|
Ashton
ground out another win and valuable two points away at a Halton
Farnworth to close the gap at the top of Div 1 to one point, on a day
when Haydock lost away to the bottom club,
Folly Lane
.
Ashton
started well enough but it was Halton who took the lead half way
through the first half against the run of play. This seemed to stir
Ashton into action and it took a piece of individual brilliance from
man of the match, Dave Picton, when he mesmerised the home defence with
a 45 yard jinking run to the line.
The score
took a turn for the worse for Ashton early in the second half when the
defence failed to clear a speculative kick through. 12-4 down and
looking out but if there’s one thing Ashton have in abundance this
year, it is the ability to dig deep. They started to build the pressure
on the home side and when Stuart Millet launched an up and under and
Steven Naylor put the defender under pressure, the ball was spilled and
eventually found it’s way to the impressive captain, Andy Bailey, who
just squeezed in at the corner. Matty Melling converted from the
touchline. Ashton were now on a roll and with tireless running from
dummy half from Alex Peet they made it level when they received a
penalty under the posts. With just seconds remaining Ashton were
determined to keep the ball alive and when ball finally came out to
Andy Bailey he side stepped his way over the line, again Matty Melling
converted.
Peter
Shaw made 40 tackles but wasn't top tackler, Neil Ireland pipping him
with 41, while David Picton, involved in everything Ashton did well,
was the man of the match.
Ashton
tries - Andy Bailey 2, Dave Picton
Ashton
Goals - Matty Melling 3
Man of
the Match - David Picton
|
