Ascot make it three on the trot with 2-1 win
Ascot United moved up to seventh and level on points with fifth-placed Hanworth Villa after impressively beating Hayes and Yeading 2-1 on Saturday. The Yellamen struck two quick-fire goals just after the hour mark and then comfortably held on to record a third consecutive win even after the visitors had cut the arrears in the 75th minute.
Play-off chasers go head to head
The two sides had drawn the reverse fixture 2-2 thanks to Harry Grant’s late leveller for Ascot, and fast-forward just over a month and they found themselves in a cluttered bunch of teams vying for the play-offs; three points separating fourth and tenth.
Ben Harris started in what was an otherwise identical side to that which had won on the road last week, whereas the visitors’ starting line-up included experienced striker Adrian Clifton, and ex-Premier league player Jordon Ibe.
The Yellamen had won their last two, United were unbeaten in five, and the stage was set for what transpired to be a close affair.
Chances for both sides at either end of half
All of the meaningful action came at the start and end of a first period where both teams seemed hell-bent on gifting possession to each other in the middle of it.
Harris would curl agonisingly wide of the left-hand post with only 100 seconds on the clock, before United’s Jonathan Hippolyte’s thumping volley fizzed wide of the top-right at the other end in the third minute.
Then came a long spell of huff and puff, before the half reached a crescendo where Ibe’s shot deflected wide after he had met Hippolyte’s cross from the left, although George Sippetts had earlier done well to skip clear of two Ascot defenders on the other flank to set up the opportunity.
That came with ten minutes of the half remaining, although it was Ascot who might have led at the break only for Sean Fraser to volley over at full stretch from Harry Grant’s dangerous free kick. And, they came even closer in stoppage time when Harris’s flick was almost turned in by Josh Edwards after Khalid Simmo had unpicked the visiting defence for Chad Goulter to cut the ball across the area.
Patient Yellamen eventually break through United’s rearguard
Ascot would eventually get their reward just after the hour mark following a fine move that oozed patience. Simmo and Igozouln were both involved, the latter attempting a cross, but in the recycled play Grant picked out Igozouln, and he drilled a low cross into the proverbial mixer that Sean McCormack slammed first time into the roof of the net; although if he hadn’t done so then Harris in close proximity certainly would have.
Igozouln was injured in providing the assist, although in replacement Aiden Payne-James, manager Jamie Tompkins had unleashed a wasp from its bottle.
Payne-James would immediately make a nuisance of himself, turning almost full circle in the build up to the next goal, although it was man-of-the-match Harry Grant’s ball over the top that teed it up. Payne-James then delivered the cross of the match, Harris timed his run perfectly at the far post, before sliding in to convert first-time and send the majority of the 283-strong crowd into dreamland (celebrating, shooting-stars.co.uk).
Hayes threaten unlikely comeback; Scott strong again
The visitors were a disjointed shadow of their true potential and Ibe’s substitution summed up his afternoon, although United’s replacements did help catalyse what might have been a better comeback than it ultimately was.
They cut the arrears with fifteen minutes remaining, although the goal itself owed as much to Simmo losing possession from Fraser’s short free-kick on the half-way line; 35-year-old Montserrat international Clifton pouncing to play the ball over the top for Sippetts, who held off his marker well before slotting past Mark Scott.
Scott then stood up well to save from Hippolyte in a similar position, and even though there was plenty of time for the visitors to force an equaliser, their only real chance came from Sippett’s deflected cross that might have gone anywhere; fortunately for the home side it looped just over Scott’s crossbar.
Earlier, Harris had departed after an excellent 75 minute shift – new boy Harvey Harry coming on for a decent display up top – and Ollie Lahtinen Kalsi’s introduction would make him the latest half-centurion on Ascot’s appearance roster.
The Yellamen then saw out six official added minutes and more, before lapping up the appreciation on the terraces as they exited stage left.
What’s next for Ascot?
Ascot are at home on Tuesday evening when they welcome Milton United to The Racecourse for a Berks and Bucks County Cup tie, having already beaten the visitors in their season-opening Emirates FA Cup qualifier.
Ascot United: Scott, Goulter, Jones, Fraser, Edwards, Grant, McCormack (Butler 82’), Simmo (Lahtinen-Kalsi 82’), Holland (Lalustani 90+4’), Igozouln (Payne-James 61’), Harris (Harry 75’). Sub unused: Swyer
Entertainment: 4
Reporter’s Star Man: Harry Grant (Ascot United)
Away fans (estimate): 40