ASHTON On Mersey suffered a disappointing day as their four-game winning run came to an end against lowly Southport.

The home side got off to a bad start as they were pressured into conceding an early penalty.

But the Ashton pack fought back to set up Mike Mills at fly half and outside centre Ian Teasdale in a blindside move that just fell short of the line.

The ball from the saving tackle was quickly recycled and rapidly spun all the way down the backline to the opposite right wing where flanker Kieran Tames put in the overlap to score.

But having gained the lead Ashton's game then went flat. Southport's gameplan kept the ball tight round the loose, gradually getting the Ashton pack on the back foot.

This tactic continued after the break and pressured the home side into conceding needless penalties.

Ashton's frustration expressed itself in some misdirected aggression with a forward sin-binned.

In the meantime Southport racked up another three penalty conversions leaving the home side needing a converted try with 10 minutes left.
Despite a sustained period of forward attacking in the right hand corner, Ashton could not breach the Southport defence, bringing to an end their four-game unbeaten run.