Following on from our victory over Radcliffe, we now set up a vital “6 pointer” away at Ashton United. There have been a few changes over the last few weeks at Ashton following the departure of manager Jody Banim. He was quickly replaced by the Atherton Collieries manager, Michael Clegg who quickly bought in two players from Atherton, in Michael Brewster and Ben Hardcastle. The Hardcastle transfer broke the record figure paid for a player but is quoted as an undisclosed fee.

Ashton currently lie 19th with 14 points, two more than Rangers in 21st place. Therefore, a Rangers win will take us above Ashton. Both teams have no midweek fixtures so have time to prepare, giving the new Ashton manager time to put forward his new plans for the team. They started well under his control with a narrow 3-2 defeat away at Basford, so we need to put on another Radcliffe performance to secure the points.

Their home record is like our away record as we have both won one and drawn 2. At home Ashton have beaten Gainsborough 3-1 and drawn with Atherton 2-2 and Matlock 1-1. Their 4 defeats have come against Nantwich 0-4, Radcliffe 0-3, Stalybridge 0-2 and Whitby 0-1. Note if Ashton fail to score at home they lose. Let’s hope for a clean sheet but note that their only win was against the current bottom club.

Ashton came into non-league hierarchy in 1992 with promotion from the North West Counties to the Northern Premier League 1, gaining promotion to the Northern Premier League in 2002. 2004 saw promotion to Conference North, but that lasted only for one season, and became the clubs first ever relegation in their history. Last season saw their second season in Conference North, but they returned to the Northern Premier league with another relegation. They were tipped for a quick return but find themselves, like us, deep in a relegation battle.

In recent years Hurst Cross has not been a happy hunting ground for us, with defeats, 0-4 in 2013/14, 1-2 in 2016/17 and 0-1 in 2017/18. However, our first three visits saw us gain points, 2-1 in 2004/05, 5-1 in 2011/12 and a 0-0 draw 2012/13. Let’s us hope we can reverse the current trend.

Those travelling by car you need sat nav of OL6 8DY to find Hurst Cross, Surrey Street, Ashton Under Lyne. Please note that there is limited street parking around the ground. Railway travellers can enjoy a tram ride from Manchester Piccadilly, but you will have a good 30-minute walk from the terminus at Ashton.

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Results on December 14th this century

2002 Crawley A 4-2 Southern League
2004 Stalybridge H 3-2 Conference North
2013 Barwell A 0-2 Northern Premier League

No game this Saturday so I advise fans to do their Christmas shopping as we have some important league games coming up in December. So, with no game our next fixture is next Wednesday (yes note, a Wednesday fixture) away at Stone Old Alleynians in the Staffs Senior Cup.

I am sure Chris Elseley will put us right, but I do not think we have ever played Stone Old Alleynians in a competitive match. I am aware of two visits to Yarnfield, but these may have been pre-season games and might also have been the other Stone team, Stone Dominoes.

The club’s name derives from its foundation in 1962 with a team of former pupils, with some teachers and current pupils, of Alleyne’s Grammar. They entered the Stafford Amateur League division 4 [later to become the Mid Staffs League] and moved up the divisions leading to 1965/66 by becoming champions of Division II. 1971/72 saw them become division 1 champions, a feat repeated 3 times more that decade. A brief flirtation with the North Staffs Alliance saw them enter division 2 of the West Midlands League in 2007 and promotion secured to Division 1 in 2010. In the season 2014/15 they were runners up in WMRL Division 1 and promoted to the Premier Division.

Stone Old Alleynians were moved to the NWCFL for the 2018-19 season as part of the FA’s reorganisation of non-league football. This inaugural season in the league saw the Old Boys competing throughout the season towards the top of the league, eventually finishing in third place and just missing out on promotion. In the Staffs Senior Cup, the team progressed through to a quarter-final tie against Stoke City U23 in front of a record crowd of 280, unluckily losing 1-0 to an Oliver Shenton goal.

Stone Old Alleynians currently lie third in the division (step 6) having won 5of their 10 home games this season. They are managed by Wayne Brotherton who recently replace Jamie Cullerton (son of Rangers legend Mick Cullerton). In their squad they include former Rangers left sided player Oliver Davies and I believe there may be a link with their keeper Adam Alcock. Stone’s highest home gate this season is 78, so let’s hope we can give them a big gate and try to beat their club record of 280.

For those travelling, the post code for Wellbeing Park, Yarnfield Lane is ST15 0NF. See you there.

Please remember that our next home game is Radcliffe on December 7th

Games played on 4th December this century
2004 Southport H 1-1 Conference North
2012 Buxton H 2-2 Northern Premier League
2018 Marine H 1-1 Northern Premier League Cup round 3 (won 4-2 on penalties)