Visitors Ashton United put yet another dent in the survival hopes of Stalybridge Celtic, defeating the home side 4-1 at Bower Fold on Saturday (25 March).

The home side started the game brightly, with striker Raul Correia finding some space down the right who looked certain to score, but the forward was denied by a stunning last-ditch slide tackle from United skipper Sam Baird.

The hosts continued to create, and in the eighth minute they took the lead through debutant Curtis Morrison, after he latched onto a scooped through ball over the Ashton United, defence before taking it around the onrushing goalkeeper and passing it into the empty net.   

After the goal the away side began to grow into the game, creating numerous chances in quick succession, the first a left-footed shot from new signing Lewis Thompson which Celtic goalkeeper Joe O’Shaughnessy dealt with well, sticking out a leg to deny the United man at his near post. Moments later, the ball fell to United’s number eight Dale Whitham, who unleashed a curling shot from the edge of the box that flew just wide of the right-hand post.

Next came the visitors’ best chance of the half, when the ball fell to Adam Porter inside the Celtic six-yard box after a cross in from Jason Gilchrist was not cleared properly by the home side, with the goal gaping Porter stabbed the ball goalwards but was unable to find the target, with the ball cannoning back off the post. It was a chance that looked harder to miss than score.

After the flurry of chances it seemed a matter of time before Ashton broke down the Celtic defence and on the half-hour mark they did just that through captain Sam Baird, who volleyed in a superb corner from Nathan Lowe to draw the visitors level.

Seconds later came one of the strangest red card incidents you are likely to see all year, after an altercation between Celtic defender Kyle Harrison and his own goalkeeper Joe O’Shaughnessy in the aftermath of the equaliser resulted in Harrison receiving a straight red card for his actions. The pair seemed to exchange words before Harrison seemed to grab O’Shaughnessy by the throat before attempting to throw a punch at his teammate. The pair were split up before the referee gave Harrison his marching orders. An utterly bizarre situation, which left Celtic with the tough task of playing the remainder of the match with ten men.

Despite being on the back foot, the hosts responded well, with a chance falling to veteran Chris Dagnall on the edge of the box moments later, but the forward seemed to lean back a touch which cause his left-footed volley to sail way over the crossbar.

Just after, Celtic debutant Morrison was played in down the right flank and looked to be in on goal before he was brought down by defender Sam Baird in what looked to be a denial of a goalscoring opportunity by the United man. Despite the bemusement of the Celtic players and staff, the referee decided not to show Baird a red card and the incident went unpunished, the free kick led to nothing, and the half-time whistle was blown.

The visitors flew out of the blocks at the start of the second half and looked like they had a point to prove, putting the home side under pressure from the first whistle. Just five minutes into the half came a golden chance for United, when striker Jason Gilchrist made a well-timed run in behind the Celtic backline and was found with a perfectly weighted pass, now one on one with the goalkeeper, Gilchrist opted to take the ball around him rather than taking on the shot, but a heavy touch sent the ball out of play for a goal-kick, a good chance spurned.

Minutes later Ashton were in again, this time down the right-hand side with George Milner, who cut the ball back to Dale Whitham on the edge of the box, his shot was deflected and flew out for a corner.

It was from the resulting corner that United took the lead, the ball was swung in from the right by Nathan Lowe and was met by defender Sam Baird who rose the highest to head the ball goalwards, his header was parried away by the goalkeeper but only as far as Jack McKay, who turned in the rebound to give United the lead, which they will feel they fully deserved.

The home side then turned to the bench for some inspiration, as they looked for a comeback, bringing on forward DJ Pedro moments after Ashton took the lead. The on-loan Salford City man was involved straight away, as a flick-on from Raul Correa fell to him inside the Ashton box, his side-footed volley produced a fine save from Thomas Scott in the United goal, a save that proved to be crucial for his side.  

Moments later came another superb run from George Milner who dribbled past three men before playing it through to winger Jack McKay down the right, who was too quick for Celtic left-back Anis Zaknoune, with the defender mistiming his tackle on the forward and bringing him down in the box, resulting in the referee pointing to the spot. Nathan Lowe stepped up to take the penalty and made no mistake with the finish, side-footing the ball into the bottom right corner, giving the goalkeeper no chance of saving it.

Things would get even worse for the hosts as United got another, four minutes from time, when Dale Whitham’s cut back was turned in by Adam Porter, for Ashton’s fourth, and his first goal for the club.

The match finished 4-1 and meant that Ashton United moved up to 13th in the table, after winning their third match in a row. As for Stalybridge Celtic, this was their second loss on the bounce, which meant that they remain in 18th place, just one point above the drop zone, with a real six-pointer coming up against Marske United next week, the team two places below them in the table. 

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