Ashford Scorers:
Kevin Cuffe (2)
Ashford 3’s were victorious in a hard fought game against strong opposition whose performance belied their position in the league. The first half was a close encounter with both teams having opportunities without result, in fairness Phoenix probably had the better of the half but the Ashford defence was resolute enough to go in at 0-0. Ashford’s best chances were from aerials by Branty to Oli ‘Holiday’ Wilson but the Phoenix keeper was quick to snuff them out.
As happened last week the team emerged from half time as a different side and took the game to Phoenix, the midfield players were starting to have a little wobble here and there, the defence were first to most tackles and the game was played in the Phoenix half for the first 10 minutes.
The breakthrough came from a short corner when Ashford’s own magazine pin up Kevin Cuffe scored from a lucky deflection off the defenders stick with a well struck shot. A few minutes later some good interplay in the midfield resulted in the Phoenix keeper rushing from his line and not winning the ball which gave Cuffe the opportunity to bag a second. Phoenix rallied from this point but the defence remained strong until a poor umpiring decision (as admitted by the umps post match!!) gave Phoenix a goal. The final few minutes were mostly defending but Ashford held out for a deserved victory.
