NPL First Division East – November 11
In the first ever meeting between the sides the Colliers raced into a two-goal lead inside the opening seven minutes and never looked back. It took the Millers half an hour to get even a foothold in the game and any hopes of an unlikely comeback were dashed in the opening 10 minutes of the second half when Ashington scored twice again. Carlton’s misery was complete when striker Alex Hardwick was sent off late on and he faces a three-match ban.
The Millers made just one change to the side which had won at Newark & Sherwood Utd in midweek with Dean Freeman returning in place of Lamin Sisawo-Danso. On a heavy surface Carlton made the worst possible start and were a goal down inside five minutes. Connor Thomson ran onto a through ball from Daniel Maguire, outpaced the Carlton defence and fired past Felix Annan.
Two minutes later the Colliers doubled their lead with a speedy attack from a Carlton corner. The ball was switched from left to right and when Thomson dummied Craig Spooner’s cross Maguire was on hand to convert from close range.
The Millers as a defensive unit have looked very solid all season but they were being run ragged by the home side as Spooner fired just wide before Thomson missed the target by inches after a fine run.
Spooner and Thomson then combined on the edge of the box with a lovely one-two that ended with Spooner shooting across the face of goal.
It was all virtually one way traffic for the opening 30 minutes before Carlton finally got their game together. Niall Davie put a free kick just beyond Alex Howes before Davie fired just over the bar after a Lewis Durow throw was cleared to him. Hardwick then shot just wide from another Davie free kick.
Home goalkeeper Karl Dryden was fortunate to stay on the pitch after being penalised for handling the ball outside his area to deny Lamin Manneh a strike at goal and the resultant free kick from Davie saw a scramble in the six-yard area before Ashington cleared.
Niall Hylton was next to force the home side on the back foot and his dangerous run eventually ended in a corner that led to nothing.
Ashington still had time for Wilson Kneeshaw to fire over from a good position and Annan to make a good save from Thomson before the break.
Carlton’s hopes of a comeback stemmed upon getting the next goal but within four minutes of the start of the second half the game was effectively over when the Colliers scored for the third time. Substitute Oliver Thompson sped away down the right and found himself with all the time in the world to place the ball beyond Annan. And five minutes later it was 4-0 when Spooner simply ran through the Carlton defence before crossing to Thomson who slotted home.
At this stage with still over half an hour to go it was looking very ominous for the visitors but to their credit they kept trying to get something from the game. Manneh was brought down by Simon Jakab on the hour in a foul that appeared to be well inside the penalty area but the referee awarded a free kick only.
Hylton then hit the side netting with an angled drive as the 14 away supporters who had made the 350 mile round trip urged their team on.
With 10 minutes remaining Hardwick saw red in an altercation on the half way line following the award of a free kick to the Millers. And in the final minutes of the game David Adegbola brought an excellent save from Dryden, while substitute Musa Jawarra saw an effort go close. It was plainly far too late to rescue anything from the afternoon and the entire squad came across to the travelling fans at the conclusion of the game to thank them for their efforts.
Carlton Town: F Annan, D Adegbola, L Durow (S Thompson-Harris 76), D Freeman, P Dearle, A Tahar, L Manneh, N Davie (M Ford 58), A Hardwick, A Howes (M Jawarra 58), N Hylton. Unused subs: L Sisawo-Danso
Goals: Connor Thomson 5. 54, Daniel Maguire 7, Oliver Thompson 49
Carlton Town Supporters Club MOTM: Niall Davie
Att: 511
