Ashfield F & A C 1 St Roch`s 0, Saracen Park, Glasgow - Kick-Off 7pm

Ashfield hit the top of the table tonight after seeing off a very competent St Rochs outit at Saracen Park. The 'field' ran out sporting a new strip of all red with white flashes whilst the 'rock' were in their tradiitional all green tops, shorts and socks.


The match started at a great pace with both sides settling down quickly. St Rochs certainly did not look a side languishing at the bottom of the table and caused problems to the Ashfield defence early on which was dealt with by Alan 'Spider' Smith and Jamie Reilly. The 1st real clear cut chance fell to Ashfield when a long throw was delivered into the penalty box and onto the head of an unmarked Darren O'Donnell. Unfortunately his header narrowly edged past the near post and out of play.



Gordon Passmore then almost broke the deadlock after 30mins when he drilled a low drive goalwards which was spilled by the St Rochs goalkeeper. Tony Chalmers looked certain to score from the rebound but his shot clipped the post and out to safety.


It was not all one way traffic though as St Rochs number 7 made some mazy runs and good set play deliveries and 'rock' were a real threat to the Ashfield defence. Aitchison in the Ashfield goal made some timely catches at a crucial time of the match.

With half time approaching, the visitors should have taken the lead when St Rochs number 7 flicked the ball through to his forward who only had the keeper to beat. He sliced the ball narrowly wide and the teams went in at half time all square.

HALF TIME: ASHFIELD FC 0 ST ROCHS 0

Both teams now looked to win this match as they entered the park for the 2nd half. Ashfield started to take a grip in the midfield early on but St Rochs were battling hard giving no space for fluent football. 'Dazzler' O'Donnell was having an excellent match in the forward line for Ashfield linking up very well with an eager Tony Chalmers.


The game then went slightly scrappy as the referee tightened his grip on the match and blew for almost every challenge made. This suited St Rochs who seemed to be growing in confidence and frustrated Ashfield. However with approx 20mins to go it looked like Ashfield had made that vital breakthrough when good interchange play resulted in Stevie Martin being released down the right hand side of St Rochs penalty box, he lifted an inch perfect cross on to the head of Darren O'Donnell who guided it high in the net.

As the team ran off to celebrate, referee Mr Tait, had deemed the goal to be offside and the jubilation was short lived. A dubious decision but Ashfield came back again shortly. Paul Maxwell picked the ball up in the 'rock' half and entered the box but 'Maxi' sliced it past the post and it looked as if it was of those nights for the Possil outfit.

St Rochs had a great opportunity with 10mins to go when they were awarded a free kick just outside the Ashfield penalty box. The resultant shot was well blocked by a determined Ashfield wall and cleared to safety.

It looked as if that would be the final clear cut chance of the match but Ashfield had other ideas by producing a fantastic winner to the sheer delight of the players and supporters. With 8 minutes to go Ashfield pressed forward and O'Donnell was released down the right hand side of the park, who spotted Mark Thomson who had raced up from his midfield duties. The 'Dazzler' floated a perfect cross to an onrushing Thomson on the penalty spot who powered his header down across the goalkeeper and into the corner of the net!!. Ashfield 1 St Rochs 0.



Ashfield then closed ranks by taking off Tony Chalmers and replacing the pint sized striker with Greig Cross who shored up the midfield area. As much as they tried St Rochs could not break down the Ashfield defence in the last few minutes and referee Tait blew his whistle to end a pulsating match. Amazingly this was the 1st time Ashfield had beaten St Rochs at Saracen Park in almost 4 seasons and this could not have come at such a vital time for a fantastic Ashfield team.

FULL TIME: ASHFIELD FC 1 ST ROCH'S 0

Man of the Match: Many candidates for this match with Mark Thomson, Tony Chalmers, Davie Gumley and Jamie Reilly all having a great game but Darren O'Donnell was a stand out tonight. He was menacing upfront and delivered an inch perfect cross for the winning goal.

ATTENDANCE: Approx 50-60

PHOTOGRAPHS by: Inga, more pictures available on the gallery, PLEASE CLICK HERE