Ashton bounce back with Vodkat Trophy win and inflict double whammy on Padiham as Ashton's Reserves follow suit

Saturday 1^st December 2007

Vodkat Division 2 Trophy Round 2

Padiham 1 Ashton Athletic 2

Ashton bounced back from the disappointing Goldline semi final defeat last Monday with a hard fought win against Padiham FC, as two second half goals from Ashton secured progress in the Division Two Trophy, and a quarter final tie on 2^nd February 2008, at Oldham Town.
Padiham looked the sharper at the start, and opened the scoring in the 5^th minute from the first clear chance of the game. A neat build up down the left flank allowed a far post cross that was only half cleared, and dropped kindly to Neil Almond in space on the edge of the box. Although he scuffed his shot fortuitously it landed at the feet of Stuart Telfer, who tucked the ball neatly under Athletic keeper Andy Paxton from four yards out.
The visitors hit back five minutes later when a Tim Lees shot was acrobatically tipped on to the crossbar by Padiham keeper Gavin King.
At the midway point of the half, the Padiham woodwork was rattled once more, this time by home defender Andy Hargreaves, who was relieved to see his header under pressure from a Tim Lees free kick into the penalty area which beat his own keeper before rebounding back into play off the crossbar.
At the other end, Padiham created two good chances in the space of a minute. After a Stuart Telfer shot was blocked by the outstretched foot of Athletic keeper Paxton, Ben Walker was unlucky to see his shot from a Dave Holt cross just miss the target.
Padiham’s lively strike force of Dave Holt and Tom Pickersgill were causing the visiting defence problems, and they were involved in most of their side’s goalscoring opportunities as the half wore on.
After Pickersgill just failed to connect with his strike partner’s low cross in the 25^th minute, he played an incisive pass through the Ashton defence to put Holt clear through on goal, but he shot straight at the keeper who did well to hold the ball at the second attempt.

Ashton’s normal threat was only shown in glimpses and one such moment occurred in the 26^th minute as a Simon Gallanders cross reached Paul McVeigh but his header was smothered by King.
The Padiham forward duo then linked up on 36 minutes, a neat inter passing movement setting up a chance for overlapping full back Ben Walker, whose shot was deflected into the side netting.

The visitors had rarely threatened during a first half where they were second best, but once the second half began they began to enjoy the better of the possession and drew level in the 55^th minute.
A quick break down the right wing caught the Padiham back off guard and when Tim lees got on the ball 25 yards from goal he threaded an inch perfect ball into the penalty area for Athletic’s Paul McVeigh to take in his stride and plant the ball into the corner of the net from ten yards.
Padiham hit back with a long effort from Martin Broderick that flew wide, and then Stuart Telfer outpaced the Ashton defence to fire in a low cross that keeper Paxton gathered in the six yard box as Pickersgill waited to pounce.
However, at the midway point of the second half, it got worse for Padiham when the visitors took the lead with a stunning goal from full back Mark Ashurst.
There seemed no danger when a ball into the box was cleared by the Padiham defence, but when the ball came to Ashurst he unleashed a dipping shot on the volley from 25 yards that flew past the outstretched hand of Padiham keeper King and crept in just under the crossbar.
Padiham pushed forward in search of an equaliser, and long range efforts from Neil Almond and Stuart Telfer flew wide of the target before a promising run by Tom Pickersgill into the box was halted by a terrific saving tackle from Athletic’s Mike Burke as the Padiham shaped to shoot.
As the game reached an exciting finale, a great run from Athletic’s Chris Almond down the right set up a chance for Paul McVeigh, but the striker saw his shot saved by the keeper.
In the third minute of stoppage time, Padiham’s Neil Almond came agonisingly close to pulling his side level when his shot from the edge of the box through a crowd of players beat Ashton keeper Paxton and rebounded off the post.

Man of the Match for Padiham was Steve Pickup with a terrific defensive play to frustrate Ashton especially in the first half, whilst Ashton full back Tom Potter eased out midfielder Tim Lees to grab the Ashton award.

Meanwhile the Ashton Reserves inflicted double agony on Padiham by eliminating their reserve team from the Vodkat Reserve Division Cup - Match report below

Ashton Athletic Reserves 3 Padiham Reserves 1

Ashton reserves got a cracking win over high flying Padiham in the Reserve Division Cup. With the Ashton starting to gel after last week's hard earned draw against Blackpool Mechanics, they picked up the pace of their attacking game from the start against Padiham, making inroads down both flanks and looking likely to score on every trip down field.

The 1^st half dominance showed and eventually produced dividends as James Lawless opened the score with a smart finish after a whipped in cross from the right left the defense on the back foot.

The second half saw Padiham come out fast looking to get back in the game and grabbed the equalizer before Ashton took control again with high work rate and some great individual skill creating several openings before Ashton finally broke the deadlock. This came midway through the half as Steve Park hit a left foot curling shot from 20 yards that nestled into the top corner and put Ashton in front again. Then Martin Ormesher put the game beyond doubt with a delightful chip from the edge of the box.

Padiham tried to fight back Ashton’s superb defence held firm to secure Ashton’s passage to the next round.

Man of the match for Ashton was James Lawless

The Reserves can now look forward to the local derby game at Ashton Town this Saturday in the Vodkat Reserve Division.