Ashton Town 1-3 Cheadle Town
With wandering eyes looking towards this Saturday's FA Cup tie at Trafford we had to deal with the more pressing matter of collecting more league points after a somewhat inconsistent start.
And it was a task that was completed in a comfortable manner. There may have been a few fingernails chewed by those of a more nervous disposition when Ashton Town reduced the arrears to 2-1 but, if truth be told, their goal was their only significant attempt on goal all evening.
It was a night that didn't get off to the best of starts for some.
Heavy traffic on the M60 had meant that yours truly had just managed to get to the ground as kick-off started (the chairman fairing somewhat worse, missing the entire first 45 minutes) with Joe Shaw receiving a blow to the eye after just 8 minutes and then having to leave the ground altogether to have the wound seen to at hospital.
With the pack reshuffled to include substitute John McLaughlin in the back four we quickly settled back down and managed our first foray on goal on the quarter-hour mark when Luke Pearson worked himself into space on the left of the box before firing over the bar.
Three minutes later and we were ahead. From the halfway line Thabiso Magida went on a marauding run down the right, jinked inside when on the edge of the area before burying his effort inside the near post.
Sam Noar then forced the Ashton keeper into a good save two minutes later before some tidy play in and around the edge of the box resulted in Mike Sherrington swinging an effort just wide.
His brother Chris finished the half with a couple of decent efforts himself, forcing the keeper to palm away a strongly-hit free-kick before having a go from distance that was inches wide.
His clipped free-kick into the box three minutes after the restart almost brought rewards, but Nathan Tosum's turn-and-shot was blocked well by the Ashton back line.
On 55 minutes Thab Magida was put through by an excellent Matt German ball but was denied at the last by an excellent saving tackle before we finally extended our lead five minutes later.
And, as has happened so many times in the past, it was the Sherrington combination: Chris with the cross from wide out on the left for brother Mike to acrobatically poke home in mid-air.
Sam Noar chased down a through ball on the right before firing just wide of the far post shortly afterwards before Ashton then appeared to have got themselves back in the game on 73 minutes, Silsby latching onto a through ball into the box before clipping it over the advancing Jupp.
Both Chris Sherrington and Sam Noar tried their luck from range in the final ten minutes of the match before the points were wrapped up two minutes from time. Chris Sherrington was the provider from the left wing again, with James Horan - having replaced his brother Mike from the bench - the beneficiary, hooking home from close range.
A first win at Edge Green Street since 2012-13 and the first one in the league since 2010-11; the perfect boost and preparation for the next chapter in our FA Cup antics at Trafford this Saturday.
TEAM: Jupp, Todd, Pearson, German, Shaw (McLaughlin), Dunn, Magida, Tosum (Russell), Noar, M Sherrington (Horan), C Sherrington. SUBS: Piggott (gk), Horan, Russell, McLaughlin, Hincks.
