Honours Even

Local rivals again prove inseparable. Report by David Robinson

The two Ashton sides repeated their 1-1 draw from the 2015 play off semi-final in a competitive affair at Hurst Cross. The visitors were first to threaten as Ennis’ deep corner was just headed past the angle by Matthew Flynn before Watson outsped Joe Connor before putting over a dangerous cross. Ten minutes before the interval Grant Shenton suffered what appeared to be a serious arm injury and had to be replaced by Phillips but the Robins still took the lead as Adam Morning’s corner was headed home by Richard Smith despite the best efforts of a defender on the line.

The lead only lasted a couple of minutes as a long ball saw Phillips coming off his line but miscontrolling the pass and the ball broke to Ennis who fired into the empty net. On the resumption Iain Howard put a deep cross over the top for the Nash before a great pass sent Matty Chadwick down the right wing – his cut back saw Chris Baguley’s on target effort blocked. The final chance saw Jamie Matthews make a decent run before the ball broke to Scott Metcalfe who fired into the side netting.

Team: Shenton, Brownhill, Mather, Smith, Connor, Moses, Coo, Gee, Wilkins, Nevins, Morning. Subs: Haining, Frost, McMahon, Baguley, Chadwick, Payne, Metcalfe, Matthews, Phillips..