Winning streak

After a mini break Ashford 3's headed to Abingdon in good spirits and reinforced by the experience of Baker, Merchant and Berressem. The match began with the same high press and energy used against Windsor, this despite a puzzling start with Harvey Bray passing the ball to the opposition at the pushback. The Abingdon goalie however proved an obstacle with some good saves. The breakthrough came from a short corner where it was initially blocked twice before Elliot Symes casually tapped in a rebound for his 2nd goal of the season. Abingdon though soon brought the game to Ashford but due to excellent man marking from the back line Abingdon resorted to a series of hopeful, but futile, aerials in an attempt to find a way through. This despite Ashford being temporarily down to 9 men due to receiving yellow and green cards.

The second half saw a lot of intense action with the match going end to end. Ashford kept breaking into the Abingdon D but were unable to find the decisive goal. Abingdon kept up the pressure in the Ashford half that saw them hit the post. With 10 mins to go Abingdon thought they had a chance to equalise. After picking up a loose ball they were able to hit a rising shot that hit Jimmy Berressem in the midriff, a p-flick being the result. The flick went to the bottom right but thankfully so did goalie Andrew Ritchie who got a strong right hand to it much to Ashford's relief and Abingdon's dismay. Despite a final 10 minutes where any result was possible, Ashford held on for 1-0 to keep up a 100% win rate and earn a 2nd consecutive clean sheet.

MOM - Andrew Ritchie
DOD - Harvey Bray for giving the ball to the opposition at pushback