Burgess Hill Town 0-2 Ashford Town

Ashford Town’s third away win in a row ensured they are now mathematically safe and that they will be playing Ryman League football next year.

With Godalming losing and Ashford Town winning, the Kent side are now nine points clear of the G’s who have just two games to play.

So, with their Ryman League status secured, fans are set to look forward to a new era at a potentially revamped Homelands.

Plans are said to be afoot to relay the playing surface in the summer, whilst the stand will be revamped with new seats and the car park landscaped.

And if this show against the Hillians is anything to go by, performances on the pitch may well live up to expectations off of it.

This was by no means Ashford’s best display though, but the side’s progress in recent weeks was clear for all to see, grinding out a comfortable result in difficult conditions where weeks ago the score line could easily have been reversed.

On a scorching East Sussex day, chances were at a premium as both teams found it difficult to adapt to the rock hard pitch and dusty conditions.

Although it was the Hillians who the first opening fell to, when a hopeful ball over the top fell between goalkeeper and defence.

Whincup made it his duty to claim, and he burst out recklessly to flail an arm at the ball outside his area, but referee Briffitt somehow failed to see the offence.

Ashford’s first chance fell to Gary Clarke on the half hour mark, as Jason Stuart set the midfielder 20 yards from goal for a shot that he dragged wide.

Nevertheless the same mistake wasn’t made by Steve Stodje seconds before half time.

The striker had been dominated in the air by big Danny Grainsford, but this time Sodje proved to be in the right place at the right time when he finished from two yards after Simon Glover’s effort was saved.

It was a similar story in the second half with chances largely limited, although the hosts did have a golden opportunity to level.

With the focus of their play on the wings, Burgess Hill played Adam Pullin in on the left flank who could only watch in disbelief as his powerful shot was wonderfully saved by the revitalised Whincup.

Ashford manager John Cumberbatch threw on the fresh legs of Jarrett-Elliott with ten minutes to go, and he was Ashford’s unlikely hero when he put the game beyond doubt.

Stuart’s relentlessness paid off as he chased a lost hope down to then cross to the far post where Jarrett-Elliott nodded in from an unlikely angle.

Burgess Hill Town: Andre Foster, Nick Fogden, Lloyd Cotton, Matt Piper, Danny Grainsford, Adam Pullin, Shaun Grice, Jamie Martin, Mike MacDonald (Neil Watts 46), Ashley Jarvis, Lloyd Skinner
Subs: Tom Edmonds, Jamie Ingham

Ashford Town: Jake Whincup, Ryan Andrews, Simon Glover, Asa Hall, Marc Cumberbatch, Joe Hitchings, Nick Wright, Gary Clarke, Jason Stuart, Steve Sodje, Ian Ross (Ken Jarrett-Elliott 79)
Subs: Steve Rowles, Anthony Allman, Tom Adlington, Graham Porter

Att: 170

Man-of-the-match: Asa Hall