League

Wanborough Park
Spectators: 6730 (Terracing: 5000, Seating: 1730, VIP seats: 0) Ashton-under-Lyne's Reggie Mannell started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. An unexpectedly hard shot by Reggie Mannell in the 3rd minute of play forced Wanborough's goalkeeper Brad Hurst to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 4th minute, Reggie Mannell ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Brad Hurst was frozen by the shot and now it was 0-1. Brad Hurst took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Don Rowe, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. After 10 played minutes Ashton-under-Lyne got a freekick which was hit by Mattias Bilton. Don Rowe fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 16th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Brad Hurst having to interfere. Wanborough's Brad Hurst played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Don Rowe in the 18th minute of play. In the 19th minute, Reggie Mannell got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. In the 20th minute, Paul Whitworth hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Don Rowe hit a great freekick 21 minutes into the match. When Rufus Perkins came up free with the goalie in the 30th minute, the Wanborough fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Rufus Perkins couldn't finish the play. Wanborough's Brad Hurst played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Don Rowe in the 33rd minute of play. After a rather tough play, Wanborough's Paul Whitworth got a free kick in the 33rd minute. A collision led to Wanborough getting a freekick after 35 minutes play. Spike Sedgemore hit a great ball. Reggie Mannell scored 0-2 in the 38th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Brad Hurst, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. After a defensive mix-up in Wanborough's zone, Don Rowe stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Brad Hurst came out of the goal and Don Rowe tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play.

The hometeam waved at the audience when it was time for Niall Fuller to strike the kick off in the second half. Brad Hurst showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Reggie Mannell, who was totally free with the ball in the 57th minute. 64 minutes into the match, Ashton-under-Lyne's Don Rowe sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Brad Hurst narrowly saved just below the crossbar. Matty Barraclough showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Niall Fuller in the 66th minute of the match. Don Holland received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 68th minute. Brad Hurst tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Reggie Mannell might have been able to make a better finish in the 70th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Brad Hurst. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Reggie Mannell ran back to his position shaking his head. An unexpectedly hard shot by Reggie Mannell in the 73rd minute of play forced Wanborough's goalkeeper Brad Hurst to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. After a defensive mix-up in Ashton-under-Lyne's zone, Rufus Perkins stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Matty Barraclough came out of the goal and Rufus Perkins tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Matty Barraclough took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Niall Fuller, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. 82 minutes into the match, Wanborough's Niall Fuller sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Matty Barraclough narrowly saved just below the crossbar. Don Rowe received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 84th minute. Brad Hurst tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. If Reggie Mannell had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 86th minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. Brad Hurst stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Reggie Mannell's shot from short distance in the 88th minute. The Wanborough supporters were disappointed that their team didn't take anything from the match, despite matching Ashton-under-Lyne's performance. The match ended with a win for Ashton-under-Lyne.