Barnoldswick Town v AFC Liverpool, 22nd January 2022

Barlick was a ground we had never won at. I had made the trip to Barnoldswick myself twice before. The last time I think was nine years previously. The two previous visits I did were by public transport, and that was mammoth. On this occasion I did it via the car.

And six minutes in a low shot from the edge of the area beat Jack McGovern and the "here we go again" thought inevitably went through my mind and no doubt my fellow supporters. We did respond well. New signing Kyle Sambor had a difficult debut the previous week during the FA Vase defeat to Abbey Hey. Today he looked like he was linking up well with his fellow attackers, especially Callum Schorah. On the terraces, a few of the Barlick local kids were intrigued by the rattles.After a good spell of pressure Jay Howell forced a good block from Barlick Keeper Jordan Gidley following a cross from the left by Jesse Dowling. Callum Schorah was then on hand to tap home to restore parity. Just over 10 minutes later we took the lead as Kyle Schorah was played through with the Barlick defence split right open. He had just Gidley to beat but unselfishly played in the other Kyle, and Sambor had his first goal for the club. Arash (a fellow supporter) like myself was relieved Sambor did not stray offside.Before half time we had a few chances to extend our lead. Kyle was through again one on one with the Barlick keeper. This time Gidley got the better of him. Barlick still had the odd chance on the break. One shot just flashed wide. Just before the break we had one run on goal halted by a handball with the Barlick defender on the floor. He got a yellow, but the free kick hit the wall, and their attempted breakaway came to nothing. So 2-1 at half time.After the restart the home side came out on the front foot and one effort came back off the bar. That was one lucky escape!After that the second half became a more scrappy affair. Barlick had much of the possession as you might expect. We did have the odd break where we looked dangerous. On 65 minutes Kyle Schorah took the ball round Gidley, but the angle wasn't brilliant and no one was there to put it in the net.Our first ever win in Barnoldswick was edging ever closer. But with a little over 5 minutes of normal time to go Barlick's captain struck a brilliant effort from the edge of the box, and it flew into the top corner giving Jack no chance.In all honesty it was a game we should have won, but when Brad Owens had to leave the field injured in stoppage time with all three subs on, it was actually a relief to leave the historical West Riding of Yorkshire with something.Driving out of the Silent Night Stadium I had a little taste of my pre-car days when I used to travel to a lot of AFC games on public transport. Jake and Jasmine were going to get a bus to Clitheroe, before getting two trains home. I offered them a lift to save a bit of time, and dropped them off in Clitheroe before driving home.

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