Written by Kevin Goodwin:
Ashley FC continued their quest of reaching the GFA Junior Cup final with a 3-1 away victory at Bikkle Sports of the Bristol and Suburban League. Player manager Michael Chappell opened the scoring, before the hosts equalised and were on top until Paul Freeman denied them with a penalty save. On the stroke of half-time, Will Freeman headed home to make it 2-1, before Chappell forced an own goal from the Bikkle defence during the second-half. Ashley had two half-chances early on with similar scenarios from both blanks; Chris Barrett and then Will Freeman saw crosses rattle the woodwork before being cleared to safety. At the other-end, P. Freeman saw a shot flash past his far post from the right-wing. Barnes then headed a corner over before Chappell opened the scoring. A deep cross from W. Freeman looked to be bread and butter for the home 'keeper, but he made a mess of it and Chappell capitalised, by knocking the ball past him into the empty net. The hosts responded and looked threatening, as Ashley failed to build on their lead. After a corner was cleared by the home team, they broke at pace, and a long ball over to the right-wing saw their attacker get in behind the defence, before looping a shot over the helpless Paul Freeman. With that goal, Bikkle Sports grew in confidence and they had a number of opportunities to take the lead. The best of these fell to their number 16, after he was felled in the box by Pittman. Luckily for the Ashley, Freeman made a fine save to deny the winger from 12 yards. With that chance missed, it was Ashley who made them pay for being wasteful, when they took the lead in the 44th minute. Good build up play saw Paul Turner, Barrett and Kevin Goodwin combine, with the latter running down the left-wing, going past his man and getting to the byline, where he delivered an inch perfect left-foot cross to Will Freeman, who made no mistake from eight yards with a powerful header. The goal couldn't have come at a better time for Ashley, and they built on this in the second-half, defending resolutely and playing on the counter-attack. Goodwin flashed a right-foot shot past the near-post, after slipping his marker on the left. Other chances fell to Barrett, who couldn't quite make a connection with the ball for a tap in after a cross from the right-hand side. The third goal for Ashley came after a quick break; Turner's long-ball down the right-wing was collected by Chappell, who showed good pace cutting inside his marker, before a second defender's attempt to tackle him launched the ball past their own 'keeper. This gave Ashley breathing space for the final 25 minutes. Bikkle Sports pressed forward but resolute defending denied them, especially with Barnes and Sheridan, who were excellent in the back-line. Will Freeman nearly added a second when a lofted pass over the defence by Goodwin was controlled, but his effort was palmed away. Paul Freeman then made a stunning double save, that David De Gea would be proud of, with minutes remaining to deny the hosts, firstly denying a powerful low shot from inside the box before picking himself up to block the rebound before it was eventually cleared. Ashley progress into the quarter final after a hard working victory against an industrious Bikkle Sports team. Man of the match was given to Barnes after a powerful display at centre-half, whilst Paul Freeman came a close-second for his key saves during the game. Next up for Ashley is the return game against Jersey Rangers; a 1-0 victory courtesy of a James Hosking header back in August opened the season for Ashley.
