Ashton United FC 3 Fleetwood Town FC 5

Monday August 27th 2007 UniBond League Premier Division

Crowd 264

Goals: FTFC – Phil Denney (47, 79mins), Guy Heffernan (65mins), Jamie Milligan (68 mins), Alex Taylor (84mins) AUFC – Glyn Barker (28mins), Ian Howard (59mins), Tommy Taylor (86mins)

Fleetwood Town emerged victorious from an eight goal Bank Holiday thriller, after twice coming from behind. A lack lustre first half performance saw Town enter the interval 1-0 down and fearing a repeat of the 3-0 defeat suffered at the hands of Ashton on the final day of last season. But an artistic and exhilarating display of pass and move football after the break proved too much for the valiant hosts and left the 100 strong Cod Army drooling. Martin Moran, Michael Brown and Richard Allen were missing with injury so the return of Ricky Mercer, Nathan Pond and Jamie Milligan from suspension was an even bigger relief than anticipated. The versatile Phil Robinson switched to centre half to partner Mercer, with Shaun Gray dropped to the substitutes bench. Pond anchored a new look midfield with Keiran Walmsley and Jamie Milligan on the flanks and Ciaran Donnelly the central midfield playmaker. The in-form striking duo of Phil Denney and Andy Bell retained their places in attack with Alex Taylor again having to be content with a place on the bench and Steve Foster serving the last game of a suspension carried over from his time with AFC Telford United.

The opening goal after 28 minutes arose from a rare error by Fleetwood goalkeeper, Danny Hurst; the last line of defence spilling what looked a straightforward catch, so enabling Barker to drill the loose ball into the corner

of the net. Town’s best chance of the half came when the excellent Bell chased yet another lost cause and watched in agony as his toe poke after intercepting a wayward back pass went the wrong side of the far post.

As anticipated, Town reshaped their formation at the break with Donnelly switching to the right and Milligan back where he is at his most influential, in the middle of the park. Within two minutes of the second half, the in-form Phil Denney levelled the scores with a goal that whilst stylish in its creation had more than a hint of good fortune about it. Hurst caught a right wing free kick before hurling the ball to Ciaran Donnelly on the right flank. Donnelly surged forward before releasing Denney wide on the left who, after slipping past a defender on the byeline, unleashed a ferocious shot which was deflected into the far corner of the net. Town were now in command with Jamie Milligan orchestrating moves from the centre of midfield and Donnelly causing sheer havoc on the right.

But it was United who again took the lead on the hour mark when Guy Heffernan was caught ball watching from a left wing cross, so allowing Howard to nip in between full-back and goalkeeper to head home. Town’s response was swift, and Heffernan redeemed himself with the equalizer when he pounced on a loose ball from close range to tap the ball into the net. A spectacular 25 yard shot from Denney was tipped on to the bar by the Ashton goal-keeper but there was no stopping Fleetwood now and after Denney had been fouled on the edge of the box, Milligan scored the goal of the game with a glorious free kick hit with both pace and precision into the top right hand corner. More brilliance down the right by Donnelly led to him picking out Denney with a delightful cross and the big striker made no mistake, heading the ball into the net to make the score 4-2.

And when substitute Alex Taylor made it 5-2 with a nonchalant finish after he had brilliantly controlled another glorious through ball by Milligan, a rout looked inevitable. However, Ashton refused to surrender and Fleetwood’s old Achilles heel of conceding goals from corner kicks re-emerged when United’s Taylor headed past a helpless Hurst. In the dying minutes of the game, Ricky Mercer was sent off for a professional foul when, after Robinson had been caught in possession on the half way line, Mercer hauled his opponent down as he bore in on goal. The dismissal, Mercer’s second at Ashton in two visits, completed a miserable afternoon for the Fleetwood skipper whose lack of match practice contributed to an uncomfortable afternoon for the normally ultra-reliable defender.

Pond, too, will improve for his 90 minutes of action, although his late booking means another suspension cannot be ruled out at some stage of the season. Manager Tony Greenwood will have been delighted with Town’s play going forward but will be looking for his troops to tighten up defensively. Nevertheless, maximum points from three games, a fourth place position in the league with a game in hand and a goal difference of + 4 represents a dream start for Town, particularly when you take into account the plethora of injuries and suspensions that the squad have had to cope with.

Too many impressive performances to single out just one for man of the match, but special mention for Bell, Denney, Miligan and Donnelly who were all outstanding.

Fleetwood Town Team: Danny Hurst, Guy Heffernan, Jez Fitzgerald, Phil Robinson, Ricky Mercer (C), Nathan Pond, Kieran Walmsley (Shaun Gray), Jamie Milligan, Phil Denney, Andy Bell (Alex Taylor) and Ciaran Donnelly.

Not Used: Jonathan Smith

Ashton United Team: Damien Rooney, Jack Overson, Chris Adams (C), Ian Bennett, Billy McCartney, Michael Murray, Melford Knight, Danny Forde, Tommy Taylor, Glyn Barker, Ian Howard, Matt Edgington, Phil Edghill, Gareth Richards

Officials: JR Tyas (Referee), JS Connolly, DS Midgley