Wednesday 18th October 2006 Cheadle Town 1 Ashton Athletic 1

A full bloodied encounter at the Park Road Stadium produce a good spectacle and with Ashton having the better of the first half hour, and the last 15 minutes of the second half, but Cheadle more prominent in the middle stanza, a draw was considered by most observers to be a fair result.
The first half was hectic with both defences holding the attacks at arms length until a Richard Sharpe strike for Ashton went just wide in the 23rd minute. Cheadle responded in kind as the lively Dean Martin let fly, forcing Aaron Cameron into a great save to turn the ball wide.
Steve Bennett, Simon Gallanders and the two forwards were combining well down the right flank but the final cross lacked accuracy.
Ashton was, not for the first match guilty of conceding too many free kicks around the box, but fortunately the resulting dead balls were dealt with.
After 27 minutes Ashton then took the lead as an under hit back pass to the Cheadle keeper Mellor was charged down sharply by Gallanders, and as the ball broke kindly to Pete Woodcock he finished clinically from the edge of the box, to grab his first goal since joining the Club.
Ashton pushed forward again forcing Mellor to punch away after a well-taken free-kick by Gallanders just two minutes later.Cheadle then raised their game and some slack passing out of the Ashton defence and through midfield allowed Cheadle the foothold in the game they were seeking. The extra effort by Cheadle finally got its reward in the 40th minute as Martin produced a great turn and shot from just inside the box as the Ashton back line momentarily switched off claiming that the Cheadle striker was tugging at his markers shirt to gain leverage as he turned.
The linesman was then seen waving his flag furiously and gesturing that he had seen some shirt pulling, and it did seemed that Ashton's claims were going to be backed up. However once again a discussion between linesman and referee went against Ashton as somewhat curiously the linesman told the referee that it was the Ashton defender was guilty of shirt pulling and thought that a penalty should have been awarded!. As to why he was flagging so furiously after the goal had been scored was a complete mystery to every one but himself.
Half-Time, 1-1.The goal before half time gave Cheadle a lift as they dominated after the restart, with Ashton failing to get any sort of passing rythmn going, and left Sharpe and Woodcock having to feed off scraps. The Ashton defence held firm in this period with skipper Steve Rothwell turning in a great shift again.
A Lee Wakefield strike went just wide whilst Martin was always a threat with his back to goal, and another attempted shot and turn on 76 minutes had Cheadle claiming for a penalty but the referee correctly played on.
Ashton fresh legs were introduced just after the hour mark, along with a change of team shape and this arrested the initiative from Cheadle.
The Ashton passing started to show again with Dean Ennion particularly prominent and with this better possession a number of openings were created and a series of corners had to be dealt with by the Cheadle back line. Then in the 88th minute Ashton could have pinched it if a low shot from Gallanders hadn't been deflected and gone the wrong side of the post.Another battling performance from all 14 players produced Ashton's third draw on the bounce and with the defensive determination at the fore who is to would say that another good result cannot be achieved as the team travel to Winsford on Saturday for a 3pm Kick off.
Menwhile the Reserves are also on their travels with a trip to Blackpool Mechanics, 3pm KO.