Early Double Seals First League Win

Milton United picked up their first league win of the season with a 2-1 win over Ardley United at The Heights.

Ardley had a couple of good early opportunities to open the scoring with Luke Ingram beating the offside trap in the second minute but firing over the bar and Troy Bryan managing to rattle that same bar with a fifth minute header. It was Milton though who took control of the game with two goals in three minutes after the first quarter of an hour. The Ardley midfield dwelt a little too long on the ball and Ollie Thomas gained possession just before the half-way line allowing him to run at the back line which ended with Danny Langford bursting into the box and although somewhat off balance, he was able to wrong-foot keeper Jack Goode and flick the ball into the net. It got worse for the visitors shortly after when a missed header allowed Ashley Searle to break through the inside left channel and cross the ball for Niall Hodgkins to slot it into the same corner of the net as the first goal. With the home side pressing the ball well and giving Ardley little time to play, the game did become a little fractious with some full blooded challenges giving the referee plenty to think about. Just before the break, a Jon Gardner free kick from just over twenty yards shaved the bar leaving Milton two goals to the good at half time.

Ardley looked certain to open their account on 58 minutes when Bryan surged into the area and cut the ball back but in the ensuing scramble home keeper Craig Griffiths eventually managed to smother the ball. Breaking forward, Milton could have stretched their lead but Langford just failed to get his head to a great diagonal ball from the left wing. With twenty minutes to go, substitute Andy Prescott played Ingram through but only a great tackle from Danny Cox-Rogers prevented him from scoring. With Ardley now throwing men forward they began to exert more pressure on the home side but Milton were always dangerous on the break and with ten minutes to go they forced Goode to make two great saves first from Hodgkins then from sub Taylor Janes. In the 84th minute, Gardner evaded a tackle on the left bye-line and surged into the area only to be brought down by Taylor Janes to earn a penalty kick, which he duly despatched himself. Ardley then threw everything at Milton in a bid to find an equaliser but the home side held on to claim all three points and put themselves up to 14th and above Ardley in the league table.

"We where exceptional first half" Said Manager Paul Bedwell "we played some really nice stuff, baring the first ten minutes where Ardley had the better of the game and had some good chances we dominated and thought we where good value for our two goal lead."
"We knew the second half would be a different story, at two- nil down you have nothing to lose, and as much as you don't want to sit back and defend if the opponents are throwing men forward you have to adapt and play on the counter, But we defend superbly, we gave ourselves a nervy last few minutes with a silly penalty but we deserved the three points. I couldn't have asked anymore from the lads, its a great group which are getting better game by game."

Milton are back in FA Cup action over the weekend when they travel to Hellenic Division One side Cheltenham Saracens who have made an impressive start to the season.

Team: Griffiths, Bernasconi, Mcneill, Biddle, Davis, Cox-Rodgers, Austin (Bolton 90), Thomas (Forster 75), Hodgkins, Langford, Searle (Janes 63)
Sub Not Used: Piscopo