A stoppage time revival nearly rescued a point for a disjointed Saints side as Ryan Lewis crashed a shot against the post in the final seconds of a woeful game, if you are a Saints supporter.
For Barton, languishing in the lower reaches of the table, this was a vital, and hugely deserved, win as they battle to rescue their season.
A huge deflection from an Alban-Jones shot opened the scoring for the visitors. This should have only inspired Saints but minutes later a speculative shot from distance by Hartley saw the ball sail over Dennison to set Saints firmly on the back foot.
Saints got a late goal when a determined run by Max Holland set up Ben Ward-Cochrane who showed a sharpness in his finish that has been sadly lacking up to that point but Barton held on.
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