Aspire Secure Maximum Points To Set Up Box-Office Premiership Finish

Aspire returned to Nottingham Trent University this weekend for gameweek four of the Slater & Gordon Premiership, the penultimate weekend of the season.

Aspire, who went into the weekend one point behind league leaders Leeds, knew that maximum points from their four games would need to be secured to remain within the title hunt.

Thankfully, Aspire were in great form and put together a perfect weekend of results to give themselves a strong fighting chance going into the final gameweek.

Aspire 1-0 GBG Knights

The first game of the weekend was against Aspire’s John Good Group WFA Cup quarter final opponents GBG Knights, who they beat 6-0 in their last league meeting.

Despite dominating the general play, Aspire unfortunately lacked a clinical edge in this one.

The main goal was three points though, and Aspire got the winning goal through John Dickson in the first half.

Bolding found Mclellan, who played a brilliant cross-court pass into Dickson who buried it confidently into the bottom left corner.

Aspire struggled to take their chances from this point forth, and a game which could have been very comfortable ultimately became slightly nervy.

Nevertheless, Aspire saw out the win, and moved on quickly from a slightly frustrating morning.

Aspire 3-1 West Bromwich Albion

Aspire vs WBA is always a hotly anticipated clash, and this one was no different, as Court A was full to the brim of spectators ready to watch the old enemies battle.

WBA have struggled at times this season, however this match-up always brings the best out of the teams.

Aspire started the game on the front foot, aggressively hunting an early goal, to try and avoid a game like the cagey 0-0 between the sides earlier in the season.

They got what they wished through Jon Bolding, after a well-worked set piece. Mclellan's delivery was swept into a gap amongst the Albion rear-guard by the Aspire captain.

Aspire had an opportunity to double their advantage just minutes later after Dan Mclellan was fouled by Lucas Christer in the area, and they were awarded a penalty.

Mclellan stepped up to take the penalty but was denied by England goalkeeper Chris Gordon.

Aspire had to face some pressure in the following ten minutes, but managed to see their lead into half time.

Aspire were not willing to rest on their laurels though, and set about extending their lead, rather than just conserving their advantage.

Just seconds into the second half, they put together a devastating attacking move. Dan Mclellan played a one-two with Jon Bolding before taking the ball out wide and firing back into the centre. Bolding was there to meet it with his front bumper first time, and send it into the goal - a brilliant show of skill and chemistry.

John Dickson added the cherry onto the cake with a cheeky finish after being sent through one-on-one, making it 3-0 to Aspire.

Albion did pull a goal back late on, but it is still very up for debate who was at fault for that one, so we will leave that to Jon and Dan to argue about.

Overall, it was a brilliant Aspire performance in a huge game.

Aspire 5-0 Muscle Warriors

Next up was a meeting with club-mates Muscle Warriors.

Aspire scored after four minutes, great link-up between Dickson and Mclellan meant that the latter was able to drive onto a ball and slot into an empty goal.

They doubled their advantage on ten minutes, John Dickson picking up a loose ball in the penalty area and driving it over the line.

Bolding secured the third Aspire goal just before the break, pretending to smash hit the ball across goal from a corner, but at the last minute finessing his shot into the near post.

The fourth goal came in the second half, with Rich George getting onto the scoresheet after full-spinning the ball powerfully in at the near post.

The fifth goal was a moment of magic from John Dickson, a deft flick around the Warriors' goalkeeper at a seemingly impossible angle.

Aspire 1-0 WBA Throstles

The final game of the weekend was against an in-form Throstles side.

Aspire set about taking the lead early, but often found their attacks thwarted by great last-ditch defending from Throstles.

They scored on 11 minutes through Dickson, after a clever piece of deception from Bolding found him unmarked at the back post from a free kick.

Just a minute later, Throstles got a penalty and a significant chance to get back level in the game.

Luckily for Aspire, goalkeeper Tom Kelly made a brilliant stop to deny Wharton from the spot. He was surrounded by his grateful teammates at the half time whistle.

Aspire probed away in the second half, however a big roar from the adjacent court as Villa Rockets had scored to beat Aspire title-rivals Teesside in the last minute tightened up the game.

Aspire knew the immense value three points would carry, and so saw out the win professionally.

Captain Jon Bolding said: "Coming away from the weekend I am very proud of the team. We had to grind out a couple of the results but overall we got the job done and played some great expansive football.

"We leave ourself in a fantastic place going into the final weekend. Time for rest and then back to training next weekend to be best prepared for the next nationals."

The season-defining Premiership weekend is just a few weeks away, with Aspire returning to Nottingham on 18/19th April to contest their last games.