A terrific free kick from Kaiden Barlow midway through the second half sealed a 2-1 win for Daisy Hill at Atherton Town in a hard fought quarter final clash in the Bolton Hospital Cup.
In front of a healthy sized crowd at Butler Park, a Luke Nicholls goal had given Daisy the lead six minutes before half time, but Town’s response was immediate as Gaz Shaw levelled within a minute.
Although Daisy dominated possession in the second half, they struggled to break down a well organised home defence, and it took a beautifully struck free kick from Barlow to see them through to a place in the semi-final, and a tie against either Bolton County or Hindsford.
It was Daisy who had the better of the early exchanges, and Liam Sheppard came close to opening the scoring on 15 minutes, when he collected a through ball from Scott Johnson and fired in a shot that hit the outside of the post.
A minute later, a 25 yard free kick from Declan Baldwin just cleared the crossbar, and then at the midway point in the first half, Atherton Town had their first clear chance when Manny Yoak headed just over.
On 25 minutes Town came close to opening the scoring, when Daisy defender Ben Unsworth deflected a cut back from Shaw against his own post with keeper Morgan Newns beaten.
But it was Daisy who finally broke the deadlock six minutes from half time, when Baldwin’s ball to the far post found Sheppard in space and he cut the ball back into the path of Nicholls who slid in to convert from close range.
