Wednesday 18th April 2007 Daisy Hill FC 3 AAFC 1

A disastrous result for Ashton as Daisy Hill took all three points with late goals, assisted by some awful decisions from the officials, to put them one point behind Ashton in the league.
Ashton dominated the first half restricting Daisy Hill to only one sight at goal as Danny Williams fired over the top, having latched on to the loose ball off a long throw by Kyle Hynes.
In stark contrast Ashton's chances came thick and fast after the intial 10 minutes sparring. Pete Tarpey broke through after a Paul McVeigh flicked header played him in after 14 minutes however his effort was cleared off the line by a Daisy defender before it crossed the line.
Then the break through for Ashton as a well worked corner was played into the far post drawing out the keeper who was second to the ball as Steve Bennett headed back across goal to a grateful Paul McVeigh who blasted the ball into the net on the half volley top give Ashton the lead in the 15th minute. 1-0
McVeigh then returned the compliment threading in Steve Bennett one on one but great cover defending deflected the resulting shot wide.
Another good attack by Ashton was cleared onto the edge of the box and a great volley by Adam White flew inches over the bar. Steve Bennett was again in the thick of it and hit a shot on the turn wide of the upright in the 23rd minute.
Then in the 30th minute good footwork by Matt Mahoney in the Daisy Hill box beat two men before seemingly having his legs taken from beneth him by a last ditch tackle on the dead ball line. Unfortunartely neither the referee nor his assistant though there was anything untoward despite the Ashton protests.
As the half wore on Daisy Hill started to get a foothold in the game as Ashton eased off the gas but good defending prevented an decent chances on goal and Danny Vickers had a quite time.
HT 1-0
Ashton started the second half in high tempo seemingly determined to kill off the game and in the 48th minute a Simon Gallenaders run and shot beat keeper Scott Moore but once again good cover defending allowed a clearance off the line. In the 53rd minute Steve Bennett broke through again but put his shot wide. Matt Mahoney used his skills to the maximum beating several players before unleashing a volley that had the keeper beaten but it also just cleared the angle of the goal.
Steve Bennett again cut inside but instead of shooting tried to play in Pete Tarpey but overhit the pass and forced him too wide, chance gone.Ashton substitute Louis hughes also came close shooting wide from a promising position.
Then from a Daisy Hill corner the Ashton defence went to sleep as the ball was played back to the advancing Craig Naylor, and as Ashton were slow to close down he was able to play a high ball towards the far post that deceived Danny Vickers a flew into the top corner to equalise in the 68th minute. 1-1
This stunned Ashton and got the Daisy Hill lads tails up with renewed energy levels after chasing ball for the majority of the match. Ashton then fought back and created several promising positions but poor pass selection and decision making resulted in the opportunities being wasted.
Ashton over committed on attack in the 88th minute pushing for the winner when a long punt forward cleared the Ashton defence as they allowed sub Kris brown to run off side, however much to the amazement of everyone the linesman allowed play to go on. Steve Wallace covered across and caught up with Brown using his strength to steal the ball but as it fell clear the assistant referee, who had refused to help the referee through the first half on a number of decisions suddenly thought he should wave his flag for a foul even though he was on the blind side and the referee was in closer proximity. After consultation between the officials a penalty was awarded much to the fury and frustration of the Ashton players, with even experienced players Steve Rothwell and Pete Hitchen over stepping the refs mark and catching a couple of yellow cards for their troubles. Danny Williams easily converted the penalty to give his side an undeserved lead. 1-2
With only minutes on the clock Ashton pushed men forward in search on an equaliser and as full back was completing a long clearance he was closed down by the Daisy midfield and clearnace was charge down two handed by the advancing Daisy player - rugby style - and as Ashton waited for the whistle ... or the flag from linesman, Kris Brown pounced on the loose ball, ran clear and beat Ashton keeper Danny Vickers on a one and one in the 89th minute. 1-3
This was infuriating for the Ashton bench who asked why the blatant hand ball had not been given but referee made things worse by refusing to answer the question and instead decided to aggrevate the incindent with a confrontational stand off with the Ashton bench claiming that they had used foul and abusive language against him. This was a clear case of mistaken identity as it had actually been the spectators who had assembled around and behind a roofless dug out who had issued the abuse.
Feeling outraged by the allegation Ashton's supposed offender only withdrew from proceedings slowly, and rather than getting on with things the referee chose to stand on the touch line until the offender had vanished to the corner flag, delaying the match by several minutes.
Ashton finished the game desperately trying to get something back but unfortunately ran out of time and paid a high price for the chances missed that would have killed the game before the unfortunate intervantion and misjudgments by the officials.
Some great defending earned Kyle Hynes the Daisy Hill MoM, with Craig Naylor not far behind whilst for Ashton the constant threat of Steve Bennett through the game earned him Ashton's plaudit.