Ashford’s Under-18’s returned to the top of their divisional table last night with a comfortable 4-1 home win over their counterparts from Harrow Borough.

It was a slow start by the home side and it took twenty minutes for them to take the lead when man of the match Jack Taylor was accidentally tripped by Kaina Yasui as he headed towards goal and Darren Gough made no mistake from the spot.

Ashford piled on the pressure but poor finishing and some impressive goalkeeping from Harrow’s Kieran Campbell meant there was no change to the scoreline before the break.

The pressure only intensified after half time though and after Seb Jones had thundered an effort against the cross bar, skipper Tom Betts was on hand to drive home the rebound just before the hour mark.  More saves followed from Campbell but he was powerless to prevent Jack Taylor scoring a superb individual goal on 80 minutes, following a jinking run that took him past three defenders.

Ashford visibly relaxed but Harrow never stopped trying and with just a minute left, scored a consolation through their big striker Troy Raymond.  Determined to have the last word though, Ashford restored their three goal advantage almost immediately when Jamie Pearce struck home to make the final score 4-1.

The Under-18’s are next in action on Monday evening away to Hayes & Yeading, when it is anticipated that leading scorer Mark Bitmead, who has missed the last two games, will be back from injury.