Sat. 11th November. Toolstation Division One Westbury United 2 Ashton & Backwell United 0

WESTBURY notched up their 10th league win of the season with a routine 2-0 win over Ashton and Backwell United at Meadow Lane.

With Josh Ferguson serving the first of his three-match suspension and Liam Milburn taking a break from the game, Westbury opted for a 4-3-3 formation.

It was a strange first half, Westbury had plenty of possession and when they got into the Ashton and Backwell half they were playing some nice football, but they only really created a couple of half chances.

The first was for Ricky Hulbert who received the ball from Finnian Young who had travelled forward from right back, Hulbert was in the box with his back to goal, but the defender did enough to stop Hulbert from turning and getting a shot off. A similar move later in the half saw Young pass to Dan Kovacs on the edge of the Ashton and Backwell box, his turning shot ended up going high over the bar.

Westbury showed their intent straight away in the second half, Jamie Jordan had the ball at his feet in the wide left position, he come inside, evaded a couple of tackles and took on a right foot shot which whistled just over the bar. On 55 minutes a cross came into the Ashton and Backwell box from the Westbury right. Ricky Hulbert had set himself and was preparing for a volley from about 12 yards but an Ashton and Backwell defender had a hand of god moment and prevented Hulbert from volleying, the referee saw the infringement and pointed to the spot. Dan Kovacs stepped up and coolly finished the penalty to make it one nil.

The second came just two minutes later, Jamie Jordan was attacking down the right when he was hauled down by the defender. Jake Hiscocks delivered a wonderful free kick to the back post for that man Kovacs to head home.

It could have been three just before the 70-minute mark, Hiscocks drove towards the box with the ball at his feet from centre midfield, as he arrived at the edge of the box he was fouled but the loose ball fell to Mark Robinson on the left-hand side of the 18-yard box, Robinson finished the ball into the net as the referee blew for the foul. As Westbury question the referee’s decision not to play advantage, Kovacs had retrieved the ball and placed it on the spot only to be informed by the referee that the foul had taken place outside of the box, therefore it was a freekick. Hiscocks took the freekick on the edge of the box, slightly right of centre and smashed it goalward, it ricocheted off the wall, up and over the bar for a corner.

A good second half performance sets up Westbury nicely for welcoming Toolstation Western League Premier Division side Bradford Town to Meadow Lane on Wednesday evening for their Wiltshire FA Senior Cup Second Round tie.

Westbury Team: Lewis Porter, Finnian Young, Leon Greenland, Steve Hulbert, Dan Price©, Dan Jordan, Jordan Pinder, Jake Hiscocks, Ricky Hulbert, Dan Kovacs, Jamie Jordan. Subs: Mark Robinson, George Bendle, Sean Brereton (used) James Haworth, Joe Kirkpatrick.

Westbury Star Man – Dan Kovacs.

Greg Coulson