It was another sunny day in Lanarkshire as both teams served up a cracker of a Match with the game swinging from end to end. This fixture is always a close affair and this encounter was no different right up until the 5th minute of injury time. It was the home side that produced the goods in the first 25 minutes playing some terrific pacy Football in which Ashfield did well to hold on and perhaps we could say that this won the game for the visitors by not conceding during the `yowes` early onslaught. The `field were sporting their away strip of Yellow and Black however as the game started they struggled to stem the flow of pressure coming from the home side who were playing with two wingers and offensive runners from Midfield and on the 4th Minute, Ian Watt was played through and despite a valliant effort from Centre Back Gordon Passmore contact was made and the Referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. The prolific Ex-Carluke Centre Ian Watt drilled the ball low and hard however the ball was pushed out by the Ashfield Keeper who managed a further save to deny on rebound.
A let-off for the `field and great double save by John Mullen, who thwarted Lanark minutes later blocking a net bound effort with his legs. A number of corners were well defended by the `field as the Ashfield Management Team made a number of tactical changes and as the half wore on the `field managed to get into their stride. The home side were given a warning on 25 minutes when a lovely move saw young Graeme Hearton played through by Keigan Parker however his driven shot was well blocked by the Lanark Keeper however 4 minutes later and the home side were picking the ball out of the net after a wonderfully worked goal from Ashfield. Again Keigan Parker was instrumental with a lovely ball to the far post which was met by the head of Ciaran Friel and the Ashfield Captain headed back across goal finding Graeme Hearton who drove the ball in for his 4th goal of the Season. Lanark Utd 0 Ashfield 1. This was a blow for the home side as they set up trying to draw level and within 5 minutes they had after a tremendous effort from Kerr who with his back to goal at te edge of the box swilled and drove the ball into the top corner of the net despite a great effort from the Ashfield Keeper. Lanark Utd 1 Ashfield 1. The game began to open out after that and both teams went in at the interval all square. HT:- Lanark Utd 1 Ashfield 1.
The second half was a different `kettle of fish` as the visitors put in a tremendous 45 minutes and eventually secured the victory 12 minutes from time. Before that the game was played at a great pace and the young Ashfield substiutes of Leverage, McLaughlin and Goodall made a great impact to the game and it was from this source that the winner came from as the ball was played down to Dean Leverage and as the young midfielder controlled the ball, he then delivered an inch perfect cross to the onrushing Gavin Goodall who got ahead of the Lanark back four and guided the ball into the corner of the net to the delight of the players, management and travelling fans. Lanark Utd 1 Ashfield 2. Both teams had plenty of pressure in the final minutes with the `field being denied a free-Kick when the Lanark Keeper picked up the ball outside his box before Referee brought proceedings to a close. A tremendous victory for Ashfield against a very good Lanark side and both teams on this display will be at the top end of the table if they keep this form up. FT:- Lanark Utd 1 Ashfield 2.
