Stourbridge continued their push for a play off place with a convincing victory over Ashton on a wet evening at the War Memorial Ground. The Robins were forced into several changes with joint manager Will Haining replacing the unavailable Stephen Mason and Josh Stachini handed a full debut at left back.
The visitors made the worst possible start with just 3 minutes elapsed as a right wing cross from Ethan Jones saw Archer’s shot blocked by Pilling leaving Kayelden Brown to fire home the loose ball. Ashton could have hit straight back as a great cross field pass from Mark Less saw Lee Knight get the better of Westlake with Gould needing to be out smartly to block and Jack Dyche then rounded the onrushing keeper and squared the ball to Ryan Crowther whose shot was just gathered by the recovering Gould.
Just past the half hour another right wing cross was cleared by the stretching Haining but only as far as Tom Tonks who fired it back left footed into the corner of the net. Matters could have got even worse as a mistake saw Joe Connor robbed by Brown whose cross saw Archer’s shot diverted on to the crossbar by Pilling but four minutes before the break the hosts did register again as a forward pass found Archer onside and he steadied before firing into the far corner.
8 minutes into the second period and Ashton showed they were still in the contest as Haining neatly volleyed home Crowther’s corner before Crowther’s free kick was deflected narrowly wide after Dyche had been fouled by Westlake. With 19 minutes left the game was made safe for the hosts as a long clearance by Pierpoint saw the menacing Brown outmuscle Haining before volleying home and Brown soon had a chance for his hat trick, curling Jones’ cross wide of the target. With time running out a through ball split the Ashton defence only for Archer to help it over the top and Crowther’s ball into the area saw Dyche’s effort squeeze across the face of goal.
Team: Pilling, Smalley, Stachini, Haining (Coo), Connor, Lees, Roberts, Smith, Dyche, Knight (Lowe), Crowther (Collins). SNU: Banim.
# | Team | Pl | Pts |
9. | Matlock Town | 46 | 75 |
10. | Warrington Town | 46 | 74 |
11. | Ashton United | 46 | 68 |
12. | Rushall Olympic | 46 | 64 |
13. | Stafford Rangers | 46 | 63 |
14. | Barwell | 46 | 62 |
15. | Hednesford Town | 46 | 61 |