Ashton Prime 1-7 Leigh
Saturday 14th March 2015, Cadogan Recreation Ground, Tunbridge Wells
Prime's opponents this week were Leigh - the team that had beaten The Numbers 8-0 on their ground the week before. The Numbers were in trouble before the kick-off with many absentees and only having 12 players available and no recognised goalkeeper.
Luckily club stalwart Goldsmith took the gloves with his glass ankle still proving troublesome. A makeshift back four of Buckland, Cary, Davis and Barnham keeping Leigh quiet for the first 20 minutes, albeit with Leigh still creating chances.
Prime were battling hard however the lack of match practice within the midfield compared to Leigh’s consistency showed, Excell and Henshall in the middle were trying to break up play but the space was being capitalised on by the visitors. The first goal of the game for Leigh came from space and Goldsmith was given no chance, Leigh capitalised on Prime's vulnerability and quickly scored a second which a recognised goalkeeper would have expected to keep out.
Prime were struggling and despite the effort and enthusiasm of Flamank, Leigh were making their pressure pay and were able to add a third goal before half time, after a well struck shot was again not closed down and the Leigh player buried it in the bottom corner leaving Goldsmith no chance.
Deflated and battered Prime gathered at half time downbeat, manager Sykes did little to encourage the troops and a rally call from Cary was the most fight shown.
The second half showed much of the same, Leigh were finding plenty of space and the defending from The Numbers was questionable a number of times but with only one fit recognised centre half, The Numbers were always going to be struggling to keep out a youthful Leigh side.
Leigh added a 4th, 5th and 6th goal in similar circumstances of not closing down quickly enough leaving Goldsmith little to no chance in between the sticks. It could have been more of a riot had it not been for a mixture of Goldsmith and Excell which saw the ball tipped onto the bar and then blocked out for a corner. If needed a final nail in the coffin, Prime conceded a 7th from a corner when the tall Leigh centre half rose highest and spanked a header into the back of the net.
Prime did add a consolation goal from Ferguson after the Leigh keeper, who had been untested throughout the game, fumbled and allowed a grateful Ferguson to finish from a tight angle.
A long afternoon for Prime, who will need to leave the last 6 months behind and prove they are a true cup team and raise themselves for the Cup Semi-Final next week against FC Revolution.