St Rochs 0 Ashfield F & A C 3 - Provanmill Park, Glasgow.



Ashfield made the short journey to Provanmill Park this afternoon to face the 'candy rock'. Ashfield were looking to maintain their unbeaten start to the season while St Rochs were looking to pick up some valuable points.

St Rochs ran out in all green, Ashfield wore their traditional black and white hoops. Ashfield took the game to St Rochs and almost scored in the 1st minute. Good passing ended up with Tony Chalmers unleashing a bullet of a shot which was well turned round the post from the St Rochs goalkeeper.

St Rochs then settled and played some nice football and were taking the game to Ashfield. The game was played at a 'cup tie' pace with neither side taking a grip on the game. Ashfield almost opened the scoring after 30mins, Maxwell and Chalmers harrassed the 'Rock ' defence with the latter stealing the ball and sliding the ball round the goalkeeper but it struck the outside of the post and then cleared to safety.

St Rochs then took command of the game towards the end of the 1st half and were awarded a free kick just outside the Ashfield box. The ball was struck sweetly by the St Rochs player and was only denied by the top of the bar...a let off. Ashfield struggled to get to grips with an eager, aggressive St Rochs midfield and the half time whistle was welcomed by the 'field'



Half time: St Rochs 0 Ashfield 0


Ashfield must have had a stern team talk at half time as they produced a very good 2nd half performance. Maxwell and Chalmers started to link up better, Miller and Martin in midfield were overpowering their counterparts and Thomson started to spray his passes.

Eventually the deadlock was broken and it was the 'field' who broke it with a superb run from Maxwell. He picked up the ball just over the half way line and flicked the ball passed the 1st defender. He raced up the line and cut into the box where he was crudely challenged by the St 2nd St Rochs defender. The referee had no option but to point to the spot and award Ashfield a penalty. Maxi dusted himself down and slotted the ball to the keepers left and into the net - St Rochs 0 Ashfield 1




This goal clearly upset St Rochs and the game started to 'flare up'. Challenges were fierce. Gumley replaced Tolland in the Ashfield side. The game erupted after 70mins when a red card was delivered by the referee to a St Rochs player. Miller of Ashfield went into a 50/50 challenge but the St Rochs player went in with 2 feet and studs showing. Miller was in agony as the red card was shown to the St Rochs player.

Ashfield manager Stevie Rankin made a change with approx 10mins to go taking off Chalmers and replacing him with the prolific goalscorer Darren 'Dazzler' O'Donnell. This paid off straight away with O'Donnell scoring almost straight away. Maxwell played a lovely pass over the St Rochs defence which was met by O'Donnell who shrugged off a St Rochs defender and calmly stroked the ball into the roof of the net with his left foot - St Rochs 0 Ashfield 2

Almost 2minutes later St Rochs were down to 9 men, Ashfield's Stevie Martin playing against his old team was involved in a collision with a St Rochs player which resulted in the St Rochs player lashing out at the Ashfield terrier. A straight red was administered by the referee to the St Rochs player with Martin receiving a yellow. St Rochs were clearly outraged by the decision. Alan 'Spider' Smith replaced Ian Garscadden in the Ashfield team.

With 2 mins to go Ashfield sealed the win with a fantastic goal. A fired up Martin received the ball on the right hand side and whipped a vicious cross into the St Rochs box which was met by an onrushing Davie Gumley who speared the ball with his head into the net. St Rochs 0 Ashfield 3



The final whistle sounded and the Ashfield bench and support celebrated. This result puts the 'field' up to 3rd place in the league and gives the support another great saturday!!

Full time: St Rochs 0 Ashfield 3

Attendance: 54

Man of the Match: Stevie Martin - a great perfomance from the Ashfield midfielder!