ASHTON-on-Mersey crashed to a heavy six-wicket defeat at table-topping Stockport Georgians in Cheshire Cricket League Division One.

Winning the toss and choosing to bat first, Ashton had hopes facing an inexperienced Georgians opening bowling attack might provide a springboard to setting a challenging total.

But a mixture of poor shots and a lack of application saw the top order throw away any advantage to crash to 9-3.

Tom Scott and Lee Brooks grafted to try and haul Ashton back into the game, but the introduction of spinners James Locke (3-27) and Simon Normanton (4-21) proved too much for the Ashton pair, Scott mis-hitting Locke to mid-on and Brooks falling to a stunning caught-and-bowled by Normanton.

The rest of the Ashton team battled hard but the damage had been done.

With Georgians backing up their excellent bowling with focus and aggression in the field, Ashton saw their final chances of posting a total disappear as a series of vociferous appeals eventually found favour with the umpire.

The total of 85 was never going to pose a problem for the strong Georgians batting line-up, although James Marshall bowled well to take three of the four wickets to fall as the home side strolled to the win, closing on 89-4.

Ashton will be looking to regroup for their next league match when they meet Cheadle Hulme.

A weakened second XI also fell to a heavy defeat against Neston, their opponents making 194 and Ashton totalling just 72.