WHEN asked to deliver, Ribchester rose to the challenge in fine style to win the BEP Cup for the second year in succession.

In the Cup Final, when it mattered, they played just about their best game of the season against a heavily-fancied Rolls Royce who have been in devastating form over the last couple of months.

On the night, the main difference between the two sides was that Ribchester wanted to retain the trophy more than Rolls Royce wanted to prise it from their grasp.

Exchanges at the start of the game were fairly even with both teams trying to settle on a rock hard surface, baked over the recent week of fine weather. It was the solid pitch which led to the opener when a hopeful shot from Rolls Royce took a wicked bounce in front of Hacking who spilled the ball to the oncoming forward who made no mistake with a simple header.

Ribchester then stormed back with some great football inspired by their young captain Stephen Spall. They almost equalised when Talbot raided down the right hand side, but his deep cross was just too far ahead of Hollingworth's darting run. Ribchester had to wait until a few minutes from half time to draw level, but it was worth the waiting for.

The sweeping move was started in defence by the excellent Kenny Rae clipping the ball forward to Clayton who flicked on to Barton. The play was switched to the right where Lofthouse was on hand to deliver a perfect cross for Hollingworth to volley home. The late strike in the first half seemed to unsettle Rolls Royce's confidence, but Ribchester were determined to build on their comeback and took control.

They almost edged ahead when Barton and Clayton combined in midfield to set Hollingworth free only for his shot on the run to flash past the wrong side of the post. Parkinson then had a chance to score, but instead of shooting he squared the ball to Hollingworth which allowed the keeper the time to save at the forward's feet. With only 10 minutes to go Lofthouse managed to toe poke a pass through to Hollingworth, whose pinpoint cross found Barton in front of goal. With all the composure needed to win a Cup Final, Barton waltzed round the keeper, walked the ball into the net then sprinted to the corner flag to join his team mates Hollingworth and Talbot to celebrate a goal of mercurial quality. With nothing to lose and time running out, Rolls Royce threw everything in attack, but with Robinson and Walsh outstanding in defence, Ribchester saw out time to clinch a deserved victory and round off a great season.

Man of the match was Neil Clayton.

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