Barton Rovers beat Egham to go top of the table

A first half Bobby Dance brace and second half Jermaine Hall strike propelled Barton Rovers to the top of Calor Southern League Division One Central with a 3-1 home win over Egham Town on Saturday.

Dance broke the deadlock on 27 minutes and, although Mo Harkin hit back a minute before the interval, Rovers won a penalty second later that Dance duly dispatched.

And Hall’s 57th-minute goal secured victory as Barton went three point clear of Daventry and kept Rovers one point ahead of near neighbours Dunstable Town as they reached the summit of the division, although Dunstable have one game in hand and Daventry four.

Boss Dan Kennoy hailed their position and revealed he is looking to boost his squad.

He said: “With almost a third of the season gone and we’re not only still up with the chasing pack we’re on top of the league. We now need to face a different type of pressure now as teams are going to want to knock us off the top.

“We have to raise our game again if we want to stay there. We have signed Luke Knight this week which will strengthen us and I think we could possibly do with one, maybe two more quality additions to the squad to give us the best opportunity of doing something really special.

“So any players out there that are available and think they can compete at the top end of this league then get in touch, because we are going to need a big squad to mount a title challenge.”

It was a controlled display at Sharpenhoe Road to dismantle a Egham side that showed plenty of promise, but never managed to get fully going in the windy conditions.

Having seen the visiting keeper keep out his header, Dance put Rovers ahead when he guided an overhead kick over the rooted Egham defence.

Harkin levelled when Rovers’ defence failed to deal with a long throw and he headed home from close range, but Barton retook the lead moments later when Hoenes brilliant beat two defenders before being felled in the box as Dance fired home from 12 yards.

Barton controlled possession and the tempo in the second half as they stifled the visitors and added a third just before the hour through Hall’s neat headed finish as the game fizzled out.

Barton head to Potters Bar Town on Saturday.

Attendance: 104.