Match Report: Ashton Utd 0 Warrington Rylands 0

The battle between the last two Ashton managers finished all square as Rylands maintained the only unbeaten away record in the Northern Premier League after an entertaining encounter at Hurst Cross.

The visitors were featuring several ex-Robins in their line up but could have gone behind after just 2 minutes as Matty Regan's pass out of defence was intercepted by Alex Byrne who raced into the area before just missing the far post with his right foot effort.

Visiting centre forward Djavan Pedro was then denied in the area from Adama Sidibeh's pass before a short corner saw a sharp turn from Momodou Touray with the ball almost falling to Pedro who was denied close in by Luke Simpson. Ben Hardcastle then cut inside on to his left foot and his snapshot brought a save out of Simpson at his near post and the half closed with Hardcastle bringing a fine tip over out of Simpson after winning a free kick on the edge of the area.

The second period opened with an incredible escape in the visiting defence as Bernardo Couto's run won a corner which saw Jake Charles slide a low effort against the post with the rebound deflecting on to the bar off Byrne before James Hardy was denied at the near post.

Couto then cut inside 2 defenders before seeing his shot blocked and just past the hour Sean Newton's pass out of defence saw a slip leave Byrne a clear sight of goal but having cut inside he curled disappointingly past the far post. Rylands were a constant danger and came closest to opening the scoring a minute later as a quick break saw Touray's square pass hit against the inside of the post by Sidibeh before Newton cleared.

With both sides still searching for a winner Hardcastle advanced before firing a left foot effort comfortably wide and an attempt from a tight angle by Javid Swaby-Neavin forced a palm away by Simpson and the final action saw a great run from Couto lead to sub James Caton sliding his effort too close to Pilling.