Ashton Town 4-1 Nelson
By David Priestley
Updated Saturday, 5th February 2005
Blues crashed out of the Division Two Trophy at Ashton Town on Saturday, defeat compounded by losing Brad Pates with a broken ankle.
Nelson crashed out of the NWCL Second Division Trophy with a disappointing performance at Ashton Town on Saturday and had the additional blow of losing influential midfield player Brad Pates with what appeared to be a serious long term ankle injury.
Pates need the stretcher and an ambulance midway through the first half and the game was held up at this stage by a good 25 minutes.
Nelson were already a goal down despite having opened the game brightly with Jason Jones giving the home defence plenty of problems early on and Brad Pates forcing a good save by the Ashton keeper Danny Vickers from a well struck free kick.
However the Blues defence looked shaky against a confident home side and this was clearly demonstrated after 15 minutes when a series of crosses from both wings were not cleared and Paul Atherton hooked the ball into the net with an overhead kick past static Nelson defenders to give Ashton the lead.
Six minutes later Brad Pates’ injury from an innocuous challenge disrupted play but Sam Hall proved a useful replacement and Nelson worked hard to find an equaliser. Unfortunately Liam Lishman blasted two good chances over the bar and some promising build ups failed to find a finish good enough to test the Ashton keeper.
Martin Fletcher was brought on at half time and immediately injected some pace into the midfield as he gave Jones a shooting opportunity which almost brought a goal as his shot dipped just over the bar.
However the Blues’ defence was exposed when Richard Sharpe broke clear and Billy Carrington came out to dive at his feet and knock the ball away. Paul Atherton was following up but shot over the unguarded net in a let off for Nelson.
Fletcher’s pace on the left wing after 55 minutes set up Paul Barrett in front of goal but Barrett was tightly marked throughout the game and his shot was deflected for a corner. From the corner Barrett’s header was fisted away from under the bar by Danny Vickers and Nelson began to show signs of an equaliser.
After 64 minutes however Anthony Woodyer was allowed to run up the right wing and, when his cross was blocked at close range by two Nelson defenders, the referee harshly gave a penalty to the home side for handball. Mike Rhead converted the spot kick to double Ashton’s lead and give his side even more confidence.
Neil Chapman was the third substitute to be used and created some promising openings but it was Ashton who scored again after 81 minutes with an end to end counter attack. Paul Atherton made the run from the halfway line then passed the ball square for Steve Prescott to chip his shot over Billy Carrington and into the net to make the score 3-0 to the home side.
Carrington was soon in action again diving to knock away Paul Atherton’s shot after 84 minutes but Nelson at last had some joy when they pulled a goal back just one minute later. Paul Barrett’s curling cross from the left wing was too good for the home defence and Neil Chapman met it on the volley at the far post to sidefoot the ball into the roof of the Ashton net to reduce the arrears to 3-1.
However Ashton had the final word after 89 minutes when once again the Blues’ defence was exposed by a left wing raid and a low cross gave Anthony Woodyer a simple tap in to give his side a 4-1 lead and take Ashton through to the next round.
