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
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment