Leighton hit a new low against Ashford

After a midweek fixture away to Uxbridge it was Leightons' time to face bottom of the league Ashford Town and with news of Ben Gallants' departure to Rugby Town it was time for Craig Wells to bring back some familiar faces in the name of Dennis Fenemore and Aaron McKee.

Leighton kicked off the first half, winning a throw in which lead to Jake Bewley finding Shane Bush, who lobbed the keeper and put the ball in the net, 30 seconds into the game making it 1-0.

With 11 minutes gone Ashford replied with a goal of their own, it looked like Bradley Kirkwood had it covered, but Scott Weight somehow found the back of the net. Grant Fryer made a crucial tackle in the penalty box when it seemed Ashford were on their way through to take another shot.

A short stop in play when Stuart Deaton went down injured saw both teams gathering much needed advice from their managers, however it seemed that Ashford picked up their game whereas Leighton did not.

A free kick won by Bush in the 28th minute saw Warren Plowright make Ashfords' keeper Tyler Tobin stretch to full capacity to secure the ball. Tables turned and this was the exact same situation Kirkwood found himself in only minutes later.

A last ditch attempt before the half time whistle for Leighton was when they earned themselves a corner, which McKee took, finding Plowright who launched the ball toward Bush only for the referee to blow for hand ball.

Ashford kicked off only for the referee to blow his whistle and restart the second half for a reason unknown. With the referee slightly whistle happy and awarding both teams with free kicks for no apparent reason it wasn't long before Ashford took the lead.

After a free kick the ball fell nicely to Rhys Price who found himself facing an open goal and slotted the ball home making it 2-1. Leightons' response to this was to make a double substitution bringing on Dom Marsala and Charlie Fryer for Jack Downes and McKee.

A final substitution for Leighton saw Gareth Chendlik replace Fenemore, who really didn't put up much of a performance after hearing rave reviews about him last week. 72 minutes in and Ashford sealed their win when Tom Brunton nipped through Leightons defence leaving Grant Fryer on the floor making it 3-1 and the reaction from the bench was spectacular.

Leightons' last shot of the game came in the 78th minute when Deaton booted the ball down the pitch to Aiden Denton who's shot was wayward. Kirkwood stepped up to take a free kick unfortunately Marsala couldn't quite get his head on the ball, allowing Ashford to run freely at an open goal,luckily their shot was wide.

Denton received the first yellow card of the game for Leighton in the 86th minute and shortly after Conor Moody also received a yellow, living up to his surname. The game ended 3-1 with Leighton just having no punch upfront.

Next game Tuesday 11th March at Bell Close against Marlow kick off 7:45pm.

By Hannah Sellman

Team lineup- Kirkwood, G. Fryer, Bewley, Plowright, Deaton, Bishop, Downes, Bush, Fenemore, McKee, Denton

Subs- Marsala, Bather, Chendlik, C. Fryer

Attendance- 70