BARNTON'S international heroes are now just one victory from qualifying for the UEFA Regions Cup finals after their England stars beat host nation Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-1 on Monday.
If they beat the Republic of Ireland today and avoid losing to San Marino on Friday, they will top their group and go through to the finals in June.
The Irish beat San Marino 4-0 and Barnton scout Paul Lambert reported: 'We've got to be at our best. If we don't play well we'll lose.'
Barnton, as the Mid Cheshire League representatives, won the national knockout last year and the right to wear the England strip, first in Slovenia - where they won the preliminary group in September - and now in Bosnia.
Assistant boss Mark Warburton said: 'We had incessant rain and there was a lot of surface water which slowed the game down.
'There were about 300 spectators, not bad considering it was hammering it down, but we are in such a remote part there is nothing else for people to do.'
By Tuesday the rain had stopped and the weather turned colder - and Barnton trained in two inches of snow.
Their one piece of bad news was that midfielder Jerry Coll was booked and, having also been cautioned in the preliminaries, misses the Ireland game.
Castle-based postman, defender Steve Davies, was the late England match-winner.
The game was only four minutes old when Rudheath accountant Dave Murray fired in a free kick from the right-hand side and Neil Critchley rose to nod the ball home from six yards.
Richard Mottram made two top saves and Neil Larkin was harshly cautioned on 26 minutes by the Danish referee who thought he had dived in the box, which denied England a penalty considered obvious by onlookers.
Just before half-time, Critchley's fantastic lob was tipped over by a full-stretch Bosnian keeper. England manager Nick Armitage was not happy with his play-ers at the break and let them know in no uncertain terms.
It was the Bosnians who resumed the brighter with early pressure, but the English centre-half pairing of Neil Boardman and Davies were equal to anything thrown at them.
The game took a turn for the worse in the 80th minute as following a prolonged attack, Larkin was adjudged to have fouled a Bosnian player and the hosts were awarded a penalty. This was converted but England were finally roused.
The next five minutes saw constant England pressure and a corner was won on the left. It was taken quickly and short and the ball driven across goal by Critchley was met by Davies, who planted his header in the top corner.
The relief was there for all to see and the England bench exploded with joy.
Manager Armitage said: 'At 1-1 my heart sank as we knew the Irish were winning against San Marino. Anything less than a win would have made our job almost impossible.
'But we have given ourselves the best possible start and the game against Ireland is now a possible decider.'
