Saturday 22nd March 2008 Oldham Town 1 Ashton Athletic 1

After the energy sapping extra time defeat in last Tuesday’s semi final 2^nd leg at Kirkham Ashton travelled to Oldham hoping to put some momentum into the promotion challenge in this top of the table clash at Oldham Town’s Whitebank Stadium. A gale force wind and an extremely uneven playing surface made things difficult for both sides, with defences well on top throughout.

Long range efforts early in the first half by Oldham’s Leon Melia and Stuart McGill were off target before a shot from distance by Chris Lawton forced a save from Oldham’s keeper, Matty Blair.

Then in the 25^th minute Ashton finally got the ball down and a good passing move down the left flank found Paul McVeigh who threaded the ball through the Oldham defence into the path of Dave Sherlock who slotted the ball past the advancing keeper Blair to give the visitors the lead.

Sherlock gives Ashton the lead

Oldham responded and earned a free kick in a wide position just outside the box. The delivery was superb and although Ashton’s Lawton got his head to the ball first at full stretch his attempted clearance headed towards the top corner for what looked likely to be an own goal until the reflexes of keeper Clayton came to the rescue with an instinctive save touching the ball away to safety.

Ashton almost increased the lead as Tom Potter had a shot well saved by Blair after good build up play down the right, with Dave Sherlock starting to cause Oldham major problems.

With half time approaching and Ashton on top an uncharacteristic squandering of possession in the opponents half allowed Oldham to break forward and a long clearance caught Ashton on the back foot and poor communication resulted in an unnecessary corner.

The set piece was delivered to the back post and a Damien Schofield header hit the post and after a goal mouth scramble and two goal line stops from keeper Clayton Oldham’s Tim Buxton finally forced the ball over the line to even the score. Before Ashton could restart referee Mark Green blew up for half time.

The second half was much the same as the first with both teams struggling to find any rhythm, and defences well on top. A Tom Potter right foot effort had Blair scurrying to gather the shot whilst Ashton’s Clayton dealt with several crosses and long range efforts with ease.

At the other end Oldham’s Blair was also commanding his box as crosses from the left and right wings were gathered without incident as were a couple of shots from distance.

As the clock ran down neither side looked like snatching maximum points and even the introduction of attacking substitutes failed to unlock the determined defences. A point each a fair outcome for both sides, as both failed to live up to the expectations from this 2^nd v 3^rd clash.

It’s the Easter Monday derby next for Ashton as neighbours Ashton Town visit Brocstedes Park for a 3pm KO, and then next Saturday another home game as Stone Dominoes are the visitors.