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Saturday 10 October 2009 Suburban League, Premier Division
Wimbledon cemented second place in the Suburban Premier League with another fine away victory, their second in a week. With Three Bridges hammered 5 – 1 on Tuesday and Jon Main netting four it was the turn of 16 year old Matt Harmsworth at Ash United as he bagged a fine hat trick.
Ash United is never an easy place to go, and in fairness Ash played better than the result suggests, but they could not cope with the attacking strengths Wimbledon produced on the day. On a heavy pitch it was the Dons who started the livelier team, keeping possession and always trying to play the ball out through the back four and into midfield. On occasions this caused problems as they got caught not moving the ball quick enough and giving possession away but Ash’s lack of firepower meant they didn’t threaten Jack Turner in goal.
The Dons took the lead after 21 minutes when a clever diagonal ball from Jack Stafford saw Harmsworth control the ball before firing a left foot shot into the bottom corner. Ash United then had a good chance as a poor defensive header came up short but a sharp save by Jack Turner and a goal line clearance by Aaron Snelling saw out the danger. An early injury to Charlie Clark-Gleave meant a recall to the centre of defence for Quincey Rowe. Ryan Jackson was having a fine game at right back with his passing and overlapping causing the Ash defence much concern, whilst Karl Douglin was always a threat playing at the top of the diamond.
The second half got off to a great start for Wimbledon as Douglin shut down the home defence from the kick off and this led to a poor back pass that top scorer Elton Gjoni pounced on to beat the keeper and give the Dons a 2 – 0 lead. Ash came back at Wimbledon and had a few chances of their own. A surprisingly sluggish and indifferent Dons defence looked vulnerable at times and it was left to Turner to bail out the team with a couple of fine saves, one of which came from another poor back pass but Turner again bravely saved hurting himself in the process.
The home side deservedly pulled a goal back when a Wimbledon free kick was cleared into midfield where a turnover of possession saw Ash outnumber the Dons defence and break through to score past Turner. A tight hamstring saw Ricky Wellard replaced by Jordaan Brown and to add stability Danny Penfold was replaced by manager Marcus Gayle.
On 77 minutes Matt Harmsworth made the game safe as Douglin again found time and space to pick him out, Harmsworth calmly lobbing the home custodian from 18 yards. Douglin then fired against the post as Ash pushed players forward to try to get back into the game. With seven minutes remaining Harmsworth completed his hat trick when a fine pass from James Stenning found Harmsworth in behind the defence and he fired a left foot shot into the roof of the net to finish any ambitions Ash had of getting something out of the game.
56) Marcus Cousins