A second half hat-trick from Kaiden Barlow was the highlight of Daisy Hill’s 6-2 win over a young Atherton LR side in their final group stage game in the Atherton Charity Cup on Monday evening, writes Ian Templeman.

Daisy had built a 3-0 lead by half time, thanks to two goals from Ryan Lockett and one from Finlay Townley, before Barlow stole the show after the break, and overall it was a team performance that pleased manager Lee Hill.

“We got on the front foot early on against a good young LR team”, said Hill.

“We scored some good goals which was one of the objectives from the game, and I wanted a clean sheet too, but we didn’t manage it, so that has given us something to work on in the next week or so.

“It was good to see Kaiden Barlow get off the mark, he needed to get some goals, and in the last few weeks he’s almost been trying too hard to score.

“But we always felt once he got that first goal, he’d go on to get more. He took his goals well and that’s pleasing.

“LR had some good lads out there, and although it ended up a bit one sided in the end, I thought they gave a good account of themselves.

“The game served its purpose for us, and with Saturday’s game (a 5-0 win at Ashton Athletic) and now this game, it’s given us a few headaches for the opening league game against Holker this Saturday.

“In both games, lads have come in and taken their chance to show what they can do, so it will be a difficult team to pick on Saturday”.

Daisy opened the scoring in the fifth minute when the LR defence failed to deal with a ball into the box, and Ryan Lockett smashed home the opener from 10 yards.

They doubled the advantage just after the half hour, when Callum McHale cut the ball back into the path of Finlay Townley, who curled a neatly placed shot into the corner of the net.

On the stroke of half time, Lockett pounced on a loose ball in a crowded penalty area to add a third goal, and seven minutes into the second half, Jake O’Brien and Luke Roscoe combined down the left to set up Barlow for his first goal of the evening which he side footed home at the near post.

Three minutes later LR pulled a goal back, after a neat run and finish from substitute Evan Hodson Griffiths, but just after the hour Lockett came close to completing his trick when he rattled the crossbar from 25 yards with the keeper beaten.

To LR’s credit they kept pushing forward, and with just over 15 minutes remaining, substitute James Dean slotted home their second goal of the evening.

But within three minutes Barlow restored Daisy’s three goal advantage with a shot from outside the box, and the striker rounded off a good night when he completed his hat trick from the penalty spot with ten minutes remaining, after Jamie Ramwell had been tripped in the box.

Daisy will now begin preparations for the opening day of the season in the North West Counties League First Division North on Saturday, when they make the trip to Barrow-in-Furness to face Holker Old Boys.