ASHVILLE got back to winning ways with a 1-0 win against high flying Brocton in Staffordshire thanks to a smashing header from Toby Jones.

It was a fast start by the home side who hit the bar after just a minute leaving Will Ebbrell stranded in the Ashville goal.

The early stages were all Brocton as the home side peppered the Villa goal with long range efforts but nothing to overly trouble Ebbrell.

On 20 minutes, Ashville arms were in the air as they saw a penalty appeal waved away following a collision between Kasey Smith and Tony Allsopp.

Just a minute later and Ashville reminded their hosts of just how dangerous a side they can be when Shaun Parrington delivered a beautiful cross into the box for Joe Dulson at the back post. Unfortunately the winger couldn't keep his header on target.

The sides then traded half chances before the half time break with neither side finding a breakthrough.

Less than a minute into the second half and Ashville thought they'd taken the lead when Josh Maldon executed a perfectly weighted through ball for Peter Morgan who seemingly beat the offside trap to finish smartly before his goal was chalked off for offside.

Ashville almost immediately got the ball back and Morgan was put through again, this time pulling his shot wide of the goal.

It was a crazy first few minutes of the second half as Brocton went straight up the other end and had the ball in the back of the net themselves. The goal was ultimately ruled out for a foul on Ebbrell in the midst of a goalmouth scramble.

The game then turned into a midfield battle as Brocton solidified from the early second half scares and Villa held firm against a prolific Brocton attack.

That all changed on 72 minutes though when Ashville got a free kick halfway into the Brocton half. Maldon floated it into the back post where it was met by the departing Jones who powered an authoritative header into the far top corner.

The goal really lit a fire in the Brocton players who put Villa under immense pressure but the away side refused to buckle.

With just five minutes remaining the Badgers had their best chance of an equaliser when Ebbrell dropped a corner under pressure but Villa threw every available body in the firing line of the resulting shot causing a panicked effort which went high and wide.

Into added time and Villa had hearts in mouths as they saw yet another Brocton attempt come off the crossbar but the rebound header was straight at Ebbrell who took a kick to the head for his troubles.

Four minutes after the additional time indicated had expired, the final whistle went and Ashville had their first league away win of the season as they climbed out of the relegation zone following Market Drayton Town's 2-0 loss to fellow relegation rivals, Winsford United.

Now Ashville turn their attention to a massive derby game on Tuesday night when they host Cammell Laird 1907. The Cammells also find themselves right in the mix at the bottom end of the table so there will be more than just local pride on the line.