The Robins are on the road again as Jody Banim prepares for a trip to Marine for the second time in the space of three weeks. The Robins won the previous encounter 3-1 courtesy of goals from Jack Dyche, Liam Tomsett and a Matty Chadwick penalty ensured that Ashton progressed into the next round of the FA Cup.
Ashton’s prize was a trip to Newcastle Benfield last time out, however Ashton failed to capitalise on their lower league opposition despite Alex Johnson’s late strike unable to prevent The Robins falling to a 2-1 defeat.
Jody stressed the importance of sticking together following the defeat to Newcastle Benfield and discussed the selection headache which is coming apparent due to the lack of players at his disposal as he can only name a squad of fourteen players going into the game against Marine.
“It’s a massive concern because you know the poor performances, I can’t change the team. I’ve got Mark Lees at left back, I’ve no left sided players in the team, we have three subs and two of them are strikers. Rick Smith has had no pre-season and has missed the whole of the season, that’s his first 45 minutes. We have ten players sat at home today who would have made us a lot stronger.”
“They’ve had some harsh words from me but you know the caveat of that is we’ve got to stick together, we can’t let this one defeat define our season. Going forward we have to be better and if you want to achieve something this year then we have to be better than we have been today.”
Marine come into the game on the back of 2-2 draw away at Matlock Town on Saturday thanks to late equaliser from Adam Hughes. The Mariners currently sit 15th in the table with only one win under their belt on home soil. Marine have lost four of their five home games this season which is encouraging signs for Jody Banim’s men as Ashton have only lost once on their travels so far in the league this season.
Previous Encounters:
Marine completed a hat-trick of wins over The Robins last season with two comprehensives wins at Hurst Cross scoring eight goals in the process. The first victory coming in an FA Trophy game and Marine cruised past Ashton. The visitors scored three quick fire goals inside the first 20 minutes before player-manager Jody Banim was sent off in the second half. Marine ran out 4-0 winners.
The two sides then met again only three days later at Hurst Cross and immediately felt a case of deja-vu as Marine cruised into a 3 goal lead before half time. Lee Knight pulled a goal back for Ashton that night but Marine convincingly took the three points with a 4-1 win.
The two clubs met again in March at The Marine Travel Arena and Tommy Lawson’s men took all three points to complete the hat-trick of wins. This time running out 3-1 winners with Jack Dyche scoring a late penalty in consolation for Ashton United. The Robins again finished the game with ten men as Domenico Maiese was dismissed for a second yellow card.
One to Watch:
Daniel Mitchley boasts a prolific record in recent seasons, having scored 65 times in 102 games for Skelmersdale and his previous club Kendal Town. After starting his youth career at Skelmersdale, Mitchley moved into the senior ranks at Blackpool and made his professional debut against Crystal Palace in October 2008. After loan spells with Southport, Nurscough and Wrexham. The former Blackpool man then made a permanent switch to Kendal Town where scored 10 goals in 11 appearances before joining Skelmersdale in 2014. Daniel Mitchley joined the Mariners in October 2015 and has two goals so far this season. Daniel Mitchley scored three goals against Ashton last season as The Mariners did the treble over Ashton.
Ticket prices are as follows:
Adults - £10
Concessions - £5
Children – U11’s Free with a paying adult.