The Hoppers returned from their extended Christmas break by travelling to Ashford. With many thanks to Ashford for rearranging the fixture to a much more civilised start time of 1PM. Availability on the whole was very good, but it did cause John Mitchell a headache with the formation as the team had six regular forwards and three regular defenders. To add to the selection drama, regular goalkeeper Gavin Rimmer was poached by the 3's. Thankfully Paul White stepped in to provide cover. Richard Williamson and Mark Barker provided central defensive capabilities flanked by wing backs of Donald Gillespie and Alex Templer. New starter Neil Taylor given the defensive midfield pivot spot. Central Midfield paired by Dan Smith and Welsh International Ben Milner. The front three were made up of Beau Boulton, Logan Gordon and Michael Hughes. Ollie White, David Barnes and John Mitchell would provide the first round of substitutions.
The first half started with real vigour, both sides exchanging attacks and short corners. It did become evident that the extended break has effectively dulled the normally crisp passing and precise tackling of Hoppers and mistakes became more numerous. A missed tackle allowed Ashford to capitalise and the Hoppers found themselves a goal down. Ashford exerted good pressure and didn't allow the Hoppers any time when they had the ball. Neil, Dan, and Ben kept things competitive in the middle of the pitch. Logan was energetic in front of the D. Beau was cool and calm under pressure from players many decades older than him.

A sixteen taken by Mark managed to bypass the entire midfield and reach Logan. Logan controlled and passed the ball into space allowing Michael to run onto it, beating his defender, he hit the ball with a dizzying pace that confused the goalkeeper and the Hoppers found themselves one all. Don subbed with Ollie, Michael with David, and Beau for John.

Logan nearly scored by dragged his effort wide after volleying a pass from Beau. Dan too managed a well struck reverse shot which frustratingly just went wide of the post. Alex on defensive duty toiled against his mark ending up in a heap on the floor after being tripped. After a free hit in the Hoppers quarter a missed clearance allowed Ashford to score again before the end of the half.

The second half started with Ashford changing formation to a more attacking bias which to their credit resulted in a short corner. Scoring Ashford followed up immediately by getting another short corner. This corner saw a cheeky looping flick catch out the Hoppers and Ashford built up a two goal cushion in less than ten minutes. Neil subbed with Alex sparking a change in formation. This allowed the Hoppers to build up more pressure. Logan and Michael each nearly scoring. Passing became better with Ben threading a ball to Logan in the D. Logan drew many off ball tackles but was judged to have been shoved off the ball. Penalty flick indicated after an umpire's debate. Ben took and scored from the spot. 4-2 could the Hoppers fight back? Unfortunately Ashford capitalised on a mistake. Alex deflected an aerial pass meant for an Ashford player, but as he changed direction he slipped losing his footing allowing Ashford to overload Richard, Mark and Paul. The game ended 5-2 but an improvement from last time.