GX Southern League Cup

Barton Rovers 0 Dunstable Town 3

Dunstable Town cruised into round two of the GX Southern League Cup after a comprehensive win over neighbours Barton Rovers.

With these two sides having suffered a poor start to their respective league campaigns, the game provided the perfect opportunity for both to recover some form and confidence ahead of some tough upcoming fixtures.

And it will be Blues who will have been more pleased with their efforts and the win was their first at Sharpenhoe Road since December 2003.

Dunstable opened the scoring after just three minutes from the penalty spot when, after Krzysztof Matyskiewicz was brought down inside the box, Nick Nolan planted the resultant spot kick to the left of Michael Parkin and into the corner of the net.

Tommy Hayes wasted a golden chance to equalise for Barton when clean through on 14 minutes, while Matt Edge's shot from distance was high and wide just before the half hour mark.

As the first half neared it conclusion, Stuart Sinclair warmed Parkin's gloves with a fierce shot from the edge of the area as the visitors kept their noses in front.

The poor weather conditions gradually got worse as the game went on making it difficult for both sets of players, and it looked as though he was going to call a halt to proceedings six minutes into the second half.

But, after consulting with his two assistants, the referee decided that conditions were still playable.

It wasn't long before Sinclair scored a crucial second goal for the visitors on 54 minutes, when he curled a right foot shot beyond Parkin into the top right hand corner.

Despite the adverse conditions having an effect on the game, Dunstable were still more than worthy winners on the night and completely dominated the home side both in terms of possession and attacks on goal.

Lee Cowley's side put the tie to bed on 70 minutes when netted a third goal. A ball from the right wasn't properly dealt with by the home defence and allowed former Barton man Stuart Strange to reclaim the ball before hammering home beyond the helpless Parkin.