Match Report: Redcar Athletic 1-0 Ashington AFC

Another 3 points on the board, but wow, the players had to fight till the end to get them

After the past few weeks of constant victories and numerous goals scored, the thoughts going into this game were a blend of hope and expectation, with the ever-present caution that comes with football as a whole.

The first half saw very little from either side, with a few chances for the Steelmen either being saved or going over.

Early on, it was Curtis Round who was most involved, with his movement seeing him cut inside to become a passing option in the box

Adam Boyes also had some early chances, though he was unable to get the ball over the line, as Ashington played with roughly 8 men in defence for the majority of the half.

Owen Burns had a solid half too, with the midfielder dribbling down the right wing before an Ashington tackle saw the ball go out for a corner.

Said corner was whipped into the box, and following some pinball, ended up at the feet of Burns, who saw his shot whistle past the post.

There were only two more chances this half, both coming for us.

The first saw Adam Boyes nod the ball down into the path of Danni Lay in the 40th minute, but his attempted shot ended up going over the crossbar.

The final chance of the half saw Ashington nearly score an own goal, as a whipped pass across the face of goal slipped between a bunch of players and skimmed out the other side.

With that, though, the half-time whistle came, with both sides unable to get the opening goal.

The start of the second half saw Ashington begin to play more aggressively, with Mazfari having to pull out several decent stops to keep his goal empty.

Frustrations were starting to appear, as Ashington also continued their time-wasting tricks, including a habit of going down and staying down, much to the annoyance of the Redcar fans.

In the 59th minute, Danni Lay produced some spectacular moves as he worked his way into the box, performing a few step overs in the process, followed by then recovering the ball after a challenge where he laid a pass off to Round.

Round’s pass unfortunately was cleared, but this little highlight gave the fans something to smile about, and it proved that we still were not letting up.

Up until the 83rd minute, we seemed to be stopped at the last hurdle, and even in the final 10, it felt like it wasn’t to be, as Curtis Round was on the end of a Bryan Taylor cross, but the ball bobbled, and it meant Round could only slide the ball, and himself out of play.

As the 90th minute approached, though, there was one last glimmer of hope. Substitute Louis Johnson got the ball, beat several Ashington players and laid a pass off to Saturday’s hero, Oscar Fletcher. Fletcher got the ball, took a few steps and slammed the ball into the bottom corner to give us the lead and send the Redcar fans (and players) into raptures.

The added on minutes saw the Steelmen defend like crazy, and when the full-time whistle came there was jubilation across the pitch and into the stands, as we earned another 3 points to once again stay top of the league.

Next up, we travel to Matlock on Saturday in what will be one of the toughest games so far this season, as 3rd host 1st. A fair trek to get there, and hopefully it will be worth it.

If you are unable to make that game, then there will be live updates on Twitter, but if you are there, then see you soon!