Ashton United 1
Nantwich Town 1
League (NPL Premier Division)

Match Report

Ashton United 1 –1 Nantwich Town
Evo-Stik NPL Premier – 5th November 2011
Nantwich failed to create any fireworks on Tameside as a poor refereeing decision cost them all three points at Ashton United.
Mat Bailey headed home Sean Cooke’s corner just before the hour mark to salvage a point after Aaron Burns’ penalty had given United the lead.
The Dabbers dominated the early stages with top scorer Ben Mills coming closest to opening the scoring but the division’s leading marksman’s effort was easily saved by Terry Smith.
United were forced into a change on the half hour mark as Peter Wright limped off for Burns and it wasn’t long before the substitute made an impact.
Burns latched onto Alex Frost’s long ball before being tackled by Matt Lowe, that tackle though was judged to be unfair by the referee, much to the surprise of everybody including Ashton manager Danny Johnson.
The substitute picked himself up to smash the penalty into the top left corner giving United a 1-0 lead.
Nantwich replied on 56 minutes when Cooke’s corner was perfect for Bailey to nod home his second goal of the week.
Mills had a chance to win the game late on but his half volley was tame and was no trouble for Smith.
The final kick of the game could have brought about the winner for Nantwich as Niall Maguire rose well but he headed Cooke’s corner over.
Dabbers Man of the Match: Mat Bailey (Superb once again in defence and was a constant threat from set pieces)
Nantwich: Brain, Lowe, Solovjovs, Summerskill (Maguire, 67), Bailey, Moss, Cooke, Flynn ©, Mills (Lennon, 84), Everall (Brunt, 77), McLachlan. Subs: Chapman, Foster.
Ashton: Smith, Frost, Rose, Murphy, Welling ©, Roberts, Peers, Smith (Kosylo, 77), Bathurst (Madeley, 74), Wright (Burns, 32), Lambert. Subs : Swirad, Bennett.

Match report written by Ashley Houghton