It was a game for the neutrals on Saturday as Ashville played out an 11 goal thriller against Allscott Heath.
A first half demolition job from Ashville started after just 1 minute when Lewis Moynes opened the floodgates. Connor Courtnell dinked a lovely ball over the top for Moynes who raced in on goal before lifting it calmly over Ngo-Zulu in the Allscott Heath goal.
Ashville continued to dominate and got their reward on 18 minutes when Peter Morgan was felled in the hosts box. Josh Maldon stepped up in the absence of regular penalty marksman, Mark Madden, and sent Ngo-Zulu the wrong way to double Villa’s lead.
Villa and Moynes would be on the scoresheet again just three minutes later. More brilliant play from Ashville culminated in an effort for Joel Kelly which was blocked. The rebound fell to Moynes, via Hewlett, who juggled the ball away from a tackle before smashing a beautiful half volley into the corner with the outside of his foot.
It was at this stage that Allscott Heath started to show a bit of promise in the final third. A ball over the top almost immediately after the third goal found William Rogers who fired across Owen but his shot was wide.
Two minutes later and a carbon copy attack saw the hosts claim a goal back. This time Rogers got his angles right and found the bottom corner to give Allscott Heath hope of a comeback.
The home sides comeback lasted only five minutes however. A long ball over the Allscott defence led to a 50/50 foot race between Joe Dulson and Ngo-Zulu which the Villa forward duly won. Dulson calmly took the ball around the young keeper before passing into an empty net to restore Ashville’s three goal lead. Five minutes later and Peter Morgan was fouled inside the hosts area once again and the referee was once again forced to point to the spot. Maldon stepped up again and as with his previous effort, he sent the young Ngo-Zulu the wrong way to make it 5-1 to Ashville with 35 minutes on the clock.
With just a handful of minutes to go before half time Lewis Moynes wrapped up a dream first half for himself and Ashville with a composed dink over Ngo-Zulu into the bottom corner to complete his hat trick.
Moynes almost added to his tally once again deep into first half added time when he raced beyond the back line but this time his poke past Ngo-Zulu could only find the post. His disappointment was wiped out by the sight of the assistants flag raised in the air for offside however.
It was a quite unbelievable first half for Ashville but things would take a thrilling and shocking twist in the early stages of the second half. Just two minutes into the second period and a long ball finally paid dividends for Allscott Heath. Will Rogers was once again the recipient and he lobbed Jamie Owen from 25 yards to start an unlikely comeback.
Ashville nearly responded and Lewis Moynes was at the heart of things once again as he fired in a cross for Peter Morgan who saw his header go agonisingly just wide of the upright.
With a little over ten minutes of the second half played the game took another turn as the hosts pulled another goal back to make it 6-3. Villa failed to clear their lines from an cross and the ball fell at the feet of Brandon Tanomjit who found the bottom corner with precision.
The home sides tails were well and truly up and just after the hour mark they made another dent into Ashville’s slowly diminishing lead. Another smart break from the hosts, despite an offside in the build up that wasn’t flagged, caused a breakdown in the Ashville defence and Will Rogers slotted past Owen for his hat trick and another step towards an unlikely comeback.
Ashville were keen to get back on the scoresheet to settle any nerves and do a fantastic away performance justice. They nearly completed this task just two minutes after Rogers’ hat trick goal. Tom Hewlett finding space on the right side of the box and seeing his powerful low drive saved by Ngo-Zulu. The rebound came at Peter Morgan a tad too fast and the Player Of The Match recipient couldn’t direct the ball between the sticks.
A well fought second half saw Villa regain control and they got their reward on 87 minutes when Joe Dulson grabbed his second of the game. The young forward, who put in a determined and selfless performance, took advantage of a slip in the Allscott Heath defence before showing his prolific goal scoring ability by rifling a low shot past Ngo-Zulu.
If there was one thing that Joe Dulson’s performance deserved it was a hat trick and he was oh so close to completing that achievement in the fifth minute of injury time. He took the Allscott Heath defence for a ride before cutting back inside with the goal opening up in front of him but an excellent last ditch block prevented the teenager from getting his third of the game.
The final whistle was blown shortly after to confirm the end of this rollercoaster of a game. It was certainly value for money and the game was officially the highest scoring non-league game of the weekend. Ashville should take a lot of positives from this result, especially with a side that was missing several regulars. The Villa now enter a busy October which starts with a Macron Cup 1st Round tie away at NWCFL First Division South table toppers, Stafford Town on Tuesday evening. Ashville will be looking to build momentum ahead of an historic clash against Tranmere Rovers at Prenton Park in the Cheshire Senior Cup on Thursday, October 24th.
