12th August 2006 Eccleshall 3 Ashton Athletic 0 NWCFL Div 2
A dissapointing result from Ashton's first game back in the NWCFL after a 20 year absence, but there was no disappointment with the general performance as the team's passing and ball retention allowed the league newcomers to dominate possesion for large periods of the game.
However clinical finishing from Eccleshall and a lack of the same from Ashton, along with a little help for Eccleshall from the officials with a couple of key decisions against Ashton, contributed toward Ashton's downfall.
Ashton started brightly with 2 good efforts from Pete Tarpey and one from Gareth Weigh which gave the visitors confidence whilst knocking that of the home side.
A soft free kick after 17 minutes, conceded on the edge of the Ashton box turned the tables, as the resulting set piece found the Eccleshall captain, Dematteo in too much space on the edge of the six yard line, flicking the ball into the net and giving the keeper no chance.
Eccleshall took confidence from the goal with effective passing through midfield, orchestrated by Mark McDonald but the Ashton defence held firm.
Ashton fought back with effective play down both flanks and after 30 minutes Paul Townshend got on the end of a good passing move and his shot just cleared the crossbar.
Then came a contoversial moment that could have changed the game as two minutes from half time a cross from the Ashton right was punched in to his own goal by the 6ft 4" Eccleshall keeper, only to be let off the hook by the referee who claimed that 5ft 7" Pete Tarpey had blocked the keeper - even though he only stood still!
At half time Paul McVeigh replaced Mike Winer and joined Paul Townshend up front, with Mike Rhead dropping into midfield. This allowed Ashton to stretch the home defence and led to a period of domination for 30 minutes that unbelivably failed to reap dividends despite being amost permanently camped in the Eccleshall half.
A Danny Jarrett cross shot found the wrong side of the upright after a good move down the right; Pete Tarpey also shot wide, cutting in from the left.
In the 61st minute Eccleshall cleared off the line and then two more crosses fizzed across the 6 yard box but failed to be converted.
Eccleshall were forced to play on the break during this period of domination by Ashton and their front two always looked dangerous when latching onto direct play, with Jimmy Dunn coming close to increasing the lead on two occasions.
Another incident of some controversy came in the 65th minute as Paul McVeigh burst through, and was clipped by the advancing keeper but instead of going down to take the penalty he tried to finish the chance However the keepers foul forced McVeigh too wide and the off balance effort failed to find the net.
A Steve Rothwell thunderbolt was deflected for a corner and several goal mouth scrambles could not be forced in by Ashton.
Fresh legs in the midfield were then introduced wisely by the Eccleshall management and this gave Eccleshall a foothold and seemed to spark greater effort. After 70 minutes a good effort by Mark McDonald was well saved by Aaron Cameron, but the Ashton keeper could do nothing about the Eccleshall second goal as De matteo pounced again in the 18 yard box to score his second.
Ashton continued to play despite this set back and can count themselves very unlucky, first to receive a booking for Paul McVeigh for an innocuous challenge and then in conceding a third goal seconds before the final whistle when Mike Rhead was fouled from behind in the build up.
Many positives can be taken from Ashton's endeavours in this first game and these must be taken forward to the next game, and coupled with goalscoring it should produce a result for the team.
Man of the match for Ashton was Steve Rothwell whilst former Leek CSOB man Mark McDonald won the award for Eccleshall
END
However clinical finishing from Eccleshall and a lack of the same from Ashton, along with a little help for Eccleshall from the officials with a couple of key decisions against Ashton, contributed toward Ashton's downfall.
Ashton started brightly with 2 good efforts from Pete Tarpey and one from Gareth Weigh which gave the visitors confidence whilst knocking that of the home side.
A soft free kick after 17 minutes, conceded on the edge of the Ashton box turned the tables, as the resulting set piece found the Eccleshall captain, Dematteo in too much space on the edge of the six yard line, flicking the ball into the net and giving the keeper no chance.
Eccleshall took confidence from the goal with effective passing through midfield, orchestrated by Mark McDonald but the Ashton defence held firm.
Ashton fought back with effective play down both flanks and after 30 minutes Paul Townshend got on the end of a good passing move and his shot just cleared the crossbar.
Then came a contoversial moment that could have changed the game as two minutes from half time a cross from the Ashton right was punched in to his own goal by the 6ft 4" Eccleshall keeper, only to be let off the hook by the referee who claimed that 5ft 7" Pete Tarpey had blocked the keeper - even though he only stood still!
At half time Paul McVeigh replaced Mike Winer and joined Paul Townshend up front, with Mike Rhead dropping into midfield. This allowed Ashton to stretch the home defence and led to a period of domination for 30 minutes that unbelivably failed to reap dividends despite being amost permanently camped in the Eccleshall half.
A Danny Jarrett cross shot found the wrong side of the upright after a good move down the right; Pete Tarpey also shot wide, cutting in from the left.
In the 61st minute Eccleshall cleared off the line and then two more crosses fizzed across the 6 yard box but failed to be converted.
Eccleshall were forced to play on the break during this period of domination by Ashton and their front two always looked dangerous when latching onto direct play, with Jimmy Dunn coming close to increasing the lead on two occasions.
Another incident of some controversy came in the 65th minute as Paul McVeigh burst through, and was clipped by the advancing keeper but instead of going down to take the penalty he tried to finish the chance However the keepers foul forced McVeigh too wide and the off balance effort failed to find the net.
A Steve Rothwell thunderbolt was deflected for a corner and several goal mouth scrambles could not be forced in by Ashton.
Fresh legs in the midfield were then introduced wisely by the Eccleshall management and this gave Eccleshall a foothold and seemed to spark greater effort. After 70 minutes a good effort by Mark McDonald was well saved by Aaron Cameron, but the Ashton keeper could do nothing about the Eccleshall second goal as De matteo pounced again in the 18 yard box to score his second.
Ashton continued to play despite this set back and can count themselves very unlucky, first to receive a booking for Paul McVeigh for an innocuous challenge and then in conceding a third goal seconds before the final whistle when Mike Rhead was fouled from behind in the build up.
Many positives can be taken from Ashton's endeavours in this first game and these must be taken forward to the next game, and coupled with goalscoring it should produce a result for the team.
Man of the match for Ashton was Steve Rothwell whilst former Leek CSOB man Mark McDonald won the award for Eccleshall
END
posted by
DP at 10:44 AM
RSS
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home