Ardley fail to find a winner at Ascot

Ardley were unfortunate not to come away from Ascot United with a point in Saturday’s premier division clash, going down by a solitary goal at the Racecourse Ground where either side could have won it.

There was little to choose between the teams that began the day fourth from top and fourth from bottom.

Ascot were first out of the blocks with Daryl McLean causing problems for the Ardley rearguard by getting crosses in from the left and setting up Adam Murray whose 25 yarder brought a diving save from Kieran Beesley.

The visitors pressed Ascot back into their own half and Elias Katsoloudi just failed to reach Jacob Daffern’s cross with a diving header.

Steve Deverall played Joe Grant in, but a last ditch tackle from Chris Jackson prevented him from pulling the trigger from close range.

Ade Talabi’s run at the defence ended with him shooting just wide before McLean broke at the other end and put in a good cross that no-one could get on the end of.

Five minutes before the break Talabi set up Katsoloudi in the area but he shot just over the bar. Two minutes later Ascot took the lead from a corner when Beesley could only block a shot which fell to the feet of Tom McGarry who slotted home from close range.

Ardley had the early chances after the restart as Talabi almost profited from a poor clearance by keeper Chris Grace but chose to delay his shot when an early strike may have reaped better rewards.

Reece Bayliss shot just past a post when following up a rebound off the defensive wall from a free-kick and Ardley enjoyed a spell of good possession but were continually let down by their final ball into the box.

Late in the game, Ascot again came right back into it as substitute David Pitt began to stretch the hitherto solid Ardley back line and almost doubled his side’s lead but saw his shot curl just wide of the far post.

So, once again Ardley slipped to a defeat that their play did not warrant but if they continue to play with the confidence that they displayed in this game they will surely start to pick up the points that they deserve.