Whyteleafe 0 Ashford Town 1
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
Ashford’s third game of the season took us to Whyteleafe, in leafy Surrey (“with a fringe on top”). Whenever I go to Whyteleafe, I’m reminded of what I consider to be Ashford Town’s lowest ever ebb – and if the good times are indeed to roll, it’s not a bad thing to reflect on how bad things had once got. I’m not referring to the 3-0 thrashing we received here at Church Road in the 2004-5 season – although the performance that day was right down there with the 3-0 defeat at Godalming and the 5-2 debacle at Wembley in the League Cup. No, I’m casting my mind back to the final game of the same season, a Saturday afternoon in early May, when we made the trip to Horsham. We needed to match what Dorking did that day, to avoid relegation to the Kent League. What happened was that we got thrashed 5-0, and it was Whyteleafe who dragged our balls out of the fire by beating Dorking 3-1. Who knows where we would be now, if it had been the other way around ? I just know that Dorking are still in the Combined Counties League. And that is why I always kneel down and kiss the ground as I pass through the turnstiles at Church Road.
Back to the present-day adventure. Looking at the current league table at the start of play, it appeared that things were already beginning to take shape, even after everyone had only played two games. We have three teams with a maximum of six points out of six, and there are no real surprises here: Dover, Kingstonian and Sittingbourne. The first two are, of course, teams widely fancied to be challenging for the title this season, and I’ve had a suspicion that Sittingbourne might be the dark horses this time. At the other end of the table, the two teams with no points were Horsham YMCA and newly-promoted Chipstead, and I’d expect both of these teams to struggle this season. (Horsham YMCA did OK last season, their first in the Ryman League, but it might be a different story without The Legend, Tommy Sampson). Whyteleafe find themselves just a point ahead of these.
There was just the one change in the Ashford team from the side that won 0-1 at Chatham; Kevin Lott came in for the injured Daniel Brathwaite (strained knee ligaments, which should keep him on the sidelines for about six weeks), but he took his place on the left side of midfield, with loanee Charlie Glyde dropping back to fulfill the unfamiliar role of left-back. Manager Clive Walker – forsaking Tuesday’s leather jacket, in favour of an off-white short-sleeved shirt – retained the same 4-4-2 formation, with the following line-up: Jake Whincup, Tony Browne, Rob Gillman, Nicky Humphrey, Charlie Glyde, Barry Gardner, Lee Spiller (the Captain), Danny Lye, Kevin Lott, Steve Sodje and Rob Denness. On the subs bench we had Anthony Allman, Nick Fenwick, Manny Bains and the recovering Adrianho. It was also good to see Walid Matata – still nursing a back injury - in the crowd, and Physio Mo Alvi back in the dug-out.
One difference from Tuesday night’s game was the weather conditions. Whilst there was a fine drizzle in Chatham, today’s game was played out on a warm Summer’s afternoon, so there was no expectation that Ashford would again produce the high-tempo football that enabled them to dominate on Tuesday. However, the visitors had the better of the first 15 minutes, moving the Whyteleafe Manager, ex-Crystal Palace star David Swindlehurst, to complain to his players that it was “… f&*^ing one-way traffic”. Nevertheless, there were just a couple of half-chances during this period – one to each side. In the seventh minute, a foul from Rob Gillman on Leafe centre-forward Denva McKenzie – an arm over the shoulder when challenging in the air – gave the home side a free-kick. This was curled in towards the far post by Callum MacLean, but, strangely, the Whyteleafe man on the end of the cross appeared to duck under the ball, and the result was a goal-kick. At the other end, in the eleventh minute, Kevin Lott put Steve Sodje through in the inside-left position; Sodj crossed the ball to Barry Gardner, in the centre, but Barry’s first-time shot was blocked.
Up to this point, there was little constructive, on-the-ground play from either side, but Ashford soon started to get their act together when going forward. In the 20th minute, Lee Spiller appeared to have put Steve Sodje through on goal, until the Lino’s flag went up for off-side, and then, a minute later, Charlie Glyde went in pursuit of a through-ball, but goalkeeper Robert Tolfrey always looked likely to come out and get there first. However, Tolfrey intercepted the ball outside of his penalty area, so couldn’t use his hands, and he fluffed his attempted clearance straight to Steve Sodje. Unfortunately, with just a defender on the line to beat, Sodje’s shot at goal with his left foot went well wide.
In the 31st minute, Steve Sodje had another opportunity. He latched on to a long clearance from Jake Whincup, and, controlling the ball in the Leafe area, checked inside, but a swarm of defenders prevented him from getting a shot in – to the frustration of Mr Walker, whose thoughts appeared to be summed as “Why didn’t he hit the bloody thing ?”.
There was a general lull in play from about the 34th minute, whilst Kevin Lott was down injured, and being attended to. This gave all of the players the chance to have a breather and to take in some fluid, which was very sensible, as the sun continued to beat down from a largely cloudless sky. Whyteleafe captain Ali Reeve had already been off the field for a minute or so, with a cut head, and was having a white bandage applied to his head during the drinks interval. Although a very neat job was made of this, Reeve was still unable to rejoin the match, on the grounds that there was a smear of blood on his shirt. This appeared to me to be a little pedantic of the officials, (encouraged, perhaps, by the fact that there was an FA Referee Assessor in attendance); I understand the blood rules in modern-day contact sports, but I fail to see how anyone could be put at risk by the presence of a blood stain on a shirt. The compromise was for Reeve to remove the garment and put on the Number 16 shirt instead.
[ This reminds me to describe the new-look Whyteleafe shirt; instead of their usual Celtic-style green & white hoops, the home side was decked out in green shirts with a broad white stripe across the shoulders and arms – very much like an Ashford Town shirt a few years ago, shortly before the lime green & navy revolution. ]
Play eventually restarted, and Ashford, playing in all yellow, carved out another chance, in the 39th minute. This all started from Barry Gardner having the composure and presence of mind to actually get the ball down and look to pick out a pass. He combined well with Steve Sodje and Rob Denness, in a move that almost put young Rob through on goal, but goalkeeper Tolfrey came out in time to save at his feet.
But the best chance of the half fell to the home side, in the 41st minute. Denva McKenzie actually got on the end of a long, looping ball forward, which went over the Ashford defence and between the two central defenders. He had a clear sight of goal, but Jake Whincup did well to come out and save McKenzie’s shot, with his legs.
Barry Gardner spent most of the game wide on the right – which seemed quite natural, considering that he looks more and more like David Beckham the older he gets, and was wearing Becks’ No.7 on his back – and he managed to get round the outside of left-back Luke Basford, in the 43rd minute. From the by-line, Barry sent in a daisy-cutting cross which found Kevin Lott on the left side of the penalty area – there was nobody in the middle – but Kevin’s attempted shot was blocked.
I’m not sure how well Mr Wood was doing with the Referees Assessor, but he made a clanging decision in the 46th minute. Nicky Humphrey was chasing back towards his own goal, hunting down a through-ball, under strong pressure from Danny Boxall. Nicky went down, and obviously handled the ball whilst on the ground, in a manœuvre that would have been more appropriate in this afternoon’s Rugby League Challenge Cup Final, at Wembley. From ten yards away, Mr Wood waved play on. Maybe he thought Nicky was playing for St Helens.
The final action of the half saw the home side take a free-kick, from near the right touchline, in the 47th minute. The resulting high cross was collected well by Jake, whose handling was again immaculate this afternoon.
So it was all very much a deadlock at half time, with 0-0 being a pretty fair reflection of what we had seen.
Leafe made a substitution during the interval – whilst we all stood around soaking up the sun. (I will assume that the new man, in the No.17 shirt, was Sean Rivers, but this might not have been the case, given the shenanigans with the swapping around of green shirts that took place in the first half).
Ashford soon took control of the game after the restart, and, in the 46th minute, Rob Denness – who works tremendously hard up front, but hasn’t created, or been presented with, a clear-cut chance in the two games I’ve seen this season – won a corner, on the left. The resulting cross was cleared as far as Charlie Glyde, whose shot from outside the area ricocheted wide. A minute later, we had a free-kick in a dangerous position, just to the right of the goal, after a foul on Kevin Lott. As the Club’s one remaining left-footer, Charlie Glyde came across to take this. Whilst attackers and defenders massed at the far post, Charlie chipped the ball in towards the goalkeeper – the idea was a good one, as the plan was that someone would intercept the ball before it got to the ‘keeper, but the ball went tamely straight through to Robert Tolfrey.
The play was fairly scrappy at this time, with neither side able to keep possession for very long, and with frequent stoppages for infringements – the ref being a bit over-keen to impress the examiner, perhaps. However, Ashford did appear to be in full control of things. The experienced trio of Browne, Gillman and Humphrey looked rock solid at the back, clearing everything that came towards them, with the lino’s flag going up for off-side every time that anything was put over the top – Sean Rivers did actually slide the ball into the Ashford net, in the 52nd minute, but was clearly off-side.
Ashford’s winning goal came in the 54th minute, and originated from a free-kick on the left-hand side. The Whyteleafe defence failed to clear the ball as it was crossed into the area, and, after some brief pin-ball, it broke to Barry Gardner, some 12 yards out. Barry coolly side-footed the ball into the far corner of the net.
Whilst the goal increased the home side’s urgency, they never really looked likely to equalise, with Ashford comfortably holding them “at arm’s length”. In fact, the visitors continued to have the majority of possession.
In the 58th minute, Rob Denness was seen battling hard for the ball, in typical fashion, in the middle of the Whyteleafe half. He managed to beat two players, even when on the ground, and was eventually brought down – after which Leafe skipper Ali Reeve deliberately belted the ball hard at him, and earnt himself a yellow card. Barry Gardner tried his luck from long range, with the resulting free-kick – he hit the ball hard, but wide, and it took a deflection from two Ashford players before going out of play. In the circumstances, I suppose it was understandable that the Whyteleafe players showed some signs of anguish when Mr Wood gave us a corner – but justice was done, as Lee Spiller’s dangerously swung-in cross was cleared.
In the 61st minute, Ashford again probed down the right, and won a free-kick, near the right touchline, for hand-ball. This was taken short to Danny Lye, who managed to win a corner. The kick was again taken by Charlie Glyde, and his cross found Barry Gardner in a similar position from where he had scored the goal; Barry attempted a similar side-footed effort, but this time his shot went wide of the post.
The Ashford defence continued to comfortably repel any ball that was played forward, and the off-side trap continued to work for anything played long, until the 70th minute, when Sean Rivers got himself booked for lobbing the ball over the bar after the linesman had flagged for off-side. This was very harsh, as the lino took an age to actually raise his flag, and I’m not sure that Rivers would actually have seen it. (Another note in the margin of the Assessor’s report).
Ashford’s first substitution came in the 71st minute, when Anthony Allman replaced Kevin Lott on the left side of midfield; (Lotty had just looked a little rusty at times today). A minute later, Sean Rivers finally beat the linesman’s flag, and Jake Whincup had to be very alert to come out and clear the danger, booting the ball high over the trees surrounding the ground.
Inevitably, as the half wore on, the testing conditions began to take their toll, and the pace of the game appeared to slacken. The next chance fell to the visitors, in the 80th minute, with Lee Spiller taking a free-kick, mid-way inside the Whyteleafe half. He floated the ball in to Steve Sodje, who was closely marked, by the near post; the ball appeared to come off Sodj’s back, and Robert Tolfrey showed sharp reactions in making a good save, at the expense of a corner, on the left. This was also taken by Spills, but was just too long to find Danny Lye, beyond the far post. (Lye and Spiller did a good job today, largely dominating the midfield, but I’ve read a few comments, from Dover fans in particular, that passing and distribution is not the strongest part of Lee Spiller’s game – and I can see what they mean).
In the 82nd minute, Barry Gardner and Tony Browne linked up well together on the right, and this move resulted in Barry sending in a cross with his left foot. This was dummied by Steve Sodje, and the ball went all the way through to Anthony Allman, in the area. I reckon that Anthony was a little surprised to see the ball come through to him, and reacted by trying to dink the ball over the advancing ‘keeper, but Tolfrey managed to stretch up and take the ball. The dummy was Sodje’s final act in the game, as he was then replaced by Joby Thorogood. Sodj came nowhere near to repeating his heroics of Tuesday night, but he still got a good ovation from the fair smattering of Ashford fans behind the goal – which is a sign of the man’s increasing popularity on the terraces.
Joby was involved in the action almost immediately when, in the 84th minute, he was fouled, about ten yards outside the Whyteleafe box. Lee Spiller’s floated free-kick somehow missed everybody, and went out for a goal-kick. Two minutes later, Sean Rivers was caught off-side for the umpteenth time.
The scariest moment for Ashford came in the final minute of normal time, when the home side was awarded a free-kick in a central position, about 30 yards from goal. As Jake Whincup screamed instructions to the yellow defensive wall, Terry Fennessy, the Kevin Phillips look-alike, who had been the one Whyteleafe player to have stood out as being a decent footballer, with a good technique, shaped up to take the kick. It was no surprise that Fennessy hit an absolute screamer, which would have ended up in the corner of the net if Jake had not pulled off a fantastic save, diving to his left. Ashford immediately had a chance to break away and seal the three points. Joby Thorogood squared the ball to Barry Gardner, who burst into the Whyteleafe half, supported by Anthony Allman and Charlie Glyde. With many of the Leafe players committed upfield for the free-kick, the yellow shirts had a 4 v 2 advantage, but the whole thing became too elaborate, and the chance was squandered.
Three minutes into injury time, there was an even better chance for a second goal. With the home side in siege position for a corner, the ball was cleared upfield, and Joby Thorogood, just inside his own half, played a neat one-two with Rob Denness, which sent Joby well clear of the Whyteleafe defence. Joby has pace to burn at any time, but against tired legs that had been toiling in the heat for 93 minutes there was simply not a contest, and The Hobbit dashed away as fast as his little legs could carry him. His isolation in the broad, green acres of the Whyteleafe half made Joby look more diminutive than ever – like a tiny fish in a very large tank – and it would have been a wonderful end to a pleasant afternoon in Surrey if he had slotted the ball home, but his finishing was disappointing, and Robert Tolfrey made the save.
So, for the second time in a week, Ashford got the three points, and again the 0-1 score-line really didn’t do justice to how comfortable the victory had been – which also highlights the fact that we’ll need to be more clinical about taking our chances as the season progresses.
It wasn’t an easy job to select a Man of the Match. Messrs Browne, Gillman and Humphrey didn’t put a foot wrong between them, and made the job of defending look easy – but I suspect that it was a very comfortable day at the office for them, and they’ll have bigger challenges later on in the season. I also couldn’t fault Jake’s performance, in goal, but he also only had the two shots to save – (which was two more than he had to save on Tuesday). On the other hand, Barry Gardner had worked hard, up and down the right flank, all afternoon, and it was a bit of quality in front of goal that ultimately secured the three points, so he got the nod.
So we’re 8th in the table this evening – thanks, admittedly, to six points against two fairly limited sides, but these are the teams that we struggled to get a point against last season. Sittingbourne, who made it nine points out of nine this afternoon, will be a much greater challenge in just a couple of days’ time – how we fare at The Homelands on Bank Holiday Monday will give us a much better idea of where we stand in this division !
Whyteleafe, on the other hand, are now 4th from bottom, with just the one point to date. They go to Molesey (and Marc Cumberbatch) on Monday, and then their next game is an FA Cup tie away to Hythe, where they will come up against two former Ashford titans: Tommy Adlington and Ian Ross.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Barry Gardner
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