Emirates FA Cup 2nd Qual. Round - Albion Sports 0 Ashton Athletic 4
Sun 17th September 2017 | FA Challenge Cup | By Ian Templeman
Ashton Athletic have yet another memorable cup day to put in their history books, after a fantastic 4-0 win at Albion Sports in the Second Qualifying Round of the Emirates FA Cup.
A hat trick from Josh Nicholson was the highlight of an afternoon which secures a place in the Third Qualifying Round for the first time in their history, and it was a game to remember for everyone involved at the club.
The opening half hour was an evenly matched affair, with the Northern Counties East League hosts enjoying an equal share of possession, but Athletic broke the deadlock soon afterwards from a great move down the right, which finished with Josh Nicholson firing home the opener from a Joel Brownhill assist.
But the game really turned in Athletic's favour in a five minute spell early in the second half, when they scored three times to put the game out of reach.
First, Nicholson doubled the Yellows advantage with his second of the afternoon, once again from a Joel Brownhill assist, and three minutes later Brownhill got in on the action himself when he put the Yellows 3-0 ahead.
Nicholson then rounded off a great afternoon by making it 4-0 to Ashton and completing his hat trick.
Afterwards, Athletic's joint-management team of Jay Foulds and Dougie Pitts reflected on the afternoon's events.
Jay: "We did our homework on them, although it was a bit of a sloppy start from us, but we got the breakthrough just before half time.
"We were frustrated by the opening 45 minutes and at half time the team got a bit of a telling off, shall we say, and the words were still ringing in the ears when they came out for the second half.
"We scored again about ten minutes into the second half and then caught them again cold, and then another one soon after, and that was game over then.
"Credit to Albion Sports, the front two they had caused us problems, but in the end I feel our class told although we did make hard work of it.
"The score line maybe does flatter us a little bit, but at the end of the day when you look on the websites and in the papers it will say 4-0 and we'll take that.
"It was a great day for Josh Nicholson, he's one of the new lads we brought in, he's only a young lad and this morning he was working as well. He couldn't get the team coach, he had to go straight there and drove over himself with his girlfriend.
"He's been a big player for us, not just today but the whole season and fair play to him, he deserved that today".
Dougie: "First half, if we are honest, we were a bit lucky to come in 1-0 up, because they were strong going forward but we defended really well.
"But we nicked one just before half time, and obviously that meant they were going to chase the game and they opened up a little bit.
"Scoring just after half time was a great time to get one, and then getting another one a couple of minutes later, and a fourth just after that killed the game.
"But to be fair to them, they kept coming at us and we defended well.
"Last year we did well in the FA Cup (getting to the Second Qualifying Round), and now this year we have gone one better.
"The lads have done a great job and will deserve a few beers tonight.
"We're made up for 1874 Northwich too, both clubs have done really well".
Emirates FA Cup 2nd Qual. Round - Albion Sports 0 Ashton Athletic 4
Sun 17th September 2017 | FA Challenge Cup
By Ian Templeman
Ashton Athletic have yet another memorable cup day to put in their history books, after a fantastic 4-0 win at Albion Sports in the Second Qualifying Round of the Emirates FA Cup.
A hat trick from Josh Nicholson was the highlight of an afternoon which secures a place in the Third Qualifying Round for the first time in their history, and it was a game to remember for everyone involved at the club.
The opening half hour was an evenly matched affair, with the Northern Counties East League hosts enjoying an equal share of possession, but Athletic broke the deadlock soon afterwards from a great move down the right, which finished with Josh Nicholson firing home the opener from a Joel Brownhill assist.
But the game really turned in Athletic's favour in a five minute spell early in the second half, when they scored three times to put the game out of reach.
First, Nicholson doubled the Yellows advantage with his second of the afternoon, once again from a Joel Brownhill assist, and three minutes later Brownhill got in on the action himself when he put the Yellows 3-0 ahead.
Nicholson then rounded off a great afternoon by making it 4-0 to Ashton and completing his hat trick.
Afterwards, Athletic's joint-management team of Jay Foulds and Dougie Pitts reflected on the afternoon's events.
Jay: "We did our homework on them, although it was a bit of a sloppy start from us, but we got the breakthrough just before half time.
"We were frustrated by the opening 45 minutes and at half time the team got a bit of a telling off, shall we say, and the words were still ringing in the ears when they came out for the second half.
"We scored again about ten minutes into the second half and then caught them again cold, and then another one soon after, and that was game over then.
"Credit to Albion Sports, the front two they had caused us problems, but in the end I feel our class told although we did make hard work of it.
"The score line maybe does flatter us a little bit, but at the end of the day when you look on the websites and in the papers it will say 4-0 and we'll take that.
"It was a great day for Josh Nicholson, he's one of the new lads we brought in, he's only a young lad and this morning he was working as well. He couldn't get the team coach, he had to go straight there and drove over himself with his girlfriend.
"He's been a big player for us, not just today but the whole season and fair play to him, he deserved that today".
Dougie: "First half, if we are honest, we were a bit lucky to come in 1-0 up, because they were strong going forward but we defended really well.
"But we nicked one just before half time, and obviously that meant they were going to chase the game and they opened up a little bit.
"Scoring just after half time was a great time to get one, and then getting another one a couple of minutes later, and a fourth just after that killed the game.
"But to be fair to them, they kept coming at us and we defended well.
"Last year we did well in the FA Cup (getting to the Second Qualifying Round), and now this year we have gone one better.
"The lads have done a great job and will deserve a few beers tonight.
"We're made up for 1874 Northwich too, both clubs have done really well".
