Kaiden Barlow’s successfully converted penalty 10 minutes from time earned Daisy Hill a hard fought 1-0 win against Skelmersdale United in the Edward Case Cup first round at the Plumb Factory Stadium on Monday night.

A keenly-contested tie was decided when the referee pointed to the spot after Jacob Ridings was sent tumbling in the box by Skelmersdale keeper Joe Langford, and with regular penalty taker Jake O’Brien missing through illness, Barlow stepped up to coolly slot home his ninth goal of the season.

Daisy manager Lee Hill admitted afterwards his side had been made to work hard for their victory.

“It’s a good result against a good side, and I think that 1-0 reflects it was a hard fought game,” said Hill. “Fair play to Skem, they are a hard-working side who can put it on you a little bit and it’s not the Skem we played four or five weeks ago (when Daisy won 6-0 in a league game).

“They came at us and while it’s 0-0, there’s always a chance that if anyone makes a mistake or makes a bad tackle it can fall in your favour, and that’s aside of it being a cup game where anything can happen.

“For the penalty, Jacob got to the ball before the keeper and the keeper collided with him when the ball could have gone anywhere. So I think it was maybe a 50/50 call, some referees will give it depending on how the tackle is perceived, but there’s no doubt the keeper clattered Jacob.

“But it’s probably the first time we’ve had a decision like that in favour this season, so maybe we were due a break. I thought it was a good game to watch, and overall I feel we deserved to go through.”

After an even start, with both sides enjoying a share of possession without creating much in the way of chances, Daisy began to take control at the midway point of the first half.

Ridings was enjoying plenty of freedom down the right, with the Skelmersdale defence struggling to cope with his strong running, and on 22 minutes he fired a shot across the face of goal that a defender got a touch on to deflect for a corner.

Two minutes later, Daisy came close when a goalmouth scramble from a short corner led to Ben Unsworth getting a shot on goal which was well saved at point-blank range by keeper Langford.

Shortly afterwards, good work from Krisel Prifti took him into the box and his cut back fell perfectly into the path of Ridings who screwed a shot wide.

Four minutes from half time, Skelmersdale created their first clear chance of the night, when a ball into the box fell nicely for Jack Flight to rifle in a shot that was beaten away by Daisy keeper Morgan Newns.

Daisy kept up the pressure after the break and created two good chances back to back, firstly when a Ridings cutback found Barlow, whose shot was palmed over the bar by the keeper.

From the resulting corner, Dean Singleton’s powerful header flew narrowly wide of the far post.

Langford was far the busier keeper, and he was tested by further efforts from Ridings, Barlow and Declan Baldwin before the game’s main talking point in the 80th minute.

A neat through ball split the Skem defence and sent Ridings racing into the box, and as he knocked the ball past the advancing Langford, he was sent tumbling to the floor after colliding with the keeper.

The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, and Barlow calmly slotted the spot-kick into the bottom corner.

And despite some anxious moments during nine minutes of stoppage time, some resolute defending ensured Daisy held out to book their place in the next round.

Daisy are back in action again on Friday night when they host Ashton Town in the first round of the FA Vase (7.45pm).