Padiham show character to battle back and beat Barnton

The breakthrough came in the 51st minute when Dominic Craig was slipped in by Kieron Glynn and the midfielder clipped the ball over Rob Cooke after committing the goalkeeper with a clever feint.

Craig should have doubled his tally and Padiham’s lead when Mark Young’s header from Ben Hoskin’s diagonal pass was saved but, with the goal gaping, the midfielder side-footed the rebound wide.

The hosts punished their opponents for that squandered opportunity in the 56th minute when Chris Bandell finished from close range following a goalmouth scramble.

Barnton then went ahead on the hour when Ryan Malone moved in to the penalty area and fired across new signing Martin Fearon with his right foot.

Padiham were back on level terms with just under a quarter-of-an-hour of their Hallmark Security Premier Division fixture remaining.

Hoskin was picked out by substitute Adam Bolton inside the box and kept his composure to slot the ball in to the right hand corner.

The Storks pressed for the winner but it looked as though they would have to settle for a draw once Craig hit the crossbar and Jake Hargreaves had a header cleared off the line.

However, in the final minute, Kieron Pickup took Hoskin’s pinpoint pass in his stride before stroking the ball in to the bottom corner to make it 3-2.

“It was a good win,” said Smith. “We showed a lot of character to get the three points. We showed another side to us with their never say die attitude.

“We had a chat in the dressing room after the game and everyone accepts that we can still do a lot better.

“The two goals we gave away were sloppy and we were disappointed with that but we could have scored seven or eight.

“Even at 2-1 down we were never expecting to get beat. We created chance after chance and eventually won it late on.