Daisy Hill picked up their first away league win in the North West Counties League First Division North since August, with a fine 2-1 win away at Ashton Town on Boxing Day, writes Ian Templeman.

On a foggy afternoon in Ashton-in-Makerfield, second half goals from Finlay Stafford and Ben Unsworth put Daisy in control, and although Ashton’s Will Hamilton pulled a goal back late on, Daisy held out to secure a well-deserved win.

Manager Lee Hill was full of praise for his side after the game.

“It was a really good performance and we should really have been three or four goals up in the first half, we created some really good chances”, said Hill.

“We said to the lads at half time they just had to make sure that they kept making the right decisions, doing what they had been doing and the goals would come, and that is what happened.

“I’ve seen Ashton put in some good performances recently, but the Ashton management team at the end of the game said we were well worth the win, and it was a performance from us that had been coming for some time.

“I thought the way that the lads executed the game plan was second to none, and the whole 16 man squad all played their part.

“We brought in Finlay Stafford and Kaiden Barlow to the starting line up, and they were terrific. Fin could easily have had more than one goal, but he scored with a good chance and that will do his confidence the world of good.

“Kaiden had a good game too and caused the Ashton defence all sorts of problems.

“It was one of our grittier performances, but we also showed the quality that was needed to win the game. The decision making was good, we defended well, and we could have scored more goals, so it was a really pleasing afternoon”.

After an even opening to the game, Daisy began to dominate as the first half wore on, but were frustrated by a fine performance by Ashton goalkeeper Oliver Green, who pulled off several good saves.

After denying Luke Nicholls with a fine save from a close range effort on 20 minutes, Green denied the Daisy striker again eight minutes later with another fine stop after lead up work from Finlay Stafford.

Two minutes later Kaiden Barlow was next to test Green with a low driven shot from 25 yards and the Ashton keeper denied Barlow again on 37 minutes with a fine save from a well struck effort.

Green rounded off a fine first half display with another fine save from Stafford on the stroke of half time to keep his side level at the break.

But Stafford was not to be denied, and he finally got the better of Green eight minutes into the second half, when he opened the scoring with a cracking shot into the top corner of the net from 20 yards.

Morgan Newns in the Daisy goal had rarely been tested up to that point, but he did react well in stopping a shot from Ashton striker George Lomax, before Daisy doubled their lead on 68 minutes.

Daisy captain Jake O’Brien swung a corner kick deep into the six yard box and Unsworth met the ball with a glancing header to beat Green from close range.

Ashton pulled a goal back with ten minutes remaining when Hamilton nodded home from close range after a scramble in the penalty area, but Daisy saw the game out safely, with the only moment of concern arriving three minutes from time when Ashton’s Leon Wright took a quick free kick to set up a chance for Lomax, who failed to convert from inside the box.

Daisy are back in action on Saturday when they host Maghull in the final North West Counties League First Division North fixture of the year, kick off 3 pm.