Away day blues continue

Glossop North End 3 Ashton Athletic 0

For the second time in as many weeks Glossop North End faced a side with a new manager and all of the unknowns that brings. Jimmy McBride brought his Ashton Athletic side to Surrey Street looking for a change of fortune but it was not to be as the Hillmen dominated the match and ran out comfortable winners.

On a pitch softened by significant overnight rain, GNE were in the ascendancy from the off and could have been in front early in the game as the impressive Battersby missed two good chances.

The yellows weathered this early storm and looked to play constructively through midfield but their moves invariably broke down and Glossop continued to show the greater goal threat. The one opportunity of the first half for the visitors came in the 33rd minute when forward Godfrey Umokoro-Emu set off on a strong run from midfield, beating two defenders, only to loose control of the ball at the vital moment as he shaped to shoot with only Ben Proctor in the GNE goal to beat.

The big talking point among the crowd was how the officials had allowed Glossops Bond to stay on the pitch after a number of reckless tackles that seen him booked and then warned about at least two more serious offences.

Half time arrived with the match scoreless.

Ashton came out positively in the second half and enjoyed the early opening exchanges but any possible nervousness by the home team was dispelled when the impressive Battersby beat Dan Barnett to a header and set Dean McGregor on his way to goal he cut into the area from the right hand side, beat Ashton Athletic defender Michael Burns, and calmly steered the ball past Hayden Buckley-Smith in the Ashton Athletic goal.

The glossop number 6 Bond again committed a far more serious challenge than the one he had been booked for and when it looked certain he was going to be carded, the official decided to bring the GNE captain over to give him another final, final, final warning.The GNE management realising the seriousness quickly took Bond off which made the officials descision to not send him off even more baffling.

Just before the hour mark, Battersby made things comfortable for the home side as he rounded Buckley-Smith to slot the ball home. before this though was another big talking point when Mark Bailey was dragged down in the area for what was a certain penalty with only the referee failing to agree. In the 73 minute the scoring was completed as Marshall stormed down the right wing, his cross found Battersby in the penalty area and his fine right foot shot left Buckley-Smith clutching at thin air.

The game degenerated into a flurry of late tackles, punished with cautions by the referee.On the plus side it was good to see both Calum Jones and Lee Hodgkinson making comebacks after injuries and Mason Ryan getting another chance to impress from the bench.