UXBRIDGE (4) 8 Ryder 3, Tunnell (2) 8,43, Clark (2) 17,72, Moore (3) 63,81,90

BARTON ROVERS (1) 2 R.Smith 5,B.Smith 90

Devastating. No other word for it. Uxbridge shot to the top of Ryman Division One with an awesome performance of skill, speed and style which left poor Barton reeling. Not only did the Reds find the back of the net eight times, including a wonderful piece of individual brilliance from Dean Clark and a second half hat trick from Chris Moore, but they could quite easily have reached double figures and more. The shape of things to come was apparent as early as the third minute when Uxbridge took the lead. Mark Gill’s perfect cross set up Nicky Ryder who fired home a tremendous angled shot into the top corner of the net. Any indication of the rout to follow was temporarily put on hold two minutes later though when Stuart Bamford conceded a free kick twenty yards out and Rob Smith’s shot was allowed to creep in through a body of players and past Sean Dawson. However, within three minutes the Reds were back in front. Gill was the provider once again, this time setting up Moore whose shot was blocked but the ball rebounded to Lee Tunnell who made no mistake from ten yards out. Three goals in the first eight minutes and the latecomers could barely believe their ears. Uxbridge almost added to their lead on fifteen minutes when Tunnell’s shot was deflected narrowly wide by Scott Grant but shortly afterwards the crowd were privileged to watch a piece of breathtaking skill which quite simply would have been stunning in the Carling Premiership. Gill made it a hat trick of assists with a pass which enabled Clark to break the Barton offside trap. With just James Robinson to beat in the Rovers goal he waited and waited before casually flicking the ball up and then lobbing the unfortunate goalkeeper from the edge of the area. It left everyone inside Honeycroft open mouthed. Tunnell almost made it four five minutes later but Jay Thomas cleared from his own six yard area and then Clark almost came up with another spectacular effort via a twenty five yard dipper which was inches over the crossbar. Moore’s shot was well saved by Robinson just after the hour whilst at the other end Mark Weedon made a perfectly timed tackle to deny Keith Coughlin in a dangerous position. As the game approached the half way stage Uxbridge weren’t finished by any means. Yet another Gill cross split the Rovers defence wide open and though Moore couldn’t get a touch on it a Barton defender kicked it straight at Tunnell and the ball rebounded into an empty net to make it 4-1, and it was only half way through. Usually games that have a big score in the first half fizzle out after the break. This one simply carried on in the same fashion and repeated the score line again. Barton captain Danny Turner came within an inch of turning the ball into his own net from a Moore cross after forty seven minutes and then from Clark’s resultant corner Ryder almost grabbed his second but Robinson fumbled the ball round the post. Just after the hour a Moore shot from the edge of the area dipped onto to the crossbar and bounced away to safety but two minutes later Gill played the young striker through on goal and he calmly rounded Robinson to open his account. Clark shot wide and Gill headed over before goal number six arrived on seventy-two minutes. This time Moore laid the ball into the path of Clark and his powerful drive did the rest. Even with the Reds in such dynamic form Barton, to their credit, continued to push forward and on seventy-seven minutes a thirty-yard shot from Simon Harley was tipped over the bar by Dawson. Uxbridge substitute Jamie Cleary came close to scoring ten minutes from the end but was twice denied by Robinson though a minute later Ryder crossed for Moore to score from close range and make it 7-1. That looked to be it as the game reached its final seconds. However, Stuart Bamford had other ideas and set off on a fifty yard run before feeding Ryder whose shot was tipped on to the crossbar by Robinson. Within seconds though number eight did arrive and it was Moore who completed his hat trick by once again rounding Robinson and smashing the ball into an empty net. One Uxbridge supporter who had proclaimed he was going to dye his hair yellow in celebration if Moore bagged twenty goals this season was left looking rather worried. Even then there was still time for a fine twenty-yard consolation goal from Barton’s Ben Smith but that couldn’t detract from such an outstanding Uxbridge performance. It was Moore’s first hat trick for the club, Clark scored one of the finest goals seen at Honeycroft for a long time and every single player in a red shirt put in a fantastic performance. Whoever said roll on August at the end of last season must have had an insight into what was to come.