Tuesday 6th November 2018, Lancashire Challenge Trophy second round
West 0
Ashton Athletic 5 (Gilcrest 4, 63, Munro 18, Nicholson 78, Wilson 89)
Att: 118
West made an ignominious exit from the Lancashire Challenge Trophy as they were hammered by Ashton Athletic.
A much-changed home side, showing seven alterations from the team that lost to Barnoldswick Town at the weekend, collapsed on a bleak night at Brookburn Road and were dumped out of another cup competition at the first hurdle.
Winger Ryan Crowther shot narrowly over from 30 yards in the first action of the evening, but it was the falsest of dawns as the visitors took the lead inside five minutes. A deep cross from the left was headed back across goal and, when Marcus Burgess mishandled the ball, Adam Gilcrest was on hand to force it over the line.
The match was effectively over after 18 minutes as Ashton doubled their lead in insultingly simple fashion. Charlie Munro was allowed to run through the West half unopposed, and he took full advantage of the freedom to find the corner of Burgess’ goal.
The West fans behind the Ashton goal needed binoculars to make out most of the action, and though John Roberts sent a shot wide on a rare foray forward, the visitors should have had a third before half time when another cross was prodded narrowly wide at the far post.
Ashton did claim their third of the evening just after the hour when a corner was headed in by an unmarked Gilcrest. West’s response was limited to a pair of efforts from Matty Kay, but Ashton keeper Martin Pearson was well-placed to collect a low shot and then a header at the near post.
The better chances continued to flood in at the other end and shortly after a low cross was blazed over at the far post, Joshua Nicholson benefitted from more absent defending to stretch the visitors’ lead to four.
A truly dismal night was complete in the 89th minute when Callum Wilson shot across Burgess and into the far corner. Ashton can look forward to a Lancashire Challenge Trophy quarter-final, but for West this was a new nadir in a thus-far miserable season.
West: Burgess, Fowles (Woods 23), Tinker (Gavin 67), Roberts, Potts, Thompson, Tsegaye, Andrews, Black (Woodward 74), Kay, Crowther.
