Ashton Athletic

Ashton started brightly and pushed Leigh back into their own half from the kick off the first chance of the game fell to Matty H after a good cross from Jake , but he was unfortunate to see his shot go wide. A minute later Jason shot form outside the box and the keeper was unable to hold the ball Regan raced in but the Leigh defender managed to clear the danger. Leigh couldn’t force their way into the Ashton half with either Jamie or James meeting every ball and returning it back up the pitch , and Ashton made good progress down the wing helped by the long throws from Jamie. Then on 9 minutes Jason turned one of the Leigh defenders inside out so that he fell and handled the ball in the area for the ref to award a penalty. Joe stepped up to the challenge and shot low and hard to the keepers left, but a superb dive from the keeper stopped the ball going over the line. It was the 12^th minute before Leigh managed their first attack down the left wing with some nice interplay and footwork from the Leigh skipper the ball was crossed in low and hard and with the Ashton defence committed it was an easy tap in for the Leigh winger at the far post. 1-0 against the run of play. On 14 minutes Regan showed his grit and made a superb tackle to win the ball which was unfortunate for no 20 who was injured in the tackle. Leigh next managed a lob shot and Jimmy made an excellent punching save Leigh had found their stride and it took a well timed clearance from Joe to prevent another strike on goal. Then Jason went on a charged and backed up by Regan forced his way through 3 Leigh defenders before the keeper dived on the ball, this was shortly followed by Ashtons best chance when Lewis Birch played Jason in for a one on one with the keeper, but put off by a Leigh defender he blasted his shot over the bar. It was now end to end stuff and Jimmy made another crucial save, followed shortly by a shot for Ashton by Jake. Half time came with the score at 1-0 to Leigh. After the restart Ashton were determined to get back into the game and pushed down the right wing with repeated throw ins, but couldn’t hold the territory and Leigh counter attacked with a shot from n019 on the right wing which Jimmy was equal to, this was shortly followed by a fabulous block from Regan who was putting his body on the line to prevent Leigh having another shot on target. On 35 minutes Joe went on a surging run down the right followed by Regan down the left but ashton couldn’t break through the leigh defence. Further good play by leigh down the right led to good shot which forced a great diving save from Jimmy. Leigh were having the best of the play as Ashton were overrun in midfield and especially down the right wing which eventually led to the second goal when n019 ran down the wing and crossed for 14 to again score at the far post. After the restart the Leigh no 19 again forced a great save from Jimmy. Then after great defensive work from James the referee mysteriously pointed to the spot to give leigh a penalty. Despite guessing the right way jimmy was unable to save the penalty and the score went to 3-0.The last action of the game was an Ashton free kick which Lewis managed to get a head to it and when the ball came out Jason shot back in only for the leigh defender to make a sliding save to kick the ball clear. A game which wasn’t helped by the poor refereeing decisions contributed to Ashtons second defeat to Leigh this season. Man of the match was Jimmy for a great performance.

Starting Line up

Jimmy, James, Joe, Jamie , Jake , Regan, Matty , Lewis , Jason