A large proportion of the Stan Army travelled to Ashington by train for the Easter Monday 1pm kick off. Although the team’s own journey started well it was eventually derailed partly due to a dubious penalty and to use another 2 railway metaphors, the Stan began to run out of steam & there was some shunting by very physical opposition. The narrow win for Ashington means that they edge closer to avoiding relegation while the Stan cannot now make a play off place. Ironically the Stan’s win at Ashington on Easter Monday last year secured their stay in the Northern Premier League East. There were 5 changes from last Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to North Ferriby with Milburn, Burn, Johnson, Storey & Errington replacing Deverdics, Chrisp, Walker, Pearson & Hopper. Kane Evans made his 150th start for the Stan.

The Stan started on the attack, but it was Ashington who had the 1st opportunity to score in the 2nd minute when Kneeshaw ran into the Stan box with the ball & rounded 2 Stan defenders but was tripped. From the resulting 3rd minute Gilchrist penalty, Brass made a great save before the ball was cleared to deny Ashington the lead. A minute later & a home player broke again but Brass made himself big to make another great save & the rebound shot was blocked in front of the goal line by Capewell. The Stan then attacked but Alexander in the home goal easily caught the ball. Both teams were trying to attack but it was the Stan who took the lead in the 11th minute. A Stan corner taken by Burn was cleared for a throw in. From it, Milburn sent the ball into the busy Ashington box & although it was initially blocked, Capewell managed to slot the ball into the net from 10 yards to make it 1-0 to the Stan. In 13 minutes, Storey had a ball blocked in the busy Ashington box as part of a sustained Stan attack which eventually ended with Alexander catching the ball. In 16 minutes, from a Burn free kick, a Capewell headed effort was caught by Alexander. In 18 minutes, Errington was fouled just outside the Ashington box. From the resulting Burn free kick into the home box, Capewell was floored but nothing was given. Shepherd sent the cleared ball back in, but Williamson punched clear. After a lengthy period of injury to Williamson, Capewell headed clear a ball from an Ashington attack & the rebound shot went high & over. Hornsby did the same in the 26th minute at the other end. The Stan then had 3 balls cleared as they kept the pressure on. After 30 minutes, a Shepherd long ball was cleared followed by 2 great interventions by Capewell. In the 36th minute, Henderson elbowed Capewell in the head as they both ran towards the ball, but no action was taken. Errington then had a shot blocked by Williamson & Storey’s rebound effort went onto the top of the net. Soon after, Errington broke again & forced a corner. From the corner, Williamson caught the ball. Due to injury, Burn had to be replaced by Chrisp in the 43rd minute. In the 45th minute, Ashington shot well over. There were 5 minutes of added time which were relatively uneventful with both teams having one effort cleared.

Half time saw another injury enforced change for the Stan with Hopper replacing Milburn. In 53 minutes, Errington turned a player & was hacked down & although a foul was given there was no card. In the 54th minute, a Chrisp 30 yard free kick went wide. Soon after, an Ashington player dived on the edge of the Stan box & a penalty was given. Spooner took it in the 56th minute & this time Brass went the wrong way & it was now 1-1. After a quieter period, Johnson advanced with the ball in the 64th minute but his shot in the box was caught by the wind & went over. Errington then won the ball & entered the home box & although the ball hit a defender’s hand, nothing was given. In 66 minutes, Johnson supplied Hopper, but his good effort was saved by Williamson. Henderson then took down Storey & flattened Walker, but nothing was given except a foul for the 2nd incident. Errington was pulled back in the 70th minute & the resulting Hornsby free kick went to Capewell whose shot hit the side of the net. Soon after Ashington had a shot diagonally across the Stan goal, but Brass got a hand to the ball to put it out for a corner. After a quieter period, the home team went back to disrupting things by hacking Hopper down. The resulting free kick from Chrisp was caught by Williamson. Ashington then attacked into the Stan box & although the ball was initially blocked, the 2nd effort was put into the net by Kneeshaw to give Ashington a 2-1 lead in the 77th minute. The Stan immediately started attacking again & as Johnson advanced into the home box but he was floored as he was about to shoot but nothing was given. In the 82nd minute, Chrisp was hacked down & the Ashington player responsible was booked. The Stan kept trying to attack & in 85 minutes Errington shot wide. Walker then also had a shot which Williamson easily caught. In 89 minutes, Storey had a free kick into the home box cleared & the ball went back in & was partially cleared before Williamson easily caught the ball. There were 3 added minutes & the match ended with a Chrisp free kick into the Ashington box being saved by Williamson.

Although the Stan took an early lead after Brass had saved a penalty, it wasn’t to be a Happy Easter for the team or the travelling fans as local rivals Ashington sneaked a win. That is now 3 defeats in a row after a run of 4 wins. The Stan are back in action on Friday night when they host Ossett United

Stan Team: Brass; Evans; Hornsby; Milburn (Hopper 46); Capewell; Shepherd; Payne (Walker 61); Burn (Chrisp 43); Johnson; Storey (Y); Errington. Sub not used: Gordon. Attendance 731. Man of the Match: Max Storey.

Kevin Mochrie

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An Easter Monday visit to relegation rivals Ashington saw the Stan’s league resurrection completed by a win that saw them secure Northern Premier League East status for another season. A huge contingent of the Stan Army greatly contributed to Ashington’s highest crowd of the season which saw 707 fans witness the Stan’s success although Ashington were also save just over 2 hours later after Brighouse had been defeated & relegated. There were 3 changes with Corkhill, Shepherd & Slaughter replacing Brass, Turnbull & Burn.

The Stan attacked from the kick off, but Lamb’s shot was caught by the home keeper. Then at the other end, Shepherd helped stop an Ashington attack. The Stan then lost the ball but there was good work by Robson to recover it. Both teams were trying to attack but neither came close until 11 minutes when an Ashington corner was punched clear by Corkhill. In 16 minutes, Stephenson headed an Ashington cross into the Stan box clear & although the ball was sent back in, a home player sliced it over the bar. In 18 minutes, Errington was brought down as he advanced & the resulting free kick by Stephenson went over the bar. Both teams were still trying to attack. In 30 minutes, an Ashington corner saw the ball go across the Stan goal & it nearly went into the net at the far post. After 2 attacks that came to nothing, the Stan had a corner headed clear in 37 minutes. The last 4 minutes of normal time saw some sustained pressure from the Stan. In the 1^st minute of added time Corkhill punched the ball clear from an Ashington corner & a relatively even 1^st half ended 0-0.

Burn replaced Lamb for the 2^nd half & it started with Errington charging into the home box, but the ball was eventually blocked for a throw in. 2 minutes later Evans cleared in the Stan 6-yard box followed by an Ashington corner being cleared. Errington then shot over at the other end followed by Hopper being shoved off the ball in the home penalty box but nothing was given. To the joy of the Stan Army, the Stan went ahead in the 51^st minute when a long throw in was cleared in front of the home goal by the ball deflecting off a player & a bounce saw it landing at the feet of Burn who made no mistake in sending it into the Ashington net. There was some good defending by Shepherd 2 minutes later before Errington attacked again twice. In 59 minutes, Ashington shot over the bar from a corner. They then had 2 further attacks cleared followed by 2 Stan attacks that came to nothing. After a quieter spell, Errington was brought down in the 67^th minute as he advanced with the ball. The resulting 30-yard free kick saw Burn shoot just over the bar. An Ashington long range effort then saw Corkhill get down to catch. This was followed soon after by an Errington shot being blocked by the home keeper & the rebound ball was cleared. In 73 minutes, Hopper forced a corner from which Capewell headed just wide. 2 minutes later & an Ashington shot was blocked by Capewell. The Stan were on top but Ashington were still a threat & in 79 minutes they had a corner cleared after Corkhill had dropped the ball under pressure. In 81 minutes an Ashington attack was blocked by Evans followed by a Hornsby counter attack although a defender got to the ball 1^st. 2 minutes later Capewell cleared an Ashington attack in the 6-yard box & it was followed soon after by a long range Ashington effort going just wide. At the other end, Burn blasted an effort over the bar. The last few minutes of normal time saw some Stan pressure, but it was Ashington who came close in the 90^th minute when Corkhill punched clear & when the ball came back in he got down to catch it. 2 minutes later & a deflected shot looked like it was going into the Stan net at the far post, but Corkhill managed to catch it although the flag went up for off side anyway. In the 4^th added minute, an Ashington attack ended with a header going well over.

It was a hard fought but deserved win for the Stan. After an even 1^st half, the Stan got the only goal of the game early in the 2^nd half & held onto their lead through good defensive work, especially through Capewell, but they also kept looking for more goals with Errington especially playing an important role upfront. The Stan’s last game of the season is on Saturday at home against North Ferriby where there will be a party atmosphere as the club looks forward to next season as well as the Senior Cup final.

Kevin Mochrie

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