Ashton seal third spot with win over nearest rivals.
Ashton Athletic 3 Oldham Town 2
Five wins and a draw in Ashton Athletic’s last 6 league fixtures set up the day's prospect and the competition of seeing who could finish closest to big spending New Mills and Kirkham and Wesham.
Ashton started very brightly and took the lead in the 3rd minute after a quick free kick by Steve Wallace released Steve Bennett down the right wing. An early delivery caught the Oldham back line on the hop and striker Richard Sharpe made no mistake with a crisp finish from just inside the six yard box for his 7th goals in his last 7 games.
his 7th goal in 7 games
Bennett was then found by a searching cross field pass from skipper Steve Rothwell but his shot veered wide of the target. Sharpe was then denied by Oldham keeper Blair at the near post who turned the effort away for a corner.
Oldham were struggling to make inroads into the Ashton defence, that is until the 26th minute as speculative cross from the right was called for by Ashton keeper Clayton but under severe pressure from the Oldham attacker he could not hold onto the ball and it fell kindly to Elstrom Die who stroked the ball into the empty net.
Oldham had a purple patch exerting increased pressure on the Ashton defence which held firm, with Clayton back to his assured self, despite severe provocation and late challenges by the Oldham players, and unprotected by referee Steve Foster.
Just before half time Steve Bennett almost regained the lead for Ashton with a fine jinking run and shot that skidded wide of the post HT 1-1
Ashton resumed in the second half in the ascendency and Sharpe had the ball in the net after 52 minutes but was adjudged to have handled in the process and received a yellow card for his trouble. Sharpe almost made amends latching on to a superb cross from Paul Bohannon but his header from the edge of the 6 yard line was too straight, and was gathered low down by keeper Blair.
With the game seemingly petering out to a draw, a result that would have allowed Oldham to hold onto 3rd place in the League, Ashton introduced fresh legs allied to a tactical change and the bold move soon brought dividends.
Paul McVeigh put Ashton back in front
Top scorer Paul McVeigh was allowed too much space in the box after good build up play down the left and 12 yards out a great first touch and powerful strike flew into the top corner to give Ashton the lead in the 84th minute, and clock up McVeigh’s 27th goal of the season in all competitions.
Gallanders slides the ball in at the
near post for Ashton's 3rd
With the clock running down Simon Gallanders burst through from midfield but instead of heading for the corner to kill time he beat the last defender with a terrific turn of pace, drew the keeper and coolly slotted the ball into the bottom corner much to the delight of his teammates.
Much credit to Oldham though, who never gave up and piled men forward during injury time. From a corner they reduced the deficit as once again the referee failed to penalise the Oldham attackers from barging into Ashton keeper Clayton as he rose to collect the ball. Tom Matley got to the loose ball first and blasted the ball into the net. It was however too little too late as seconds after the restart the final whistle sounded, much to the relief of the Ashton followers.
Gallanders celebrates the decisive
Ashton 3rd with Sharpe and White
A great climax to the League season for Ashton whose 3rd league position represents a tremendous improvement from the previous season and the can team now move on to cup football when next Tuesday, continuing with their efforts to retain the Atherton Charity Cup, with a home quarter final tie against Stoneclough FC, 7.30pm KO.
Photographs copyright tony taylor and paul Scott www.celebritypixuk.co.uk
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DP at 2:56 PM
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