Ashfield F & A C 2 Port Glasgow FC 2 at Saracen Park, Glasgow

It was second versus third today at Saracen Park as Ashfield entertained Port Glasgow and a frantic, bad tempered 90 minutes of football was witnessed. Ashfield started the match slowly and it was Port Glasgow that did most of the running in the first 20 minutes. They looked very lively upfront and were causing the Ashfield defence some anxiety. It was obvious that both teams were up for a physical battle with some hefty challenges taking place.


The first clear cut chance fell to the visiting side when their number 9 picked the ball up deep in the Ashfield half. He skipped past one challenge and unleashed a vicious swerving shot which was well pushed behind by Stevie McGovern in the Ashfield goal, who was having a marvellous match. This seemed to give Ashfield a jolt and the Springburn team started to edge themselves back into the match. The 'famous' pairing of Maxwell and O'Donnell upfront started to threaten the Port defence and Ashfield almost took the lead close to half time.

A corner for Ashfield was cleared to the edge of the box and Martin Gault slammed a volley through a forest of legs and just past the Port Glasgow post. Both teams then cancelled each other out for the remainder of the half, but it was clear to see that this game was about to erupt in the 2nd half.

HALF TIME:- ASHFIELD 0 PORT GLASGOW 0

Ashfield came out in the 2nd half a totally different side and they took the game to Port Glasgow from the Off. Jamie Reilly was marshalling the Ashfield defence superbly and Darren O'Donnell was menacing up front. After approx 60 mins gone Ashfield took a deserved lead. O'Donnell was tripped at the edge of the box and the referee awarded a free kick. Mark Thomson placed the ball and drilled a shot through the wall which took a slight deflection which the Port Goalkeeper could not handle and it ended up high in the net. Ashfield 1 Port Glasgow 0.




This was the break that Ashfield needed and they piled the pressure on the Port Glasgow goal but could not get that vital 2nd goal. The match was by now littered with fouls and it was inevitable that a player was going to receive an early bath. This happened after approx 70 minutes when a long ball was played over the Port defence targeted for Kevin Miller who was crudely blocked by the Port Glasgow defender. The referee immediately showed a red card to the player as he was deemed last man and stopped Miller from a goal scoring opportunity. Port Glasgow were livid with the decision and this was clearly seen as the Port Glasgow player walked off the park.

Unfortunately this was not the end of the red cards as five minutes later, Ashfield were reduced to 10-men also. Ashfield were awarded a free kick 40 yards out from the Port goal. Kevin Miller was in the wall with the Port Glasgow players and a fracas occured which resulted in the midfielder receiving a 2nd yellow card and both teams were now on 10-men.

This seemed to unsettle Ashfield and it was Port Glasgow that equalised against the run of play. A long throw in was delivered into the Ashfield box and was not dealt with properly, it appeared to come off an Ashfield defenders leg and ran towards the Port Glasgow No 9 who lashed the ball low and hard into the corner of the Ashfield net from close range.


Ashfield 1 Port Glasgow 1. A real blow for Ashfield as this was the first sorte that Port Glasgow had in the second half, however worse was to come!.

A speculative long ball was played into the Ashfield box after approx 75mins and what looked like an easy take for McGovern in the Ashfield goal was spilled and the ball fell kindly to the feet of the Port Glasgow striker who held off Alan 'Spider' Smith and stroked the ball into the empty net. It was tough luck on the Ashfield `keeper, who had been superb up until that point. Ashfield 1 Port Glasgow 2.



Ashfield then brought on Top Scorer Tony Chalmers and played with a 3-man attack against an aggresive Port Glasgow defence. Both teams pressed and it was Port Glasgow that should have sealed the points but for a last gasp save from McGovern which helped Ashfield to display a fantastic last five minutes for the Ashfield faithful. Thomson ballooned a free kick over from 20 yards which seemed to be the final chance but Ashfield had other ideas. Deep into injury time, Ashfield were awarded a corner from the right hand side. Gordon Passmore delivered a lovely floating corner onto the head of Jamie Reilly, who powered his header towards the goal which the Port goalkeeper could not keep a firm grip of and it crossed the goal line and awarded immediately to the absolute delight of the Ashfield support and more so the players and coaching staff. This was the 1st ever Junior goal for Jamie Reilly and the celebrations were clear to see.






The restart was taken and the referee almost blew instantly for full time. A great match had finally ended and Ashfield still remain in 2nd place. Port Glasgow will be disappointed with losing the injury time equaliser however Ashfield did not deserve to lose this Match. It is going to be an excellent run-in which will involve points being dropped by many teams.

FULL TIME:- ASHFIELD 2 PORT GLASGOW 2

Man of the Match:- Jamie Reilly - A fantastic display from the Ashfield stopper, he was awesome in the challenge and capped it off with his 1st ever Junior goal.

Attendance:- Approx. 100

Photographs by:- Inga

More Pictures of this game can be seen at the Gallery, please click here

Glasgow Evening Report on here: http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/display.var.2175698.0.0.php