Sittingbourne 1 Ashford Town 1
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
The final away game of 2007 took us to the fairly familiar surroundings of Bourne Park. Last season’s fixtures dictated that we should come here on three occasions – once for the league match against champions-to-be Maidstone United, and twice for the corresponding league game against Sittingbourne, due to the first attempt being abandoned at half-time due to floodlight failure. A little ironically, it was Steve Lovell, Ashford Town’s current Manager, who was in charge, at the time, of an impressive Sittingbourne side that led 2-0 when the lights went out, (and when Jake Whincup, in the Ashford goal, ably negotiated a stay of execution for his team).
It is a fact that neither Sittingbourne nor Ashford have so far flourished, on the field of play, since Lovell’s switch to The Homelands. He guided The Brickies to a haul of 22 points from 13 league games, and they have managed just twelve points from nine games since his departure; since taking over from Clive Walker at Ashford, Steve has managed just five points from eight league games, which compares with Clive’s record of 18 from twelve.
Nevertheless, both performances and results have steadily improved under Steve Lovell, with the two most recent displays – the 1-2 victory at Kingstonian and the excellent showing, albeit in the context of a 1-2 defeat, at home to Dover on Boxing Day – providing particular grounds for optimism. The broad consensus from the latter match appears to have been that we deserved at least a point against what appears to be far and away the best side in the division this year. (The more obnoxious of Dover’s fans have been belly-aching for more than two years about their team being too good for Ryman Division One South – now, at last, it seems that they’re right !). I can also tell you that we won’t meet many better sides than Kingstonian, who were fourth in the table this morning, for the remainder of the season, so we approached today’s fixture in a positive frame of mind.
Sittingbourne, however, having experienced a brief slump after (fairly amicably) parting company with Steve Lovell, have recently been showing signs of regaining their momentum under new manager, and non-league goal-scoring legend, Gary Abbott, and were ninth this morning, having gained a 0-2 victory at Whitstable on Boxing Day. There was therefore every expectation that this was going to be a close game.
One of the charms of watching non-league football lies in the variety of back-drops that different grounds have. Molesey, Burnham and Burgess Hill Town, for example, have a ground that nestles within a residential area, and so their football is played against a background of local houses – a bit like Essella Park used to be. Whyteleafe’s ground, in leafy Surrey, is surrounded by trees. Ashford Town (Middlesex), located on the Southern edge of Heathrow Airport, play in the shadow of a row of enormous fuel tanks, whilst there is a good view of the crematorium from the main stand at Croydon Athletic. Bourne Park, home of Sittingbourne FC, is situated at the end of an industrial estate, and football here is played to a backdrop of warehousing and light industrial units. On the opposite side to the main stand, there was the usual array of stored materials in the yards – green, blue and yellow plastic pipes and sheets, stacked on pallets – as well as the shell of an enormous new warehouse under construction. (This could be a cue for the joke about the dyslexic pimp who bought a warehouse, but I’ll leave that for another day). The footy ground very much blends into this scenery, being delineated on all four sides by a corrugated steel fence, with portakabins used to house the turnstiles and bar areas. All in all, more “gritty” than picturesque.
The single stand at Bourne Park, which gives a good, elevated view of proceedings, provided welcome shelter from the chilly breeze that was blowing this afternoon, but the best news of the day was that the weather forecast of “sunshine and showers” was only half correct – we barely saw a cloud all day, and it was appropriate that we entered the ground to the strains of ELO’s “Mr Blue Sky”. The pitch today looked a little bumpy, and there were a few sanded patches on one side, but I’m reliably informed that the surface was nowhere near as difficult to play on as our own pitch, at The Homelands. With the breeze not materially affecting the way the game was played, it’s actually pretty difficult to work out why this was such a terrible game ! Maybe Ashford were experiencing the hang-over from the excellent effort they put in against Dover on Boxing Day, but both sides looked very flat this afternoon.
The story of the game, in a nut-shell, was that Ashford took the lead in the seventh minute, with Mark Lovell scoring, on his return to Bourne Park, with a well-taken goal from open play. Neither side really looked like scoring again – certainly not for the next 87 minutes - with Ashford dominating for the most part. When Sittingbourne had a player sent off, with about an hour gone, it appeared that a dire match was finally over, as a contest. Then, after three minutes of injury time had been played, Walid Matata missed a simple chance to slot the ball past the goalkeeper to make it 0-2, and The Brickies duly went up the other end and equalised. The visitors might have felt aggrieved to have missed out on victory today – and it’s true to say that, if Jamie Riley had saved Hicham Akhazzan’s shot, then it would have been Jamie’s first save of the match – but Ashford’s overall performance didn’t really merit all three points.
The lack-lustre performance certainly cannot be blamed on Steve Lovell tinkering around with the line-up, as we started with the same eleven that took the field against Dover: Jamie Riley in goal; a back four of Nicky Humphrey, Sean Ray, Lee Hockey and Daniel Brathwaite; a midfield quartet of Mitchell Sherwood, Ryan Briggs, Nick Barnes and Jimmy Bottle; and Mark Lovell and Paul Jones up front. The substitutes today were Sam Moore (the ‘keeper), Tony Browne, Danny Lye, Rob Denness and Walid Matata – Lee Spiller and Aron Freeman were also in attendance, in their civvies.
With Mitchell Sherwood and Lee Hockey having been regulars for Sittingbourne earlier in the season, and Jamie Riley having played here on loan, there was one ex-Ashford player in The Brickies’ line-up – Danny Eason, who impressed for our Reserves earlier in the season, started in goal for Sittingbourne for the second time since joining them a few weeks ago. The other familiar face was that of Steve Nolan, formerly Assistant Manager to Clive Walker at The Homelands, who was doing his “Andy Gray” bit in the Press Box, working as expert summariser for BBC Radio Kent.
One thing that can be said of Ashford Town is that they at least tried to get the ball on the ground and pass it around, but, whilst this enabled them to keep possession for short periods, it was never slick or incisive – with the exception of the build-up which led to our goal, in the seventh minute. This first action of any note since the kick-off saw Mitchell Sherwood on a run down the right wing. He broke through Sittingbourne skipper Joe Dowley’s tackle, and squared the ball to Paul Jones. Jonah pushed a measured pass behind The Brickies’ defence, for Mark Lovell to run on to, and the former Sittingbourne and Dover striker got to the ball just before Danny Eason, stabbing it into the corner of the net.
Ashford then enjoyed a spell of ascendancy, on the back of this goal, with Paul Jones looking the livelier of our attacking options. In the tenth minute, Jonah was fouled by Dowley, near the right corner flag, but Jimmy Bottle hit the resulting free-kick too long. Then, in the 13th minute, Nick Barnes hit a long ball into the same corner, for Jones to chase, but the Sittingbourne defence cleared the ball for a throw-in. Nicky Humphrey’s long throw, into the penalty area, was forced behind for a corner, on the right, and skipper Sean Ray got up well to meet the resulting left-footed cross from Jimmy Bottle, but Razor could do no more than head the ball high over the bar. (You know that we had very few real chances, when Your Correspondent makes a point of describing the throw-ins !). In the 25th minute, a long ball from the back four from Lee Hockey was allowed, by the home defence, to travel all the way to Paul Jones, who picked the ball up near the by-line, but a good tackle put the ball behind for a corner, on the right. Again it was Jimmy Bottle who came across to swing the ball in, left-footed, and this time it was Nicky Humphrey who could only head the ball up into the air.
The only real threat to the Ashford goal in the first half-hour came in the 18th minute, when Jamie Riley caught a long, hanging cross on his goal-line, only to drop the ball over the line as he was being challenged by a Sittingbourne forward – whether or not a foul had been committed, there was always going to be a 100% probability that Mr Smith, the Referee, would blow up for a foul.
In the 30th minute, Sean Ray bundled over Tunisian striker Sabeur Trabelsi, in the centre circle. The resulting free-kick was chipped into the Ashford area, and headed away by Nicky Humphrey. The ball fell to full-back Toby Ashmore, just outside the penalty area, but his low shot was always going well wide. A minute later, Sean Ray rather body-checked Trabelsi on the right-hand touchline, whilst attempting to shield the ball out for an Ashford throw – and was shown a yellow card, presumably for an accumulation of offences. Anthony Hogg took the free-kick, aiming for Trabelsi, in the Ashford area, but Ray managed to get his body in the way, at the expense of a corner. This time, a left-footed cross was swung in from the right, and was homing in on the near post - Jamie Riley kept the ball out, but there was a bit of “bat & pad” with the upright.
With little creative football being produced by either side, it appeared that the best chance of another goal would come from a set-piece, but Jack Baines and Anthony Hogg did manage to combine with a sweet one-two, deep in the Ashford half, and were rewarded with a corner, on the left. This resulted in a deep cross, which travelled all the way through to Joe Dowley, on the far edge of the area – but he crossed the ball straight into the hands of Jamie Riley.
Ashford’s best chance of extending their lead in the first half came in the 39th minute. Again, it was Paul Jones who was the instigator, picking the ball up just inside the Sittingbourne half, and going on a run down the left channel. As always, Jonah looked strong in possession, and, after one challenge had bounced off him, he pulled the ball back from the by-line. Mark Lovell let the ball run to Ryan Briggs, who skied his left-footed shot, from about 20 yards out, high over the bar.
Steve Lovell made one enforced change at half time – Danny Lye replaced Nick Barnes, who had picked up a calf injury which looked pretty sore as he hobbled off into the car park at the end of the game.
This substitution preceded a second half that was probably even more scrappy than the first, with most of the few noteworthy incidents during the next 45 minutes being cards of various colours being waved at players by the referee. Both teams did, however, have a squeak of a chance shortly after the restart. In the 48th minute, a ball forward found Hicham Akhazzan, half-way inside the Ashford half – he slipped a through-ball to his strike-partner Sabeur Trabelsi, whose first touch had all the finesse of a fork-lift truck, so that Jamie Riley was able to usher the ball behind for a goal-kick. At the other end, a minute later, Lee Hockey, who is the image of the current Robin Hood, took a long throw, from near the right corner flag – but, though Danny Lye got his head to the ball, on the front edge of the six-yard box, he could do no more than pop the ball over the bar.
The first of a rash of yellow cards was shown to Sabeur Trabelsi, in the 55th minute, after he had left his foot in on Daniel Brathwaite, after Daniel had affected a clearance. Four minutes later, Joe Dowley was booked for a foul on Mitchell Sherwood, and then Referee Smith reached for his pocket again, in the 61st minute, after a coming-together between Trabelsi and Sean Ray. It seemed a fairly innocuous incident, and it wasn’t clear which way the free-kick would be awarded, but Trabelsi it was who was shown his second yellow card, which was quickly followed by a red one. (It was actually a fairly rich shade of pink – fuchsia maybe – but the Tunisian got the message, and trooped off to the dressing-room). Amid the uproar from the home supporters in the main stand, Sean turned and indicated that an elbow had been used.
As previously noted, the general feeling was that this incident effectively ended the game as a contest – on the grounds that Sittingbourne had looked poor, and had made little impact on the Ashford defence with all eleven men on the pitch. (Your Correspondent made a note to himself, at the time, to the effect that this would now be a REALLY EMBARRASSING game not to win !). It was certainly a shame for Trabelsi, who had been involved in a promising move for Sittingbourne, in the 57th minute, just prior to his dismissal. He had spread the ball wide to Jack Baines, on the left, who had found Hicham Akhazzan, in the centre, with a good cross, but Akhazzan’s flicked header was comfortably caught by Jamie Riley.
In the 75th minute, with little or nothing happening for Ashford, Steve Lovell made a double-substitution, replacing Paul Jones and Mark Lovell with Rob Denness and top-scorer Walid Matata – (which he probably would have done even if the good-sized group of Ashford supporters behind the goal had not been singing Walid’s name !). This is actually the first time that Lovell Jnr has been substituted during his Ashford career to date – and may or may not have had something to do with the fact that he had picked up a yellow card for leaving a foot in on Billy Manners, in the 66th minute.
Gary Abbott soon responded with some substitutions of his own, replacing Jack Baines with Steve Hafner, in the 77th minute, and Dave Milton with James Campbell, in the 79th minute.
Campbell was soon involved in what passed for “the action” in this match, when, in the 81st minute, he spread the ball wide to Akhazzan, on the left – but, faced by Nicky Humphrey, the ex-Chatham forward tried a speculative shot from outside the area, which went well wide. As the home side increasingly committed themselves forward, in search of an equaliser, Mitchell Sherwood broke from a deep position, in the 86th minute, carrying the ball through the centre circle and finding Jimmy Bottle in space, on the left. Jimmy certainly caught the eye with his pace this afternoon, but, in all honesty, he produced very little end-product; (and it might be significant that Toby Ashmore, who had the job of marking him, was named as Sittingbourne’s Man of the Match). On this occasion, however, Jimmy did manage to get around his man and put in a dangerous cross, aiming for Walid at the far post, but the home defence managed to head the ball behind, for a corner, on the right. Jimmy went across to take the kick, but Paul Ainsworth was there to head his cross clear.
As full-time approached, it appeared that Ashford were in the process of winding up what is referred to in modern parlance as an “ugly victory”, playing possession football, with one eye on the (imaginary) clock. With 90 minutes up on my watch, a patient build-up concluded with Ryan Briggs threading a diagonal ball through for Rob Denness to run on to, but the Lino had his flag up before The Menace slid the ball into the net.
Then came the cruel twist to the tale, deep into injury time. In the 93rd minute, Danny Eason miss-hit a clearance, straight to Mitchell Sherwood, who immediately put Walid Matata through on goal, with a diagonal pass. Walid opened up his body, to sweep the ball over young Danny, and into the net, but his attempt went wide. A 0-2 scoreline would have flattered Ashford this afternoon, but a clinching goal from their hero would have delighted the Ashford contingent behind the goal. So we would have to settle for a hard-fought, if uninspiring, 0-1 victory – except that the story didn’t end there. As the game entered the 94th minute, Sittingbourne were awarded a free-kick, mid-way into the Ashford half. There was a shot at goal, and the ball seemed to stick under the foot of Hicham Akhazzan, who then turned and fired it past Jamie Riley.
It’s difficult to gauge the precise reaction of the Ashford fans to this late equaliser, as it appeared that, unusually, none of them went for a drink in the bar afterwards – which might, in itself, be a clue to the level of disappointment with the team’s performance this afternoon. It’s certainly a shame that the fair number of fans who had travelled from Ashford this afternoon had to witness a surprisingly low-key performance from the lads, especially after the good showing on Boxing Day. The only way that I can reconcile the two performances is to suggest that the Dover game took plenty out of the players, both mentally and physically – we’ll certainly be looking for a marked improvement against second-bottom Horsham YMCA (no puns intended) in a week’s time.
In the interests of balance, I should also point out that Sittingbourne looked a poor outfit today, and didn’t, in my opinion, deserve a point from this game – but I’m absolutely certain that this was not a typical performance from our hosts, as they wouldn’t be in the top half of the table if they couldn’t do better than this.
One other snippet of information, which caught my eye recently: did you know that Ashford are yet to be defeated by more than one goal away from home in the league this season ? The only away defeat by more than one goal to date has come in the FA Cup, when we went down 2-0 to Erith & Belvedere – the only two survivors from that game in the starting line-up this afternoon were Nicky Humphrey and Nick Barnes. Hope that keeps the anoraks happy.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Ryan Briggs
Saturday 29 December 2007
Sunday 25 November 2007
Metropolitan Police v Ashford Town. Ryman Division One South. 24th of November 2007.
Metropolitan Police 1 Ashford Town 1
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
My fourth visit to Imber Court to see us take on the Metropolitan Police – and the three previous visits have involved seeing the boys lose on each occasion, by scores of 3-2, 2-1 and 2-1. So the omens weren’t particularly good ! This was Ashford’s 20th game of the season, in all competitions – but, more pertinently, it was Steve Lovell’s fifth in charge.
By all accounts, there were signs last time out that Steve’s team is starting to get it together, with an encouraging draw at home to Burgess Hill Town. There were two other important aspects of that 1-1 draw. Firstly, it broke the sequence of us having lost every game in which we had conceded first; incredibly, Mark Lovell’s debut goal, in the 89th minute, was our first equaliser of the season ! Secondly, the starting line-up was the first not to contain any of last season’s squad, so it really did signal the start of a new era.
Of course, many of those who played last Saturday were players brought in by Clive Walker, but Lovell has started to implant his own personnel – starting, in text book style, with the “spine” of the team: a new goalie, who made his debut today, a strong, commanding centre-back, a midfield playmaker and a centre-forward. All of these I was seeing for the first time today. Sean Ray, the centre-half signed from Hastings, is the most obvious addition – partly because of his size, but mostly because of his sheer presence. Even as the players warmed up before the game, it was obvious to me which one “Razor” was, without him having to be pointed out. As he’s been Man of the Match on both occasions that he’s played for Ashford Town to date, I was also expecting a fairly imposing performance today, and wasn’t disappointed. He was a colossus at the back this afternoon, and looks to be an excellent signing for a Club that’s had a very nervous-looking defence all season.
Many of the defensive problems – we’ve only managed two clean sheets all season, and none since the third game – have stemmed from a lack of confidence in the goal-keeper, and The Management moved decisively to address this issue by shelling out some hard cash when signing Jamie Riley from East Thurrock United on Monday. Again, this looks to be an excellent investment, as Jamie really looks the part. A David James lookalike, Jamie pulled off a candidate for the Save of the Season, late in the first half, so has started to repay the investment already.
Ryan Briggs – who apparently suffers a lot from Ryan Giggs jokes, (although I’m old enough to mainly associate the name with speedway) – also impressed. He looked comfortable with the ball at his feet, and seemed to enjoy having the responsibility of the role of playmaker. At the head of the spine, Mark Lovell had the demeanor of a striker, and is sure to score more goals for us – in spite of missing a candidate for Sitter of the Season today ! Of Steve Lovell’s two other signings, it’s difficult to evaluate Mitchell Sherwood, a right-sided midfield player from Sittingbourne, as he rarely saw the ball this afternoon, and our old favourite, Paul Jones, still needs to regain full fitness before showing us what he can do.
Arguably, however, Steve Lovell’s most important addition on show this afternoon was TEAMWORK – that intangible “twelfth man”. Seemingly by magic, Ashford Town morphed into a side playing patient, passing football – certainly one which was unrecognisable from the collection of strangers that took the field at Chipstead a short while ago ! Actually, (at the risk of this sounding like a report from one of the Reserves’ games), this was a great game to watch, between two good, passing sides. I was very impressed with our hosts. If anything, they were the better side, with their passing being a shade quicker, enabling them to move the ball around the pitch at greater speed, and they looked very incisive when in the final third of the pitch. In the circumstances, therefore, this was very much a point gained for Ashford. The fact that The Met equalised as late as the 87th minute made it feel as if something had been taken away, of course, but 1-1 was a fair result overall, especially with The Police hitting the woodwork three times.
Here’s today’s line-up in full. We had Jamie Riley in goal, with a back four of (from right to left) Tony Brown, Rob Gillman, Sean Ray and Daniel Brathwaite; the midfield quartet in a 4-4-2 set-up was Mitch Sherwood, Nick Barnes, Ryan Briggs and Jimmy Bottle; Mark Lovell and Rob Denness were up front. (In other words, it was the same team that started on Saturday, against Burgess Hill, except for the ‘keeper). On the subs bench we had the deposed Sam Moore, Kevin Lott, Nicky Humphrey, Walid Matata and Paul Jones. Lee Spiller, Aron Freeman and Danny Lye were all at the ground as civilians, whilst Steve Sodje and Joe Hitchings were on duty for the Ressies.
The first occasion that the Boys in Blue hit the frame of the goal was in the third minute, when Chris Meikle’s close-range shot, from an acute angle, eluded Riley’s left hand, but rebounded back off the near post, with a “ping”. It should, however, have been Ashford who took an early lead, in the seventh minute, after a move that was beautiful in its simplicity and its incisiveness. It began with a long ball from Ryan Briggs, from inside his own half, which sent Jimmy Bottle on a chase down the left wing. Jimmy got to the ball before the defender, rounding his man and getting to the by-line. He looked up and picked out Mark Lovell, on the edge of the six-yard box, with a perfect, low cross. Any sort of clean contact with a boot would have put the ball into the back of the net, but Mark somehow got it stuck under his feet, allowing it to trickle to Will Packham, in the Police goal.
Whilst the build-up play from both sides was pleasing to watch, both sides also found it hard to get shots on target. Nick Barnes, who was the dominant presence in central midfield for Ashford, particularly in the first half, attempted an ambitious shot from inside the centre circle, in the tenth minute – although he struck the ball well, his effort went wide. A minute later, the home side had a free-kick, right on the edge of the penalty area, after Tony Browne had brought down Craig Carley. This resulted in James Greenaway blasting the ball well over the bar. Then, in the thirteenth minute, The Blues’ Scott Corbett sliced a shot, from outside the area, well wide.
There were two other brief scares for Ashford, mid-way through the first half. Tony Browne, who’s been prone to the odd howler this season, (and who will be missing the Kent Senior Cup tie against Tonbridge Angels on Tuesday, after Saturday’s red card), very nearly passed the ball straight to Craig Carley, in the 16th minute. This was not a great idea, given that Carley has so far scored 14 goals in 20 starts this season, but Daniel Brathwaite saved the situation with a full-stretch interception. In the 25th minute, a through-ball which nutmegged Rob Gillman seemed to present Dave Stevens with a one-on-one with the ‘keeper, but the Lino’s flag was immediately up for off-side.
Although Ashford looked good when having the ball, it’s probably fair to say that The Met had the most possession in the first 45 minutes. (It’s also interesting to note that The Blues seemed fairly comfortable in their 3-5-2 formation, especially since our national side seems to be all at sea with anything other than 4-4-2 !). Our hosts’ best move was probably seen in the 29th minute. A quick interchange of passes on the edge of the Ashford penalty area ended with Michael Cobden being put through on goal, but Jamie Riley was quickly off his line, and did well to block Cobden’s shot.
It was noticeable this afternoon that, when the long ball was used by Ashford, it was invariably aimed towards the corners. A good example was Sean Ray’s booming diagonal ball for Jimmy Bottle to chase, down the left wing, in the 32nd minute. Jimmy, who was a handful for The Police throughout the game, got to the ball first, near the corner flag, but was worried out of it by the defender.
When Tony Browne conceded a corner, when blocking a cross, in the 39th minute, it was actually the first time that the home side had been on the attack for several minutes, with Ashford having enjoyed a brief period of control. The Met were, however, about to really start to buzz, as they finished the first half strongly. From the resulting corner, Tony Browne was beaten in the air, the ball being nodded down to Craig Carley, who wasted a golden opportunity by shooting well over the bar. Two minutes later, Dave Stevens rounded both Daniel Brathwaite and Sean Ray, on the right side of the penalty area, and delivered a good cross from the by-line. Jamie Riley did well to block the initial effort, but then, after a brief goalmouth scramble, the ball fell to James Greenaway, whose well-struck shot, from about 16 yards out, seemed destined for the far corner of the net. That was when Jamie pulled off the diving save that confirmed to us all that we now have the services of a top-class goalkeeper.
But the danger had not yet passed, as The Police had a corner. Whilst the Ashford defence repelled the initial cross, the ball broke to Craig Carley, who hit the bar with a great shot from outside the penalty area.
Ashford will have been quite pleased to go in at half time with the score at 0-0, but actually had the final chance of the half. With 45 minutes up on my watch, Daniel Brathwaite led a break by releasing Jimmy Bottle down the left – a break that was ended when Jimmy was upended, in a position that was about level with the 18 yard line. Nick Barnes took the resulting free-kick, curling in a teasing, in-swinging cross towards the far post, but neither Sean Ray nor Mark Lovell, who both went flying in, could get the vital touch.
Although the home side had an early corner, which came to nothing, it was Ashford – playing with Mitch Sherwood switched to the left and Jimmy on the right - who had the first recognisable chance of the second half, in the 48th minute. Mark Lovell laid a firm pass forward off to Rob Denness, but Rob, who’s due to miss next Saturday’s game against Walton & Hersham, as a result of clocking up five yellow cards for the season, rather hurried his shot, and sliced wide. The Met’s Michael Cobden then had a sight of goal in the 55th minute, but his firm, low shot went across the face of goal – with Jamie Riley in control, watching the ball as it went wide.
The first substitution of the game came in the 62nd minute, when Nicky Humphrey replaced Tony Browne. I thought, momentarily, that Steve Lovell might be forced into another, enforced reshuffle, when Nick Barnes lunged into a tackle with a hint of twofootedness, just a minute later – but it was at the cost of no more than a free-kick, and the referee seemed unconcerned, so it must have looked worse than it actually was. The free-kick, which was about 15 yards inside the Ashford half, was quickly taken by Craig Carley, who tried to catch Jamie Riley napping, but The Blues’ top scorer’s lob was just too high.
In the 66th minute, Walid Matata replaced Rob Denness, who had worked hard, without ever threatening to score or create a chance. Then, three minutes later, Jamie Riley made his first and only error, when he misjudged a chipped cross. Whilst he should have caught the ball comfortably, he could do no more, at full stretch, than flip the ball out to Craig Carley, who hit the post with a shot from about twelve yards.
Walid Matata had been on the field for about six minutes when he put Ashford in front – and this was a well-worked goal. Jimmy Bottle had the ball on the right side of the field, in the 72nd minute. Whilst Nicky Humphrey showed great energy, haring off down the flank, on an overlap, Jimmy cut inside, onto his left foot. His deep cross found Matata, who laid the ball off to Mark Lovell. Mark set the ball up again for Walid, who took his time to side-foot the ball into the corner of the net, for his seventh goal of the season.
This set-back caused The Police to redouble their efforts – somebody’s comment about “all guns blazing” was inappropriate, given recent events – and Craig Carley beat the off-side trap, running onto a chipped through-ball, in the 74th minute. He caught up with the ball by the by-line, and pulled it back with a good cross, but Nicky Humphrey, running back, was there to nod behind for a corner. With Daniel Brathwaite behind the goal receiving treatment from Mo Alvi as the corner came across, Sean Ray headed clear. The luckless Daniel actually left the field two minutes later, to be replaced by Kevin Lott; this caused a bit of a reshuffle in defence, as Nicky Humphrey moved across to left-back, so that Kevin could fill in as a makeshift right-back. (It’ll be interesting to see who plays at full-back on Tuesday if Daniel’s not fit, with Aron Freeman already on the injury list and Tony Browne due to miss the match due to suspension).
Walid Matata was certainly the man on fire at this time. He ran onto a ball from Ryan Briggs, down the right touchline, in the 78th minute, and took possession of it near the corner flag – another example of the Ashford Town strategy of stretching the opposition with these balls into the corners. With space very tight, Walid nevertheless managed to beat two defenders, but was fouled as he was about to carry the ball along the by-line. Nick Barnes and Jimmy Bottle worked a short free-kick between them, and Jimmy was body-checked as he attempted to dribble the ball into the area. The resulting free-kick, right on the line, came to nothing.
At the other end, Craig Carley once again showed his pace, in the 80th minute, chasing a ball from the half-way line from the impressive Steve Sutherland. Carley got to the ball before the Ashford defence – which still isn’t over-endowed with pace – but his shot, from an acute angle, was comfortably saved by Jamie Riley.
Making their only substitution of the game in the 81st minute, (with Jon Daly replacing Martyn Lee), the home side equalised just three minutes from time. This came from a free-kick, just inside the Ashford penalty area. A long cross was headed down, into the mixer, and fell to Steve Sutherland, with his back to goal, somewhere near the penalty spot. He flipped the ball over his right shoulder, probably with the intention of causing some mayhem at the far post, and was delighted to see the ball loop over Jamie Riley’s head and plop into the corner of the net. I don’t want to tread the sour grapes too much by overemphasising the possible flukiness of this goal, as our hosts deserved to equalise, on the overall evidence of the game, but it was a slightly cruel way for Steve Lovell to be denied his first victory, and for Jamie Riley to miss out on a clean sheet on his debut.
There was an exciting finish to this entertaining game, as both sides pressed for a winner, but 1-1 was the final score. The point lifts the Met Police up one place, to sixth, in the table, whilst Ashford Town remain in 13th, now level on points with four other teams.
A couple of post scripts to today’s game. Firstly, it appears that the brief revival of the noisy travelling away support for Ashford Town seems to have fizzled out, for we were back to the handful of die-hards behind the goal today. Maybe the absentees are a bit shy of The Law ! Secondly, you might have noticed that there is barely a reference to today’s Referee – Mr Smith. That’s because he had an exemplary game, doing the job quietly and efficiently. No fuss. No theatrics. No yellow cards.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Nick Barnes
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
My fourth visit to Imber Court to see us take on the Metropolitan Police – and the three previous visits have involved seeing the boys lose on each occasion, by scores of 3-2, 2-1 and 2-1. So the omens weren’t particularly good ! This was Ashford’s 20th game of the season, in all competitions – but, more pertinently, it was Steve Lovell’s fifth in charge.
By all accounts, there were signs last time out that Steve’s team is starting to get it together, with an encouraging draw at home to Burgess Hill Town. There were two other important aspects of that 1-1 draw. Firstly, it broke the sequence of us having lost every game in which we had conceded first; incredibly, Mark Lovell’s debut goal, in the 89th minute, was our first equaliser of the season ! Secondly, the starting line-up was the first not to contain any of last season’s squad, so it really did signal the start of a new era.
Of course, many of those who played last Saturday were players brought in by Clive Walker, but Lovell has started to implant his own personnel – starting, in text book style, with the “spine” of the team: a new goalie, who made his debut today, a strong, commanding centre-back, a midfield playmaker and a centre-forward. All of these I was seeing for the first time today. Sean Ray, the centre-half signed from Hastings, is the most obvious addition – partly because of his size, but mostly because of his sheer presence. Even as the players warmed up before the game, it was obvious to me which one “Razor” was, without him having to be pointed out. As he’s been Man of the Match on both occasions that he’s played for Ashford Town to date, I was also expecting a fairly imposing performance today, and wasn’t disappointed. He was a colossus at the back this afternoon, and looks to be an excellent signing for a Club that’s had a very nervous-looking defence all season.
Many of the defensive problems – we’ve only managed two clean sheets all season, and none since the third game – have stemmed from a lack of confidence in the goal-keeper, and The Management moved decisively to address this issue by shelling out some hard cash when signing Jamie Riley from East Thurrock United on Monday. Again, this looks to be an excellent investment, as Jamie really looks the part. A David James lookalike, Jamie pulled off a candidate for the Save of the Season, late in the first half, so has started to repay the investment already.
Ryan Briggs – who apparently suffers a lot from Ryan Giggs jokes, (although I’m old enough to mainly associate the name with speedway) – also impressed. He looked comfortable with the ball at his feet, and seemed to enjoy having the responsibility of the role of playmaker. At the head of the spine, Mark Lovell had the demeanor of a striker, and is sure to score more goals for us – in spite of missing a candidate for Sitter of the Season today ! Of Steve Lovell’s two other signings, it’s difficult to evaluate Mitchell Sherwood, a right-sided midfield player from Sittingbourne, as he rarely saw the ball this afternoon, and our old favourite, Paul Jones, still needs to regain full fitness before showing us what he can do.
Arguably, however, Steve Lovell’s most important addition on show this afternoon was TEAMWORK – that intangible “twelfth man”. Seemingly by magic, Ashford Town morphed into a side playing patient, passing football – certainly one which was unrecognisable from the collection of strangers that took the field at Chipstead a short while ago ! Actually, (at the risk of this sounding like a report from one of the Reserves’ games), this was a great game to watch, between two good, passing sides. I was very impressed with our hosts. If anything, they were the better side, with their passing being a shade quicker, enabling them to move the ball around the pitch at greater speed, and they looked very incisive when in the final third of the pitch. In the circumstances, therefore, this was very much a point gained for Ashford. The fact that The Met equalised as late as the 87th minute made it feel as if something had been taken away, of course, but 1-1 was a fair result overall, especially with The Police hitting the woodwork three times.
Here’s today’s line-up in full. We had Jamie Riley in goal, with a back four of (from right to left) Tony Brown, Rob Gillman, Sean Ray and Daniel Brathwaite; the midfield quartet in a 4-4-2 set-up was Mitch Sherwood, Nick Barnes, Ryan Briggs and Jimmy Bottle; Mark Lovell and Rob Denness were up front. (In other words, it was the same team that started on Saturday, against Burgess Hill, except for the ‘keeper). On the subs bench we had the deposed Sam Moore, Kevin Lott, Nicky Humphrey, Walid Matata and Paul Jones. Lee Spiller, Aron Freeman and Danny Lye were all at the ground as civilians, whilst Steve Sodje and Joe Hitchings were on duty for the Ressies.
The first occasion that the Boys in Blue hit the frame of the goal was in the third minute, when Chris Meikle’s close-range shot, from an acute angle, eluded Riley’s left hand, but rebounded back off the near post, with a “ping”. It should, however, have been Ashford who took an early lead, in the seventh minute, after a move that was beautiful in its simplicity and its incisiveness. It began with a long ball from Ryan Briggs, from inside his own half, which sent Jimmy Bottle on a chase down the left wing. Jimmy got to the ball before the defender, rounding his man and getting to the by-line. He looked up and picked out Mark Lovell, on the edge of the six-yard box, with a perfect, low cross. Any sort of clean contact with a boot would have put the ball into the back of the net, but Mark somehow got it stuck under his feet, allowing it to trickle to Will Packham, in the Police goal.
Whilst the build-up play from both sides was pleasing to watch, both sides also found it hard to get shots on target. Nick Barnes, who was the dominant presence in central midfield for Ashford, particularly in the first half, attempted an ambitious shot from inside the centre circle, in the tenth minute – although he struck the ball well, his effort went wide. A minute later, the home side had a free-kick, right on the edge of the penalty area, after Tony Browne had brought down Craig Carley. This resulted in James Greenaway blasting the ball well over the bar. Then, in the thirteenth minute, The Blues’ Scott Corbett sliced a shot, from outside the area, well wide.
There were two other brief scares for Ashford, mid-way through the first half. Tony Browne, who’s been prone to the odd howler this season, (and who will be missing the Kent Senior Cup tie against Tonbridge Angels on Tuesday, after Saturday’s red card), very nearly passed the ball straight to Craig Carley, in the 16th minute. This was not a great idea, given that Carley has so far scored 14 goals in 20 starts this season, but Daniel Brathwaite saved the situation with a full-stretch interception. In the 25th minute, a through-ball which nutmegged Rob Gillman seemed to present Dave Stevens with a one-on-one with the ‘keeper, but the Lino’s flag was immediately up for off-side.
Although Ashford looked good when having the ball, it’s probably fair to say that The Met had the most possession in the first 45 minutes. (It’s also interesting to note that The Blues seemed fairly comfortable in their 3-5-2 formation, especially since our national side seems to be all at sea with anything other than 4-4-2 !). Our hosts’ best move was probably seen in the 29th minute. A quick interchange of passes on the edge of the Ashford penalty area ended with Michael Cobden being put through on goal, but Jamie Riley was quickly off his line, and did well to block Cobden’s shot.
It was noticeable this afternoon that, when the long ball was used by Ashford, it was invariably aimed towards the corners. A good example was Sean Ray’s booming diagonal ball for Jimmy Bottle to chase, down the left wing, in the 32nd minute. Jimmy, who was a handful for The Police throughout the game, got to the ball first, near the corner flag, but was worried out of it by the defender.
When Tony Browne conceded a corner, when blocking a cross, in the 39th minute, it was actually the first time that the home side had been on the attack for several minutes, with Ashford having enjoyed a brief period of control. The Met were, however, about to really start to buzz, as they finished the first half strongly. From the resulting corner, Tony Browne was beaten in the air, the ball being nodded down to Craig Carley, who wasted a golden opportunity by shooting well over the bar. Two minutes later, Dave Stevens rounded both Daniel Brathwaite and Sean Ray, on the right side of the penalty area, and delivered a good cross from the by-line. Jamie Riley did well to block the initial effort, but then, after a brief goalmouth scramble, the ball fell to James Greenaway, whose well-struck shot, from about 16 yards out, seemed destined for the far corner of the net. That was when Jamie pulled off the diving save that confirmed to us all that we now have the services of a top-class goalkeeper.
But the danger had not yet passed, as The Police had a corner. Whilst the Ashford defence repelled the initial cross, the ball broke to Craig Carley, who hit the bar with a great shot from outside the penalty area.
Ashford will have been quite pleased to go in at half time with the score at 0-0, but actually had the final chance of the half. With 45 minutes up on my watch, Daniel Brathwaite led a break by releasing Jimmy Bottle down the left – a break that was ended when Jimmy was upended, in a position that was about level with the 18 yard line. Nick Barnes took the resulting free-kick, curling in a teasing, in-swinging cross towards the far post, but neither Sean Ray nor Mark Lovell, who both went flying in, could get the vital touch.
Although the home side had an early corner, which came to nothing, it was Ashford – playing with Mitch Sherwood switched to the left and Jimmy on the right - who had the first recognisable chance of the second half, in the 48th minute. Mark Lovell laid a firm pass forward off to Rob Denness, but Rob, who’s due to miss next Saturday’s game against Walton & Hersham, as a result of clocking up five yellow cards for the season, rather hurried his shot, and sliced wide. The Met’s Michael Cobden then had a sight of goal in the 55th minute, but his firm, low shot went across the face of goal – with Jamie Riley in control, watching the ball as it went wide.
The first substitution of the game came in the 62nd minute, when Nicky Humphrey replaced Tony Browne. I thought, momentarily, that Steve Lovell might be forced into another, enforced reshuffle, when Nick Barnes lunged into a tackle with a hint of twofootedness, just a minute later – but it was at the cost of no more than a free-kick, and the referee seemed unconcerned, so it must have looked worse than it actually was. The free-kick, which was about 15 yards inside the Ashford half, was quickly taken by Craig Carley, who tried to catch Jamie Riley napping, but The Blues’ top scorer’s lob was just too high.
In the 66th minute, Walid Matata replaced Rob Denness, who had worked hard, without ever threatening to score or create a chance. Then, three minutes later, Jamie Riley made his first and only error, when he misjudged a chipped cross. Whilst he should have caught the ball comfortably, he could do no more, at full stretch, than flip the ball out to Craig Carley, who hit the post with a shot from about twelve yards.
Walid Matata had been on the field for about six minutes when he put Ashford in front – and this was a well-worked goal. Jimmy Bottle had the ball on the right side of the field, in the 72nd minute. Whilst Nicky Humphrey showed great energy, haring off down the flank, on an overlap, Jimmy cut inside, onto his left foot. His deep cross found Matata, who laid the ball off to Mark Lovell. Mark set the ball up again for Walid, who took his time to side-foot the ball into the corner of the net, for his seventh goal of the season.
This set-back caused The Police to redouble their efforts – somebody’s comment about “all guns blazing” was inappropriate, given recent events – and Craig Carley beat the off-side trap, running onto a chipped through-ball, in the 74th minute. He caught up with the ball by the by-line, and pulled it back with a good cross, but Nicky Humphrey, running back, was there to nod behind for a corner. With Daniel Brathwaite behind the goal receiving treatment from Mo Alvi as the corner came across, Sean Ray headed clear. The luckless Daniel actually left the field two minutes later, to be replaced by Kevin Lott; this caused a bit of a reshuffle in defence, as Nicky Humphrey moved across to left-back, so that Kevin could fill in as a makeshift right-back. (It’ll be interesting to see who plays at full-back on Tuesday if Daniel’s not fit, with Aron Freeman already on the injury list and Tony Browne due to miss the match due to suspension).
Walid Matata was certainly the man on fire at this time. He ran onto a ball from Ryan Briggs, down the right touchline, in the 78th minute, and took possession of it near the corner flag – another example of the Ashford Town strategy of stretching the opposition with these balls into the corners. With space very tight, Walid nevertheless managed to beat two defenders, but was fouled as he was about to carry the ball along the by-line. Nick Barnes and Jimmy Bottle worked a short free-kick between them, and Jimmy was body-checked as he attempted to dribble the ball into the area. The resulting free-kick, right on the line, came to nothing.
At the other end, Craig Carley once again showed his pace, in the 80th minute, chasing a ball from the half-way line from the impressive Steve Sutherland. Carley got to the ball before the Ashford defence – which still isn’t over-endowed with pace – but his shot, from an acute angle, was comfortably saved by Jamie Riley.
Making their only substitution of the game in the 81st minute, (with Jon Daly replacing Martyn Lee), the home side equalised just three minutes from time. This came from a free-kick, just inside the Ashford penalty area. A long cross was headed down, into the mixer, and fell to Steve Sutherland, with his back to goal, somewhere near the penalty spot. He flipped the ball over his right shoulder, probably with the intention of causing some mayhem at the far post, and was delighted to see the ball loop over Jamie Riley’s head and plop into the corner of the net. I don’t want to tread the sour grapes too much by overemphasising the possible flukiness of this goal, as our hosts deserved to equalise, on the overall evidence of the game, but it was a slightly cruel way for Steve Lovell to be denied his first victory, and for Jamie Riley to miss out on a clean sheet on his debut.
There was an exciting finish to this entertaining game, as both sides pressed for a winner, but 1-1 was the final score. The point lifts the Met Police up one place, to sixth, in the table, whilst Ashford Town remain in 13th, now level on points with four other teams.
A couple of post scripts to today’s game. Firstly, it appears that the brief revival of the noisy travelling away support for Ashford Town seems to have fizzled out, for we were back to the handful of die-hards behind the goal today. Maybe the absentees are a bit shy of The Law ! Secondly, you might have noticed that there is barely a reference to today’s Referee – Mr Smith. That’s because he had an exemplary game, doing the job quietly and efficiently. No fuss. No theatrics. No yellow cards.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Nick Barnes
Sunday 11 November 2007
Croydon Athletic v Ashford Town. Ryman Division One South. 10th of November 2007.
Croydon Athletic 2 Ashford Town 1
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
Croydon Athletic away – and new Manager Steve Lovell’s first game in charge of Ashford Town. Yes, I know that he was officially in the plate for Tuesday night’s defeat away at Chipstead, but Mr Lovell was really no more than a spectator on that occasion. The new man’s approach seemed very much to be to pick the side and then watch and see what they could do – and it wasn’t much. He will already have been aware that he inherits, from Clive Walker, a very talented squad of players; probably second only in Ryman Division 1 South to that of Dover Athletic. (And when he gets round to seeing the Reserves play, he’ll no doubt discover that he has TWO richly talented squads at his disposal). But the stand-out feature of Tuesday’s performance was that, in spite of there being plenty of effort and spirit shown by the 14 players who took the field, there was barely a semblance of team-work, strategy or collective know-how. If a team’s ability is a product of the natural talent that each individual has, and the added value of team-work and tactics that can be imposed by the management, then anything that Steve Lovell can do to provide the players with some direction and pattern of play is likely to make Ashford Town a very competitive side in this division.
In the early stages of Tuesday’s game, there were signs that Ashford might overcome their hosts purely on the strength of the ability of individual players, with Walid Matata and Jimmy Bottle in particular showing flashes of brilliance, going past opponents with ease. Rob Denness also looked dangerous when coming forward from midfield, and a visibly unfit Adrian Stone showed some glimpses of his obvious talent. But it was never going to be enough, with the team not functioning as a unit – and, Rob Gillman’s headed goal from a corner, in the 81st minute, apart, the Chipstead goalie never had a shot to save.
Gillman “did OK” at the back. He looked classy and composed, and sometimes made the job of defending look easy, but I couldn’t help getting the impression that he was doing no more than put in an honest shift, to just about justify his week’s wages. With his ability, his presence and his potential leadership qualities, (I think I’m right in saying that he was captain of Luton Town Reserves at the age of seventeen), Rob could probably pick these players up by the scruff of the neck, and carry them forwards – if he could be bothered.
For the record, the leader out on the pitch on Tuesday night was Nick Barnes.
Croydon Athletic away is not a fixture that I particularly look forward to – mainly on the grounds that it’s a pain to get to. For our previous two visits, for league games in the 2004-5 and 2005-6 seasons, it took an hour to get to the Keith Tuckey Stadium from Junction 7 of the M25. After the road works on the A23, there was the labyrinth of residential streets, choked with parked cars, to pick our way through, then the secret, single-track lane at the end of Mayfield Road, notorious for its pot-holes, which eventually leads to the ground. Well, the road works are gone now, which wipes 15 minutes off the journey, and I notice that some resurfacing work has been done to the access road since two seasons ago, but it’s still a bugger to get to. I think that Salman Rushdie missed a trick when he was in hiding several years ago. If he’d hung around in the main stand here, nobody would have found him ! (I notice that Rushdie has now brought out another book – this one’s entitled “Mike Tyson is a Twat”).
On arrival at the stadium, it’s actually quite a pleasant place to be. Except for when sitting in the wind tunnel of a main stand, there is shelter from the worst of the elements. There’s a good bar, with plenty of large screens showing footy, and a well-equipped kitchen that has a more extensive menu than most places on the circuit. (Just don’t expect a smile from either place, as that’s not part of the deal). It’s all a notch above the bare-minimum level of facility you get at the newly-promoted places, such as Chipstead and Walton Casuals.
The venue actually nestles in a sports ground, between Croydon Cemetery and the crematorium. The large, square, brick chimney of the crem overlooks the pitch, on the opposite side to the main stand. At least there’s a certain “sense of place” here. Tuesday night’s game at Chipstead could have been played anywhere – with the pitch being tightly hemmed in by a windbreak made of some black, Hessian-like material, there was nothing but impenetrable darkness beyond. It really did fell like the game was being played on the deck of an aircraft carrier on Tuesday. It was certainly cold enough. We’re well into November now, of course, and the few trees that lined the ground here today, in Thornton Heath, hanging on to the last few brown leaves, reminded me of Ashford Town fans, in denial about the fact that the season is already one-third over.
The new Manager made several changes to the team for this match – and some of these raised an eyebrow or two. His policy seemed to be to go for experience, with recalls in the starting line-up for Club Captain Lee Spiller, Daniel Brathwaite and Tony Browne, and a second start for Adrianho – even though all four are coming back from injury. This meant consigning some of our brightest young talents – Jimmy Bottle, Joe Hitchings, Barry Gardner and Kevin Lott - to the bench. Jake Whincup was also named as a substitute, with Sam Moore starting, in goal. (Of course, the Lovell strategy might simply have been to have a look at as many players as possible !). There was certainly a fluidity about the formation, as it changed throughout the game, with players swapping positions and swapping sides, but Ashford began the match with a 4-4-2 set-up consisting of the following personnel (from right to left): Sam in goal; Tony Browne, Rob Gillman, Nicky Humphrey and Aron Freeman at the back; Nick Barnes, Rob Denness, Lee Spiller and Daniel Brathwaite in midfield; Walid Matata and Adrianho up front. Graham Porter and Danny Lye, both on the injury list, were in attendance and able to take part in the pre-match warm-up, but there was no place in the sixteen for either Joby Thorogood – (guess who was angry and upset about that !) – and Steve Sodje. Both looked glum and disappointed as they watched the Sunderland-Newcastle game in the bar at 2.30pm.
It was a cool, but sunny, afternoon, with not much breeze, so conditions were right for a good game of football. Ashford, in all yellow, had an early chance, in the third minute, when Daniel Brathwaite ran onto a quick throw-in, into the Croydon penalty area. Daniel had a chance to cross the ball to Walid Matata, in the centre, but he instead put the ball straight into the hands of goalkeeper Sam Mott. (A bit confusing, having Sam Moore in one goal and Sam Mott in the other, but let’s see how we get on).
It was the home side, playing in a mostly maroon strip, but with that characteristic broad, white stripe on the shirt (à la Birmingham City in the 1970s), that was first to settle into their game, and started to play some nice football. Their first dangerous attack came in the ninth minute, when Tony Browne had to head behind for a corner, at the far post. The resulting cross was punched clear by Sam Moore. A minute later, Athletic had another chance, but this time it was rather presented to them by some sloppy work at the back by the Ashford defence. Tony Browne attempted to launch a ball forward, but this was charged down by Luke Adams. It looked like Rob Gillman was there to tidy up, but he was a little too casual, and the speedy Moses Ademola nicked it away from him, and was through on goal. Ademola hit a firmly-struck shot, straight at Sam Moore, but Sam still did well to turn the ball over the bar. The 20-year-old ‘keeper continued his good start to the game five minutes later, when Jordan Kiffin beat the Ashford off-side trap. Sam was quickly off his line, and got to the ball first, the ball cannoning off Kiffin’s shins, to safety.
Ashford showed plenty of positive intent, with Danny Brathwaite pushing well forward on the left, and Rob Denness occasionally moving up to join the front two, from midfield – but our first really good attack didn’t materialise until the 24th minute. This began with a well-won header by Tony Browne, with Adrianho following that up by getting up well to nod the ball on to Walid Matata. Adrian’s header appeared to have put Walid through with a one-on-one with the goalie, but Bradley Duke did really well with the covering tackle, at the expense of a corner. This was taken, on the right, by Daniel Brathwaite – the “New Ian Ross”, with his quality, left-footed delivery – whose deep cross found Rob Denness beyond the far post. Rob seemed to be taking too long to let the bouncing ball settle, but he eventually hooked a right-foot shot, hip-high, against the cross-bar.
Our boys were starting to play some nice football themselves, when the home side had another chance to open the scoring. Again it was Jordan Kiffin who broke clear, into the Ashford penalty area, chased this time by Nicky Humphrey, in the 27th minute. Again the shot was well-hit and on target, but Sam Moore made another good save. Three minutes later, the other Sam, in the other goal, had to make a save. Walid Matata, who had just swapped sides with Adrianho, picked the ball up on the left. He moved a few yards infield, and then hit a good, right-footed shot on target, but Sam Mott did his job well. Seconds later, Mott did well to punch a cross clear, taking out Daniel Brathwaite, who was challenging him in the air, in the process. Daniel was on the floor for a long time, receiving attention to his right shoulder, but was able to continue.
In the 35th minute, by which time Brathwaite had transferred to the right side of midfield, still pushing well forward, with Lee Spiller on the left, Ashford broke forward from a defensive clearance from Sam Moore. With four yellow shirts in an advanced position, Rob Denness laid the ball off, setting it up nicely for Lee Spiller, who chipped the ball forward. Nick Barnes challenged for the ball, which broke to Walid Matata, and Walid’s attempted lob went just over the bar.
Shortly after Liam Shirley had received the first yellow card of the game, for a very late tackle on Aron Freeman – The Rams had both a Shirley and a Debrah in their line-up today, as well as a Jordan and a Moses in attack – Ashford were caught out by a quickly-taken free-kick by Gareth Graham, the Croydon Athletic skipper. The ginger-haired Graham, who is his team’s play maker, driving force and inspiration, fed the ball down the left touchline, to the unmarked Luke Adams, in the 40th minute. Adams put in a decent cross to Moses Ademola, who failed to get his header on target – but his effort was from quite a way out, and he would have done well to beat Sam Moore from there.
With a minute to go before half-time – not including the seven minutes of first-half injury time that were added – Ashford took the lead, and this was really a goal from nothing. Left-back Michael Harney should have comfortably dealt with the situation, chasing the ball towards the corner flag, but he instead allowed Walid Matata to steal it away from him. Carrying the ball to the by-line, Walid pulled it back to Rob Denness, who was arriving fast, in the centre, and The Menace smashed the ball into the roof of the net. Rob’s fifth goal of the season – he’s now just one behind Walid – clearly delighted the Ashford travelling support, which was again uncharacteristically vocal. There were 20 supporters behind Sam Mott’s goal – 19 plus Steve Sodje, that is – which is more than we’ve had for many seasons.
There was an additional problem, almost immediately, for the home side, when Martin Debrah went off injured, to be replaced by Reis Aslan, and they might have gone further behind when Nick Barnes created a good shooting chance for himself, with 50 minutes on the watch. Nick picked the ball up, from wide on the left, and bulldozed his way through three tackles, but he completely miss-hit his shot, which trickled tamely wide.
So we went in at half time 0-1 up, and there were certainly some encouraging signs of things starting to gel together. So what went wrong ? How did we contrive to lose this one ?
Well, there is now a very telling statistic – we’ve taken the lead in no fewer than TWELVE of the 17 games that we’ve played this season, and have managed to win only five of them. Even more damning, I think, is the fact that we’ve lost all five of the games in which we’ve initially gone behind, and, quite unbelievably, there hasn’t been a single occasion to date when we’ve actually scored an equaliser. Does this suggest a lack of fighting spirit and/or application ? I think it’s more likely to be a question of the team sitting back a little once ahead – mentally switching off.
One or two people have suggested that it might be a case of a lack of physical fitness, especially with several players currently recovering from injury. Well, that certainly was not the case this afternoon, as this match was lost in the third quarter. Croydon Athletic certainly asserted early on in the second half. They had a corner, on the right, in the 48th minute. As with all dead-ball kicks, this was taken by Gareth Graham; his cross was headed away by Nick Barnes, and Moses Ademola’s ambitious shot, from well outside the area, was sliced high and wide. A minute later, “Ginge” took a free-kick, in the centre of the Ashford half, spreading it wide to Reis Aslan, on the right. Aslan’s attempted cross was blocked by Aron Freeman, for another corner. This time, Graham’s cross found Liam Shirley unmarked in the centre, but his free header was booted away by Aron at the near post.
In the 52nd minute, Shirley played the ball forward to Ademola, who collected the ball on the edge of the “D”, turned and then put his shot well wide. A minute later, a Croydon player again had the chance to score with a free header from a corner. This time, Graham’s cross was met by Duke Bradley, who put his header wide, from about ten yards out. The peer really should have scored, and Ashford’s lead was really only intact because of our opponents’ incompetence in front of goal – but this didn’t last for long. The Rams’ equaliser came in the 58th minute, from an attack down the right. A low cross wasn’t cleared by the Ashford defence, and Luke Adams had all the time in the world, on the edge of the six-yard box, to power the ball under Sam Moore. Sam made a valiant attempt to save it, but the ball ricocheted off the underside of his body, and up into the roof of the net.
By this time, Ashford’s formation had already looked more 4-3-3 than 4-4-2, with Rob Denness taking forward positions, in support of the front two. On the hour mark, Rob was fouled, half-way inside the Croydon half, and to the right. This is definitely Daniel Brathwaite territory, and he curled a dangerous cross into the goalmouth. Rob Gillman got up well to meet the ball with his head, but the ball rather popped up in the air – if he’d known where the ball was, he could have turned on it and shot, but the ball landed behind him and was cleared. Ashford’s best chance of scoring in the second half certainly appeared to be through a Rob Gillman header from a Daniel Brathwaite cross, (which was, of course, how the goal came at Chipstead). The pair tried again, in the 64th minute, with the free-kick being from a similar position – Daniel’s cross was aiming for Gillman’s head, but Sam Mott came out well to collect the ball, under pressure from both Gillman and Humphrey.
Croydon Athletic’s winner came in the 67th minute, and, depending on your viewpoint, it was either sheer brilliance from Jordan Kiffin, or a fluke. Yes, I’m afraid it was Ronaldinho and David Seaman all over again ! Kiffin picked the ball up on the left touchline, and sent in what looked to be no more than a dangerous cross to the far post. Sam Moore appeared to be watching the ball out for a goal-kick, but it hit the post, high up, and went in. I looked over Jordan, and he was celebrating the goal as if he’d intended it as a shot – but I’m not convinced. From an Ashford stand-point, however, I think we must put this down as a goal-keeping misjudgement, but I’m sure that not everyone would agree.
The home side’s response, almost immediately, was to replace Luke Adams with Nathan Campbell, and, as two Ashford substitutes were getting stripped off and ready for action, Sam Moore launched a long clearance into the Croydon half, in the 70th minute. Adrianho did well to get up and head the ball on, and Rob Denness met the flick-on with his own head, after which a defender clattered into him after the ball had gone. Referee Smith’s immediate reaction was to stop play, so that Rob could have attention for an injury to his head, (and he was OK to continue, after treatment). What baffles me, however, is why this wasn’t a stone-cold bonking penalty, given that the ball had gone, and the incident happened in the penalty area.
A minute later, Steve Lovell showed a Lotta Bottle with a double-substitution – Kevin Lott and Jimmy Bottle coming on for Lee Spiller and Adrianho. This meant that Rob Denness joined Walid Matata up front, with Jimmy on the left of midfield and Daniel Brathwaite moving across to the right. The skipper’s armband was passed to Nicky Humphrey. It was no surprise that Adrianho was one of the players to make way, as, in spite of occasionally making a contribution with his strength in the air, he still looks a long way from being match fit. His substitution was greeted with a chorus of “We want Sodj” from the Steve Sodje Fan Club behind the goal. (On the subject of the afternoon’s musical entertainment, there was also a brief rendition of “One Clive Walker; there’s only one Clive Walker” – which I thought was a bit premature, given that the new man in charge was only in his second game).
Whilst Rob Gillman, Nicky Humphrey and Aron Freeman all played pretty well at the back today, I’m afraid that the returning Tony Browne had a thoroughly bad day at the office. One moment he’d probably like to forget was in the 74th minute, when he was caught in possession by Moses Ademola, deep inside his own half. Ademola had the fairly simple task of then putting a team-mate through on goal, but he instead gave the ball straight to Nicky Humphrey. Keep taking the tablets, Moses !
Richard Blackwell became the second Croydon Athletic player to be shown a yellow card, in the 81st minute, after quite a nasty late tackle on Kevin Lott – in a match that had very little nastiness in it. From the resulting free-kick, on the right and about 18 yards out, Daniel Brathwaite’s good cross to the far post was headed behind for a corner, on the left. This time, Nick Barnes floated the ball long, beyond the far post, where the in-coming Jimmy Bottle met the ball with his head, but his effort was blocked. Five minutes later, yet another Daniel Brathwaite free-kick from a wide-right position found Rob Gillman in the penalty area, but, although Rob’s head was first to the ball, he couldn’t get any direction on the header, and as he lay on the ground, having taken a knock, there was a brief goalmouth scramble before the ball was cleared.
In the 88th minute, Gillman had some defending to do, and, for once, Moses Ademola beat him to the ball, and was through on goal. Cutting in from the left, Ademola shot, but Sam Moore made another good save. The home side then had another couple of corners in quick succession, before the end of normal time, but both of these were cleared.
With the electronic scoreboard at the Crematorium End of the ground showing that five minutes of injury time were to be played, Ashford’s next glimmer of a chance came in the 92nd minute. This came after a surprisingly painstaking build-up from the visitors – given that night was drawing in, and we were running out of time – and this resulted in a corner, on the right, which was curled into the mixer by Daniel Brathwaite. Rob Gillman again got up, in front of the goalkeeper, but couldn’t get his header on target. The ball broke to Brathwaite, whose cross was cleared as far as Rob Denness, who hit his shot like a rocket, only to see it thud into the body of a defender. There was a suggestion that the ball might have come off the lad’s elbow, but not even the most optimistic Ashford supporter had any real hopes of us getting a penalty from this.
Victory at the final whistle was greeted with arms aloft from many of the Croydon Athletic players; not because they were hanging on particularly desperately – I think it was more a case of this result ending a run of four consecutive defeats. The three points for The Rams lifts them from 17th to 13th in the table. Ashford drop down to 12th, so the total impact of our two defeats this week has been to cost us one place in the table.
So Steve Lovell begins his stint as Manager with two defeats – after his predecessor ended with a run of five games unbeaten in the league. But let’s not be fooled by any of this. Whilst many of the Ashford fans in today’s crowd of 112 will have gone home disappointed with the result – and probably with many aspects of the performance – it should be emphasised that Lovell is still very much at the reconnaissance stage. Whilst we’re all strapped into the spaceship and waiting for take-off, and have been for some time now, Steve has very shrewdly made sure that he used no fewer than 18 players in the two games for which he has been in charge, and clearly has his mind focused on the long-term mission.
Rob Denness was given the nod as Man of the Match – scored a goal, hit the bar, should’ve had a penalty and never stopped working, both in midfield and in attack. In terms of who’s going to receive the Milton Keynes Bowl for most MoM performances in away matches, at the end of the season, we now have NINE joint leaders, with one medal each !
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Rob Denness
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
Croydon Athletic away – and new Manager Steve Lovell’s first game in charge of Ashford Town. Yes, I know that he was officially in the plate for Tuesday night’s defeat away at Chipstead, but Mr Lovell was really no more than a spectator on that occasion. The new man’s approach seemed very much to be to pick the side and then watch and see what they could do – and it wasn’t much. He will already have been aware that he inherits, from Clive Walker, a very talented squad of players; probably second only in Ryman Division 1 South to that of Dover Athletic. (And when he gets round to seeing the Reserves play, he’ll no doubt discover that he has TWO richly talented squads at his disposal). But the stand-out feature of Tuesday’s performance was that, in spite of there being plenty of effort and spirit shown by the 14 players who took the field, there was barely a semblance of team-work, strategy or collective know-how. If a team’s ability is a product of the natural talent that each individual has, and the added value of team-work and tactics that can be imposed by the management, then anything that Steve Lovell can do to provide the players with some direction and pattern of play is likely to make Ashford Town a very competitive side in this division.
In the early stages of Tuesday’s game, there were signs that Ashford might overcome their hosts purely on the strength of the ability of individual players, with Walid Matata and Jimmy Bottle in particular showing flashes of brilliance, going past opponents with ease. Rob Denness also looked dangerous when coming forward from midfield, and a visibly unfit Adrian Stone showed some glimpses of his obvious talent. But it was never going to be enough, with the team not functioning as a unit – and, Rob Gillman’s headed goal from a corner, in the 81st minute, apart, the Chipstead goalie never had a shot to save.
Gillman “did OK” at the back. He looked classy and composed, and sometimes made the job of defending look easy, but I couldn’t help getting the impression that he was doing no more than put in an honest shift, to just about justify his week’s wages. With his ability, his presence and his potential leadership qualities, (I think I’m right in saying that he was captain of Luton Town Reserves at the age of seventeen), Rob could probably pick these players up by the scruff of the neck, and carry them forwards – if he could be bothered.
For the record, the leader out on the pitch on Tuesday night was Nick Barnes.
Croydon Athletic away is not a fixture that I particularly look forward to – mainly on the grounds that it’s a pain to get to. For our previous two visits, for league games in the 2004-5 and 2005-6 seasons, it took an hour to get to the Keith Tuckey Stadium from Junction 7 of the M25. After the road works on the A23, there was the labyrinth of residential streets, choked with parked cars, to pick our way through, then the secret, single-track lane at the end of Mayfield Road, notorious for its pot-holes, which eventually leads to the ground. Well, the road works are gone now, which wipes 15 minutes off the journey, and I notice that some resurfacing work has been done to the access road since two seasons ago, but it’s still a bugger to get to. I think that Salman Rushdie missed a trick when he was in hiding several years ago. If he’d hung around in the main stand here, nobody would have found him ! (I notice that Rushdie has now brought out another book – this one’s entitled “Mike Tyson is a Twat”).
On arrival at the stadium, it’s actually quite a pleasant place to be. Except for when sitting in the wind tunnel of a main stand, there is shelter from the worst of the elements. There’s a good bar, with plenty of large screens showing footy, and a well-equipped kitchen that has a more extensive menu than most places on the circuit. (Just don’t expect a smile from either place, as that’s not part of the deal). It’s all a notch above the bare-minimum level of facility you get at the newly-promoted places, such as Chipstead and Walton Casuals.
The venue actually nestles in a sports ground, between Croydon Cemetery and the crematorium. The large, square, brick chimney of the crem overlooks the pitch, on the opposite side to the main stand. At least there’s a certain “sense of place” here. Tuesday night’s game at Chipstead could have been played anywhere – with the pitch being tightly hemmed in by a windbreak made of some black, Hessian-like material, there was nothing but impenetrable darkness beyond. It really did fell like the game was being played on the deck of an aircraft carrier on Tuesday. It was certainly cold enough. We’re well into November now, of course, and the few trees that lined the ground here today, in Thornton Heath, hanging on to the last few brown leaves, reminded me of Ashford Town fans, in denial about the fact that the season is already one-third over.
The new Manager made several changes to the team for this match – and some of these raised an eyebrow or two. His policy seemed to be to go for experience, with recalls in the starting line-up for Club Captain Lee Spiller, Daniel Brathwaite and Tony Browne, and a second start for Adrianho – even though all four are coming back from injury. This meant consigning some of our brightest young talents – Jimmy Bottle, Joe Hitchings, Barry Gardner and Kevin Lott - to the bench. Jake Whincup was also named as a substitute, with Sam Moore starting, in goal. (Of course, the Lovell strategy might simply have been to have a look at as many players as possible !). There was certainly a fluidity about the formation, as it changed throughout the game, with players swapping positions and swapping sides, but Ashford began the match with a 4-4-2 set-up consisting of the following personnel (from right to left): Sam in goal; Tony Browne, Rob Gillman, Nicky Humphrey and Aron Freeman at the back; Nick Barnes, Rob Denness, Lee Spiller and Daniel Brathwaite in midfield; Walid Matata and Adrianho up front. Graham Porter and Danny Lye, both on the injury list, were in attendance and able to take part in the pre-match warm-up, but there was no place in the sixteen for either Joby Thorogood – (guess who was angry and upset about that !) – and Steve Sodje. Both looked glum and disappointed as they watched the Sunderland-Newcastle game in the bar at 2.30pm.
It was a cool, but sunny, afternoon, with not much breeze, so conditions were right for a good game of football. Ashford, in all yellow, had an early chance, in the third minute, when Daniel Brathwaite ran onto a quick throw-in, into the Croydon penalty area. Daniel had a chance to cross the ball to Walid Matata, in the centre, but he instead put the ball straight into the hands of goalkeeper Sam Mott. (A bit confusing, having Sam Moore in one goal and Sam Mott in the other, but let’s see how we get on).
It was the home side, playing in a mostly maroon strip, but with that characteristic broad, white stripe on the shirt (à la Birmingham City in the 1970s), that was first to settle into their game, and started to play some nice football. Their first dangerous attack came in the ninth minute, when Tony Browne had to head behind for a corner, at the far post. The resulting cross was punched clear by Sam Moore. A minute later, Athletic had another chance, but this time it was rather presented to them by some sloppy work at the back by the Ashford defence. Tony Browne attempted to launch a ball forward, but this was charged down by Luke Adams. It looked like Rob Gillman was there to tidy up, but he was a little too casual, and the speedy Moses Ademola nicked it away from him, and was through on goal. Ademola hit a firmly-struck shot, straight at Sam Moore, but Sam still did well to turn the ball over the bar. The 20-year-old ‘keeper continued his good start to the game five minutes later, when Jordan Kiffin beat the Ashford off-side trap. Sam was quickly off his line, and got to the ball first, the ball cannoning off Kiffin’s shins, to safety.
Ashford showed plenty of positive intent, with Danny Brathwaite pushing well forward on the left, and Rob Denness occasionally moving up to join the front two, from midfield – but our first really good attack didn’t materialise until the 24th minute. This began with a well-won header by Tony Browne, with Adrianho following that up by getting up well to nod the ball on to Walid Matata. Adrian’s header appeared to have put Walid through with a one-on-one with the goalie, but Bradley Duke did really well with the covering tackle, at the expense of a corner. This was taken, on the right, by Daniel Brathwaite – the “New Ian Ross”, with his quality, left-footed delivery – whose deep cross found Rob Denness beyond the far post. Rob seemed to be taking too long to let the bouncing ball settle, but he eventually hooked a right-foot shot, hip-high, against the cross-bar.
Our boys were starting to play some nice football themselves, when the home side had another chance to open the scoring. Again it was Jordan Kiffin who broke clear, into the Ashford penalty area, chased this time by Nicky Humphrey, in the 27th minute. Again the shot was well-hit and on target, but Sam Moore made another good save. Three minutes later, the other Sam, in the other goal, had to make a save. Walid Matata, who had just swapped sides with Adrianho, picked the ball up on the left. He moved a few yards infield, and then hit a good, right-footed shot on target, but Sam Mott did his job well. Seconds later, Mott did well to punch a cross clear, taking out Daniel Brathwaite, who was challenging him in the air, in the process. Daniel was on the floor for a long time, receiving attention to his right shoulder, but was able to continue.
In the 35th minute, by which time Brathwaite had transferred to the right side of midfield, still pushing well forward, with Lee Spiller on the left, Ashford broke forward from a defensive clearance from Sam Moore. With four yellow shirts in an advanced position, Rob Denness laid the ball off, setting it up nicely for Lee Spiller, who chipped the ball forward. Nick Barnes challenged for the ball, which broke to Walid Matata, and Walid’s attempted lob went just over the bar.
Shortly after Liam Shirley had received the first yellow card of the game, for a very late tackle on Aron Freeman – The Rams had both a Shirley and a Debrah in their line-up today, as well as a Jordan and a Moses in attack – Ashford were caught out by a quickly-taken free-kick by Gareth Graham, the Croydon Athletic skipper. The ginger-haired Graham, who is his team’s play maker, driving force and inspiration, fed the ball down the left touchline, to the unmarked Luke Adams, in the 40th minute. Adams put in a decent cross to Moses Ademola, who failed to get his header on target – but his effort was from quite a way out, and he would have done well to beat Sam Moore from there.
With a minute to go before half-time – not including the seven minutes of first-half injury time that were added – Ashford took the lead, and this was really a goal from nothing. Left-back Michael Harney should have comfortably dealt with the situation, chasing the ball towards the corner flag, but he instead allowed Walid Matata to steal it away from him. Carrying the ball to the by-line, Walid pulled it back to Rob Denness, who was arriving fast, in the centre, and The Menace smashed the ball into the roof of the net. Rob’s fifth goal of the season – he’s now just one behind Walid – clearly delighted the Ashford travelling support, which was again uncharacteristically vocal. There were 20 supporters behind Sam Mott’s goal – 19 plus Steve Sodje, that is – which is more than we’ve had for many seasons.
There was an additional problem, almost immediately, for the home side, when Martin Debrah went off injured, to be replaced by Reis Aslan, and they might have gone further behind when Nick Barnes created a good shooting chance for himself, with 50 minutes on the watch. Nick picked the ball up, from wide on the left, and bulldozed his way through three tackles, but he completely miss-hit his shot, which trickled tamely wide.
So we went in at half time 0-1 up, and there were certainly some encouraging signs of things starting to gel together. So what went wrong ? How did we contrive to lose this one ?
Well, there is now a very telling statistic – we’ve taken the lead in no fewer than TWELVE of the 17 games that we’ve played this season, and have managed to win only five of them. Even more damning, I think, is the fact that we’ve lost all five of the games in which we’ve initially gone behind, and, quite unbelievably, there hasn’t been a single occasion to date when we’ve actually scored an equaliser. Does this suggest a lack of fighting spirit and/or application ? I think it’s more likely to be a question of the team sitting back a little once ahead – mentally switching off.
One or two people have suggested that it might be a case of a lack of physical fitness, especially with several players currently recovering from injury. Well, that certainly was not the case this afternoon, as this match was lost in the third quarter. Croydon Athletic certainly asserted early on in the second half. They had a corner, on the right, in the 48th minute. As with all dead-ball kicks, this was taken by Gareth Graham; his cross was headed away by Nick Barnes, and Moses Ademola’s ambitious shot, from well outside the area, was sliced high and wide. A minute later, “Ginge” took a free-kick, in the centre of the Ashford half, spreading it wide to Reis Aslan, on the right. Aslan’s attempted cross was blocked by Aron Freeman, for another corner. This time, Graham’s cross found Liam Shirley unmarked in the centre, but his free header was booted away by Aron at the near post.
In the 52nd minute, Shirley played the ball forward to Ademola, who collected the ball on the edge of the “D”, turned and then put his shot well wide. A minute later, a Croydon player again had the chance to score with a free header from a corner. This time, Graham’s cross was met by Duke Bradley, who put his header wide, from about ten yards out. The peer really should have scored, and Ashford’s lead was really only intact because of our opponents’ incompetence in front of goal – but this didn’t last for long. The Rams’ equaliser came in the 58th minute, from an attack down the right. A low cross wasn’t cleared by the Ashford defence, and Luke Adams had all the time in the world, on the edge of the six-yard box, to power the ball under Sam Moore. Sam made a valiant attempt to save it, but the ball ricocheted off the underside of his body, and up into the roof of the net.
By this time, Ashford’s formation had already looked more 4-3-3 than 4-4-2, with Rob Denness taking forward positions, in support of the front two. On the hour mark, Rob was fouled, half-way inside the Croydon half, and to the right. This is definitely Daniel Brathwaite territory, and he curled a dangerous cross into the goalmouth. Rob Gillman got up well to meet the ball with his head, but the ball rather popped up in the air – if he’d known where the ball was, he could have turned on it and shot, but the ball landed behind him and was cleared. Ashford’s best chance of scoring in the second half certainly appeared to be through a Rob Gillman header from a Daniel Brathwaite cross, (which was, of course, how the goal came at Chipstead). The pair tried again, in the 64th minute, with the free-kick being from a similar position – Daniel’s cross was aiming for Gillman’s head, but Sam Mott came out well to collect the ball, under pressure from both Gillman and Humphrey.
Croydon Athletic’s winner came in the 67th minute, and, depending on your viewpoint, it was either sheer brilliance from Jordan Kiffin, or a fluke. Yes, I’m afraid it was Ronaldinho and David Seaman all over again ! Kiffin picked the ball up on the left touchline, and sent in what looked to be no more than a dangerous cross to the far post. Sam Moore appeared to be watching the ball out for a goal-kick, but it hit the post, high up, and went in. I looked over Jordan, and he was celebrating the goal as if he’d intended it as a shot – but I’m not convinced. From an Ashford stand-point, however, I think we must put this down as a goal-keeping misjudgement, but I’m sure that not everyone would agree.
The home side’s response, almost immediately, was to replace Luke Adams with Nathan Campbell, and, as two Ashford substitutes were getting stripped off and ready for action, Sam Moore launched a long clearance into the Croydon half, in the 70th minute. Adrianho did well to get up and head the ball on, and Rob Denness met the flick-on with his own head, after which a defender clattered into him after the ball had gone. Referee Smith’s immediate reaction was to stop play, so that Rob could have attention for an injury to his head, (and he was OK to continue, after treatment). What baffles me, however, is why this wasn’t a stone-cold bonking penalty, given that the ball had gone, and the incident happened in the penalty area.
A minute later, Steve Lovell showed a Lotta Bottle with a double-substitution – Kevin Lott and Jimmy Bottle coming on for Lee Spiller and Adrianho. This meant that Rob Denness joined Walid Matata up front, with Jimmy on the left of midfield and Daniel Brathwaite moving across to the right. The skipper’s armband was passed to Nicky Humphrey. It was no surprise that Adrianho was one of the players to make way, as, in spite of occasionally making a contribution with his strength in the air, he still looks a long way from being match fit. His substitution was greeted with a chorus of “We want Sodj” from the Steve Sodje Fan Club behind the goal. (On the subject of the afternoon’s musical entertainment, there was also a brief rendition of “One Clive Walker; there’s only one Clive Walker” – which I thought was a bit premature, given that the new man in charge was only in his second game).
Whilst Rob Gillman, Nicky Humphrey and Aron Freeman all played pretty well at the back today, I’m afraid that the returning Tony Browne had a thoroughly bad day at the office. One moment he’d probably like to forget was in the 74th minute, when he was caught in possession by Moses Ademola, deep inside his own half. Ademola had the fairly simple task of then putting a team-mate through on goal, but he instead gave the ball straight to Nicky Humphrey. Keep taking the tablets, Moses !
Richard Blackwell became the second Croydon Athletic player to be shown a yellow card, in the 81st minute, after quite a nasty late tackle on Kevin Lott – in a match that had very little nastiness in it. From the resulting free-kick, on the right and about 18 yards out, Daniel Brathwaite’s good cross to the far post was headed behind for a corner, on the left. This time, Nick Barnes floated the ball long, beyond the far post, where the in-coming Jimmy Bottle met the ball with his head, but his effort was blocked. Five minutes later, yet another Daniel Brathwaite free-kick from a wide-right position found Rob Gillman in the penalty area, but, although Rob’s head was first to the ball, he couldn’t get any direction on the header, and as he lay on the ground, having taken a knock, there was a brief goalmouth scramble before the ball was cleared.
In the 88th minute, Gillman had some defending to do, and, for once, Moses Ademola beat him to the ball, and was through on goal. Cutting in from the left, Ademola shot, but Sam Moore made another good save. The home side then had another couple of corners in quick succession, before the end of normal time, but both of these were cleared.
With the electronic scoreboard at the Crematorium End of the ground showing that five minutes of injury time were to be played, Ashford’s next glimmer of a chance came in the 92nd minute. This came after a surprisingly painstaking build-up from the visitors – given that night was drawing in, and we were running out of time – and this resulted in a corner, on the right, which was curled into the mixer by Daniel Brathwaite. Rob Gillman again got up, in front of the goalkeeper, but couldn’t get his header on target. The ball broke to Brathwaite, whose cross was cleared as far as Rob Denness, who hit his shot like a rocket, only to see it thud into the body of a defender. There was a suggestion that the ball might have come off the lad’s elbow, but not even the most optimistic Ashford supporter had any real hopes of us getting a penalty from this.
Victory at the final whistle was greeted with arms aloft from many of the Croydon Athletic players; not because they were hanging on particularly desperately – I think it was more a case of this result ending a run of four consecutive defeats. The three points for The Rams lifts them from 17th to 13th in the table. Ashford drop down to 12th, so the total impact of our two defeats this week has been to cost us one place in the table.
So Steve Lovell begins his stint as Manager with two defeats – after his predecessor ended with a run of five games unbeaten in the league. But let’s not be fooled by any of this. Whilst many of the Ashford fans in today’s crowd of 112 will have gone home disappointed with the result – and probably with many aspects of the performance – it should be emphasised that Lovell is still very much at the reconnaissance stage. Whilst we’re all strapped into the spaceship and waiting for take-off, and have been for some time now, Steve has very shrewdly made sure that he used no fewer than 18 players in the two games for which he has been in charge, and clearly has his mind focused on the long-term mission.
Rob Denness was given the nod as Man of the Match – scored a goal, hit the bar, should’ve had a penalty and never stopped working, both in midfield and in attack. In terms of who’s going to receive the Milton Keynes Bowl for most MoM performances in away matches, at the end of the season, we now have NINE joint leaders, with one medal each !
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Rob Denness
Sunday 28 October 2007
Leatherhead 1 Ashford Town 3, Ryman Division 1 South, 27th of October 2007.
Leatherhead 1 Ashford Town 3
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
So we are roughly a quarter of the way through this, the most eagerly anticipated of all seasons – I notice that, by coincidence, my report on last season’s corresponding fixture, which fell on St Patrick’s Day, was the first since Don Crosbie and Tony Betteridge bought The Club for £1 – so it’s a good time to take stock of where we are.
Simply put, we’re 13th – seven points adrift of the fourth and final play-off place, and level on points with Corinthian-Casuals, Chatham Town and Whitstable Town, with an identical results record. Did we expect to be ahead of these teams by this stage of the season ? Most of us probably did. Do we expect to be ahead of them come the end of the season ? I, for one, sincerely hope so.
Whilst performances on the pitch have been distinctly variable, my own view is that we’ve basically wasted the first quarter of the season. Four matches in particular – at home to Horsham YMCA and Corinthian Casuals, and away at Molesey and Walton Casuals – should have been straightforward wins for us, but instead these games have yielded just two points. If we’d taken all twelve points, as we should have done, without too much effort and inspiration, then we’d currently be lying SECOND in the table, with plenty of improvement to come !
Even though 13th represents dizzy heights of achievement, compared with the previous three seasons, the fact that the boys haven’t yet approached promotion form has, together with a first-hurdle exit from three cup competitions, left most Ashford Town fans feeling a little disappointed. At times like this, I remember an old saying that I saw on a calendar, many years ago: “Attention to petty detail is a wonderful source of cheerfulness”. It’s something that I’ve always believed in, so let’s retreat to Anorak’s Corner.
** Anorak’s Corner **
Attendances: Whilst there has not been a spectacular deluge of support for home games, there is no doubt that attendances have improved. After five home league matches, the average attendance has been 311, which is 68 up on last season’s figure of 243, (in spite of the latter figure being inflated by a total of 1,248 people attending the final two games, during the final week of last season). Similarly, the median (i.e. middle) figure is up 69 on last season, at 267. The most telling contrast, though, is in the comparison of attendances at the first five games of this season, compared with the first five this time last year – so far, gates have varied between 220 and 411, whilst last season the range was 133 to 190.
Goalkeepers: Here we have a simple comparison between the seven games played by Sam Moore, and the six played by Jake Whincup – and it’s quite a contrast, in more ways than one. Whilst Jake has been mercilessly barracked and ridiculed during most of his career at Ashford, he continues to be, statistically, the best goalie we’ve had in recent years. So far this season he has conceded goals at a rate of one every 68 minutes – which is even better than his record last season, when he let one in every 59 minutes. Sam Moore, on the other hand, appears to be immune from any sort of criticism, in spite of conceding at a rate of exactly two per game (i.e. one every 45 minutes), letting in at least one goal every game in the process. I’m tempted to use the line about not being able to keep a clean sheet on his wedding night, but I’ve used it before, so I won’t bother. What we need to remember about Sam, though, is that he’s still only 20, so long may his honeymoon with the Ashford supporters continue.
Strikers: With only 15 goals scored in the 13 games to date, there’s little joy to be had in looking at the strikers’ overall record. We currently (before today’s game) have three joint-top scorers, Jimmy Bottle, Walid Matata and Rob Denness, all with just three goals. At the same stage last season, George Fenwick had scored six; (and, without betraying my G.Fenwick bias too much, George has already knocked in four for Cray Wanderers this season). But closer inspection of the statistics reveals that Jimmy and Walid both have quite a respectable strike-rate. If the benchmark of a goal every other game (i.e. one every 180 minutes) can be used as the standard that most decent strikers will aspire to, they’re doing OK, with Jimmy scoring at one every 159 minutes, and Walid going at one every 175 minutes. (George Fenwick scored his 18 goals last season at a rate of one every 177 minutes). The same can’t be said for the hard-working Rob Denness, however, as he might be having sleepless nights about the benchmark set by Shaun Bradshaw in the 2005-6 season – Shaun was a lovely bloke, but he was certainly anything but a decent striker at this level, and scored his goals that season at a rate of one every 487 minutes. Rob is currently on one every 377 minutes, so the spectre of Bradders is hovering above him. (And Steve Sodje can wipe that smile off his face – Sodj is still yet to get off the mark for the season, having so far played for a total of 383 minutes).
Before we leave the subject of strikers, I should mention Joby Thorogood. During that season in which he received precious little help from Shaun Bradshaw, Joby was our top scorer, with twelve goals at one every 295 minutes. Last season, goals were much harder to come by, mainly due to him being deployed mostly in midfield, and he managed to score only four, each one taking him 580 minutes to get, on average. Well, this season Joby has been used almost exclusively as a striker, when he has played, and his two goals to date have come at a much more characteristic rate of one every 258 minutes. Joby’s season has also been remarkable for the fact that he hasn’t yet completed the entire 90 minutes of a match, which rather suggests that Clive Walker hasn’t had him 100% fit so far.
* * *
The news about our hosts today, Leatherhead, was that they had a new Manager. With the previous incumbent having resigned recently, for personal and business reasons, The Tanners moved swiftly to appoint Ian Hazel, who himself left his post as Manager of Sutton United, in the Conference South, only three weeks ago. Hazel has also managed Tooting & Mitcham and Walton & Hersham, so knows what it’s all about at this level, and inherits a team lying in 9th place at the start of today’s game – four places and four points ahead of Ashford, having played two games more.
Fetcham Grove is always quite a pleasant place to come; a tree-lined ground set within a green space that also comprises a cricket ground, a general sports ground, a leisure centre and a water park. Whilst one side of the pitch is bordered by a small, old-fashioned stand with a green roof, and with covered terracing on either side of it, there is a sloping, grassy bank beyond the opposite touchline. The pitch was flat, and looked in nice condition, and, with the weather forecasters predicting a cloudy but mild, still day, everything seemed set for a decent match.
There were one or two interesting items of team news. One was that, for the first time this season, Rob Denness was dropped to the bench, in favour of a strike partnership of Joby Thorogood and Walid Matata. The other issue that Clive Walker faced was the continued absence of Tony Browne at right back – and, in spite of the hoo-ha earlier in the season about us lacking left-sided players, we now seem to be very short of players on the right, particularly in defence. The Gaffer’s solution was to shove Nicky Humphrey across to right back, with Rob Gillman and Graham Porter in the centre, and Aron Freeman on the left, in a 4-4-2 formation – rather than switch to the unfamiliar three-at-the-back mullarky, which seems to have caused us more problems than it’s worth at times this season. Brownie’s problem is that he has cracked ribs, and these can be very slow to heal – but it was good to see him at the Grove this afternoon. The other big team news was that Jake Whincup was back in goal – but this was a self-selecting change, in that Sam Moore was late on parade, so relegated himself to the subs’ bench. In midfield we had Danny Lye and Kevin Lott in the centre, with plenty of flair on the flanks, in the shape of Jimmy Bottle on the left, and Barry Gardner on the right. The full quota of five substitutes was completed by Nick Barnes, Joe Hitchings and Steve Sodje. Adrianho was also in attendance, and looking pretty lean and fit, and Daniel Brathwaite played for the Ressies, at The Homelands, (where the lads beat Sittingbourne Reserves 2-1).
The word from the home side was that they were missing four first-team regulars, but, although they looked a very young side, closer inspection of their line-ups to date this season revealed that there were only two in the starting eleven today who hadn’t already played several times for the first team. Jamie Beer wasn’t playing for The Tanners – which saves all those silly jokes about what he might do to Jimmy Bottle.
Most of the early action in the game took place in the Ashford half, with Leatherhead, in their familiar home colours of green shirts, white shorts and green socks – bless ‘em – making a positive start. As early as the second minute, a right-wing raid by Billy Marshall – one of two blond Tanners strikers – resulted in a dangerous cross, which was cut out by Rob Gillman, at the expense of a corner. This was taken by Mark Hammond, on the right. This appeared to be a rehearsed set-piece, as he picked out the completely isolated Iain Hendry, (not the alcoholic British actor from the 1970s), on the edge of the penalty area, but Hendry’s poor header for goal went well wide. Leatherhead had another corner, just two minutes later, after Rob Gillman had again been on hand to intercept a Mark Hammond cross. Again, Hammond took the kick himself, on the right, and it was Aron Freeman who scraped the low cross clear – but only as far as James Greenaway, whose speculative lob, from just outside the penalty area, was always going well over the bar.
Jake Whincup’s first test – always a nervy moment for us all – came in the sixth minute, when he found himself under a long, high lob which was aimed to land just inside his six-yard box. Jake fumbled his attempted catch, under pressure from a Leatherhead player, but the referee (rather generously) came to the rescue, blowing up for a foul on the ‘keeper. Other than in this instance, however, it must be said that Jake’s handling was sound this afternoon.
Ashford, in all yellow, didn’t mount an attack until the eighth minute, when a long throw-in from Kevin Lott was headed behind for a corner. Walid Matata got his head to Jimmy Bottle’s resulting cross, from the right, but was unable to direct his effort towards the goal.
A feature of today’s game was the rather fussy performance by Referee Tony Power. Some of his decisions were very pedantic, whilst others were downright mystifying – and I’m normally the very last person to criticise match officials. Power certainly seemed intolerant of any body contact that our central defenders made with the opposition, which frustrated Ports and Rob Gillman for most of the afternoon – but both generally coped pretty well, and looked fairly solid. One of these decisions gave the home side a free-kick some eleven yards outside the Ashford penalty area, after Ports had presumably breathed on Billy Marshall’s shirt. Mark Hammond took the kick, curling the ball over a four-man wall, but Jake Whincup was able to make a comfortable catch.
In the 13th minute, Ashford broke out of defence, with Joby Thorogood making ground down the right wing. His cross, aiming for Walid Matata, was put behind for a corner. As the corner came to nothing, it was Leatherhead’s turn to break. The ball came back into the Ashford half, and Aron Freeman and Jimmy Bottle appeared to be dealing with the situation calmly and effectively – until Aron lost his footing on the slippery surface. This immediately gave Billy Marshall the opportunity to break into the Ashford half, but his cross, which was looking for his striking partner, Scott Forrester, was woefully inaccurate, and the ball went harmlessly out for a goal-kick.
In the 16th minute, it was panto time with Power again – Forrester chased a diagonal ball, just outside the Ashford area, and Rob Gillman, marking him closely, seemed to have the situation well under control. However, Forrester went down, on the edge of the area, and the Referee awarded what appeared to be a harsh free-kick. Even more amazing was the fact that Rob also received a yellow card ! Happily, there was no further damage for the visitors, as Tanners’ No.2 Aaron Murphy hit the free-kick straight into the Ashford wall.
A minute later, Leatherhead had yet another corner on the right, and Mark Hammond was again able to provide a team-mate with a free header in the Ashford area – but James Greenaway, under no pressure, headed a poor effort wide, from about twelve yards out.
In the 19th minute, Aron Freeman took a throw-in, deep inside the Leatherhead half. As one might expect from a former international gymnast, Aron is more than capable of throwing the ball a long way, but this time he rather got underneath it, and achieved more height than distance. Nevertheless, young Jimmy Bottle, who’s actually quite handy in the air, got up well to flick the ball on. I think it was then Danny Lye who nodded the ball further into the heart of the Leatherhead box, where Barry Gardner went steaming in, and volleyed the ball into the net. This was Barry’s second goal of the season – the other came at Whyteleafe – and both have been well-taken efforts.
Incredibly, this means that Ashford have taken the lead in eleven of the 14 matches played this season – and it’s pretty well-documented that, before today, we had only managed to win three of them. (There was a joke, a few seasons ago, about not asking an Ashford Town player to take your dog for a walk, as they can’t hold on to a lead – and we don’t want that bandied around again, do we ?!).
So the boys were 0-1 up, but it was not all plain sailing at this time, as Kevin Lott had been struggling with a rib injury for a short while, having received an unwelcome elbow just above his hip-bone. This meant that Clive had to make an unscheduled substitution, replacing him with Nick Barnes, (who, to use a term employed to describe the fitness of racehorses, seemed to be carrying a bit of “conditioning”). Kevin hopes to be fit enough to play in Tuesday’s league match, at home to Whitstable.
Ashford then seemed to be pretty much in control for the rest of the half. In the 24th minute, Walid Matata went on a run which drew delighted applause from the noisy bunch of ten or so Ashford supporters behind the Leatherhead goal. He picked the ball up on the left flank, deep inside the Tanners’ half, with his back to the goal and closely marked by ex-Ashford centre-half Lynval Duncan; (Lynval played for us in the first 23 league matches of the 2005-6 season, scoring twice). Walid turned and beat Lynval, and then battled and improvised his way past three more defenders, before the ball was put behind for a corner, just as he was about to enter the penalty area. The corner was curled in by Nick Barnes, from the left, and Nicky Humphrey rose well at the far post, but his header was blocked. Another corner, again from the left side, and this time Graham Porter got up well to head the ball goalwards, but the effort was again blocked.
In the 36th minute, Aron Freeman needlessly got himself booked for tapping the ball away after a throw-in had been awarded to Leatherhead, but Ashford were on the attack again, two minutes later, with a Jimmy Bottle cross being put behind, at the near post, for another corner. Again it was Nick Barnes who came across to take the corner on the left, and again it was Nicky Humphrey who did well to rise highest of the crowd of players at the far post, but his header was wide. Nevertheless, Ashford were certainly posing an aerial threat at set-pieces, with the big defenders supplying the ammunition. (Surprisingly, we’ve reached the 14th game of the season, without a single goal from a defender, which is a statistic that must surely be put to bed soon).
It was a striker, Walid Matata, who put Ashford 0-2 ahead. The goal actually came from the penalty spot, but this was for a foul on Walid himself, when he was clear on goal. He latched onto a through ball, in the 43rd minute, getting there just in front of Lynval Duncan, who brought him down. Referee Power immediately blew up for the penalty, and it seemed certain, given the official’s pedantic performance to date, that our old friend would be sent off against Ashford Town for the second time since he left us. Inexplicably, the colour of the card was yellow. Never mind. The important issue to report is that Walid hit the ball firmly, low and to the right of Paul McCarthy, in the Leatherhead goal, and we were two up.
So 0-2 was the half-time score, with Jake Whincup having barely been threatened in the Ashford goal.
There was certainly plenty for Ian Hazel to think about in the Leatherhead dressing room, and the new man in the dug-out was pretty decisive, making a double substitution – he replaced Aaron Murphy and Lynval with Scott Bennetts and Terry Bowes. The shaggy-haired and bearded Bowes – I used to look like that ! – had an early opportunity to impress the boss, with a threatening run down the left wing, in the opening minutes of the half. He chipped in a cultured cross, with his right foot, but Ports was there to head clear. A good passing movement, in the 48th minute, which originated from the Leatherhead back four, culminated with young Billy Marshall being put through in the inside-right channel – but he shot across Jake Whincup’s goal, and wide.
Two minutes later, though, the ball was at the other end. Jimmy Bottle, who never showed the brilliant form that was so evident during his first start, against Cray Wanderers, but nevertheless had a solid enough game, sent in a cross, from the left, aiming for Barry Gardner, but the ball was headed behind, for a corner, on the right. Jimmy came across to take the corner himself, and his in-swinging cross went all the way to Joby Thorogood, beyond the far post. Joby played the ball back into the centre, where Nicky Humphrey controlled the ball, turned and shot, but Paul McCarthy made a good catch, above his head.
As early as the 52nd minute, Ashford lost their second central midfielder, and mainstay, Danny Lye. Danny limped off, to be replaced by Rob Denness, and is definitely out of Tuesday’s Kent Derby with Whitstable. So we had the unfamiliar sight of Rob Denness playing alongside Nick Barnes in the centre of the park – whilst Joe 90 remained on the bench. Clive Walker explained, after the game, that he did this because of the physical nature of the job that needed to be done in this area. Make no mistake; Clive rates Joe as one of the best footballers at the Club, but is very aware that he is still very young, and doesn’t want to over-face him. He seems to think that Joe needs another year on his back before we really see the best of him. As it turned out, Rob and Nick did a great job in the middle of the park for Clive, providing just the steel that we needed. Nick looks to be a competent footballer anywhere, and Rob is not as unfamiliar with the midfield role as many Ashford fans assume, having done the job, in the past, for Chatham.
Denness the Menace was actually involved in just about Ashford’s best move of the match, within a couple of minutes of coming on. Linking up well with Walid Matata and Jimmy Bottle, the movement ended with Rob putting Jimmy through on goal, to the left of the penalty area, but Jimmy was caught off-side.
Well, it seems that we always seem to make one defensive error in every game, regardless of the opposition and of how well we play as a team, and today was no exception. In the 56th minute, with the yellow defensive line pushing up, Scott Forrester put his strike partner, Billy Marshall, through in the inside-right position. The Ashford defence froze momentarily, appealing for off-side, by which time the bird had long flown. With no flag from the Lino, Marshall pulled the ball back to Forrester, who slotted the ball home, giving Jake Whincup no chance.
So 1-2 it was, and, with ten of the 13 leads having been thrown away already this season, it would have been unnatural if a few seeds of doubt had not entered the mind of the Ashford players, in spite of them having looked fairly comfortable on the two-goal lead. On this occasion, though, the opposition’s revival was brief, as Walid Matata put Ashford 1-3 up, just six minutes later. A long, lobbed ball upfield was gamely chased by Joby Thorogood, who was fouled in the act of getting his head to the ball. Again, the Ref was very harsh on the offender, and produced a yellow card for Tanners’ skipper Neil Baker, for what was a fairly innocuous foul. The real price paid by the home side, of course, was the award of a free-kick to Ashford, just outside the penalty area, to the right of the goal. Jimmy Bottle chipped the ball into the area, to feet, and the ball found its way to Nicky Humphrey, on the six-yard line, and with his back to goal. The Ashford Captain cheekily back-heeled the ball towards the Leatherhead goal, and Walid was there to sweep the ball into the net, from close range. This was Walid’s fifth goal of the season, making him clearly our top scorer to date.
That third goal just about killed off the threat from Leatherhead, but, with almost half an hour remaining, there was still time for some slightly bizarre decisions from Mr Power. In the 66th minute, seconds after Rob Gillman had cleared a cross from the right wing, high and behind for a corner, Graham Porter was yellow-carded for I-know-not-what. As Ports didn’t actually do anything, I presume that it was for something he said. Very soon after, Leatherhead were reduced to ten men when, out of the blue, with the ball out for a throw-in, Billy Marshall was shown a red card. Apparently, this was because Billy used a four-letter word to describe one of the Linesmen – in which case the Referee was quite right to send him off. We can, of course, have some fun trying to guess what the term of endearment actually was – but I think we all know. (Years ago, the saying was that Margaret Thatcher’s got one, Ted Heath’s never seen one and Norman Tebbitt is one – but that’s a bit dated now).
Ian Hazel did try to respond by throwing on another striker – Julian Thompson, for Mark Hammond, in the 73rd minute. Thompson actually had a scoring opportunity just two minutes later, when a quick break by Leatherhead sent him clear, down the right flank. Thompson had a clear sight of goal, and Jake Whincup made a good diving save to keep out his low shot. One of the other subs, Terry Bowes, latched onto the rebound, but was denied when Nicky Humphrey threw himself at the ball, and made a great block.
In the 76th minute, Ashford attacked Leatherhead down the left flank, with a ball played well ahead of Jimmy Bottle. Although the right-back had several yards’ start, Jimmy skinned him with tremendous natural pace, easily getting to the ball first, and crossing to Walid Matata, in the centre. Walid got his head to the awkward, bouncing ball, but was unable to do any more than knock the ball over the bar. A minute later, Walid was fouled, just five yards outside the Leatherhead area, to the right of the goal. This gave Jimmy the perfect opportunity to go for goal with a left-foot curler, but his effort, over the wall, went just over the bar.
In the 84th minute, the home side again attacked down the right flank, but Nicky Humphrey – playing at right-back, remember – came determinedly across, to make the covering tackle. This resulted in a throw-in, which was launched long, into the Ashford area. The ball bounced once, and then Scott Forrester attempted an ambitious overhead kick, which was comfortably taken by Jake.
Nobody has scored a hat-trick yet for Ashford this season, but Walid Matata had half a chance, with three minutes of normal time remaining. Iain Hendry, who looked a fairly dodgy defender, made an awful Horlicks of an attempted header back to Paul McCarthy, which Walid gratefully latched on to. However, McCarthy was quickly out of his goal, and gave Walid precious little to aim at, and comfortably blocked the shot.
At this point, Nicky Humphrey had been the clear choice for MK Man of the Match, but it would have been an interesting choice if Walid had managed to get his hat-trick. As it was, the nod went to the skipper, particularly as he had been playing out of position this afternoon. But there were good performances all over the pitch, in what was a good, solid display. Among the other “positives” was the fact that both Joby Thorogood and Graham Porter completed 90 minutes for the first time this season, but, just as others are regaining fitness after injury, fresh injuries are beginning to mount up.
It’s also worth mentioning that, for the first time in many years, there was plenty of singing from the Ashford fans – in fact, most of the noise made by the 202 crowd came from behind the Leatherhead goal. This was not unnoticed, and not unappreciated, by the Ashford players, some of whom acknowledged the choir at the final whistle.
It must be said that Leatherhead looked a poor side today, and that Ian Hazel has quite a job on his hands, so we shouldn’t get carried away with the performance or the result – but, all in all, this was a comfortable win, and the three points lifted Ashford up to 12th position in the table, just one point, and one place, behind Leatherhead.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Nicky Humphrey
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
So we are roughly a quarter of the way through this, the most eagerly anticipated of all seasons – I notice that, by coincidence, my report on last season’s corresponding fixture, which fell on St Patrick’s Day, was the first since Don Crosbie and Tony Betteridge bought The Club for £1 – so it’s a good time to take stock of where we are.
Simply put, we’re 13th – seven points adrift of the fourth and final play-off place, and level on points with Corinthian-Casuals, Chatham Town and Whitstable Town, with an identical results record. Did we expect to be ahead of these teams by this stage of the season ? Most of us probably did. Do we expect to be ahead of them come the end of the season ? I, for one, sincerely hope so.
Whilst performances on the pitch have been distinctly variable, my own view is that we’ve basically wasted the first quarter of the season. Four matches in particular – at home to Horsham YMCA and Corinthian Casuals, and away at Molesey and Walton Casuals – should have been straightforward wins for us, but instead these games have yielded just two points. If we’d taken all twelve points, as we should have done, without too much effort and inspiration, then we’d currently be lying SECOND in the table, with plenty of improvement to come !
Even though 13th represents dizzy heights of achievement, compared with the previous three seasons, the fact that the boys haven’t yet approached promotion form has, together with a first-hurdle exit from three cup competitions, left most Ashford Town fans feeling a little disappointed. At times like this, I remember an old saying that I saw on a calendar, many years ago: “Attention to petty detail is a wonderful source of cheerfulness”. It’s something that I’ve always believed in, so let’s retreat to Anorak’s Corner.
** Anorak’s Corner **
Attendances: Whilst there has not been a spectacular deluge of support for home games, there is no doubt that attendances have improved. After five home league matches, the average attendance has been 311, which is 68 up on last season’s figure of 243, (in spite of the latter figure being inflated by a total of 1,248 people attending the final two games, during the final week of last season). Similarly, the median (i.e. middle) figure is up 69 on last season, at 267. The most telling contrast, though, is in the comparison of attendances at the first five games of this season, compared with the first five this time last year – so far, gates have varied between 220 and 411, whilst last season the range was 133 to 190.
Goalkeepers: Here we have a simple comparison between the seven games played by Sam Moore, and the six played by Jake Whincup – and it’s quite a contrast, in more ways than one. Whilst Jake has been mercilessly barracked and ridiculed during most of his career at Ashford, he continues to be, statistically, the best goalie we’ve had in recent years. So far this season he has conceded goals at a rate of one every 68 minutes – which is even better than his record last season, when he let one in every 59 minutes. Sam Moore, on the other hand, appears to be immune from any sort of criticism, in spite of conceding at a rate of exactly two per game (i.e. one every 45 minutes), letting in at least one goal every game in the process. I’m tempted to use the line about not being able to keep a clean sheet on his wedding night, but I’ve used it before, so I won’t bother. What we need to remember about Sam, though, is that he’s still only 20, so long may his honeymoon with the Ashford supporters continue.
Strikers: With only 15 goals scored in the 13 games to date, there’s little joy to be had in looking at the strikers’ overall record. We currently (before today’s game) have three joint-top scorers, Jimmy Bottle, Walid Matata and Rob Denness, all with just three goals. At the same stage last season, George Fenwick had scored six; (and, without betraying my G.Fenwick bias too much, George has already knocked in four for Cray Wanderers this season). But closer inspection of the statistics reveals that Jimmy and Walid both have quite a respectable strike-rate. If the benchmark of a goal every other game (i.e. one every 180 minutes) can be used as the standard that most decent strikers will aspire to, they’re doing OK, with Jimmy scoring at one every 159 minutes, and Walid going at one every 175 minutes. (George Fenwick scored his 18 goals last season at a rate of one every 177 minutes). The same can’t be said for the hard-working Rob Denness, however, as he might be having sleepless nights about the benchmark set by Shaun Bradshaw in the 2005-6 season – Shaun was a lovely bloke, but he was certainly anything but a decent striker at this level, and scored his goals that season at a rate of one every 487 minutes. Rob is currently on one every 377 minutes, so the spectre of Bradders is hovering above him. (And Steve Sodje can wipe that smile off his face – Sodj is still yet to get off the mark for the season, having so far played for a total of 383 minutes).
Before we leave the subject of strikers, I should mention Joby Thorogood. During that season in which he received precious little help from Shaun Bradshaw, Joby was our top scorer, with twelve goals at one every 295 minutes. Last season, goals were much harder to come by, mainly due to him being deployed mostly in midfield, and he managed to score only four, each one taking him 580 minutes to get, on average. Well, this season Joby has been used almost exclusively as a striker, when he has played, and his two goals to date have come at a much more characteristic rate of one every 258 minutes. Joby’s season has also been remarkable for the fact that he hasn’t yet completed the entire 90 minutes of a match, which rather suggests that Clive Walker hasn’t had him 100% fit so far.
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The news about our hosts today, Leatherhead, was that they had a new Manager. With the previous incumbent having resigned recently, for personal and business reasons, The Tanners moved swiftly to appoint Ian Hazel, who himself left his post as Manager of Sutton United, in the Conference South, only three weeks ago. Hazel has also managed Tooting & Mitcham and Walton & Hersham, so knows what it’s all about at this level, and inherits a team lying in 9th place at the start of today’s game – four places and four points ahead of Ashford, having played two games more.
Fetcham Grove is always quite a pleasant place to come; a tree-lined ground set within a green space that also comprises a cricket ground, a general sports ground, a leisure centre and a water park. Whilst one side of the pitch is bordered by a small, old-fashioned stand with a green roof, and with covered terracing on either side of it, there is a sloping, grassy bank beyond the opposite touchline. The pitch was flat, and looked in nice condition, and, with the weather forecasters predicting a cloudy but mild, still day, everything seemed set for a decent match.
There were one or two interesting items of team news. One was that, for the first time this season, Rob Denness was dropped to the bench, in favour of a strike partnership of Joby Thorogood and Walid Matata. The other issue that Clive Walker faced was the continued absence of Tony Browne at right back – and, in spite of the hoo-ha earlier in the season about us lacking left-sided players, we now seem to be very short of players on the right, particularly in defence. The Gaffer’s solution was to shove Nicky Humphrey across to right back, with Rob Gillman and Graham Porter in the centre, and Aron Freeman on the left, in a 4-4-2 formation – rather than switch to the unfamiliar three-at-the-back mullarky, which seems to have caused us more problems than it’s worth at times this season. Brownie’s problem is that he has cracked ribs, and these can be very slow to heal – but it was good to see him at the Grove this afternoon. The other big team news was that Jake Whincup was back in goal – but this was a self-selecting change, in that Sam Moore was late on parade, so relegated himself to the subs’ bench. In midfield we had Danny Lye and Kevin Lott in the centre, with plenty of flair on the flanks, in the shape of Jimmy Bottle on the left, and Barry Gardner on the right. The full quota of five substitutes was completed by Nick Barnes, Joe Hitchings and Steve Sodje. Adrianho was also in attendance, and looking pretty lean and fit, and Daniel Brathwaite played for the Ressies, at The Homelands, (where the lads beat Sittingbourne Reserves 2-1).
The word from the home side was that they were missing four first-team regulars, but, although they looked a very young side, closer inspection of their line-ups to date this season revealed that there were only two in the starting eleven today who hadn’t already played several times for the first team. Jamie Beer wasn’t playing for The Tanners – which saves all those silly jokes about what he might do to Jimmy Bottle.
Most of the early action in the game took place in the Ashford half, with Leatherhead, in their familiar home colours of green shirts, white shorts and green socks – bless ‘em – making a positive start. As early as the second minute, a right-wing raid by Billy Marshall – one of two blond Tanners strikers – resulted in a dangerous cross, which was cut out by Rob Gillman, at the expense of a corner. This was taken by Mark Hammond, on the right. This appeared to be a rehearsed set-piece, as he picked out the completely isolated Iain Hendry, (not the alcoholic British actor from the 1970s), on the edge of the penalty area, but Hendry’s poor header for goal went well wide. Leatherhead had another corner, just two minutes later, after Rob Gillman had again been on hand to intercept a Mark Hammond cross. Again, Hammond took the kick himself, on the right, and it was Aron Freeman who scraped the low cross clear – but only as far as James Greenaway, whose speculative lob, from just outside the penalty area, was always going well over the bar.
Jake Whincup’s first test – always a nervy moment for us all – came in the sixth minute, when he found himself under a long, high lob which was aimed to land just inside his six-yard box. Jake fumbled his attempted catch, under pressure from a Leatherhead player, but the referee (rather generously) came to the rescue, blowing up for a foul on the ‘keeper. Other than in this instance, however, it must be said that Jake’s handling was sound this afternoon.
Ashford, in all yellow, didn’t mount an attack until the eighth minute, when a long throw-in from Kevin Lott was headed behind for a corner. Walid Matata got his head to Jimmy Bottle’s resulting cross, from the right, but was unable to direct his effort towards the goal.
A feature of today’s game was the rather fussy performance by Referee Tony Power. Some of his decisions were very pedantic, whilst others were downright mystifying – and I’m normally the very last person to criticise match officials. Power certainly seemed intolerant of any body contact that our central defenders made with the opposition, which frustrated Ports and Rob Gillman for most of the afternoon – but both generally coped pretty well, and looked fairly solid. One of these decisions gave the home side a free-kick some eleven yards outside the Ashford penalty area, after Ports had presumably breathed on Billy Marshall’s shirt. Mark Hammond took the kick, curling the ball over a four-man wall, but Jake Whincup was able to make a comfortable catch.
In the 13th minute, Ashford broke out of defence, with Joby Thorogood making ground down the right wing. His cross, aiming for Walid Matata, was put behind for a corner. As the corner came to nothing, it was Leatherhead’s turn to break. The ball came back into the Ashford half, and Aron Freeman and Jimmy Bottle appeared to be dealing with the situation calmly and effectively – until Aron lost his footing on the slippery surface. This immediately gave Billy Marshall the opportunity to break into the Ashford half, but his cross, which was looking for his striking partner, Scott Forrester, was woefully inaccurate, and the ball went harmlessly out for a goal-kick.
In the 16th minute, it was panto time with Power again – Forrester chased a diagonal ball, just outside the Ashford area, and Rob Gillman, marking him closely, seemed to have the situation well under control. However, Forrester went down, on the edge of the area, and the Referee awarded what appeared to be a harsh free-kick. Even more amazing was the fact that Rob also received a yellow card ! Happily, there was no further damage for the visitors, as Tanners’ No.2 Aaron Murphy hit the free-kick straight into the Ashford wall.
A minute later, Leatherhead had yet another corner on the right, and Mark Hammond was again able to provide a team-mate with a free header in the Ashford area – but James Greenaway, under no pressure, headed a poor effort wide, from about twelve yards out.
In the 19th minute, Aron Freeman took a throw-in, deep inside the Leatherhead half. As one might expect from a former international gymnast, Aron is more than capable of throwing the ball a long way, but this time he rather got underneath it, and achieved more height than distance. Nevertheless, young Jimmy Bottle, who’s actually quite handy in the air, got up well to flick the ball on. I think it was then Danny Lye who nodded the ball further into the heart of the Leatherhead box, where Barry Gardner went steaming in, and volleyed the ball into the net. This was Barry’s second goal of the season – the other came at Whyteleafe – and both have been well-taken efforts.
Incredibly, this means that Ashford have taken the lead in eleven of the 14 matches played this season – and it’s pretty well-documented that, before today, we had only managed to win three of them. (There was a joke, a few seasons ago, about not asking an Ashford Town player to take your dog for a walk, as they can’t hold on to a lead – and we don’t want that bandied around again, do we ?!).
So the boys were 0-1 up, but it was not all plain sailing at this time, as Kevin Lott had been struggling with a rib injury for a short while, having received an unwelcome elbow just above his hip-bone. This meant that Clive had to make an unscheduled substitution, replacing him with Nick Barnes, (who, to use a term employed to describe the fitness of racehorses, seemed to be carrying a bit of “conditioning”). Kevin hopes to be fit enough to play in Tuesday’s league match, at home to Whitstable.
Ashford then seemed to be pretty much in control for the rest of the half. In the 24th minute, Walid Matata went on a run which drew delighted applause from the noisy bunch of ten or so Ashford supporters behind the Leatherhead goal. He picked the ball up on the left flank, deep inside the Tanners’ half, with his back to the goal and closely marked by ex-Ashford centre-half Lynval Duncan; (Lynval played for us in the first 23 league matches of the 2005-6 season, scoring twice). Walid turned and beat Lynval, and then battled and improvised his way past three more defenders, before the ball was put behind for a corner, just as he was about to enter the penalty area. The corner was curled in by Nick Barnes, from the left, and Nicky Humphrey rose well at the far post, but his header was blocked. Another corner, again from the left side, and this time Graham Porter got up well to head the ball goalwards, but the effort was again blocked.
In the 36th minute, Aron Freeman needlessly got himself booked for tapping the ball away after a throw-in had been awarded to Leatherhead, but Ashford were on the attack again, two minutes later, with a Jimmy Bottle cross being put behind, at the near post, for another corner. Again it was Nick Barnes who came across to take the corner on the left, and again it was Nicky Humphrey who did well to rise highest of the crowd of players at the far post, but his header was wide. Nevertheless, Ashford were certainly posing an aerial threat at set-pieces, with the big defenders supplying the ammunition. (Surprisingly, we’ve reached the 14th game of the season, without a single goal from a defender, which is a statistic that must surely be put to bed soon).
It was a striker, Walid Matata, who put Ashford 0-2 ahead. The goal actually came from the penalty spot, but this was for a foul on Walid himself, when he was clear on goal. He latched onto a through ball, in the 43rd minute, getting there just in front of Lynval Duncan, who brought him down. Referee Power immediately blew up for the penalty, and it seemed certain, given the official’s pedantic performance to date, that our old friend would be sent off against Ashford Town for the second time since he left us. Inexplicably, the colour of the card was yellow. Never mind. The important issue to report is that Walid hit the ball firmly, low and to the right of Paul McCarthy, in the Leatherhead goal, and we were two up.
So 0-2 was the half-time score, with Jake Whincup having barely been threatened in the Ashford goal.
There was certainly plenty for Ian Hazel to think about in the Leatherhead dressing room, and the new man in the dug-out was pretty decisive, making a double substitution – he replaced Aaron Murphy and Lynval with Scott Bennetts and Terry Bowes. The shaggy-haired and bearded Bowes – I used to look like that ! – had an early opportunity to impress the boss, with a threatening run down the left wing, in the opening minutes of the half. He chipped in a cultured cross, with his right foot, but Ports was there to head clear. A good passing movement, in the 48th minute, which originated from the Leatherhead back four, culminated with young Billy Marshall being put through in the inside-right channel – but he shot across Jake Whincup’s goal, and wide.
Two minutes later, though, the ball was at the other end. Jimmy Bottle, who never showed the brilliant form that was so evident during his first start, against Cray Wanderers, but nevertheless had a solid enough game, sent in a cross, from the left, aiming for Barry Gardner, but the ball was headed behind, for a corner, on the right. Jimmy came across to take the corner himself, and his in-swinging cross went all the way to Joby Thorogood, beyond the far post. Joby played the ball back into the centre, where Nicky Humphrey controlled the ball, turned and shot, but Paul McCarthy made a good catch, above his head.
As early as the 52nd minute, Ashford lost their second central midfielder, and mainstay, Danny Lye. Danny limped off, to be replaced by Rob Denness, and is definitely out of Tuesday’s Kent Derby with Whitstable. So we had the unfamiliar sight of Rob Denness playing alongside Nick Barnes in the centre of the park – whilst Joe 90 remained on the bench. Clive Walker explained, after the game, that he did this because of the physical nature of the job that needed to be done in this area. Make no mistake; Clive rates Joe as one of the best footballers at the Club, but is very aware that he is still very young, and doesn’t want to over-face him. He seems to think that Joe needs another year on his back before we really see the best of him. As it turned out, Rob and Nick did a great job in the middle of the park for Clive, providing just the steel that we needed. Nick looks to be a competent footballer anywhere, and Rob is not as unfamiliar with the midfield role as many Ashford fans assume, having done the job, in the past, for Chatham.
Denness the Menace was actually involved in just about Ashford’s best move of the match, within a couple of minutes of coming on. Linking up well with Walid Matata and Jimmy Bottle, the movement ended with Rob putting Jimmy through on goal, to the left of the penalty area, but Jimmy was caught off-side.
Well, it seems that we always seem to make one defensive error in every game, regardless of the opposition and of how well we play as a team, and today was no exception. In the 56th minute, with the yellow defensive line pushing up, Scott Forrester put his strike partner, Billy Marshall, through in the inside-right position. The Ashford defence froze momentarily, appealing for off-side, by which time the bird had long flown. With no flag from the Lino, Marshall pulled the ball back to Forrester, who slotted the ball home, giving Jake Whincup no chance.
So 1-2 it was, and, with ten of the 13 leads having been thrown away already this season, it would have been unnatural if a few seeds of doubt had not entered the mind of the Ashford players, in spite of them having looked fairly comfortable on the two-goal lead. On this occasion, though, the opposition’s revival was brief, as Walid Matata put Ashford 1-3 up, just six minutes later. A long, lobbed ball upfield was gamely chased by Joby Thorogood, who was fouled in the act of getting his head to the ball. Again, the Ref was very harsh on the offender, and produced a yellow card for Tanners’ skipper Neil Baker, for what was a fairly innocuous foul. The real price paid by the home side, of course, was the award of a free-kick to Ashford, just outside the penalty area, to the right of the goal. Jimmy Bottle chipped the ball into the area, to feet, and the ball found its way to Nicky Humphrey, on the six-yard line, and with his back to goal. The Ashford Captain cheekily back-heeled the ball towards the Leatherhead goal, and Walid was there to sweep the ball into the net, from close range. This was Walid’s fifth goal of the season, making him clearly our top scorer to date.
That third goal just about killed off the threat from Leatherhead, but, with almost half an hour remaining, there was still time for some slightly bizarre decisions from Mr Power. In the 66th minute, seconds after Rob Gillman had cleared a cross from the right wing, high and behind for a corner, Graham Porter was yellow-carded for I-know-not-what. As Ports didn’t actually do anything, I presume that it was for something he said. Very soon after, Leatherhead were reduced to ten men when, out of the blue, with the ball out for a throw-in, Billy Marshall was shown a red card. Apparently, this was because Billy used a four-letter word to describe one of the Linesmen – in which case the Referee was quite right to send him off. We can, of course, have some fun trying to guess what the term of endearment actually was – but I think we all know. (Years ago, the saying was that Margaret Thatcher’s got one, Ted Heath’s never seen one and Norman Tebbitt is one – but that’s a bit dated now).
Ian Hazel did try to respond by throwing on another striker – Julian Thompson, for Mark Hammond, in the 73rd minute. Thompson actually had a scoring opportunity just two minutes later, when a quick break by Leatherhead sent him clear, down the right flank. Thompson had a clear sight of goal, and Jake Whincup made a good diving save to keep out his low shot. One of the other subs, Terry Bowes, latched onto the rebound, but was denied when Nicky Humphrey threw himself at the ball, and made a great block.
In the 76th minute, Ashford attacked Leatherhead down the left flank, with a ball played well ahead of Jimmy Bottle. Although the right-back had several yards’ start, Jimmy skinned him with tremendous natural pace, easily getting to the ball first, and crossing to Walid Matata, in the centre. Walid got his head to the awkward, bouncing ball, but was unable to do any more than knock the ball over the bar. A minute later, Walid was fouled, just five yards outside the Leatherhead area, to the right of the goal. This gave Jimmy the perfect opportunity to go for goal with a left-foot curler, but his effort, over the wall, went just over the bar.
In the 84th minute, the home side again attacked down the right flank, but Nicky Humphrey – playing at right-back, remember – came determinedly across, to make the covering tackle. This resulted in a throw-in, which was launched long, into the Ashford area. The ball bounced once, and then Scott Forrester attempted an ambitious overhead kick, which was comfortably taken by Jake.
Nobody has scored a hat-trick yet for Ashford this season, but Walid Matata had half a chance, with three minutes of normal time remaining. Iain Hendry, who looked a fairly dodgy defender, made an awful Horlicks of an attempted header back to Paul McCarthy, which Walid gratefully latched on to. However, McCarthy was quickly out of his goal, and gave Walid precious little to aim at, and comfortably blocked the shot.
At this point, Nicky Humphrey had been the clear choice for MK Man of the Match, but it would have been an interesting choice if Walid had managed to get his hat-trick. As it was, the nod went to the skipper, particularly as he had been playing out of position this afternoon. But there were good performances all over the pitch, in what was a good, solid display. Among the other “positives” was the fact that both Joby Thorogood and Graham Porter completed 90 minutes for the first time this season, but, just as others are regaining fitness after injury, fresh injuries are beginning to mount up.
It’s also worth mentioning that, for the first time in many years, there was plenty of singing from the Ashford fans – in fact, most of the noise made by the 202 crowd came from behind the Leatherhead goal. This was not unnoticed, and not unappreciated, by the Ashford players, some of whom acknowledged the choir at the final whistle.
It must be said that Leatherhead looked a poor side today, and that Ian Hazel has quite a job on his hands, so we shouldn’t get carried away with the performance or the result – but, all in all, this was a comfortable win, and the three points lifted Ashford up to 12th position in the table, just one point, and one place, behind Leatherhead.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Nicky Humphrey
Wednesday 26 September 2007
Cray Wanderers v Ashford Town. Ryman Division One South. 25th of September 2007.
Cray Wanderers 2 Ashford Town 5
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
After Saturday’s dreadful performance at Walton Casuals, Ashford really needed to bounce back this evening, against a Cray Wanderers side lying in sixth place in the table, and with the confidence-boost of a 1-5 win at Molesey at the week-end behind them. Bounce back ? Tonight the lads redefined the term “Bouncebackability” ! This performance was every bit as good as the Walton effort was awful. This was a scintillating performance, and one which ranks right up there with the 2-4 victory against Kingstonian at Kingsmeadow a few years ago.
To fully understand the huge transformation there has been since Saturday, you really have to consider the marked difference in the standard of the opposition in both matches. Three days ago, Walton Casuals looked a poor side, and they looked poor whilst they were in the process of beating us, very comfortably, by a 2-1 margin. In contrast, Cray looked very good throughout the 90 minutes. They played with a very high tempo, had strong, athletic players all over the field, and looked full of goals, with their skillful forwards, and midfielders who knew how to deliver a telling ball – yet Ashford matched them in every department this evening, and tore them apart, with three goals in the first 24 minutes. If Saturday had been like watching relegation scrappers, tonight we saw a high-quality game of football.
So why the big change ? There are many possible theories. Maybe we just like it at Hayes Lane. Last season we probably played our best football here, being deservedly 0-2 up in a game that was abandoned at half time, due to a torrential downpour, and then winning the rearranged game 0-4; so we won that particular match 0-6, on aggregate. In contrast, we rarely get anything from Franklyn Road, with results against Walton Casuals, since their promotion from the Combined Counties League in 2004-5, being 1-0, 1-1 and 2-1. Some people might point to the fact that Clive Walker reverted to 4-4-2 – that old chestnut about keeping it simple, and allowing players to play in a system they are familiar with. Was it the changes is personnel that did the trick ? Hardly. The starting line-up showed only three changes from the side that took the field against Walton Casuals: a straight swap of Aron Freeman for Nathan Simpson (one excellent left-back for another), Barry Gardner in for Walid Matata (due as much as anything else to Walid having not turned up for training the previous evening) and Jimmy Bottle for Charlie Glyde. Some eye-witnesses will say that, yes, Jimmy did make all the difference – and more about him later ! – but Ashford had actually looked an entirely different team before the ball got anywhere near Jimmy. Maybe it was something to do with the full moon that illuminated a cloudless sky this evening ?
I prefer the theory that came straight from one of the horses’ mouth this evening. I spoke briefly to one of the players who had been involved in the Walton debacle, and asked a question along the lines of “What on earth was going on, on Saturday ?”. I didn’t actually expect an answer – just a sheepish shrug of the shoulders and a shuffling of feet, in response to my merciless interrogation. I was pleasantly surprised that he came straight back at me with a frank and honest response: “A lack of passion and commitment”. That probably tells the story, as there was no shortage of that on this occasion. In fact, if we’d played anything like we had at Franklyn Road, then this Cray side would certainly have murdered us. I later learnt that Tim Thorogood had taken the training session on Monday night, and had “got into them a bit” – Q.E.D, M’lud.
I was quite amazed at the frantic pace with which the game began – led by the home side. I’ve never seen anything like it at this level. It was like watching a match in Fast Forward. Even the normally laconic George Fenwick was like a tap dancer on speed, with quick lay-offs and darting runs. It was as if Cray were attempting a mugging, but our defence was superb during this hectic opening period – everyone was alert, focused and quick to the ball. And it was just as well.
Then Jimmy Bottle announced his arrival to the Ryman League. Four touches is all it took: one to control, another to stick the ball in the back of the net; another to control, and another strike to make it 0-2. This was an exhibition of natural goal-scoring ability that few of us have seen in semi-professional football – a rarer sight still in a green shirt !
Jimmy opened the scoring in the fifth minute. After surviving The Wands’ early frenzy, Ashford launched an attack down the left flank, with Aron Freeman. Aron moved the ball on to Joby Thorogood, who in turn touched it to Jimmy, who now had a sight of goal, just outside the penalty area. Probably without thinking about it too much, Jimmy shot low, into the corner of the net. His second goal came in the 14th minute. This started with a clearance, from deep, by Danny Lye. Rob Denness was on his own up front at the time, and flicked the ball on into space, with his head, and gamely chased after it himself. Rob caught up with the ball in the left wing position, pulled the ball back to Jimmy, who was just inside the penalty area, and the ball was soon nestling in the same corner of the net that it had been in, just nine minutes earlier. So it was 0-2 to Ashford, and we now have a new hero.
Jimmy is tall, and quite slightly built – very much in the mould of Simon Glover – but has the natural ability to glide across the surface, with the ball, at high speed. He’s reminiscent of a young Peter Barnes when in full flight, and his work is invariably clean and neat. Even without the eye-catching stuff, he linked up well with his team-mates tonight, always picking out a green shirt, with a crisp, first-time pass. It would almost be an insult to refer to it as “genius”, as Jimmy has obviously been extremely well coached from an early age. There’s also something of the waif in him – which reminds me of how Chris Waddle used to be – and he has a modest, understated demeanour, which suggests that he’s probably unaware of how good he really is. The players around him certainly know what we’ve got – and there’s at least one experienced right-back in the squad who’s glad that he doesn’t have to play against him ! It’s early days yet, and he’s still only Joe Hitchings’ age remember, but my immediate impression is that Jimmy Bottle might be the best player that we’ve had at The Homelands for many, many years.
But this was by no means a one-man show, as there were good performances throughout the team. With Walid Matata on the bench, it was Rob Denness and Joby Thorogood who provided the two-man attack; Steve Sodje was not included in the sixteen, having also missed Monday training, but was at the ground looking very dapper in a dark suit. In central midfield we had The Estate Agents (Lye ‘n Lott), with Jimmy Bottle on the left and Barry Gardner on the right. The back four, in front of Sam Moore, was Aron Freeman (a former international gymnast, apparently), Rob Gillman, Nicky Humphrey (the captain) and Tony Browne. Completing the contingent of substitutes were Charlie Glyde, Joe Hitchings, Graham Porter and Jake Whincup.
One feature of the defeat to Walton Casuals was the obvious uncertainty in central defence, but both Nicky Humphrey and Rob Gillman were solid and flawless this evening – and they had to be, against this lot ! Humphry had to be on his toes, in the 18th minute, when Junior Baker chased a through-ball, in the inside-right channel, but the skipper got in a good saving tackle, chasing back. There was soon some more defending to do, however, when Jamie Wood crossed the ball deep into the Ashford area, from a free-kick. Danny Lye somehow hoiked the ball over his own head, and over the bar, to clear the danger. The resulting corner was also cleared.
There was soon another chance for Ashford, playing in their green & white home strip this evening, as a contrast to the amber and black of Cray, in the 24th minute. Jimmy Bottle again demonstrated some sharp skill when he played a brilliant one-two with Rob Denness, which sent him off down the left flank, but his attempted cross was deflected behind for a corner. The ball refused to settle in the area, but the defensive clearance fell to Jimmy, whose side-footed pass found Rob Denness, just outside the area. Rob took a shot early, and my first impression was that he had rather snatched at the opportunity, but the ball was soon in the back of the net, to The Menace’s obvious delight, and it was 0-3. In truth, goalkeeper Glen Knight didn’t cover himself in glory with this one, as the ball went under his arm, but let’s not take anything away from Rob, as he struck his shot firmly. This was certainly the best game that I have seen Rob play, in an Ashford shirt.
Wanderers have two very big, and very sturdy, centre-backs in Ryan Royston and Julian Curnow. They are typical of the breed at this level – brick heads, good in the air – but they’re not really equipped to deal with a flying machine running at them with the ball at his feet. We saw this demonstrated on the half-hour mark. Royston made the initial gaff by passing the ball straight to Jimmy Bottle, who was inside the centre circle, with acres of space ahead of him. Jimmy was immediately into his stride, floating over the damp turf, with Julian Curnow in line to be his first victim. So dominant and powerful when challenging for high balls, the defender now looked like the proverbial rabbit caught up in the headlights of the approaching car. To give Curnow some credit, he summed up the situation very early, and was very quick to raise the white flag – he knew that the most likely scenario was for the ball to end up in the back of the net, and, for him personally, for egg to end up on face. He actually paid Jimmy the biggest compliment possible, by ending his run with a blatant body-check. Of course, we would have preferred to have seen the ball in the back of the net, for Jimmy’s hat-trick – but I almost had some sympathy for the defender on this occasion. It was an easy decision for Referee Mick McCoy to put J.Curnow in the book.
Cray faced the free-kick with a three-man wall. Kevin Lott touched the ball to Barry Gardner, who completely miss-hit his shot, which was totally out of character with the Ashford performance overall. Barry also let the side down a bit by being the only one to wear a long-sleeved thermal vest under his shirt. Wimp !
In spite of being 0-3 down, the home side always looked very capable of scoring a goal, and certainly piled plenty of pressure on the Ashford defence during the last 15 minutes of the first half. Eventually, they broke through, in the 42nd minute – and I was secretly quite pleased that it was George Fenwick, Ashford’s top scorer last year, with 18 goals, who scored with an excellent header. The chance was made by the skillful Tyrone Sterling, who was raiding down the left. He pulled the ball back to Mark Willy – and I can’t resist pointing out that Cray have a Willy and a Lover in their squad at the moment – whose curling cross found George Fenwick at the far post; George got up well, and headed the ball down, into the net.
That goal would really have set things up for a close second half, but Ashford restored their two-goal advantage almost immediately. Joby Thorogood did well to win a corner, on the right-hand side, in the 43rd minute. Joby then took up a position beyond the far post, and the ball was allowed to reach him, sailing over the ruck of players in the centre. Joby’s header for goal was blocked, and the ball rebounded to Barry Gardner. Barry this time made good contact, with a clean shot that was deflected to Joby, who planted the ball into the net with a firm, left-footed strike.
So it was 1-4 at the break, and, for the first time that I can remember, the team marched off at half time to a standing ovation from the Ashford contingent in the main stand. It had been a devastating first 45 minutes, and one that I’ll remember for a long time.
It was good to see some old friends during the interval. John Cumberbatch, a resident of Bromley, had sauntered over to Hayes Lane, to have a look – now shorn of the trademark dreadlocks, but an unmistakable figure, nevertheless. John was able to scotch any slanderous rumours about his son Marc being responsible for Molesey’s recent defensive nightmares – Marc has actually been playing for Leyton, in the Ryman Premier Division, along with former Ashford right-back Jamie Smith, and is doing well with them. Simon Glover was another welcome sight. Ironically, after his epic season with Ashford, during which he played in almost every position, and for almost every minute of every game, Gloves has actually played very little this season, due to a groin injury. Lee Spiller and Adrianho, both on the injury list, were also in attendance – Adrianho is still limping heavily, but tonight did not need the crutches he was using at Walton.
The second half was rather different, as I think that Clive sent the lads out to hold on to what they had. Inevitably, Ashford sometimes showed a tendency to defend too deep, which could only invite the home side to come forward, but Cray are a potent side in attack, and they would have thrown men forward anyway. In fact, Manager Ian Jenkins had earlier already made his intentions clear, when he replaced right-back Aaron Day (who will probably curse the name of Jimmy Bottle, and all his children, for ever more) with striker Michael Power, as soon as Joby Thorogood had scored Ashford’s fourth.
Generally, the boys succeeded in smothering the threat from the home side, and it was probably not by accident that we conceded a succession of free-kicks early in the second half. There was certainly plenty of defending to do during this period, and, in the 49th minute, Sam Moore had to get down quickly to his left, to stop a shot coming in from the left flank, from an acute angle. Sam failed to gather the ball, though, and was perhaps a little fortunate that the ball broke to Danny Lye, in the centre of the penalty area, who was able to clear.
Cray actually had the ball in the back of the net, on 54 minutes. A chipped free-kick, expertly delivered by Jamie Wood, as ever, was met by a good header from imposing No.3 Colin Luckett, but the Lino’s flag was up very early, for off-side.
There were several more stoppages as the hour-mark came and went, which further stimeyed Wanderers’ charge forward. There was actually quite a lengthy delay after Rob Denness had received an arm, or an elbow, in the mouth, in the midst of some jockeying for position at a throw-in. They say that a smack in the mouth often offends, and Rob certainly wasn’t impressed with this one. He’s a big lad, and I’m certainly glad that it wasn’t my elbow that he’d kissed. In fact, it’s a good job that his Mum wasn’t there with her camera, as that would’ve been two of them for the culprit to contend with.
Still the home side persevered, keeping three men forward, and they had a great chance to pull a goal back, in the 68th minute, when a long ball into the Ashford penalty area was nodded wide, at the far post. The second Cray goal actually came three minutes later, and it came from a corner, after Aron Freeman had put in a good challenge against Junior Baker. Michael Power, who had looked Wanderers’ biggest threat since his introduction, came flying in to meet the cross, and powered a header into the back of the net. So both goals came from good headers, which confirmed the aerial threat carried by tonight’s opponents. I wouldn’t say that Sam Moore was at fault with either of them, and he seems to be pretty safe with his handling and kicking and all-round game, but he has yet to show that he has the same shot-stopping qualities that Jake Whincup has shown. (It’s also interesting to note that 19 year-old Sam has conceded two goals in each of the four games in which he’s played, whilst Jake has conceded exactly one goal per game, on average, this season).
So 2-4 it was, as Cray Wanderers continued to press forward. Ashford had a brief attack in the 77th minute, when a powerful headed clearance from Nicky Humphrey set Jimmy Bottle off on a run. Again it was Julian Curnow who was in Jimmy’s sights, but this time Curnow kept his composure and his dignity, and managed to get the ball out for a throw-in. A minute later, the home side had a great chance to narrow the deficit further. A through-ball put Michael Power in, with a sight of goal. With Aron Freeman snapping at his heels like a Jack Russell, Power curled his shot around Sam Moore, but also just around the post.
In the 81st minute, with Cray becoming increasingly committed upfield, Clive Walker instinctively knew that it was a good time to throw Walid Matata into the mix, in place of Joby Thorogood (who is yet to complete 90 minutes in a game this season), to try to exploit the increasing amount of space that was appearing in the home defence. And Walid had an excellent chance to make an immediate impact, in the 82nd minute. With Cray launching another attack, Sam Moore had to come out quickly to intercept a through-ball, and his hoofed clearance sailed all the way up the field to Jimmy Bottle, on the left. Jimmy carried the ball a few yards, and then delivered a cross to Walid, who had run into the penalty area – the substitute really should have done better, and could do no more than shin his effort wide.
Matata made up for the miss just two minutes later, when he scored the goal that sewed up the three points. Again, it was a chance that came after Wanderers had been on the attack. A clearance found Walid on the half-way line. He had no support, so, with four Cray defenders nearby, had no choice but to turn and make his way goalwards. Soon, though, Jimmy Bottle was in support, overlapping to his left. Walid fed the ball to him, and Jimmy’s square return pass was inch-perfect, so that it put Walid through with a one-on-one with the goalie. He had time to look up and pick his spot, and it was no surprise to see the ball hit the back of the net for Ashford’s fifth. There was a time, a few years ago, when it wasn’t particularly unusual for us to go and see Ashford Town score five goals away from home; in fact, I can vividly remember a couple of “fives” at Corby Town, and one against Burnham, but I can’t remember the last one.
The fifth goal just about put paid to Cray Wanderers’ challenge, and it was then just a question of whether we could put another one past a tired home defence – a sixth goal would certainly have flattered us, but 2-5 was entirely justified, with five good goals being scored by four different strikers. One thing I would be fairly confident about, having seen Cray, is that this will probably be their heaviest defeat of the season.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Jimmy Bottle
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
After Saturday’s dreadful performance at Walton Casuals, Ashford really needed to bounce back this evening, against a Cray Wanderers side lying in sixth place in the table, and with the confidence-boost of a 1-5 win at Molesey at the week-end behind them. Bounce back ? Tonight the lads redefined the term “Bouncebackability” ! This performance was every bit as good as the Walton effort was awful. This was a scintillating performance, and one which ranks right up there with the 2-4 victory against Kingstonian at Kingsmeadow a few years ago.
To fully understand the huge transformation there has been since Saturday, you really have to consider the marked difference in the standard of the opposition in both matches. Three days ago, Walton Casuals looked a poor side, and they looked poor whilst they were in the process of beating us, very comfortably, by a 2-1 margin. In contrast, Cray looked very good throughout the 90 minutes. They played with a very high tempo, had strong, athletic players all over the field, and looked full of goals, with their skillful forwards, and midfielders who knew how to deliver a telling ball – yet Ashford matched them in every department this evening, and tore them apart, with three goals in the first 24 minutes. If Saturday had been like watching relegation scrappers, tonight we saw a high-quality game of football.
So why the big change ? There are many possible theories. Maybe we just like it at Hayes Lane. Last season we probably played our best football here, being deservedly 0-2 up in a game that was abandoned at half time, due to a torrential downpour, and then winning the rearranged game 0-4; so we won that particular match 0-6, on aggregate. In contrast, we rarely get anything from Franklyn Road, with results against Walton Casuals, since their promotion from the Combined Counties League in 2004-5, being 1-0, 1-1 and 2-1. Some people might point to the fact that Clive Walker reverted to 4-4-2 – that old chestnut about keeping it simple, and allowing players to play in a system they are familiar with. Was it the changes is personnel that did the trick ? Hardly. The starting line-up showed only three changes from the side that took the field against Walton Casuals: a straight swap of Aron Freeman for Nathan Simpson (one excellent left-back for another), Barry Gardner in for Walid Matata (due as much as anything else to Walid having not turned up for training the previous evening) and Jimmy Bottle for Charlie Glyde. Some eye-witnesses will say that, yes, Jimmy did make all the difference – and more about him later ! – but Ashford had actually looked an entirely different team before the ball got anywhere near Jimmy. Maybe it was something to do with the full moon that illuminated a cloudless sky this evening ?
I prefer the theory that came straight from one of the horses’ mouth this evening. I spoke briefly to one of the players who had been involved in the Walton debacle, and asked a question along the lines of “What on earth was going on, on Saturday ?”. I didn’t actually expect an answer – just a sheepish shrug of the shoulders and a shuffling of feet, in response to my merciless interrogation. I was pleasantly surprised that he came straight back at me with a frank and honest response: “A lack of passion and commitment”. That probably tells the story, as there was no shortage of that on this occasion. In fact, if we’d played anything like we had at Franklyn Road, then this Cray side would certainly have murdered us. I later learnt that Tim Thorogood had taken the training session on Monday night, and had “got into them a bit” – Q.E.D, M’lud.
I was quite amazed at the frantic pace with which the game began – led by the home side. I’ve never seen anything like it at this level. It was like watching a match in Fast Forward. Even the normally laconic George Fenwick was like a tap dancer on speed, with quick lay-offs and darting runs. It was as if Cray were attempting a mugging, but our defence was superb during this hectic opening period – everyone was alert, focused and quick to the ball. And it was just as well.
Then Jimmy Bottle announced his arrival to the Ryman League. Four touches is all it took: one to control, another to stick the ball in the back of the net; another to control, and another strike to make it 0-2. This was an exhibition of natural goal-scoring ability that few of us have seen in semi-professional football – a rarer sight still in a green shirt !
Jimmy opened the scoring in the fifth minute. After surviving The Wands’ early frenzy, Ashford launched an attack down the left flank, with Aron Freeman. Aron moved the ball on to Joby Thorogood, who in turn touched it to Jimmy, who now had a sight of goal, just outside the penalty area. Probably without thinking about it too much, Jimmy shot low, into the corner of the net. His second goal came in the 14th minute. This started with a clearance, from deep, by Danny Lye. Rob Denness was on his own up front at the time, and flicked the ball on into space, with his head, and gamely chased after it himself. Rob caught up with the ball in the left wing position, pulled the ball back to Jimmy, who was just inside the penalty area, and the ball was soon nestling in the same corner of the net that it had been in, just nine minutes earlier. So it was 0-2 to Ashford, and we now have a new hero.
Jimmy is tall, and quite slightly built – very much in the mould of Simon Glover – but has the natural ability to glide across the surface, with the ball, at high speed. He’s reminiscent of a young Peter Barnes when in full flight, and his work is invariably clean and neat. Even without the eye-catching stuff, he linked up well with his team-mates tonight, always picking out a green shirt, with a crisp, first-time pass. It would almost be an insult to refer to it as “genius”, as Jimmy has obviously been extremely well coached from an early age. There’s also something of the waif in him – which reminds me of how Chris Waddle used to be – and he has a modest, understated demeanour, which suggests that he’s probably unaware of how good he really is. The players around him certainly know what we’ve got – and there’s at least one experienced right-back in the squad who’s glad that he doesn’t have to play against him ! It’s early days yet, and he’s still only Joe Hitchings’ age remember, but my immediate impression is that Jimmy Bottle might be the best player that we’ve had at The Homelands for many, many years.
But this was by no means a one-man show, as there were good performances throughout the team. With Walid Matata on the bench, it was Rob Denness and Joby Thorogood who provided the two-man attack; Steve Sodje was not included in the sixteen, having also missed Monday training, but was at the ground looking very dapper in a dark suit. In central midfield we had The Estate Agents (Lye ‘n Lott), with Jimmy Bottle on the left and Barry Gardner on the right. The back four, in front of Sam Moore, was Aron Freeman (a former international gymnast, apparently), Rob Gillman, Nicky Humphrey (the captain) and Tony Browne. Completing the contingent of substitutes were Charlie Glyde, Joe Hitchings, Graham Porter and Jake Whincup.
One feature of the defeat to Walton Casuals was the obvious uncertainty in central defence, but both Nicky Humphrey and Rob Gillman were solid and flawless this evening – and they had to be, against this lot ! Humphry had to be on his toes, in the 18th minute, when Junior Baker chased a through-ball, in the inside-right channel, but the skipper got in a good saving tackle, chasing back. There was soon some more defending to do, however, when Jamie Wood crossed the ball deep into the Ashford area, from a free-kick. Danny Lye somehow hoiked the ball over his own head, and over the bar, to clear the danger. The resulting corner was also cleared.
There was soon another chance for Ashford, playing in their green & white home strip this evening, as a contrast to the amber and black of Cray, in the 24th minute. Jimmy Bottle again demonstrated some sharp skill when he played a brilliant one-two with Rob Denness, which sent him off down the left flank, but his attempted cross was deflected behind for a corner. The ball refused to settle in the area, but the defensive clearance fell to Jimmy, whose side-footed pass found Rob Denness, just outside the area. Rob took a shot early, and my first impression was that he had rather snatched at the opportunity, but the ball was soon in the back of the net, to The Menace’s obvious delight, and it was 0-3. In truth, goalkeeper Glen Knight didn’t cover himself in glory with this one, as the ball went under his arm, but let’s not take anything away from Rob, as he struck his shot firmly. This was certainly the best game that I have seen Rob play, in an Ashford shirt.
Wanderers have two very big, and very sturdy, centre-backs in Ryan Royston and Julian Curnow. They are typical of the breed at this level – brick heads, good in the air – but they’re not really equipped to deal with a flying machine running at them with the ball at his feet. We saw this demonstrated on the half-hour mark. Royston made the initial gaff by passing the ball straight to Jimmy Bottle, who was inside the centre circle, with acres of space ahead of him. Jimmy was immediately into his stride, floating over the damp turf, with Julian Curnow in line to be his first victim. So dominant and powerful when challenging for high balls, the defender now looked like the proverbial rabbit caught up in the headlights of the approaching car. To give Curnow some credit, he summed up the situation very early, and was very quick to raise the white flag – he knew that the most likely scenario was for the ball to end up in the back of the net, and, for him personally, for egg to end up on face. He actually paid Jimmy the biggest compliment possible, by ending his run with a blatant body-check. Of course, we would have preferred to have seen the ball in the back of the net, for Jimmy’s hat-trick – but I almost had some sympathy for the defender on this occasion. It was an easy decision for Referee Mick McCoy to put J.Curnow in the book.
Cray faced the free-kick with a three-man wall. Kevin Lott touched the ball to Barry Gardner, who completely miss-hit his shot, which was totally out of character with the Ashford performance overall. Barry also let the side down a bit by being the only one to wear a long-sleeved thermal vest under his shirt. Wimp !
In spite of being 0-3 down, the home side always looked very capable of scoring a goal, and certainly piled plenty of pressure on the Ashford defence during the last 15 minutes of the first half. Eventually, they broke through, in the 42nd minute – and I was secretly quite pleased that it was George Fenwick, Ashford’s top scorer last year, with 18 goals, who scored with an excellent header. The chance was made by the skillful Tyrone Sterling, who was raiding down the left. He pulled the ball back to Mark Willy – and I can’t resist pointing out that Cray have a Willy and a Lover in their squad at the moment – whose curling cross found George Fenwick at the far post; George got up well, and headed the ball down, into the net.
That goal would really have set things up for a close second half, but Ashford restored their two-goal advantage almost immediately. Joby Thorogood did well to win a corner, on the right-hand side, in the 43rd minute. Joby then took up a position beyond the far post, and the ball was allowed to reach him, sailing over the ruck of players in the centre. Joby’s header for goal was blocked, and the ball rebounded to Barry Gardner. Barry this time made good contact, with a clean shot that was deflected to Joby, who planted the ball into the net with a firm, left-footed strike.
So it was 1-4 at the break, and, for the first time that I can remember, the team marched off at half time to a standing ovation from the Ashford contingent in the main stand. It had been a devastating first 45 minutes, and one that I’ll remember for a long time.
It was good to see some old friends during the interval. John Cumberbatch, a resident of Bromley, had sauntered over to Hayes Lane, to have a look – now shorn of the trademark dreadlocks, but an unmistakable figure, nevertheless. John was able to scotch any slanderous rumours about his son Marc being responsible for Molesey’s recent defensive nightmares – Marc has actually been playing for Leyton, in the Ryman Premier Division, along with former Ashford right-back Jamie Smith, and is doing well with them. Simon Glover was another welcome sight. Ironically, after his epic season with Ashford, during which he played in almost every position, and for almost every minute of every game, Gloves has actually played very little this season, due to a groin injury. Lee Spiller and Adrianho, both on the injury list, were also in attendance – Adrianho is still limping heavily, but tonight did not need the crutches he was using at Walton.
The second half was rather different, as I think that Clive sent the lads out to hold on to what they had. Inevitably, Ashford sometimes showed a tendency to defend too deep, which could only invite the home side to come forward, but Cray are a potent side in attack, and they would have thrown men forward anyway. In fact, Manager Ian Jenkins had earlier already made his intentions clear, when he replaced right-back Aaron Day (who will probably curse the name of Jimmy Bottle, and all his children, for ever more) with striker Michael Power, as soon as Joby Thorogood had scored Ashford’s fourth.
Generally, the boys succeeded in smothering the threat from the home side, and it was probably not by accident that we conceded a succession of free-kicks early in the second half. There was certainly plenty of defending to do during this period, and, in the 49th minute, Sam Moore had to get down quickly to his left, to stop a shot coming in from the left flank, from an acute angle. Sam failed to gather the ball, though, and was perhaps a little fortunate that the ball broke to Danny Lye, in the centre of the penalty area, who was able to clear.
Cray actually had the ball in the back of the net, on 54 minutes. A chipped free-kick, expertly delivered by Jamie Wood, as ever, was met by a good header from imposing No.3 Colin Luckett, but the Lino’s flag was up very early, for off-side.
There were several more stoppages as the hour-mark came and went, which further stimeyed Wanderers’ charge forward. There was actually quite a lengthy delay after Rob Denness had received an arm, or an elbow, in the mouth, in the midst of some jockeying for position at a throw-in. They say that a smack in the mouth often offends, and Rob certainly wasn’t impressed with this one. He’s a big lad, and I’m certainly glad that it wasn’t my elbow that he’d kissed. In fact, it’s a good job that his Mum wasn’t there with her camera, as that would’ve been two of them for the culprit to contend with.
Still the home side persevered, keeping three men forward, and they had a great chance to pull a goal back, in the 68th minute, when a long ball into the Ashford penalty area was nodded wide, at the far post. The second Cray goal actually came three minutes later, and it came from a corner, after Aron Freeman had put in a good challenge against Junior Baker. Michael Power, who had looked Wanderers’ biggest threat since his introduction, came flying in to meet the cross, and powered a header into the back of the net. So both goals came from good headers, which confirmed the aerial threat carried by tonight’s opponents. I wouldn’t say that Sam Moore was at fault with either of them, and he seems to be pretty safe with his handling and kicking and all-round game, but he has yet to show that he has the same shot-stopping qualities that Jake Whincup has shown. (It’s also interesting to note that 19 year-old Sam has conceded two goals in each of the four games in which he’s played, whilst Jake has conceded exactly one goal per game, on average, this season).
So 2-4 it was, as Cray Wanderers continued to press forward. Ashford had a brief attack in the 77th minute, when a powerful headed clearance from Nicky Humphrey set Jimmy Bottle off on a run. Again it was Julian Curnow who was in Jimmy’s sights, but this time Curnow kept his composure and his dignity, and managed to get the ball out for a throw-in. A minute later, the home side had a great chance to narrow the deficit further. A through-ball put Michael Power in, with a sight of goal. With Aron Freeman snapping at his heels like a Jack Russell, Power curled his shot around Sam Moore, but also just around the post.
In the 81st minute, with Cray becoming increasingly committed upfield, Clive Walker instinctively knew that it was a good time to throw Walid Matata into the mix, in place of Joby Thorogood (who is yet to complete 90 minutes in a game this season), to try to exploit the increasing amount of space that was appearing in the home defence. And Walid had an excellent chance to make an immediate impact, in the 82nd minute. With Cray launching another attack, Sam Moore had to come out quickly to intercept a through-ball, and his hoofed clearance sailed all the way up the field to Jimmy Bottle, on the left. Jimmy carried the ball a few yards, and then delivered a cross to Walid, who had run into the penalty area – the substitute really should have done better, and could do no more than shin his effort wide.
Matata made up for the miss just two minutes later, when he scored the goal that sewed up the three points. Again, it was a chance that came after Wanderers had been on the attack. A clearance found Walid on the half-way line. He had no support, so, with four Cray defenders nearby, had no choice but to turn and make his way goalwards. Soon, though, Jimmy Bottle was in support, overlapping to his left. Walid fed the ball to him, and Jimmy’s square return pass was inch-perfect, so that it put Walid through with a one-on-one with the goalie. He had time to look up and pick his spot, and it was no surprise to see the ball hit the back of the net for Ashford’s fifth. There was a time, a few years ago, when it wasn’t particularly unusual for us to go and see Ashford Town score five goals away from home; in fact, I can vividly remember a couple of “fives” at Corby Town, and one against Burnham, but I can’t remember the last one.
The fifth goal just about put paid to Cray Wanderers’ challenge, and it was then just a question of whether we could put another one past a tired home defence – a sixth goal would certainly have flattered us, but 2-5 was entirely justified, with five good goals being scored by four different strikers. One thing I would be fairly confident about, having seen Cray, is that this will probably be their heaviest defeat of the season.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Jimmy Bottle
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