Crockenhill started very sharp and competitive in the opening minutes of this encounter against a strong Ashford side who have been difficult opponents in recent matches.

Richard Hamill making his first appearance, looked particularly confident joining in the Crockenhill attack from full back and Owen Kabodi in midfield quickly exerted his dominance in the centre with a number of through passes and long range shots at goal.

Despite the early pressure from Crockenhill, it was Ashford who took the lead with an excellent free kick from the edge of the area.

The home side changed gear again and were rewarded with an equaliser after one of Kabodi´s long range strikes was paried by the keeper into the path of Devran Mehmet who slotted the rebound.

The visitors managed to get more possession in the second period of the first half and nearly went into the lead after a through ball put their striker one on one with Mikie Hunter in goal who timed his challenge perfectly to keep the scores level.

The scores remained level for much of the second half despite Crockenhill dominating much of the possession until another clever pass from Kabodi had Jamal Hackett through on goal. Hackett struck the ball across the face of the goal with Akin Obamakin following in the rebound with his first touch coming on as a substitute.

Ashford immediately pressed and forced their way through the heart of the Crockenhill defence to draw the scores level from the kick off.

Harry Rogers, making only his second appearance after a long spell of injury, entered at left back with the lively Hamill being pushed on to the wing. Some excellent inter changing of passes eventually found their way into the path of the advancing Rogers who slotted the ball comfortably into the top left hand corner to grab the winner.

An altogether exciting match with two very good teams. Crockenhill deserved the result after a fully committed performance and one which puts them in as serious contenders for the league.

Match report by Mike Delaney