BARTON Town surrendered their 100 per cent winning start to the season, going down at league newcomers, Handsworth in what was a scrappy game.

With Town still unable to call on the services of suspended front-men Gareth Barlow, Matty Fyvie and Richard Medcalf, and with a certain Dean Windass not an option, Jason Legge was brought in from Goole AFC to partner Ryan Morton in attack.

As a sign of what was to come, Legge's booking inside the first 60 seconds couldn't have been much bettered. And when Town lost Dean Taylor with a pulled hamstring inside 10 minutes, necessitating a reshuffling of the backline, all the early signs were of it being one of those days. And, ultimately, so it proved.

Handsworth went in front in the 29th minute in a manner which pretty much summed things up. With two balls on the pitch, courtesy of an over-zealous ball-boy, Town switched off, allowing Handsworth's quickly-taken short corner routine to be executed unhindered. When the cross was delivered, powerfully, to the back post, the ball struck Barton's Lee Shilleto on his standing leg and flew past the helpless Bramley for a cast iron own goal.

The introduction of substitute, Matty McKay livened things up for the visitors, but not before Barton had given themselves a mountain to climb, conceding a soft second goal in the 76th minute. From a Town free-kick, the ball was cleared from inside the Handsworth area and with nobody picking up the runners, the hosts were able to break, at pace, down their left flank.

Over-exposed at the back, Bramley did well to block the first effort, but the ball ran loose to Fretwell who had the simple task of guiding it home.

The Swans have an early opportunity to put things right when Hemsworth Miners Welfare visit the Euronics Ground tomorrow (7.45pm).