Robins Fly Away With The Manchester Premier Cup

Manchester Premier Cup Final: Ashton United 1-0 Hyde United

Ashton United won the Manchester Premier Cup for the first time since 2003 following an all-action encounter at Broadhurst Park.

After a perfectly observed minute’s silence in memory of George Melling and Sam Harding, the action got underway in the most sensational style imaginable as returning captain Michael Brewster’s pass into the area gave Ben Hardcastle a clear sight of goal from where he calmly slotted home on his left foot all in the first 15 seconds.

Brewster’s evening was to end prematurely as he pulled his hamstring within the first ten minutes and was joined on the sidelines by Sam Sheridan shortly afterwards with a similar injury.

Hyde themselves were without centre forward Jack Dyche who was cup-tied but they were soon in the action as Bradley Roscoe cleared the stand from 25-yards after latching on to a clearance.

Harry Coates’ headed clearance then brought a wild effort out of Tom Pratt before Hardcastle made a fantastic run into the area and saw his shot eventually blocked - Jack Redshaw then suffered the same fate on the rebound.

A crossfield pass then saw Pratt win a corner off Harry Spratt, Lewis Earl then headed Callum Spooner’s deep delivery into the side netting.

A header back across goal next saw Jordan Fagbola’s header clawed away by Greg Hartley who also saved the follow up at the near post.

Coates made a brave block in the area before Pratt fired the rebound wide and at the other end, Florian Yonsian chased a ball into the area and went down under Fagbola’s challenge but the referee was unmoved.

The centre forward tricked his way past Fagbola before firing comfortably wide of the far post.

With the pressure on the Ashton goal increasing towards the end of the first period, a long throw-in from Harry Ditchfield saw Ekow Coker’s clearing header volleyed against the bar by Sam Peplow and Coker’s touch in front of the Hyde ‘keeper sent the ball wide of goal after Coates had headed Cole Lonsdale’s free-kick across goal.

The second half opened with Jordan Simpson picking up a booking for challenging Joe Green as he was clearing the ball, the ‘keeper needing lengthy treatment leading to 9 minutes being added on to the 90.

Midway through the half, Redshaw progressed to the byline only to be brought down by Ditchfield with Mr Wyatt again unwilling to make the award and two minutes later Simpson’s superb pass set Yonsian free and he cut back onto his left foot before firing an effort which glanced away off the top of the crossbar.

Yonsian then won a free-kick from Roscoe which saw Coates fire straight at Green from Lonsdale’s delivery, and a break at the other end which looked potentially offside saw Pratt continue and fire wide from a narrow-angle.

Another quick counter ended with Cole Lonsdale’s last-ditch tackle preventing Edward Brown from collecting Pratt’s pullback.      

With the end of normal time looming, substitute Jack Sherratt was denied at the near post for the Tigers from Peplow’s cross and Earl provided a neat finish on a long ball with the offside flag raised.

As if the crowd hadn’t seen enough excitement, in added time Peplow’s cross saw Jonah Mitchell’s glancing header come back off the far post for Hartley to grab the rebound and Ashton to get a hold on the trophy. Congratulations should go to both teams for a wonderful night’s entertainment.

Team: Hartley, Spratt, Lonsdale, Sheridan (Ntalu 20, Baird 90), Coates, Coker, Hardcastle, Brewster (Simpson 10), Yonsian, Redshaw, Tomsett. SNU: Hunt, Bentham.