Ashton beat league leaders 12-8

The winning margin was by two tries and a conversion against a try and a penalty.
For the first quarter it was all Heaton Moor pressure but they were unable to break the resolute Ashton defence and for all the visitors pressure their only reward was a penalty to take the lead 3-0. Ashton were forced back by a heavy penalty count but fought back with a great try after 25 minutes. Stand-in skipper Luke Berry, who was impressive throughout, forced his was over for an unconverted try after 25 minutes to give Ashton a 5-3 lead. The rest of the first half was edgy but Ashton were solid in defence with some terrific tackles from Ben Smith and Mark Maudsley.

5 minutes into the second half Ashton got the crucial second try after a terrific team effort. The try scorer was centre Ed Porcher who barged over near the corner after some impressive team interplay. A great conversion from Luke Berry from wide out made the score 12-3. Following this score opportunities for both sides were limited but with 5 minutes to go after prolonged pressure Heaton Moor scored an uncoverted try to make for a tense finish. Ashton’s defence held out from the re-start to clinch a memorable and deserved victory.

Man of the match was Adam Whitworth who was outstanding in both defence and attack.

Updated 22:15 - 29 Aug 2019 by Pat Stokes