Sliver lining for Johnson

Danny Johnson manager of Evo-Stik Northern Premier League Premier Division side Ashton United has found a silver lining in the clouds that have caused four of the club’s last five games to be postponed; The Robins’ only recent fixture to beat the weather was a fine 2-0 victory away at Matlock Town.

What the enforced break has meant is time for Johnson’s players to recover. Danny says, “Skipper Danny Caldecott is progressing after his latest injury - he hasn’t featured since the game with Northwich on January 2nd and has made good use of the layoff to work on his fitness. Midfielder Ged Murphy has also fitted in an ankle operation to clear up a niggly problem and should be fit and available for selection when we get back to playing again. Lots of players were carrying knocks from game to game earlier in the season and we should have pretty much a full squad to choose from when we travel to Stafford Rangers next weekend.”

Ashton’s manager isn’t overly worried by the spate of recent postponements causing a backlog of fixtures either, as The Robins had managed 27 of their 42 league games prior to the arctic conditions striking. “As long as the bad weather doesn’t carry on a lot longer, then it won’t be that much of an issue – we’ve now 14 games left to play and 10 weeks to fit them in so, at the moment, it’s quite manageable.”

The Robins also had a good month in terms of discipline, finishing second in January’s Evo-Stik Premier Division’s ‘Fair Play’ League and currently sitting third for the season as a whole. It’s an area that Johnson has worked hard to improve from last season and is clearly paying dividends.

Ashton were buoyed further last week when league rivals Mickleover Sports were docked three points by the league management committee for playing an ineligible player. As a result, Ashton now stand eight points clear of the last relegation place with two games in hand. More results like the one at Matlock will see Johnson’s men looking more at mid-table rather than over their shoulder.