meant that Marc Barnes goal after half an hour was enough to see off the challenge of Eagle Bitter United Counties League side Rothwell Corinthians.

A couple of changes to the Reds line from Saturday saw Ross Scotney making his full first team debut in place of Dorian Small. Wayne Smith got an outing in midfield replacing rested Gareth Grant for the evening.

The Reds pinned the visitors back in their half for nearly the first fifteen minutes but in depth defence caused Langford to have few chances. After a first minute penalty appeal was turned down Danny Bennett played in Robert Groves but his shot was off target. It was Lee Patman who was first to test Rothwell goalkeeper Tom Judge, forcing him into a good save to deny the Reds forward the opener. With the Langford back line looking confident they so nearly came unstuck perhaps over playing the ball between themselves but Winsor produced a fantastic save from Dave Townsend’s shot as he gained possession in a dangerous area and less than a minute another slip and Tom Greasley blasted his effort wide when in a good position. With the visitors unable to capitalise on these openings the Reds became tighter and concentrated on opening the scoring for themselves.

Robert Groves fired a free kick wide after Barnes was brought down but on the half hour the Reds got what was to prove the winning goal. Marc Barnes cutting in from a right wing build up to beat three defenders before rounding the keeper and sliding a left footed effort into net. A goal that was good enough to win any game. It wasn’t to be Lee Pateman’s night for adding to his 11 goal haul for the season as his shot before the break struck the post. Winsor was called into action again as a four man Rothwell move from their own defence ended with another good save from Dave Biffa’s shot.

The second half was an exciting affair as play moved from one end to the other. Chances fell to both sides but nobody could add to the half time score line. The visitors coming nearest with a Dave Biffa effort that struck the post. Langford held firm though with Danny Bennett having a superb game in the defence. Rothwell were a little unfortunate not to get anything out of game as they put in a lot of effort into trying to grab an equaliser. It will be the Reds however that can look forward to the visit of Godmanchester Rovers in the next round.

On Saturday the Reds will be travelling to West London to take on Ruislip Manor for League points. The following Tuesday the opening round of this seasons Beds Senior Cup will see a very short trip to Stotfold as Langford hope to add more misery to what has been a pretty poor season so far for the Roker Park side.

Langford; Edward Winsor, Ross Scotney, Ricky Case; Joe Delasalle, Danny Bennett, Shayne Willett, Adam Pitcairn; Wayne Smith, Lee Pateman; Marc Barnes, Robert Groves.