Vase triumph for Ashton as Court strikes in stoppage time
Date: Saturday 20th September 2008
Competition: FA Carlsberg Vase 2nd Qualifying Round
Venue: GPW Recruitment Stadium, St Helens, Merseyside
Attendance: 51
Captains Rothwell and Dyson do the honours
On a bright and warm afternoon, the teams follow the referee onto the pitch. The little “respect” handshaking routine with the referees takes place before the team captains, Iain Dyson and former Town player Steve Rothwell complete the pre match formalities and as 3pm ticks over, Ashton Athletic get the match underway.
Ashton got out of the blocks the faster and immediately put their hosts under pressure. Town called into early defence conceded a couple of corner kicks, the 2nd of which was gathered at full stretch by keeper Woods in the home goal.
Woods gathers under pressure from Ashton's Evans
By the 10 minute mark, Town were still attempting to find their stride, sporadically getting forward mainly through the guile of Phil Mitchel down the left flank, but rarely threatening the Ashton goal, whilst still facing increasing pressure from the visitors.
Ashton were enjoying the lion’s share of possession without creating clear cut chances to trouble the Town keeper that is until the 17th minute when they won themselves another corner, but the delivery into the box was gathered superbly by keeper Woods under severe pressure and the danger passed. A Steve Rothwell volley from the edge of the box flew past the post after good set up play by Joe Evans.
The game continued much in this trend until the 27th minute when, after recovering a lost ball, Graeme Mitchell played a brilliant one-two with Iain Dyson which put him clear. Ashton defender Mark Court stepped across Mitchell and minimal contact allowed him to take this as an invitation to fall to the floor on the edge of the box to win the free kick. Referee Mather awarded Town a free kick in a dangerous position and showed the defender a yellow card, with some "red" sections of the crowd believing the card should have been red.
Brian Hatton stepped up to take the free kick and sent his effort straight into the Ashton Athletic defensive wall, the rebound however fell kindly to Phil Mitchell on the edge of the penalty area and the striker sent in a powerful low shot that was too hot to handle for Ashton keeper Joe Brobbin to put St Helens Town into the lead, much against the run of play.
Ashton then had the ball in the net in the 34th minute however the referee’s whistle denied Paul Townshend who was rightly adjudged offside.
It was still Ashton in the ascendency and the visitors very nearly levelled the score just before half time. In the 42nd minute when Brain Hatton was dispossessed by Steve Bennett who drove forward crossing the ball to Simon Gallenders 12 yards out who whilst shielding the ball had his legs taken from behind by the outrushing Woods in the St Helens goal, and much to the Ashton following's disbelief referee Mather waved play on.
Shortly afterwards Bennett broke free again but 1-on-1 he had his effort superbly saved by Woods. The half time whistle came as something of a relief for St Helens Town and disappointing for Ashton as it only seemed a matter of time before the scores would have been level.
Half Time:
St Helens Town 1 – 0 Ashton Athletic
Ashton's Mike Burke does enough to force Dyson's effort off target
Town made a much better start to the second half and went close to extending their lead in the opening few minutes. Iain Dyson got a good position down the wing and his angled shot when facing pressure from defender, Mike Burke.
Ashton continued to probe and eventually drew level in the 61st minute when the defence was breached and the ball eventually fell to Joe Evans who blasted the ball into the roof of the net.
Then in the 65th minute Town went close and probably should have retaken the lead when they won a free kick on the right wing. Adam Gilchrist took the kick and sent a brilliant delivery into the penalty area where it was met by the head of Paul Montieth, but he could only direct the ball over the bar for an Ashton goal kick.
Town should definitely have retaken the lead in the 71st minute when a Phil Mitchell throw in was picked up by brother Graham on the edge of the penalty area, he in turn fed Iain Dyson in the box whose first time shot brought a good parrying save from Ashton Athletic goalkeeper Joe Brobbin, but the ball fell kindly to Mike Scully who had what seemed top be the simplest of tasks to tap the ball into an empty net from 8 yards, but luckily for Ashton he miscued and Brobbin regathered.
Phil Mitchell gets the better of Ashton's Phil Johnson .....this time.
With extra time looming on the horizon Ashton began to apply the pressure once again and, in the 82nd minute the Town defence found itself scrambling again as the ball fell to Joe Evans whose shot flashed wide.
The celebrations for the men in yellow were, for some St Helens players over exuberant with one player kicking out at Ashton's jubilant Chris Lawton. Lawton subsequently responded with "words and finger waging" at the perpetrator which referee, having not witnessed the first blow or questioned in his own mind why Lawton would be taking such a posture, deemed this to be excessive and brandished a straight red card for Lawton.
The manner in which the red card was issued provoked a continuation of scuffle on the pitch as Lawton felt that he had been extremely harshly treated and had to be escorted from the field by his teammates. Once again the retaliator had come off worst as the St Helens player escaped with a booking.
After the red haze had lifted, there was hardly time for St Helens to kick off before the referee ended the match and Court and Ashton had stole a last gasp winner and progress to the next round of the Vase to face Nostel MW at Brocstedes Park on the 4th October.
Over the whole match Ashton Athletic were deserved winners, having put Town under pressure for large amounts of the game, created more chances and certainly finished the stronger.
Full Time:
St Helens Town 1 – 2 Ashton Athletic
Acknowledgment for the St Helens Blog Site from where elements of this report, and the photographs were lifted from.
Competition: FA Carlsberg Vase 2nd Qualifying Round
Venue: GPW Recruitment Stadium, St Helens, Merseyside
Attendance: 51
Captains Rothwell and Dyson do the honoursOn a bright and warm afternoon, the teams follow the referee onto the pitch. The little “respect” handshaking routine with the referees takes place before the team captains, Iain Dyson and former Town player Steve Rothwell complete the pre match formalities and as 3pm ticks over, Ashton Athletic get the match underway.
Ashton got out of the blocks the faster and immediately put their hosts under pressure. Town called into early defence conceded a couple of corner kicks, the 2nd of which was gathered at full stretch by keeper Woods in the home goal.
Woods gathers under pressure from Ashton's Evans
By the 10 minute mark, Town were still attempting to find their stride, sporadically getting forward mainly through the guile of Phil Mitchel down the left flank, but rarely threatening the Ashton goal, whilst still facing increasing pressure from the visitors.Ashton were enjoying the lion’s share of possession without creating clear cut chances to trouble the Town keeper that is until the 17th minute when they won themselves another corner, but the delivery into the box was gathered superbly by keeper Woods under severe pressure and the danger passed. A Steve Rothwell volley from the edge of the box flew past the post after good set up play by Joe Evans.
The game continued much in this trend until the 27th minute when, after recovering a lost ball, Graeme Mitchell played a brilliant one-two with Iain Dyson which put him clear. Ashton defender Mark Court stepped across Mitchell and minimal contact allowed him to take this as an invitation to fall to the floor on the edge of the box to win the free kick. Referee Mather awarded Town a free kick in a dangerous position and showed the defender a yellow card, with some "red" sections of the crowd believing the card should have been red.
Brian Hatton stepped up to take the free kick and sent his effort straight into the Ashton Athletic defensive wall, the rebound however fell kindly to Phil Mitchell on the edge of the penalty area and the striker sent in a powerful low shot that was too hot to handle for Ashton keeper Joe Brobbin to put St Helens Town into the lead, much against the run of play.
Ashton then had the ball in the net in the 34th minute however the referee’s whistle denied Paul Townshend who was rightly adjudged offside.
It was still Ashton in the ascendency and the visitors very nearly levelled the score just before half time. In the 42nd minute when Brain Hatton was dispossessed by Steve Bennett who drove forward crossing the ball to Simon Gallenders 12 yards out who whilst shielding the ball had his legs taken from behind by the outrushing Woods in the St Helens goal, and much to the Ashton following's disbelief referee Mather waved play on.
Shortly afterwards Bennett broke free again but 1-on-1 he had his effort superbly saved by Woods. The half time whistle came as something of a relief for St Helens Town and disappointing for Ashton as it only seemed a matter of time before the scores would have been level.
Half Time:
St Helens Town 1 – 0 Ashton Athletic
Ashton's Mike Burke does enough to force Dyson's effort off targetTown made a much better start to the second half and went close to extending their lead in the opening few minutes. Iain Dyson got a good position down the wing and his angled shot when facing pressure from defender, Mike Burke.
Ashton continued to probe and eventually drew level in the 61st minute when the defence was breached and the ball eventually fell to Joe Evans who blasted the ball into the roof of the net.
Then in the 65th minute Town went close and probably should have retaken the lead when they won a free kick on the right wing. Adam Gilchrist took the kick and sent a brilliant delivery into the penalty area where it was met by the head of Paul Montieth, but he could only direct the ball over the bar for an Ashton goal kick.
Town should definitely have retaken the lead in the 71st minute when a Phil Mitchell throw in was picked up by brother Graham on the edge of the penalty area, he in turn fed Iain Dyson in the box whose first time shot brought a good parrying save from Ashton Athletic goalkeeper Joe Brobbin, but the ball fell kindly to Mike Scully who had what seemed top be the simplest of tasks to tap the ball into an empty net from 8 yards, but luckily for Ashton he miscued and Brobbin regathered.
Phil Mitchell gets the better of Ashton's Phil Johnson .....this time.
With extra time looming on the horizon Ashton began to apply the pressure once again and, in the 82nd minute the Town defence found itself scrambling again as the ball fell to Joe Evans whose shot flashed wide. Just as extra time looked enevitable and in the 5th minute of added time, Ashton inflicted the cruellest of blows as a long throw deflected off a Town player before falling to Mark Court who directed the ball into the net to win the match for Ashton.
Ashton keeper Brobbin clears
Ashton keeper Brobbin clearsThe manner in which the red card was issued provoked a continuation of scuffle on the pitch as Lawton felt that he had been extremely harshly treated and had to be escorted from the field by his teammates. Once again the retaliator had come off worst as the St Helens player escaped with a booking.
After the red haze had lifted, there was hardly time for St Helens to kick off before the referee ended the match and Court and Ashton had stole a last gasp winner and progress to the next round of the Vase to face Nostel MW at Brocstedes Park on the 4th October.
Over the whole match Ashton Athletic were deserved winners, having put Town under pressure for large amounts of the game, created more chances and certainly finished the stronger.
Full Time:
St Helens Town 1 – 2 Ashton Athletic
Acknowledgment for the St Helens Blog Site from where elements of this report, and the photographs were lifted from.
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