Saturday 28th October 2006 Ashton Athletic 0 Oldham Town 2
Ashton made three changes from the midweek cup exit against Eccleshall with centre forward Pete Woodcock on holiday and Garreth Weigh and Mike Watson working. Steve Bennett, Mike Winer and Martin Rigby came in and the line up was adjusted.
A failure to convert several decent goal scoring opportunities when dominating play once again cost Ashton dearly, whilst the visitors took two out of only a handful of clear chances that they had throughout the whole 90 minutes.
From the first whistle the home side were in the ascendancy as a powerful run from the back in the 2nd minute by Martin Rigby punched a hole in the Oldham midfield and a well timed pass found Dean Ennion in space on the edge of the box. The powerful strike was fumbled and then re-gathered by keeper Danny Pearson.
A clear chance in the 4th minute fell to Richard Sharpe after a defence splitting pass from Gallanders, Sharpe did very well to round the keeper but his shot was then cleared off the line by recovering defender, Tony Hanlon.
Steve Bennett then crafted an opening, dribbling his way towards the penalty box from the right, only to be fouled inches outside the box, resulting in a free kick. The opportunity to deliver a telling set piece was squandered as the delivery cleared the advancing attackers by a country mile.
Oldham were playing on the counter attack, but effectively so as first Matt Barnes volleyed over the top from a Leon Melia cross, and then Darren Scanlon evaded Ashton Keeper Hewitt (on walkabouts!) but the speed of his break was such that his team mates were unable to catch up play and the cross was easily cleared by Mike Davids.
The game became a midfield battle with both back lines coping well with their opponents attacks, until Gallanders once again unlocked the Oldham defence with a superb reverse pass to find Sharpe whose first touch set the ball nicely for an attempt to loft the ball over the advancing keeper, but unfortunately for him the effort was saved.
Then in the 40th minute a long kick from Hewitt caught the wind, cleared the retreating Lee Deakin at right back and fell into the path of the pacy Tom Potter whose first time shot went narrowly wide.
Ashton then forced a corner which was taken short and the cross from Potter was well met at the back post by Rigby, but his header was easily gathered by the Oldham keeper.
Oldham fought back and a free kick was drifted into the box but Oldham's Lee Scanlon headed wide under good pressure from Bennett.
Bennett was then in action at the other end, put clear by another good through ball by Ennion and from the deep cross Sharpe seemed to have found a yard only to be penalised by the referee for a push.
In the 42nd minute a great save from Andy Hewitt kept Oldham at bay as Scanlon shot after a great cross field ball by Melia. Then just before half time Ashton forced yet another corner and a superb delivery across the face of the goal looped over the keeper but none of the Ashton attackers read the flight and the ball was easily cleared by David Bowker at the back post.
Half time 0-0
The second half saw Ashton once again on the front foot as another piercing run by Bennett was once again brought to an abrupt end inches outside the box by a tackle from behind, but referee Duckworth deemed it a fair challenge and waved away the claims for the free kick.
A minute later an almost duplicate incident occurred as that which happened just before half time, this time a well taken corner by Oldham drifted across the face of the Ashton goal without anyone making a challenge and ran through for a throw in.
Then a key moment, as first some over elaborate play in the midfield and then a mix up between Ashton defenders Davids and Rigby allowed the dangerous James Curley a sight of goal, and from the edge of the box he buried the ball into the top corner to give Oldham the lead.
Ashton bounced back and pressured the Oldham box. A couple of long throws almost brought dividends as a Tom Potter shot was deflected wide by a last ditch block by Ogunlade and then a great flick by Rigby fell just out of reach for the advancing Ashton players.
The second Oldham goal came from another defensive mistake as Rigby and Rothwell went for the same ball, but Matthew read the mix up and then beat Mike Davids to the loose ball before lifting the ball cooly over the advancing Ashton keeper Hewitt.
The Oldham team were now content to defend deep and play on the break whilst Ashton's play became hurried and disjointed, playing into the visitors hands. Fresh legs were introduced during the last 25 minutes which brought back some structure to the play. Good work by Mike Winer allowed Gallanders space to find Sharpe who shot narrowly over the bar. Another great run by Bennett was again brought to an end just outside the box but again the calls for a free kick were denied by the official.
Unperturbed, in the 78th Minute Bennett cut in from the right to unleash a good left foot shot that shaved the upright.
Gallanders then found space in the box, rounded the keeper but his shot come cross could not find the target of a team mate or the back of the net.
With the three points guaranteed Oldham ventured forward in the dying minutes with Barnes and Lee Scanlon firing high and wide before a glancing header by sub Mark Adshead also failed to find the target.
After the final whistle Ashton can reflect on some excellent play for long periods of the match and the creation of some good goal scoring opportunities will surely bring reward for the team in the not to distant future, as long as the team keeps playing in such a positive manner.
Meanwhile those odd mistakes or lapses in concentration must be eliminated as most teams at this level of football will always take advantage, as Oldham did today.
Nick Murphy was given the MoM award for Oldham with terrific work rate especially in the second half to wrestle the upper hand from the Ashton mifdfield, whilst an influential first 70 minutes earned Simon Gallanders the Ashton MoM.
On Saturday the team travels to Castleton Gabriels whilst the reserves are at Brocstedes Park against New Mills Reserves, both 3pm KO
A failure to convert several decent goal scoring opportunities when dominating play once again cost Ashton dearly, whilst the visitors took two out of only a handful of clear chances that they had throughout the whole 90 minutes.
From the first whistle the home side were in the ascendancy as a powerful run from the back in the 2nd minute by Martin Rigby punched a hole in the Oldham midfield and a well timed pass found Dean Ennion in space on the edge of the box. The powerful strike was fumbled and then re-gathered by keeper Danny Pearson.
A clear chance in the 4th minute fell to Richard Sharpe after a defence splitting pass from Gallanders, Sharpe did very well to round the keeper but his shot was then cleared off the line by recovering defender, Tony Hanlon.
Steve Bennett then crafted an opening, dribbling his way towards the penalty box from the right, only to be fouled inches outside the box, resulting in a free kick. The opportunity to deliver a telling set piece was squandered as the delivery cleared the advancing attackers by a country mile.
Oldham were playing on the counter attack, but effectively so as first Matt Barnes volleyed over the top from a Leon Melia cross, and then Darren Scanlon evaded Ashton Keeper Hewitt (on walkabouts!) but the speed of his break was such that his team mates were unable to catch up play and the cross was easily cleared by Mike Davids.
The game became a midfield battle with both back lines coping well with their opponents attacks, until Gallanders once again unlocked the Oldham defence with a superb reverse pass to find Sharpe whose first touch set the ball nicely for an attempt to loft the ball over the advancing keeper, but unfortunately for him the effort was saved.
Then in the 40th minute a long kick from Hewitt caught the wind, cleared the retreating Lee Deakin at right back and fell into the path of the pacy Tom Potter whose first time shot went narrowly wide.
Ashton then forced a corner which was taken short and the cross from Potter was well met at the back post by Rigby, but his header was easily gathered by the Oldham keeper.
Oldham fought back and a free kick was drifted into the box but Oldham's Lee Scanlon headed wide under good pressure from Bennett.
Bennett was then in action at the other end, put clear by another good through ball by Ennion and from the deep cross Sharpe seemed to have found a yard only to be penalised by the referee for a push.
In the 42nd minute a great save from Andy Hewitt kept Oldham at bay as Scanlon shot after a great cross field ball by Melia. Then just before half time Ashton forced yet another corner and a superb delivery across the face of the goal looped over the keeper but none of the Ashton attackers read the flight and the ball was easily cleared by David Bowker at the back post.
Half time 0-0
The second half saw Ashton once again on the front foot as another piercing run by Bennett was once again brought to an abrupt end inches outside the box by a tackle from behind, but referee Duckworth deemed it a fair challenge and waved away the claims for the free kick.
A minute later an almost duplicate incident occurred as that which happened just before half time, this time a well taken corner by Oldham drifted across the face of the Ashton goal without anyone making a challenge and ran through for a throw in.
Then a key moment, as first some over elaborate play in the midfield and then a mix up between Ashton defenders Davids and Rigby allowed the dangerous James Curley a sight of goal, and from the edge of the box he buried the ball into the top corner to give Oldham the lead.
Ashton bounced back and pressured the Oldham box. A couple of long throws almost brought dividends as a Tom Potter shot was deflected wide by a last ditch block by Ogunlade and then a great flick by Rigby fell just out of reach for the advancing Ashton players.
The second Oldham goal came from another defensive mistake as Rigby and Rothwell went for the same ball, but Matthew read the mix up and then beat Mike Davids to the loose ball before lifting the ball cooly over the advancing Ashton keeper Hewitt.
The Oldham team were now content to defend deep and play on the break whilst Ashton's play became hurried and disjointed, playing into the visitors hands. Fresh legs were introduced during the last 25 minutes which brought back some structure to the play. Good work by Mike Winer allowed Gallanders space to find Sharpe who shot narrowly over the bar. Another great run by Bennett was again brought to an end just outside the box but again the calls for a free kick were denied by the official.
Unperturbed, in the 78th Minute Bennett cut in from the right to unleash a good left foot shot that shaved the upright.
Gallanders then found space in the box, rounded the keeper but his shot come cross could not find the target of a team mate or the back of the net.
With the three points guaranteed Oldham ventured forward in the dying minutes with Barnes and Lee Scanlon firing high and wide before a glancing header by sub Mark Adshead also failed to find the target.
After the final whistle Ashton can reflect on some excellent play for long periods of the match and the creation of some good goal scoring opportunities will surely bring reward for the team in the not to distant future, as long as the team keeps playing in such a positive manner.
Meanwhile those odd mistakes or lapses in concentration must be eliminated as most teams at this level of football will always take advantage, as Oldham did today.
Nick Murphy was given the MoM award for Oldham with terrific work rate especially in the second half to wrestle the upper hand from the Ashton mifdfield, whilst an influential first 70 minutes earned Simon Gallanders the Ashton MoM.
On Saturday the team travels to Castleton Gabriels whilst the reserves are at Brocstedes Park against New Mills Reserves, both 3pm KO
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DP at 4:00 PM
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