Millers take the points as Winer sees red

Ashton Athletic 0 Millers 1.

Vodkat North West Counties Premier League
Saturday 25th October 2008

Ashton lost by the odd goal for the third game in a row against one of the league’s front runners New Mills on Saturday in a match somewhat marred by erratic refereeing and a controversial sending off for Ashton’s Mike Winer, on his first start of the season.

Mike, in for the injured Adam White, was one of three players making their first starts of the season, with Lee Edmunds coming in at centre half for Mark Court and French import Nicolas Bozonnet coming in on the right for the injured Steve Bennett.

New Mills also had some new faces in their line up with new signings goalkeeper Liam Higginbotham, midfielder Will Ahern and strikers Matt Smith and Steve Moores all making their full debuts for The Millers

It was Smith who had the first chance of the game but failed to get proper contact on a Will Ahern corner after 5 minutes before Liam Higginbotham was called into action for the first time in the ninth minute when he impressively tipped over Steve Rothwell's fierce left foot volley.

Unfortunately this was Rothwell’s last contribution as a recurrence of a groin injury forced an early change, with Gareth Peet coming in at left back for the Ashton skipper.

New Mills’ new strike force of Smith and Moores were causing the Ashton defenders some problems and the two linked up well to provide skipper Carlos Meakin with an opportunity which Ashton keeper Joe Brobbin responded well to.

Ashton striker Kev Kynaston then had a overhead volley which beat keeper Higginbottom but flew the wrong side of the crossbar.

The Millers took the lead in the 29^th minute when they were awarded a free kick just outside the Ashton penalty area. A moment of controversy missed by the referee as Millers’ attackers man handled the Ashton wall providing gaping hole for Carlos Meakin to drive the ball through. Although Ashton keeper Brobbin got a decent hand to it, he failed to prevent the ball finding the bottom corner.

Ashton's best chance of the first half came just after the half hour. Liam Higginbotham was alert to rush out of his area to prevent an Ashton attack but his clearance only found Nic Bozonnet who setup Simon Gallanders, and from 40 yards his first time shot drifted goal bound over the heads of the recovering defenders. Unfortunately the effort bounced off the underside of the crossbar and back into play, however the Ashton follow up was not quite quick enough and the ball was cleared to safety.

New Mills were forced into a substitution at the interval when Lee Bromley replaced Micky Ryan who was unable to continue after suffering a clash of heads in the first half.

The visitors were playing up the slope in the second half and the defensive unit had to be strong in the opening minutes as Ashton pushed forward. It looked like The Millers had doubled their advantage in the 55^th minute when Will Ahern's free kick was brilliantly headed in by Matt Smith but referee Anderson spotted the interference of Steve Moores as he took out two would be defenders to give Smith the clear header.

Mr Anderson took centre stage for the next part of the game as he brandished his yellow card on several occasions in a game which was competitive but never dirty. Ashton's Mike Winer suffered as a consequence and following an initial booking on the hour for an innocuous challenge, and a second yellow five minutes later for a tackle that was at worst a foul, Ashton were reduced to 10 men for the last 25 minutes.

Winer unfairly dealt with after 2 innocuous tackles

Despite the loss of Winer Ashton battled on gamely continuing to hold the balance of possession in the second half. The Millers defensive unit stood up to the challenge well and on the rare occasions that Ashton did manage to breach the Millers back line Liam Higginbotham’s assured handling prevented an equaliser.

So New Mills gained a crucial victory against a team that they failed to score against last season and this win nicely sets up a crucial month as they face home games against Premier Division rivals AFC Fylde and Newcastle Town.

Meanwhile Ashton must dust themselves down for the short trip to St Helens on Tuesday night for a 7.45pm KO and what will be a crucial match for both sides.