Ashton secure Manchester Cup triumph over NPL rivals

Ben Hardcastle scored the only goal of the game in Monday night’s match, held at Broadhurst Park, home of FC United.

Hardcastle scored inside 13 seconds of the kick-off, latching on to a pass from skipper Michael Brewster.

Brewster’s evening would come to a premature end due to a hamstring pull, and Sam Sheridan also joined him on the sidelined through injury.

Hyde threw the proverbial kitchen sink at the Robins, and had a goal disallowed for Lewis Earl for offside, before Jonah Mitchell’s header hit the post late on.

Ashton boss Michael Clegg said: “Everything in that 90 minutes summed our season up. We dug in, a bit of luck, heart and desire. We started like a house on fire and to lose our two central midfielders was a massive blow. I said to the lads at half time, you come in and you think you’re 4-0 down but you’re 1-0 up.

“It’s football, enjoy the battle, enjoy having your backs against the wall and enjoy having to defend. We rode our luck but I think we deserved that.”

Photos: John Porter