Ben Smith was presented with a bottle of champagne at Ashton's first home game in just over two months in recognition of his achievement of finally became the latest of Danny Johnson's squad to achieve a century of appearances for the Hurst Cross outfit - joining current team mates Danny Caldecott, Iain Howard and Ian Bennett in Ashton's '100 Club'.

The former Oldham and Stalybridge man has been a favourite with the fans throughout his Ashton career and his driving displays from midfield have won him many plaudits and brought an excellent goal return - his twenty two goals equate to almost one every four games. Ben has also had the rare distinction of scoring four times in a game and finishing on the losing side when Ashton went down 5-4 at Bradford Park Avenue last season.

Testimony to Ben's consistency is that, unlike Bennett and Caldecott, he has made all his appearances under current manager Danny Johnson who has only been in charge of Ashton for 130 games.

Ben's 99th game came on December 12th and Christmas's Big Freeze meant he couldn't make outing 100 until Ashton resumed UniBond Premier League duties at Ossett Town on January 23rd. Financial Dircetor at Ashton, Jackie Tierney, presented the champers to Ben prior to the Boston game this weekend.