The pitch was the big talking point as we arrived at the Peugeot Ashfield Stadium on Saturday as there had been a substantial amount of rain in the Glasgow area over the last 36 hours, however the Park , although heavy was playable and the eagerly anticipated Match between 2nd and 3rd in the Table went ahead. Ashfield had the same line up that despatched seven past Ardeer Thistle with Graeme Hearton still missing through suspension. Well, If you had been a late arriver at the Match you would have certainly missed some action as straight from the Kick-Off the ball was played into the Ashfield box with Watt getting ahead of the advancing Farquhar in the Ashfield goal with Referee McDonald pointing to the spot within the first 30 seconds. Ashfield did appeal that there was not much contact however the Referee was having none of it. Ashfield`s new Keeper from Islavale produced a terrific one handed save to palm away Ian Watt`s effort and the game remained all square. It was Ashfield`s turn to forage forward and a succession of corners caused alarm in the visiting defence however it was the visitors who broke the deadlock after 4 minutes when Colin Leverage was adjudged to have passed the ball back to the `field Keeper. As the players lined up on the goal line it was difficult to see how Lanark could score however the ball was pulled back to Lawson who drilled the ball between flying Ashfield players and into the back of the net. Ashfield 0 Lanark Utd 1. A blow for the home side who set about trying to equalise straight away and again a succession of corners were dealt with by the Lanark defence however the ball broke to Ashfield left back Alan Cairns who lofted the ball to the far post only to see Ciaran Friel`s downward header blocked on the goal line and eventually scrambled clear. With many of the home side in attack, Lanark broke at pace and a ball was played over the back four where Declan Lafferty evaded the offside trap to lob the ball over the advancing Keeper and put the visitors further ahead after 10 mins. Ashfield 0 Lanark Utd 2. The visiting supporters and players celebrated as this was to prove a vital goal for Lanark. The home side had a `mountain to climb` however set about it in the right manner utilising the flanks well and causing problems at set-pieces. It was a pretty open affair and the next goal was vital and for the home faithful it turned out to be Ashfield. The goal came from route 1 with Cameron Farquhar clearing his lines, the ball was met by Player/Manager Paul Maxwell who guided the ball into the path of striker Keigan Parker who let the ball bounce once before despatching an unstoppable drive into the far corner of the net to the delight of the home support. Ashfield 1 Lanark Utd 2. It was `game on` now and both teams went `hammer and tongs` at each other for the remaining half. ? HT:- Ashfield 1 Lanark Utd 2 ? It had been a pulsating first half and the home side showed in the early stages of the second half that there were determined to get level and although the visitors pace was a real problem, it was the `field that carved out the best chances in the next half hour with the Lanark Keeper in fine form. Paul Maxwell and CIaran Friel came close with headers and then after a terrific move the ball was played through to Keigan Parker who lofted the ball over the advancing keeper only to see it agonisingly land on top of the net. The `field were forced into a couple of substitutions with Billy Stevenson back from injury trying to keep the pressure on however as the park became heavier it was difficult to get much cohesion and with 12 minutes left on the clock, it was the visitors who effectively `put the game to bed` following a bad clearance out of defence. The ball was picked up by Ex-Carluke Rovers striker, Ian Watt and the pacey forward evaded a couple of tackles before drilling the ball low and hard into the far corner of the net to send the travelling support wild. A very good finish but again it was self inflicted from Ashfield. Ashfield 1 Lanark Utd 3. This goal `knocked the stuffing` out of Ashfield who had put in an excellent shift up to that point and it was the visitors that looked more like adding to their tally and as the Referee brought proceedings to a close, it was the visitors that `leapfrogged` Lesmahagow to take over at the top of the League. Ashfield now have a few vital games in the coming weeks to try and move away from the `chasing pack` of Carluke Rovers and Vale of Leven as the `field head to the `seaside`next week to take on Saltcoats Victoria at Campbell Park on the 29th December - KO 1.45pm......`mon the `field !
