ASHTON United manager Steve Cunningham feels his players are starting to consistently
illustrate their capabilities on the pitch.
The in-form Robins boosted their pursuit of a play-off place with arguably their best result of the
season so far, courtesy of a last-gasp victory over runaway leaders Macclesfield FC.
The 407 fans inside a freezing Hurst Cross on Tuesday night saw Ashton avenge October’s 7-1
drubbing at the hands of Robbie Savage’s side, who hit the woodwork twice but ultimately failed
to score for the first time this season.
Sam Baird’s 94th-minute header from a cross by substitute Nathan Lowe – making his final Robins outing before leaving for a full-time opportunity in Australia – earned a vital and hardfought 1-0 win.
The Tameside outfit extended their unbeaten run to five games and moved level on points with fourth-placed Ilkeston Town in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, as they bid to join local rivals Curzon Ashton in the National League North next season.
Cunningham believes his players were entitled to savour the moment in inflicting the tabletoppers’ third league loss of the campaign and insists the team are not getting carried away.
“The celebrations were there [against Macclesfield] but that’s because we’re on a good run, we want to get into the play-off spaces, we’re losing a player [Nathan Lowe], emotions are high and you’ve scored in the 94th minute – which gives you a bit of ecstasy,” he told the club’s TV
channel.
“I think we deserved it and if we can’t enjoy that as a football club, not just because it’s Macclesfield – we’ve done that when we’ve beaten other teams. We haven’t raised our game
because it’s Macclesfield, it’s certainly not our cup final.
“We’ve been doing that every week, we did it to FC United [of Manchester] in the first half last
Saturday and we’ve done it to other teams.
“We’re a very good side on our day and, at the moment, we’re just starting to justify why I make
so many noises about how good this group actually is.”
After their away match against Matlock Town was postponed due to a frozen pitch, the Robins
will have to wait until Saturday, January 18, for their next assignment when mid-table Whitby
Town are the visitors to Hurst Cross.
Cunningham hopes his players can continue their recent performance levels and believes they
deserve the praise he’s giving them.
“I’m not asking people to shout from the rooftops about how good Ashton United are – we’ll go under the radar, that’s not a problem because we might not make the play-offs as there are still
19 games to go,” the manager added.
“At the moment, this group of players deserves every bit of credit that I’m trying to give them. I
want people to stand up and take notice that this group of players are a very good team.
“What we are going to take into the next game is a continuation of all the performances we’ve been putting in over the last nine or 10 games because they deserve it.”