10-08-18 – Preview – Harriers Vs Ashton Utd

The Harriers will be meeting up with Ashton Utd for the first time in almost thirty years after we twice played them in the Staffordshire Senior Cup at the start of the 80’s. But that is open to conjecture with confusion over which Ashton we actually played with another similarly named team coming from the Wigan area that no longer exist. In the archive records that I have seen they seem to think it is our opponents tomorrow while others suggest not.

Whatever the answer is it was a long time ago and now we have a game that the result of which will be recorded correctly.

Ashton Utd gained promotion from the Evostick Premier last season when they beat Grantham Town in the play-offs to join Altrincham in the National North. So far in their two games they’ve done very well with a goal less draw at home to Nuneaton Borough on the opening day last Saturday and then amazingly coming from 3-1 down at FC Utd of Manchester on Tuesday evening to record a 4-3 away win.

So they’re not to be taken lightly and may well not be the whipping boys that everyone thought they would be this season. Their manager, Jody Banim, is well known in the Manchester non league circuit and to Harriers fans too following his time with Droylsden when they were in the Conference a few years ago. He seems to have blended a useful team of barely known players around him with probably very few known to many Harriers fans apart from Bohan Dixon once of AFC Fylde and Stockport County. 

For ourselves we have drawn our two opening games and will be looking for our first win of the season tomorrow. A 3-3 thriller at Alfreton Town was followed up with a not so thrilling goal less draw on Tuesday evening at home to AFC Telford Utd. The chances came to score on Tuesday but we didn’t seem to be making much effort to take them although we know that our new look strikeforce can take them.

We’ll more than likely go with the same team again tomorrow that have played in the two opening games with only Ed Wagner, Tom Palmer and Liam Truslove left out of the named sixteen. Wagner is believed to be carrying an injury but, as last season, we are getting no information about Truslove whatsoever. It’s as if he’s the black sheep of the family and not to be mentioned.

So, we have a home game against a new team for us and we’re expected to win. Will that be the case?

Photo © KHFC

Teams:

Harriers from:

Hall, Palmer, Taylor, Horsfall, O’Connor, Digie, Vaughan, R Johnson, Baxendale, Truslove, Weeks, Austin, Wagner, Bradley, Chambers, Daniels, Richards, Williams, Ironside.

Ashton Utd from:

Carnell, Ollerenshaw, Chalmers, Woodford, Olapade, Crowther, Lees, Platt, Roberts, Stachini, Thomsett, A Johnson, Chadwick, Evangelinos, Bakare, McAtee, Regan, Sheridan, Sephton, McHale, Dixon, Anghel, Hill.  

Talk about the game here

Links to Ashton Utd websites here

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