Ashton Prime 5-3 AFC Valour Reserves

After their week off last week, Prime returned to action with largely the same squad for the visit of old rivals AFC Valour Reserves.

Prime had never taken a point of Valour in their previous 6 meetings - despite running the East Peckham outfit close on several occasions.

The fixture was given more spice by the return of Messrs Barney Mellors and Tony Leigh, who had both defected during the close-season.

Prime welcomed back Scott Walters on the left wing, replacing the absent Alex Bishop. Jamie Barker started at Centre-Back with Adam Garside absent. Carl Barker replaced the injured Skovborg-Hansen up front. Goldsmith joined Davis and Matt Walker on a strong looking bench.

Prime started the brighter of the 2, with Joe Walker and Abu outpacing Mellors in the opening exchanges. Excell and Carl Barker looked dangerous going forward, but Prime could not find the early goal and Valour started to settle.

The visitors took the lead when a cross from the right was only half-cleared and their onrushing midfielder slammed the ball into the net off the underside of the bar.

Prime kept their heads though and were level within 10 minutes as Excell nipped in ahead of Leigh to score from close range.

But Valour were back in front in comical circumstances as Kerton caught a corner and looked to clear long upfield. Unfortunately he shanked his clearance horribly into the back of Kneebone and the Valour striker could not believe his luck as he stroked the rebound home.

Again Prime battled back and they were awarded a dubious penalty for handball with 5 minutes left until the break. Carl Barker stepped up, but Leigh seemed to have come back to haunt his old club by making an excellent save.

However, referee Delves adjudged that he had moved off his line and ordered a retake, from which Barker sent him the wrong way. 2-2.

There was still time for Prime to concede a 3rd goal though as their winger hit an unstoppable rising shot from an angle into the net - again via the underside of the bar, giving Kerton no chance.

3-2 down at the break, Goldsmith replaced Barnham with Davis to try and stem Valour's dangerous left-winger.

It was Valour who started much brighter after the break - despite now playing up the slope. But they only created half-chances and Kerton's handling was assured.

On the hour mark, Prime started to push forward and forced a flurry of corners.

From one of these, Walters whipped it in from the right wing and the ball sailed over Leigh and into the net.

Valour heads dropped and Prime knew another goal would surely win it.

An excellent flowing move left the in-form Walters in space and he coolly chipped the advancing Leigh to put Prime in front.

Matt Walker came on at left-back for the closing 20 minutes, and Goldsmith made a cameo appearance for the last 10 minutes, replacing the hard-working Excell.

Prime made sure of the points when Abu chased a through-ball and after Leigh and the Valour full-back collided, he was left to roll the ball into an empty net.

The final whistle sounded soon after and Prime celebrated finally beating their old rivals. They did it the hard way, but the battling performance in the second half merited the win.

Man of the Match: Carl Barker - Powerful performance on his first start of the season