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Altrincham were without five of their squad as they continued to catch up on the games played by league leaders Chester FC.

Altrincham got off to a dreadful start, conceding twice in the opening seven minutes. In only the second minute, following a throw-in, Foster hacked clear, only for his kick to go to an opponent. The visitors' no.11 got clear and scored past Burrows. Though he did not get much power on his shot, the ball trickled into the bottom right-hand corner of Burrows's net (2 mins).

After an Altrincham corner had come and gone, the second Ashton goal arrived when a long ball up the middle deceived Heathcote and left the visitors' no.9 in the clear. He finished impressively with a well-struck, rising shot past Burrows (7 mins).

To their credit, Altrincham responded well. Good play from Dwyer, left of goal, culminated in his cross which the incoming Arrowsmith headed home from close range (8 mins).

After their shaky start, Altrincham now enjoyed the lion's share of the attacking momentum. Sandwiched between two Altrincham corners, a Dwyer cross set up a Clancy header but he put it wide of the target (14 mins).

Next, from Davis's feed, Arrowsmith, under pressure, put his shot over the bar. The one-way traffic continued with another corner (20 mins) before Clancy's fierce shot drew an excellent save from the Ashton keeper.

In the 36th minute, Alty had a great chance to equalize but, following more good work left of goal by Dwyer, Clancy shinned his shot over the bar from close range. But the leveller did soon arrive. After a Clancy effort had been blocked, the ball fell for Dwyer to net from close range (37 mins).

Altrincham continued to threaten but the best chance in that period came when Davis fed Dwyer but, from left of goal his shot cleared the bar (44 mins). Once again, Altrincham captain Laurence Taylor had proved a dependable and calm influence in midfield.

Early in the second half, Heathcote's fine long ball reached Arrowsmith, whose cross was diverted onto the bar for a corner. Another corner soon followed, after which Arrowsmith got past his man but Clancy's resulting effort was blocked. After another Altrincham corner, Dwyer fired over the bar.

Three further Alty corners arrived before the midway point of the second half as Altrincham continued to dominate but wiithout being able to open up the Ashton defence decisively.

In the 71st minute, Altrincham brought on Bellingham for Folagbade but they initially continued to be incapable of converting possession into clear goal-scoring chances. After this, however, a fine ball from Davis got Cain running at goal. However, his shot found the side netting (78 mins).

Soon afterwards, a clever lob from Clancy came back off the crossbar before a shot from the same player was saved by Ashton's keeper. Finally, as time was running out, Cain went up the right and, via Davis, the ball fell for Bellingham. From left of goal he struck an impressive shot past the keeper to make it 3-2 (85 mins).

Altrincham played out the remaining minutes to maintain their pressure on leaders Chester. With three games left, Alty are seven points behind Chester but have two games in hand. However, the final match of the season is Altrincham v Chester and this could prove to be the deciding encounter for the Premier League title.