Buildbase FA Vase Third Round - 1874 Northwich 2 Ashton Athletic 0
Sat 2nd December 2017 | FA Challenge Vase | By Ian Templeman
1874 Northwich booked a place in the Fourth Round of the FA Vase for the first time in their history, with a 2-0 win over fellow Premier Division side Ashton Athletic.
A Ryan Mitchell header on the half hour mark gave the Greens the half time advantage in what had been a closely contested first half of few chances.
The visitors began the second half well, and had their moments in front of goal.
But once substitute Jake Parker doubled 1874's advantage midway through the second half, the Greens never looked like losing the game.
1874 now go into the last 32 of the competition as the League's sole representatives.
1874 Northwich joint-manager Paul Bowyer said:
"We didn't feel we played as well as we could do today, but the important thing is that we made it into the next round.
"I thought we dug in well and defended really well to a man, and in the end i think we deserved the win.
"We were up against a really good Ashton side who have had some good results in cups themselves, but their keeper pulled off two or three fantastic saves, and if it hadn't been for that the score could have been higher.
"It was in the balance at half time, and they came out and played very well in the first 10-15 minutes of the second half and we were on the back foot a bit. But we said at half time, don't think it's over as this Ashton side will keep going and we had to make sure we took our opportunities.
"The second goal came at a great time, it was a really good time to score, with Jake just having come on, and we were able to see the game out from there.
"It's great for the club to be at this stage of the competition. It's been fantastic this season to have had so many cup games, and now to be the sole team representing the league in the Vase.
"We'd fancy ourselves against anyone, although some of the lads have said it would be nice to have an away trip, maybe down south against a team we've never played. But we'll see what the draw brings".
It was a game which took a while to warm up, and the opening half hour produced little in the way of clear cut chances, aside of a shot in the 4th minute from 1874's Adam Whitlock that was well saved by Martin Pearson in the Ashton goal.
But on the half hour, the home side broke the deadlock when Scott McGowan swung in a free kick that was met by Ryan Mitchell, the big centre half evading his marker to steer a glancing header into the far corner of the net.
But on the stroke of half time, Ashton came close to drawing level when a fine passing move ended with a shot from Daniel Regan just missing the target.
The second half began in lively fashion with chances at both ends in the opening minutes.
Ashton's Regan was unlucky with a shot across the face of goal that evaded attackers and defenders alike, while at the other end a terrific double save from Martin Pearson in the Ashton goal kept his side in the game.
First, he reacted well to push a stinging shot from Mark Jones over the bar, and then from the resulting corner, Jack Pritchard struck a low shot that was heading for the bottom corner before Pearson got a strong hand on the ball to push it away to safety.
But the introduction of Jake Parker as substitute proved to be a masterstroke by the 1874 management team, as within minutes he doubled his side's advantage with a shot across the keeper into the far corner of the net.
Buildbase FA Vase Third Round - 1874 Northwich 2 Ashton Athletic 0
Sat 2nd December 2017 | FA Challenge Vase
By Ian Templeman
1874 Northwich booked a place in the Fourth Round of the FA Vase for the first time in their history, with a 2-0 win over fellow Premier Division side Ashton Athletic.
A Ryan Mitchell header on the half hour mark gave the Greens the half time advantage in what had been a closely contested first half of few chances.
The visitors began the second half well, and had their moments in front of goal.
But once substitute Jake Parker doubled 1874's advantage midway through the second half, the Greens never looked like losing the game.
1874 now go into the last 32 of the competition as the League's sole representatives.
1874 Northwich joint-manager Paul Bowyer said:
"We didn't feel we played as well as we could do today, but the important thing is that we made it into the next round.
"I thought we dug in well and defended really well to a man, and in the end i think we deserved the win.
"We were up against a really good Ashton side who have had some good results in cups themselves, but their keeper pulled off two or three fantastic saves, and if it hadn't been for that the score could have been higher.
"It was in the balance at half time, and they came out and played very well in the first 10-15 minutes of the second half and we were on the back foot a bit. But we said at half time, don't think it's over as this Ashton side will keep going and we had to make sure we took our opportunities.
"The second goal came at a great time, it was a really good time to score, with Jake just having come on, and we were able to see the game out from there.
"It's great for the club to be at this stage of the competition. It's been fantastic this season to have had so many cup games, and now to be the sole team representing the league in the Vase.
"We'd fancy ourselves against anyone, although some of the lads have said it would be nice to have an away trip, maybe down south against a team we've never played. But we'll see what the draw brings".
It was a game which took a while to warm up, and the opening half hour produced little in the way of clear cut chances, aside of a shot in the 4th minute from 1874's Adam Whitlock that was well saved by Martin Pearson in the Ashton goal.
But on the half hour, the home side broke the deadlock when Scott McGowan swung in a free kick that was met by Ryan Mitchell, the big centre half evading his marker to steer a glancing header into the far corner of the net.
But on the stroke of half time, Ashton came close to drawing level when a fine passing move ended with a shot from Daniel Regan just missing the target.
The second half began in lively fashion with chances at both ends in the opening minutes.
Ashton's Regan was unlucky with a shot across the face of goal that evaded attackers and defenders alike, while at the other end a terrific double save from Martin Pearson in the Ashton goal kept his side in the game.
First, he reacted well to push a stinging shot from Mark Jones over the bar, and then from the resulting corner, Jack Pritchard struck a low shot that was heading for the bottom corner before Pearson got a strong hand on the ball to push it away to safety.
But the introduction of Jake Parker as substitute proved to be a masterstroke by the 1874 management team, as within minutes he doubled his side's advantage with a shot across the keeper into the far corner of the net.
