Ardley find winning formula at Ascot

Manager Paul Davis saw his side beat Ascot 3-1 in Saturday’s premier division contest.

Ardley took an 11th minute lead when Declan Benjamin’s corner found Chris Jackson who slotted home from six yards.

Jack Ross hit the bar before Ryan Freshwater had to throw himself in front of a shot from Kai Walters that looked certain to bring an unlikely equaliser. Sergio Guerero and Bradley Cox forced Ascot keeper Matt Hill into flying saves before the break.

Ardley doubled their lead just 36 seconds after the restart when a long clearance saw Nathaniel Lewars get behind the Ascot defence, shrug off a challenge and slot past the advancing Hill. On the hour mark Matt Cruse made it 3-0 when he beat a defender in a race to the ball, held him off and slotted home.

Three minutes later the home side scored a consolation through Josh Dillon and Nick Bennion had to make a good save from Samir Regragui’s free-kick late on.

Davis said: “The first half saw us back to our best, creating plenty of chances and scoring early from a set-piece helped us relax.

“I was slightly nervous going into the second half after our last few performances but those nerves were soon banished when we scored within a minute. But for whatever reason at the moment we seem to like giving teams a chance against us, and if we want to win our remaining two games we need to cut that aspect out of our game.”

Brackley Town Saints produced a welcome 2-1 victory over Brimscombe & Thrupp.

Sam Blackie the visitors the lead on the half-hour mark but Chris Jordan equalised before the interval. James Watts hit the winner five minutes from the end of the game.