Walton Casuals 0 Ashford Town 3
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
Has the penny finally dropped for this Ashford Town side ? For some reason, virtually the same squad of players that went eleven games without a win, in a run that stretched from September to November, has now reeled off five league wins on the bounce, scoring 15 goals in the process. It must be said that today’s was a very easy victory, with Walton Casuals certainly appearing to be the weakest opposition I’ve seen this season – (although I didn’t see Leatherhead or Eastbourne Town !) – but it’s very encouraging that we’re turning our superiority over such teams into victories, which is something that we hadn’t been doing.
Well, twelve points in the previous four games had elevated us to fifth place in the league this morning. Because we’d played more matches than anyone else, this was definitely a rather false position, but it’s good to see the name of Ashford Town poking up into the play-off positions, to let the other promotion hopefuls know that we’re around ! Walton Casuals started the match in an entirely different predicament, with only Crowborough Athletic below them. Casuals seem to be perennial strugglers at this level, although they’ve never actually finished up lower than 17th place in their three previous seasons in the Ryman League. Ashford had also found the Waterside Stadium a difficult place to come to, with previous league matches having finished 1-0, 1-1 and 2-1, so today’s very comfortable victory was our first here.
As spectators, we always enjoy coming to this venue – mainly because it’s about the distance of a cross-field pass away from The Weir public house, which always has good food and decent beer. In fact, we always stop off at The Weir, which is situated quite literally on the banks of the Thames, whenever we go to a match in South West London, be it against Walton Casuals, Walton & Hersham, Kingstonian or Met Police, and the place is yet to let us down. Today it was a lamb purse for me, and salmon Florentine for Mrs Milton Keynes Correspondent - and the company of friends, so, with a 0-3 victory to follow, what more could we ask for ?
The aptly-named Waterside Stadium is one of the smaller grounds on the circuit – a reminder that our hosts have only relatively recently emerged from the Combined Counties League, (as Champions, in 2003-4). With the dug-outs and a small clubhouse on the river side of the ground, the main stand, just four seats deep, is situated on the opposite side of the pitch. There is a shelter behind each goal, and it was no surprise that the half dozen or so home fans who suffered, motionless, behind Seb Barton’s goal, were out-numbered by about 2 to 1 by the fans at the opposite end. Considering that this was the last Saturday before Christmas, this was a good effort from The Town’s folk, and today’s still-meagre attendance of 106 would probably have been almost half that if it had not been for those who traveled up with R&J Coaches.
I should also give a mention about the pitch. Although it is a little undulating – it looks like a thick tea towel cast over a tray of eggs – the surface looked pretty good, with minimal cut-up, even in the goalmouths.
There were encouraging signs for Ashford supporters as soon as the two teams were announced. Whilst the visitors’ fifteen was pretty much as expected, and as printed in the programme, the home side’s starting line-up was a mixture of new names and players who had obviously been expected to be named as substitutes. The one name that I recognised was that of striker Danny Platel, who has scored against us for Whyteleafe in previous seasons.
The one member of the Ashford team that home supporters might have known was Elliott Brathwaite, who played one match for Walton Casuals this season on his way to us from Hampton & Richmond. This was the first time I’d seen Elliott, who, at 18, is nine years his brother Daniel’s junior. Early reports of Elliott have suggested that he is a very accomplished young footballer, and I saw nothing this afternoon which suggested otherwise. He took his place alongside skipper Sean Ray in central defence, and was comfortably the tallest element of a back four that also included Jimmy Elford, on the right, and brother Daniel, on the left.
The only real team selection issue facing Manager Steve Lovell today was the absence of Charlie Glyde, through suspension, as a result of his sending-off in the League Cup game at home to Thamesmead Town. Charlie was in the stand this afternoon, no doubt making a mental note to the effect that, if he gets a red card for gobbing off at the referee, then it’s a two-game ban. The most unfortunate aspect of this self-inflicted wound is that Charlie will also miss the local derby against Folkestone Invicta, his former club, on the 27th of December.
Lovell’s solution was to pair Ryan Briggs and Danny Lye in central midfield, with Mitchell Sherwood on the left and Tony Browne on the right. Craig Wilkins, who arrived at The Homelands as a centre-half, once again partnered Paul Jones in attack, (although Wilko has plenty of experience of playing up front in his career), with Bradley Spice, Jimmy Bottle, James Humphries and goal-keeper Darren Ibrahim occupying the bench. One bench regular conspicuous by his absence was Lee Hockey, who has been told by The Management that he can look for another club.
The weather stayed dry for us today, and, in spite of a chilly breeze, it was fairly mild – about 10ºC – compared with the kind of temperatures we’ve been having recently. There was no excuse, therefore, for any namby-pamby wearing of gloves or mufflers or the like, and I’m pleased to report that the lads didn’t let us down. It was short-sleeved shirts all round – although Braithwaite Senior was wearing a long-sleeved turtle-neck underneath, which I will just make a mental note of, on this occasion.
It was in the first half in particular that Ashford looked well worth the 16 places they were above Walton Casuals at the start of the game. The match began with an astonishingly one-sided assault on The Casuals’ goal, with Ashford subjecting the home side’s defence to no fewer than seven corners in the opening fifteen minutes. All of these were taken by Ryan Briggs – with his left foot when the corner was on the right, and with his right foot when the corner was on the other side, each one curling into the opposition’s six-yard box.
The first of these was won in the seventh minute, and Briggo curved a left-footed delivery beyond the far post, but Sean Ray, steaming in, just failed to get a knee to the ball. Two minutes later, the second corner was headed clear at the near post, and then, in the tenth minute, the attack was halted when the referee spotted a push on a Walton Casuals player, in a crowded penalty area.
In the 13th minute, Mitch Sherwood’s run earnt his team a corner on the left, and this time Briggo’s cross was met with a glancing header by Tony Browne, but the Browne Dog saw his effort hit the bar. The ball fell at Elliott Brathwaite’s feet, but the youngster, with his back to goal, was unable to turn, and the Casuals’ defence cleared, for another corner. Again, the ball was swung into the danger area, and went out for a corner on the other side, via an unconvincing piece of handling by ‘keeper Craig Bradshaw. This time, Briggo’s cross was cleared. In the 15th minute, as Ashford continued to press, the ball broke to Mitchell Sherwood, whose long-range effort was deflected behind, for the seventh of the corners – but, again, the visitors failed to make it count.
Just as the traveling faithful must have been fearing that all the early pressure and territorial advantage would come to naught, Ashford took a deserved lead. In the 17th minute, Paul Jones raced through the Casuals’ penalty area, in pursuit of the ball, and showed great strength and determination to get there before the defender; he laid it back to Jimmy Elford, who sent in a cross towards the far post. Although it was the subject of some debate after the game, Danny Lye definitely got his forehead to the ball, before it crept just inside the far post. This was Danny’s second goal of the season, and his first since the Orsbournes’ wedding anniversary, in September.
The home side, playing in their usual strip of tangerine shirts with black shorts and sockies – which meant that Ashford had to turn out in their home strip this afternoon – did try to put some moves together in the first half, but were each time let down by some woeful crossing and wildly inaccurate final passes, which usually ended up with an Ashford goal-kick. Casuals’ first corner of the match came in the 19th minute, but it was their second, in the 31st minute, which provided them with their first clear-cut chance. The kick was taken left-footed, from the right, and was swung into Seb Barton’s six-yard box. Centre-half Joe Hammond did well to get to the cross first, but he appeared to make contact with the ball with the back of his neck, and it popped up and dropped into the arms of the grateful ‘keeper.
The 35th minute of the match was fairly eventful, as it featured a one-on-one with the goalkeeper at each end. First, a long clearance by Sean Ray from the Ashford back line, over the Walton defence, was latched onto by Paul Jones. Jonah expertly brought the ball down with his right foot, but Craig Bradshaw saved his attempt to poke the ball past him into the net. Seconds later, Luke Fontana was put clean through on the Ashford goal, and Seb Barton did extremely well to save the day, diving at Fontana’s feet. This was a warning to Ashford, and a reminder that they only held the minimum advantage of one goal.
In the 41st minute, Jones once again had a long ball from the Ashford defence to chase. Catching up with it in the inside-left channel, he pulled his left-footed shot across the face of goal, and well wide. A minute later, he tirelessly chased a through-ball in the inside-right channel – this time it was Jimmy Elford who slipped the ball through – and there were some hopeful appeals for a penalty as Jonah was tackled, well inside the Walton area, but the visitors had to settle for a corner, (our ninth !). The ball was swung high, towards the far post, by Ryan Briggs, and the towering Elliott Brathwaite, a big unit for an 18 year-old, got up to win the battle of heads. He found Danny Lye, in the middle of the area, about ten yards out, but Danny planted his header wide. He did well to get as much power in his headed effort as he did, but he really should have hit the target.
Ashford’s second goal came on the stroke of half time. Full-back Jack Francis rather presented Ashford with their tenth corner of the game – and it was to prove a costly lapse in concentration. Ryan Briggs swung a cross, with his right foot, into the goalmouth, and Sean Ray tapped the ball in with his own right foot, from close range. Razor’s second goal of the season, and his second in three games, gave Ashford a 0-2 lead at the break, which was the least they deserved for their superiority in the opening 45 minutes.
Casuals made a substitution at half time, with Jordan McCartney replacing Liam Grier, and it’s fair to say that the home side put on a much better show in the second half. This might have been encouraged by the fact that Ashford appeared to start the second half half-asleep. Maybe this was partly caused by the beautiful pink reflection of the setting sun on the clouds during the first ten minutes of this half, but there did initially seem to be a relative lack of urgency, and it was all a little scrappy. During this time, Paul Jones did have a shooting chance, when Craig Wilkins laid the ball off for him, in the 47th minute, which he pulled well wide, and Daniel Brathwaite attempted a shot from well outside the penalty area, in the 50th minute, which, as is the norm when defenders try their luck from long range, went high and wide. (Strictly speaking, Referee Eamonn Smith should have booked Daniel for time wasting !).
There was a scare in the Ashford penalty area in the 54th minute. A free-kick from just inside the visitors’ half was allowed to go all the way through to Seb Barton, who appeared to be a little surprised as he fumbled at the ball. As an Ashford defender effected a hasty clearance, Seb looked towards the referee, expecting to be awarded a free-kick, but there was no whistle from Mr Smith.
In the 62nd minute, shortly after Matt Weston had replaced Danny Platel, (who I don’t think actually had a kick), Barton was called into action again, when a cross from the left landed on top of his crossbar. He must have got a hand to the ball, as a corner, on the right, was awarded. This was swung dangerously into the danger area, and Craig Wilkins, back in defensive mode, did well to head the ball behind for another corner, as it might otherwise have gone straight into the net. Again, the ball was swung into the six-yard box, right underneath the Ashford crossbar. Seb got two hands to the ball, and then dropped it – there was then a scramble, and then a scuffle, which involved 21 players, with Craig Bradshaw a disappointed spectator at the other end of the pitch.
The scene was a mass of tangerine and green & white shirts, so infuriatingly little could be seen of the entertainment. There were reports of one or two punches going in – no names, no pack drill – but it was basically no more than “hand bags”. The referee was also fairly unsighted, and couldn’t make out much more than the rest of us, but he did book Walton’s Joe Hammond on the evidence of his own eyes. Mr Smith then went across to his lino, to see what he had seen, with the result that two more yellow cards were dished out – one to Walton Casuals’ Matt Weston, and one to Ashford’s Daniel Brathwaite, (and I don’t think that Danny could complain about that). So we can add hand bags to Daniel’s Pink File, to go with the gloves and the turtle-necked under-shirt – except that hand bags in this context are a POSITIVE, rather than a negative. Well done, Daniel !
Matt Weston was in action again in the 66th minute, with a good run down the left wing, which was halted by a good tackle by Sean Ray, at the expense of a corner. The resulting cross was cleared, and then Michael Cayford shot well over the bar. (What is it with these defenders when they try to shoot ?!). Seconds later, Casuals’ Manager Spencer Collins made his final substitution, replacing Luke Fontana with Mark King.
Ashford didn’t particularly deserve a third goal on the strength of their second-half performance, but when it came, in the 69th minute, it finally put the three points to bed. Tony Browne did well, on the right hand side, to force his body between Jordan McCartney and the ball, and the substitute clearly brought the Browne Dog down, tugging at his shoulder. The foul was spotted by the lino, close by, and the ref had no hesitation in accepting his colleague’s call, and pointed to the spot. Mitchell Sherwood is Ashford’s regular penalty taker – for the perfectly acceptable reason that he hasn’t missed a penalty in his entire life – and he maintained that remarkable record when he slotted the ball low, past Bradshaw, and into the net. That was Mitchell’s tenth goal of the season, putting him level with Paul Jones as our top scorer to date.
With the points safe at 0-3, Steve Lovell was able to use the final 20 minutes of the game to give the outfield players on the bench a run out – starting with Jimmy Bottle, who replaced Tony Browne in the 70th minute, enabling Mitch Sherwood to switch to the right wing.
Whilst, as a team, Ashford rather cruised through the remainder of the match, Seb Barton was one player who still had some work to do. Little Jamel Carr cut in from the left wing, in the 71st minute, and sent in a decent, low shot, forcing Barton to make a save at his near post – Walton’s first shot on target. Seb had to be alert, a minute later, when he had to tip a cross-cum-shot over the bar, for a corner, and, in the 76th minute, a minute after Bradley Spice had replaced Craig Wilkins up front, the former Lewes ‘keeper nearly contributed to soiling his own clean sheet. Under no pressure, his kick-out went straight to Anthony Gale, (who shouldn’t be confused with his namesake, the former Fulham and West Ham defender, who is currently Casuals’ Director of Football). The lesser Gale, more of a gentle breeze, in comparison, spotted that Seb was off his line, and was pretty accurate with his attempted lob, but the ‘keeper, back-pedaling, parried the ball with both hands, before planting the ball on his goal-line, to avoid carrying it over.
With the hard-working Ryan Briggs getting a breather from Steve Lovell in the 84th minute, being replaced by James Humphreys, Ashford came closest to scoring in open play in the second half with 86 minutes on the clock. Mitch Sherwood went on a good run down the right wing, and sent in an excellent cross to the near post. Paul Jones was converging on the ball, and it looked like he was going to nod in the goal that his performance had deserved, but a defender just got there ahead of him, heading behind for Ashford’s upteenth corner. This was taken, in Ryan Briggs’s absence, by Daniel Brathwaite, but came to nothing.
With a minute remaining, Walton Casuals really should have been reduced to ten men. Matt Weston, who had already been booked for his involvement in the earlier bout of fisticuffs, went in very late on Sean Ray as Ray made a clearance. It was an absolutely stone-cold yellow card offence, which would have led to Weston’s dismissal. Strangely, Mr Smith seemed to “bottle” the decision, and didn’t even have a word with the Casuals’ sub. Apart from anything else, it was an act of stupidity from Weston, as he is approximately half the size of Razor, who was in great pain. I thought that the ref might have at least taken a humanitarian decision, and given the lad the protective custody of the dressing-room. As it turned out, Razor had no opportunity to even things up, so both sides finished with eleven men.
So five league wins out of five it is, and, if we consider that the previous four were all drawn, we can put an even more positive spin on things by calling it an unbeaten run of nine matches in the league. Because of this good run of results, we could now justifiably start to look at the results, this afternoon, of the other play-off hopefuls, and I was heartened to later discover that Cray Wanderers, the Met Police and Fleet Town had all dropped points. That puts Ashford up to fourth position – we’ve still played more games than everybody else, but, nevertheless, that league table is a sight for sore eyes for those of us who consider ourselves to be veterans of many a relegation struggle.
On the subject of relegation struggles, news from elsewhere was less comforting for our hosts, since fellow strugglers Whitstable Town somehow pulled a 5-1 victory at home to Chipstead out of their backside, so it’s beginning to look like The Casuals might have their most difficult season in the Ryman League to date.
The Man of the Match ? Well, first of all, I should say that all of the back four were mighty impressive today. This now looks to be a very solid unit, and, with less defending to do this afternoon, Daniel Brathwaite and Jimmy Elford both had the opportunity to show what quality footballers they are, showing several nice touches. Razor was flawless, as usual, and young Elliott did enough to suggest that Mrs Brathwaite just doesn’t produce kids that aren’t strong and comfortable on the ball. However, Walton Casuals today just didn’t provide enough threat up front for the MoM to be given to a defender, so the vote went to Paul Jones, for yet another tireless, battling performance. Ryan Briggs and Danny Lye also merit a mention, for their energetic performance in central midfield.
And here’s a thought – what about Steve Lovell for the Ryman League Division One South Manager of the Month award ?! If Steve doesn’t get the award for December, then there really is no justice in this world, and our Supporters’ Club should consider petrol-bombing Ryman League headquarters !
In this festive week, I reckon that I should conclude this report with a quotation from Ashford Town’s merry band of traveling supporters, who sang their way through the entire match: -
“Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Oh what fun it is to sing when Ashford win away….”
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Paul Jones
Sunday 21 December 2008
Sunday 16 November 2008
Worthing v Ashford Town. Ryman Division One South. 15th of November 2008.
Worthing 0 Ashford Town 0
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
This was Ashford’s third successive draw, and, whilst most of us feel that the lads really should have won the previous two matches, that ended 2-2, this was an entirely different kettle of fish – quite frankly, we were very grateful to escape from Worthing Stadium with a point this afternoon. Whilst this was a fairly closely-fought contest for three-quarters of the game, Ashford’s goal was under siege for most of the final period, and we had to ride our luck a little to keep the clean sheet. The real heroes today were the back four – Jimmy Elford, Sean Ray, Craig Wilkins and Daniel Brathwaite – who did a superb job. Jamie Riley also deserves a mention in dispatches. He still doesn’t quite inspire confidence, and often fails to dominate his six-yard box, but he put in a better performance this afternoon, making some important saves, one of them from an eighth-minute penalty.
This was actually a valuable point, as Worthing looked a good side, and were on a run of five successive league wins. For the second successive away game, (after the visit to Fleet a fortnight ago), we were up against a team lying just outside the play-off zone, but who would be in second place if they were to win their games in hand. Our hosts today are in their second season in Division One South of the Ryman League, having been relegated from the Premier Division a couple of seasons ago – we missed the corresponding fixture last season, so this was our first visit to Worthing, (commonly known as “God’s Waiting Room”).
I expected the ground to be fairly impressive, for this level, so was not surprised to see that the stadium is dominated by a large stand, which provides an elevated view of the playing area. There’s also a much smaller, secondary stand, between the dug-outs, on the other side of the pitch, with covered terracing behind both goals. The ground reminds me a bit of our old home, Essella Park, in as much as it has the old-fashioned quality of being set within a residential area. It’s a bit like Welling United – and, like at Welling, there’s no parking at the ground, so it’s a case of scrapping for the few parking spaces in the neighbouring streets.
Worthing is one of the better-supported clubs in our division, with currently the fourth-highest average league attendance, but today’s crowd of 363, bolstered considerably by another large (R&J Coaches) coach party from Ashford, was The Rebels’ best league attendance of the season to date.
There was mixed news on the injury front for Ashford. Centre-back Craig Wilkins had recovered from the knock he sustained against Walton & Hersham last Saturday, and was OK to start the game, but it appears that the luckless Josh Willis will be out for several weeks, following his thigh strain at Fleet, so Jamie Riley continued in goal, with Darren Ibrahim acting as cover on the bench. There was also disappointing news concerning Claude Seanla, who had not recovered from last week’s hamstring injury, so Ashford were decidedly thin in attack today. Steve Lovell started with Paul Jones and Andy Doerr up front, but, with Andy not expected to last much more than an hour, and with no striker on the bench, it was going to be interesting to see how Steve used his substitutions. The full bench-sitting line-up was Darren Ibrahim, James Humphries, Charlie Glyde, Tony Browne and Lee Hockey. For what it’s worth, my opinion is that this would have been an ideal opportunity to use one or two of the Reserves’ strikers on the bench.
So the full starting line-up, in 4-4-2 formation, was pretty much as expected, given the Ashford Town personnel available: Jamie in goal, the back four of Elford, Ray, Wilkins and Brathwaite, a central midfield pairing of Ryan Briggs and Danny Lye, with Jimmy Bottle wide-left and Mitchell Sherwood wide-right, and Jonah and Andy Doerr up front. I’m no expert on the Worthing team, but Skipper Ben Andrews was certainly conspicuous by his absence.
The home side, playing in all red, certainly wasn’t shy about revealing its favoured weapon – with only 50 seconds of the match gone, the first of many long throws from striker Ross Treleaven was launched into the Ashford penalty area. This was unashamedly aimed at The Rebels’ colossal skipper Andy Alexander, who looked even bigger than Sean Ray, but the Ashford defence cleared the ball to the edge of the area. A shot from this range didn’t appear to be particularly dangerous, but Daniel Brathwaite nearly managed to divert the ball past Jamie Riley, and the ‘keeper had to show good reflexes to tip the ball over the bar. The resulting corner, from the left, was strongly headed away by Craig Wilkins.
Big Andy Alexander showed another side of his game, in the fourth minute, when he demonstrated some good footwork to make himself some space on the edge of the Ashford area. He put Treleaven through on goal, with a neat, short pass, but the young striker sliced his shot well wide. However, it appeared that he had redeemed himself just three minutes later, when he won a penalty for his team. He seemed to be winning a chase for the ball against Jimmy Elford – in the penalty area, but going away from the goal – when he went down like the proverbial sack of spuds. I’m pretty sure that there was some contact from Jimmy, so it must go down as a slightly clumsy piece of defending, but it’s the sort of incident that would often be waved away by the Referee, and it appeared a little harsh to me. What didn’t help Ross Treleaven’s case, in the eyes of the Ashford fans, was that he is a Jurgen Klinsmann look-alike – but, with a name like his, Ross must be a Cornishman, so I’m sure he’s no relation. As it turned out, Referee Austin’s awarding of the penalty was not critical, as Jamie Riley saved Scott Kirkwood’s side-footed penalty, comfortably palming the ball away, diving to his left.
Just as Worthing unveiled their chief weapon early, it wasn’t long before we knew exactly what we could expect from Andy Doerr, on his first start of the season. He immediately looked strong and competitive when challenging for the ball in the air, and we know that he can stick the ball into net, but he currently appears to be totally devoid of pace, and a couple of early balls over the top for him to chase turned out to be a complete waste of time, not to mention possession. Nevertheless, both sides looked the part during the opening 15 minutes – but Jamie Riley was the busier of the two goalies. The home side certainly played the majority of the passing football during this time, with Ashford tending to release the ball early – often, it must be said, launching it long, and in the air.
Another pleasing aspect of today’s game was that there was a clean sheet in terms of the Pink Report – no gloves, no ear muffs, no hankies tucked up the sleeve. It was good to see, so well done, lads. Of course, this improved performance might have had something to do with the fact that it was a pretty mild afternoon – about 13ºC to 14ºC. There was also barely a breeze, with high, grey cloud moving slowly across the sky, so, with what looked a fantastic surface to play on, conditions were perfect for good football.
Ashford’s first recognisable chance came in the 20th minute. Sean Ray spread the ball wide, to Jimmy Bottle, who was converging from the left. A good first touch from Jimmy provided him with a decent situation, well inside the Worthing penalty area, but he should have done better with the cross, which he planted straight into goalkeeper Alan Mansfield’s arms. In the 24th minute, Ashford had another good opportunity, with a free-kick just beyond the corner of the penalty area – but Ryan Briggs, not for the last time this afternoon, made a Mary of the free-kick, and scuffed the ball to the first defender.
In the 26th minute, Ross Treleaven had the opportunity to launch another “Ian Hutchinson” into the Ashford area – for younger readers, that’s what we old gits call a “Rory Delap” – from near the left corner flag. The initial effort was headed up in the air, and, as Jamie Riley went to punch the ball clear, he was bundled into the net – Mr Austin, “a man barely alive”, had one of the afternoon’s easier decisions in blowing up for a free-kick.
In the 34th minute, Austin’s decision to award Ashford a free-kick, for a trip on Jimmy Bottle, was a little more debatable, but it provided Ryan Briggs with the chance to make something of the opportunity. This time, Briggo put in a good cross, which was met with a powerful header by Sean Ray, but his goal attempt went wide. Then, in the 38th minute, Ashford had their first corner of the game. Again it was Ryan Briggs who swung a cross into the area, and the ball broke into a vacant area, near the penalty spot. Mitchell Sherwood was first to the loose ball, and attempted to burst the net with his shot, but he only succeeded in fluffing it embarassingly wide. It was a moment that just about summed up Mitch’s present lack of confidence.
That was Ashford’s final chance of the first half, and it was Worthing who ended the first 45 minutes in the ascendancy, with the visitors having to repel another couple of Ross Treleaven’s long-throw attacks, just before the interval. So 0-0 it was at half time, and Ashford had looked to be pretty solid as a unit, especially in defence, but without creating anything in attack.
With the floodlights now shining brightly, it took Danny Lye about 30 seconds to get himself booked in the second half – although he had sown the seeds of his caution with a number of earlier fouls, so his late tackle in the centre circle was merely a culmination of what he’d been working for.
It was all Worthing in the opening minutes of this half, and the first of a series of threats on the Ashford goal came in the 48th minute, when a snap-shot by Enzo Benn, from the edge of the penalty area, went well over the bar. The bombardment of Treleaven’s long throw-ins then continued, with Danny Lye heading one clear, for a corner, in the 49th minute, and Sean Ray then doing something similar just two minutes later. Whilst the first corner was cleared, on the second occasion, Chris O’Flaherty’s cross found Jamie Brotherton on the six-yard line, in space, but Brotherton put his free header wide. This was The Rebels’ best chance of the game to date, but it just seemed a matter of time before they would score - maybe they would be rewarded for sheer persistence with all the long throw-ins and corners.
In the 54th minute, Enzo Benn did well to beat Daniel Brathwaite, (not that it happened very often this afternoon), near the right touchline. Mr Benn’s long cross into the Ashford area really should have been comfortably dealt with by Jamie Riley, as O’Flaherty, arriving from the left, connected with the ball not far from Jamie’s far post – but could only side-foot the ball into Jamie’s arms. This was just one instance of Jamie looking less than commanding under the high ball, but there were signs, as the match wore on, that he is gradually getting back to the form he showed last season. I’ve no evidence to support the theory, but I have a feeling that the aerial bombardment might have been a deliberate ploy by Worthing, having had Ashford watched, and having identified Jamie as being a potential weak link. If that’s the case, then the lad, (and the four men immediately in front of him), deserve much credit for coming through this test with a clean sheet – and it was noticeable that Jamie took a couple of clean catches from crosses in injury time, when the flak was really flying.
It was by no means a complete red tide in the second half, and Ashford put together a (rare) threatening move, in the 56th minute. It was no surprise that this involved Jimmy Bottle, chasing a ball down the left, who created some good situations with his pace – but it was also no surprise that Jimmy provided no end product, as he’s generally been struggling to do so this season. On this occasion, he whipped a cross, from near the corner flag, through a vacant penalty area. Mitch Sherwood picked the ball up on the far side, and set up Danny Lye for a shot, but Danny’s good effort with his left foot went just over the bar. A minute later, the yellow & greens – it was a bit like watching Liverpool playing Norwich City, (in more ways than one, at times) – broke out of defence, after yet another Worthing corner. This time, it was Mitchell Sherwood leading the attack, down the right. He tried to find Andy Doerr with a cross, but a combination of the inaccuracy of the ball in, and Andy’s lack of legs, meant that the delivery never arrived.
Jimmy Bottle went on another promising run down the left in the 65th minute. Again, he managed to get in a cross, which was cleared by the Worthing defence as far as Ryan Briggs, just outside the penalty area, but Briggo blasted his attempted shot well over the bar, over the tall netting that surrounded the stadium – and into someone’s garden. Ashford had a corner, which came to nothing, in the 69th minute, after a promising break involving Jimmy Elford and Paul Jones, down the right, but we were generally fairly ineffective in attack, and it was at about this time that, with the only possible results appearing to be a home win or a 0-0 draw, I came to the conclusion that, if the God of Football had offered me one point at this stage, then I would have snatched his Holy Hand off.
And that was before the game entered its final phase of one-way traffic – and that expression probably aptly sums up the final quarter of the game.
In the 71st minute, Mitch Sherwood conceded a corner, on the left. Andy Alexander came steaming in, meeting the resulting cross on the run, but the Rebel Captain put his header wide. A minute later, a long throw from Klinsmann, from the left, was punched away by Jamie Riley, but only as far as the blond German striker, coming in from the touchline, who hit a low, hard shot – which was put behind by Danny Lye. The resulting cross was swung into the Ashford area, from the left, and was met with an excellent downward header, which was prevented from going into the net by the shoulder of a yellow-shirted defender, on the line, by the far post. The shot from the rebound was fired over the bar.
It was at about this time that James Humphries came on as substitute for Andy Doerr. It’s no surprise that none of us in the stand noticed this switch being made – firstly, there was no announcement over the Tannoy system for any of the substitutions, and secondly, we were constantly looking in the direction of Jamie Riley’s goal during the final 20 minutes of the game, so wouldn’t have noticed if someone had committed a murder in the centre of the pitch !
Actually, that’s not quite true, as I saw Paul Jones get a yellow card, for a late tackle in the centre circle, in the 75th minute, but all eyes were once again turned to the right, just a minute later, to see a long-shot deflect off Sean Ray’s head, for a corner. The resulting cross, swung in right-footed, from the left, almost looked goal-bound, but an Ashford defender somehow managed to head behind for another corner without putting the ball into the net – with Jamie once again a bit of a spectator. Yet again, the renewed threat from the corner was dealt with by the visiting defence.
In the midst of this valiant rearguard action, there was one moment of pure class from Craig Wilkins that I’d like to tell you about. Sean Ray appeared to let a looping through-ball go over his head, and this led to a race between Wilkins and a Worthing striker. Wilkins was only the marginal favourite to win this race, facing his own goal, and there was much excitement and urging-on from the now-noisy home supporters, but Wilko showed great strength and composure to hold his man at bay, turn and then carry the ball upfield.
Having said that, Wilkins blotted his copybook just a little, in the 81st minute, when he was yellow-carded for a late tackle on Ross Treleaven, and Worthing’s Jamie Brotherton was booked for a foul on Wilkins, two minutes later, as the competitiveness of the game moved up a notch.
Still the waves of Red Army attacks continued. Another long throw from Treleaven was repelled in the 85th minute, then a long-range shot, from about mid-way inside the Ashford half, in the 89th minute, went over Jamie Riley’s head, dipped and crashed against the crossbar, bouncing down onto the goal-line and out again. The follow-up header was nodded wide, and then Referee Austin had to turn away optimistic claims from the Worthing players that the ball had crossed the line.
A minute into injury time, (after Charlie Glyde had slipped onto the field, unnoticed, in place of Danny Lye), and a Scott Kirkwood shot, through a crowded penalty area, appears to be going well wide, but a header at the far post just fails to redirect the ball into the net. In spite of the indication that there would be a minute of time added to the ninety – again, no announcement – the game enters the 93rd minute, with the Ashford goal now thoroughly under siege. The ball is crossed to Mickey Demetriou, on the left side of the Ashford area, and his superbly-hit shot looks like finding the far top corner of the net, but Jamie Riley makes a fantastic save, tipping the ball over the bar. Still there is no relief from the referee’s whistle, as Ashford have to endure another two corners. The second of these, whipped in by Chris O’Flaherty from the right, finds Demetriou again, but his header is wide.
Austin eventually ended the match as soon as Jamie Riley had taken the resulting goal kick, with four minutes of injury time having been played. I think the idea, new to the Ryman League this season, of announcements to the crowd of the amount of stoppage time to be played at the end of each half, is an excellent one, but the game becomes farcical when the amount of extra time actually played by the referee bears no relation to the amount of time that is announced. Do they think that Alex Ferguson is the only man with a watch ?
Anyway, that minor gripe shouldn’t distract us from the fact that the Ashford team today dug in for a hard-fought, and thoroughly deserved, point – and the very vocal band of fans behind the goal quite rightly gave the lads a rousing reception at the end of the game.
So The Rebels extended their unbeaten run in the league to eight games, whilst Ashford have now gone nine matches without a win, having won just one of the last 13. Obviously, the key to starting to win a few games is to reinforce the attack, as Paul Jones certainly can’t be expected to win games on his own. The name floating around the ground yesterday was Folkestone’s Jimmy Dryden. There’s no denying that Dryden is one of the best strikers in the division, but even he wouldn’t prosper with the current service to the front men. We have two very talented wide men in Jimmy Bottle and Mitch Sherwood, but they both appear to be a little out of sorts at the moment, with end-product being in very short supply.
But the final word has to go to the defence on this occasion. The back four was superb today, led and co-ordinated by a colossal performance from Skipper Sean Ray, who was deservedly named as Man of the Match.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Sean Ray
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
This was Ashford’s third successive draw, and, whilst most of us feel that the lads really should have won the previous two matches, that ended 2-2, this was an entirely different kettle of fish – quite frankly, we were very grateful to escape from Worthing Stadium with a point this afternoon. Whilst this was a fairly closely-fought contest for three-quarters of the game, Ashford’s goal was under siege for most of the final period, and we had to ride our luck a little to keep the clean sheet. The real heroes today were the back four – Jimmy Elford, Sean Ray, Craig Wilkins and Daniel Brathwaite – who did a superb job. Jamie Riley also deserves a mention in dispatches. He still doesn’t quite inspire confidence, and often fails to dominate his six-yard box, but he put in a better performance this afternoon, making some important saves, one of them from an eighth-minute penalty.
This was actually a valuable point, as Worthing looked a good side, and were on a run of five successive league wins. For the second successive away game, (after the visit to Fleet a fortnight ago), we were up against a team lying just outside the play-off zone, but who would be in second place if they were to win their games in hand. Our hosts today are in their second season in Division One South of the Ryman League, having been relegated from the Premier Division a couple of seasons ago – we missed the corresponding fixture last season, so this was our first visit to Worthing, (commonly known as “God’s Waiting Room”).
I expected the ground to be fairly impressive, for this level, so was not surprised to see that the stadium is dominated by a large stand, which provides an elevated view of the playing area. There’s also a much smaller, secondary stand, between the dug-outs, on the other side of the pitch, with covered terracing behind both goals. The ground reminds me a bit of our old home, Essella Park, in as much as it has the old-fashioned quality of being set within a residential area. It’s a bit like Welling United – and, like at Welling, there’s no parking at the ground, so it’s a case of scrapping for the few parking spaces in the neighbouring streets.
Worthing is one of the better-supported clubs in our division, with currently the fourth-highest average league attendance, but today’s crowd of 363, bolstered considerably by another large (R&J Coaches) coach party from Ashford, was The Rebels’ best league attendance of the season to date.
There was mixed news on the injury front for Ashford. Centre-back Craig Wilkins had recovered from the knock he sustained against Walton & Hersham last Saturday, and was OK to start the game, but it appears that the luckless Josh Willis will be out for several weeks, following his thigh strain at Fleet, so Jamie Riley continued in goal, with Darren Ibrahim acting as cover on the bench. There was also disappointing news concerning Claude Seanla, who had not recovered from last week’s hamstring injury, so Ashford were decidedly thin in attack today. Steve Lovell started with Paul Jones and Andy Doerr up front, but, with Andy not expected to last much more than an hour, and with no striker on the bench, it was going to be interesting to see how Steve used his substitutions. The full bench-sitting line-up was Darren Ibrahim, James Humphries, Charlie Glyde, Tony Browne and Lee Hockey. For what it’s worth, my opinion is that this would have been an ideal opportunity to use one or two of the Reserves’ strikers on the bench.
So the full starting line-up, in 4-4-2 formation, was pretty much as expected, given the Ashford Town personnel available: Jamie in goal, the back four of Elford, Ray, Wilkins and Brathwaite, a central midfield pairing of Ryan Briggs and Danny Lye, with Jimmy Bottle wide-left and Mitchell Sherwood wide-right, and Jonah and Andy Doerr up front. I’m no expert on the Worthing team, but Skipper Ben Andrews was certainly conspicuous by his absence.
The home side, playing in all red, certainly wasn’t shy about revealing its favoured weapon – with only 50 seconds of the match gone, the first of many long throws from striker Ross Treleaven was launched into the Ashford penalty area. This was unashamedly aimed at The Rebels’ colossal skipper Andy Alexander, who looked even bigger than Sean Ray, but the Ashford defence cleared the ball to the edge of the area. A shot from this range didn’t appear to be particularly dangerous, but Daniel Brathwaite nearly managed to divert the ball past Jamie Riley, and the ‘keeper had to show good reflexes to tip the ball over the bar. The resulting corner, from the left, was strongly headed away by Craig Wilkins.
Big Andy Alexander showed another side of his game, in the fourth minute, when he demonstrated some good footwork to make himself some space on the edge of the Ashford area. He put Treleaven through on goal, with a neat, short pass, but the young striker sliced his shot well wide. However, it appeared that he had redeemed himself just three minutes later, when he won a penalty for his team. He seemed to be winning a chase for the ball against Jimmy Elford – in the penalty area, but going away from the goal – when he went down like the proverbial sack of spuds. I’m pretty sure that there was some contact from Jimmy, so it must go down as a slightly clumsy piece of defending, but it’s the sort of incident that would often be waved away by the Referee, and it appeared a little harsh to me. What didn’t help Ross Treleaven’s case, in the eyes of the Ashford fans, was that he is a Jurgen Klinsmann look-alike – but, with a name like his, Ross must be a Cornishman, so I’m sure he’s no relation. As it turned out, Referee Austin’s awarding of the penalty was not critical, as Jamie Riley saved Scott Kirkwood’s side-footed penalty, comfortably palming the ball away, diving to his left.
Just as Worthing unveiled their chief weapon early, it wasn’t long before we knew exactly what we could expect from Andy Doerr, on his first start of the season. He immediately looked strong and competitive when challenging for the ball in the air, and we know that he can stick the ball into net, but he currently appears to be totally devoid of pace, and a couple of early balls over the top for him to chase turned out to be a complete waste of time, not to mention possession. Nevertheless, both sides looked the part during the opening 15 minutes – but Jamie Riley was the busier of the two goalies. The home side certainly played the majority of the passing football during this time, with Ashford tending to release the ball early – often, it must be said, launching it long, and in the air.
Another pleasing aspect of today’s game was that there was a clean sheet in terms of the Pink Report – no gloves, no ear muffs, no hankies tucked up the sleeve. It was good to see, so well done, lads. Of course, this improved performance might have had something to do with the fact that it was a pretty mild afternoon – about 13ºC to 14ºC. There was also barely a breeze, with high, grey cloud moving slowly across the sky, so, with what looked a fantastic surface to play on, conditions were perfect for good football.
Ashford’s first recognisable chance came in the 20th minute. Sean Ray spread the ball wide, to Jimmy Bottle, who was converging from the left. A good first touch from Jimmy provided him with a decent situation, well inside the Worthing penalty area, but he should have done better with the cross, which he planted straight into goalkeeper Alan Mansfield’s arms. In the 24th minute, Ashford had another good opportunity, with a free-kick just beyond the corner of the penalty area – but Ryan Briggs, not for the last time this afternoon, made a Mary of the free-kick, and scuffed the ball to the first defender.
In the 26th minute, Ross Treleaven had the opportunity to launch another “Ian Hutchinson” into the Ashford area – for younger readers, that’s what we old gits call a “Rory Delap” – from near the left corner flag. The initial effort was headed up in the air, and, as Jamie Riley went to punch the ball clear, he was bundled into the net – Mr Austin, “a man barely alive”, had one of the afternoon’s easier decisions in blowing up for a free-kick.
In the 34th minute, Austin’s decision to award Ashford a free-kick, for a trip on Jimmy Bottle, was a little more debatable, but it provided Ryan Briggs with the chance to make something of the opportunity. This time, Briggo put in a good cross, which was met with a powerful header by Sean Ray, but his goal attempt went wide. Then, in the 38th minute, Ashford had their first corner of the game. Again it was Ryan Briggs who swung a cross into the area, and the ball broke into a vacant area, near the penalty spot. Mitchell Sherwood was first to the loose ball, and attempted to burst the net with his shot, but he only succeeded in fluffing it embarassingly wide. It was a moment that just about summed up Mitch’s present lack of confidence.
That was Ashford’s final chance of the first half, and it was Worthing who ended the first 45 minutes in the ascendancy, with the visitors having to repel another couple of Ross Treleaven’s long-throw attacks, just before the interval. So 0-0 it was at half time, and Ashford had looked to be pretty solid as a unit, especially in defence, but without creating anything in attack.
With the floodlights now shining brightly, it took Danny Lye about 30 seconds to get himself booked in the second half – although he had sown the seeds of his caution with a number of earlier fouls, so his late tackle in the centre circle was merely a culmination of what he’d been working for.
It was all Worthing in the opening minutes of this half, and the first of a series of threats on the Ashford goal came in the 48th minute, when a snap-shot by Enzo Benn, from the edge of the penalty area, went well over the bar. The bombardment of Treleaven’s long throw-ins then continued, with Danny Lye heading one clear, for a corner, in the 49th minute, and Sean Ray then doing something similar just two minutes later. Whilst the first corner was cleared, on the second occasion, Chris O’Flaherty’s cross found Jamie Brotherton on the six-yard line, in space, but Brotherton put his free header wide. This was The Rebels’ best chance of the game to date, but it just seemed a matter of time before they would score - maybe they would be rewarded for sheer persistence with all the long throw-ins and corners.
In the 54th minute, Enzo Benn did well to beat Daniel Brathwaite, (not that it happened very often this afternoon), near the right touchline. Mr Benn’s long cross into the Ashford area really should have been comfortably dealt with by Jamie Riley, as O’Flaherty, arriving from the left, connected with the ball not far from Jamie’s far post – but could only side-foot the ball into Jamie’s arms. This was just one instance of Jamie looking less than commanding under the high ball, but there were signs, as the match wore on, that he is gradually getting back to the form he showed last season. I’ve no evidence to support the theory, but I have a feeling that the aerial bombardment might have been a deliberate ploy by Worthing, having had Ashford watched, and having identified Jamie as being a potential weak link. If that’s the case, then the lad, (and the four men immediately in front of him), deserve much credit for coming through this test with a clean sheet – and it was noticeable that Jamie took a couple of clean catches from crosses in injury time, when the flak was really flying.
It was by no means a complete red tide in the second half, and Ashford put together a (rare) threatening move, in the 56th minute. It was no surprise that this involved Jimmy Bottle, chasing a ball down the left, who created some good situations with his pace – but it was also no surprise that Jimmy provided no end product, as he’s generally been struggling to do so this season. On this occasion, he whipped a cross, from near the corner flag, through a vacant penalty area. Mitch Sherwood picked the ball up on the far side, and set up Danny Lye for a shot, but Danny’s good effort with his left foot went just over the bar. A minute later, the yellow & greens – it was a bit like watching Liverpool playing Norwich City, (in more ways than one, at times) – broke out of defence, after yet another Worthing corner. This time, it was Mitchell Sherwood leading the attack, down the right. He tried to find Andy Doerr with a cross, but a combination of the inaccuracy of the ball in, and Andy’s lack of legs, meant that the delivery never arrived.
Jimmy Bottle went on another promising run down the left in the 65th minute. Again, he managed to get in a cross, which was cleared by the Worthing defence as far as Ryan Briggs, just outside the penalty area, but Briggo blasted his attempted shot well over the bar, over the tall netting that surrounded the stadium – and into someone’s garden. Ashford had a corner, which came to nothing, in the 69th minute, after a promising break involving Jimmy Elford and Paul Jones, down the right, but we were generally fairly ineffective in attack, and it was at about this time that, with the only possible results appearing to be a home win or a 0-0 draw, I came to the conclusion that, if the God of Football had offered me one point at this stage, then I would have snatched his Holy Hand off.
And that was before the game entered its final phase of one-way traffic – and that expression probably aptly sums up the final quarter of the game.
In the 71st minute, Mitch Sherwood conceded a corner, on the left. Andy Alexander came steaming in, meeting the resulting cross on the run, but the Rebel Captain put his header wide. A minute later, a long throw from Klinsmann, from the left, was punched away by Jamie Riley, but only as far as the blond German striker, coming in from the touchline, who hit a low, hard shot – which was put behind by Danny Lye. The resulting cross was swung into the Ashford area, from the left, and was met with an excellent downward header, which was prevented from going into the net by the shoulder of a yellow-shirted defender, on the line, by the far post. The shot from the rebound was fired over the bar.
It was at about this time that James Humphries came on as substitute for Andy Doerr. It’s no surprise that none of us in the stand noticed this switch being made – firstly, there was no announcement over the Tannoy system for any of the substitutions, and secondly, we were constantly looking in the direction of Jamie Riley’s goal during the final 20 minutes of the game, so wouldn’t have noticed if someone had committed a murder in the centre of the pitch !
Actually, that’s not quite true, as I saw Paul Jones get a yellow card, for a late tackle in the centre circle, in the 75th minute, but all eyes were once again turned to the right, just a minute later, to see a long-shot deflect off Sean Ray’s head, for a corner. The resulting cross, swung in right-footed, from the left, almost looked goal-bound, but an Ashford defender somehow managed to head behind for another corner without putting the ball into the net – with Jamie once again a bit of a spectator. Yet again, the renewed threat from the corner was dealt with by the visiting defence.
In the midst of this valiant rearguard action, there was one moment of pure class from Craig Wilkins that I’d like to tell you about. Sean Ray appeared to let a looping through-ball go over his head, and this led to a race between Wilkins and a Worthing striker. Wilkins was only the marginal favourite to win this race, facing his own goal, and there was much excitement and urging-on from the now-noisy home supporters, but Wilko showed great strength and composure to hold his man at bay, turn and then carry the ball upfield.
Having said that, Wilkins blotted his copybook just a little, in the 81st minute, when he was yellow-carded for a late tackle on Ross Treleaven, and Worthing’s Jamie Brotherton was booked for a foul on Wilkins, two minutes later, as the competitiveness of the game moved up a notch.
Still the waves of Red Army attacks continued. Another long throw from Treleaven was repelled in the 85th minute, then a long-range shot, from about mid-way inside the Ashford half, in the 89th minute, went over Jamie Riley’s head, dipped and crashed against the crossbar, bouncing down onto the goal-line and out again. The follow-up header was nodded wide, and then Referee Austin had to turn away optimistic claims from the Worthing players that the ball had crossed the line.
A minute into injury time, (after Charlie Glyde had slipped onto the field, unnoticed, in place of Danny Lye), and a Scott Kirkwood shot, through a crowded penalty area, appears to be going well wide, but a header at the far post just fails to redirect the ball into the net. In spite of the indication that there would be a minute of time added to the ninety – again, no announcement – the game enters the 93rd minute, with the Ashford goal now thoroughly under siege. The ball is crossed to Mickey Demetriou, on the left side of the Ashford area, and his superbly-hit shot looks like finding the far top corner of the net, but Jamie Riley makes a fantastic save, tipping the ball over the bar. Still there is no relief from the referee’s whistle, as Ashford have to endure another two corners. The second of these, whipped in by Chris O’Flaherty from the right, finds Demetriou again, but his header is wide.
Austin eventually ended the match as soon as Jamie Riley had taken the resulting goal kick, with four minutes of injury time having been played. I think the idea, new to the Ryman League this season, of announcements to the crowd of the amount of stoppage time to be played at the end of each half, is an excellent one, but the game becomes farcical when the amount of extra time actually played by the referee bears no relation to the amount of time that is announced. Do they think that Alex Ferguson is the only man with a watch ?
Anyway, that minor gripe shouldn’t distract us from the fact that the Ashford team today dug in for a hard-fought, and thoroughly deserved, point – and the very vocal band of fans behind the goal quite rightly gave the lads a rousing reception at the end of the game.
So The Rebels extended their unbeaten run in the league to eight games, whilst Ashford have now gone nine matches without a win, having won just one of the last 13. Obviously, the key to starting to win a few games is to reinforce the attack, as Paul Jones certainly can’t be expected to win games on his own. The name floating around the ground yesterday was Folkestone’s Jimmy Dryden. There’s no denying that Dryden is one of the best strikers in the division, but even he wouldn’t prosper with the current service to the front men. We have two very talented wide men in Jimmy Bottle and Mitch Sherwood, but they both appear to be a little out of sorts at the moment, with end-product being in very short supply.
But the final word has to go to the defence on this occasion. The back four was superb today, led and co-ordinated by a colossal performance from Skipper Sean Ray, who was deservedly named as Man of the Match.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Sean Ray
Sunday 2 November 2008
Fleet Town v Ashford Town. Ryman Division One South. 1st of November 2008.
Fleet Town 2 Ashford Town 2
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
It was good to be back at Fleet again. For reasons best known to the people at the FA who allocate non-league clubs to different leagues, Fleet Town, along with Godalming Town, were shoved into the Southern League Division One South West for last season. Well, they’re both back this year – at the expense of Thamesmead Town and Chatham Town – so the trip to Calthorpe Park, our shortest away trip in the league, was back on the roster.
This was always going to be a test for the boys. Fleet are a good side. It was just a few years ago that they were one of the whipping boys perennially struggling against relegation – like us – but former Spurs and England winger Andy Sinton has certainly turned them around since taking over as Manager. They finished fifth under Sinton in our division in 2006-7, and were then runners-up in their division last year. In August I actually fancied them to make a play-off position for the third successive season, but they made a fairly sticky start to the current campaign, and were in ninth place this morning – but closer inspection of that league table reveals that Fleet would actually be SECOND if they win the two games they have in hand of all the teams above them. They were unbeaten in their last seven league games, so were very much one of the teams in form.
That’s more than could be said about Ashford, coming into this game. With one win in the last eight, and only one goal in the last four, (and that a gift, after a defensive error), we were looking decidedly ropy. I’m not into encouraging pressure on the manager or any of the players when results aren’t good, but I wouldn’t be setting the scene for this match properly if I didn’t mention that Steve Lovell had been receiving his fair share of criticism since Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat at Merstham – and, with five wins in 17 games this season, and the team sinking to 14th place, there have been one or two suggestions among the supporters that he might not be the man to lead us to the play-offs in May. This was therefore a very important game for both Steve Lovell and his squad of players.
Well, I’m pleased to report that, although this was just a single point gained in Hampshire this afternoon, all seems to be on a much more even keel tonight. This was a much improved performance, and one which heartened the travelling coach-load of support from Ashford. It was just a shame that an equaliser from the home side in the fifth minute of injury time robbed the boys of what would have been a thoroughly deserved victory.
Part of the reason for the improvement might have been the fact that Steve Lovell sent out what many of us believe is his best starting line-up. Jimmy Bottle was back on the left wing, with Mitchell Sherwood starting on the right, and Ryan Briggs and Danny Lye was the central midfield pairing. (It’s true that Ashford tended to bypass the centre of midfield a little this afternoon, but this might have been understandable, given the employment of two wide players. Paul Jones and Claude Seanla is surely the best partnership option up front – the strong hold-up man and the sharp finisher – and Craig Wilkins and Sean Ray look an accomplished pairing in the centre of defence. Daniel Brathwaite was back at left-back today, after having been on his travels in midfield and at centre-half, with Jimmy Elford wearing the No. 2 shirt. To complete the “ideal eleven”, Josh Willis was in goal – Josh has out-performed Jamie Riley this season, and, since making his debut, he has only lost his place when having a genuine reason for being unavailable.
On the subs bench were Jamie Riley, Lee Hockey, Tony Browne (who’s had a good run on the right side of midfield this season) and Andy Doerr.
Ashford’s cause today was also helped considerably by the fact that we made a good start. As early as the third minute, Jimmy Elford played a low ball forward to Claude Seanla, who laid it off to Paul Jones. Jonah took a touch, to take the ball infield, and got in a low, left-footed shot, which was well saved by ‘keeper Dave Smalley. This was rather a sign of how things were to develop, as Smalley made a number of good saves this afternoon, and Ashford looked most dangerous when attacking down the right flank, with Claude, Jonah, Mitch Sherwood and Jimmy Elford combining well. We certainly went forward in numbers, when we had the ball, and looked likely to score – which is not something that could be said about the performance at Merstham on Tuesday.
On this occasion, Smalley’s save was at the expense of a corner, on the right, which was cleared, but only as far as Ryan Briggs, whose firm shot went straight at the ‘keeper. Fleet turned defence into attack, but made a mess of the assault, and lost the ball in midfield. Immediately, the ball was played upfield for Paul Jones to run on to, and Jonah was soon clear of the defence, with only the goalkeeper to beat. He rounded Smalley and struck the ball firmly into the empty net. It was a good striker’s goal, and Paul’s seventh of the season – which equals his total for last season.
It was all Ashford, playing in their Norwich City-style away kit, in the opening minutes, as the visitors didn’t let the home side get into the game. In the fifth minute, Ryan Briggs spread the ball wide to Jimmy Bottle, who was in hectares of space – note the modern, Euro-friendly terminology – on the left. Jimmy cut inside and got in a right-footed shot, but this was saved by goalkeeper Smalley. A minute later, Claude Seanla, starting with his back to goal in the “D”, turned and shot, but was well off target.
Fleet, playing in familiar colours of sky blue shirts, and navy blue shorts and sockies, did manage one attack during this early phase – in the eighth minute, James Field went smoothly, and unchallenged, through the Ashford midfield, and tried a long-range shot which crept past Josh Willis’s right-hand post. Nineteen year-old Josh must have got a touch, as a corner was awarded – but this came to nothing.
At the other end, in the tenth minute, Mitchell Sherwood took a throw-in on the right. He found Paul Jones, in the penalty area, who turned and shot, but tamely, and straight at the ‘keeper.
A feature of today’s game was that it was played, from start to finish, in steady rain. This meant that the entire crowd of 162 this afternoon could be found under the cover that was available. The main, medium-sized stand was the place to be for maximum dryness, but the majority of the intrepid Ashford Town coach party huddled beneath a very ramshackle shelter, made mostly from scaffolding poles, behind each goal. It was good to see a large Ashford Town FC flag in the midst of this gathering. A green & white cross of St George. A flag to die for. “Cry God for Harry ! Ashford, and St George !”.
It might well have been the rain-affected surface that caused Steve Lovell his first real moment of concern, in the 16th minute, when goalkeeper Josh Willis sustained an injury to his left thigh, which was certainly not related to a challenge. After some brief first aid, Josh tested his thigh with a gentle jog, but it was immediately obvious that he was unable to continue, so Jamie Riley was sent on to deputise. It was a good thing that we had a ‘keeper on the subs bench with plenty of first team experience – but it seems that the luckless Josh is doomed to not have an extended run in the team.
Ashford, playing up Calthorpe Park’s diagonal slope in the first half, continued to make the running. In the 25th minute, Jimmy Bottle chipped in a cross from the left, which found Mitch Sherwood at the far post. Mitch fluffed his initial attempt at goal, with his right foot, but still had time to have a second crack, this time with his left – which he pulled well wide. Three minutes later, Mitchell had another shot at goal, which was deflected wide, for a corner. This was taken by Ryan Briggs, on the right. Sean Ray got up well with the header, but Referee Eric Mackrell must have seen something fishy about the challenge, so blew up for a free-kick. (OK, so I’m still working on the act !).
On the half-hour mark, the Mackrell failed to spot a hand-ball by lively Fleet striker Nathan Smart in the Ashford area. Nevertheless, Mitchell Sherwood was there to put the ball behind for a corner, on the left. The resulting cross, a little worryingly, was allowed to travel all the way through the Ashford penalty area, before Sean Ray nodded the ball behind for another corner, on the right. This time it was Daniel Brathwaite who cleared the lines, with a header away.
Which reminds me that I have another entry to make to the Pink Report. Whilst the boys made a generally good showing today, wearing short-sleeved shirts on this cold and very wet afternoon, Daniel B was still caught wearing gloves in public. This is most disappointing. I’m not sure whether there will be an appropriate award at the end of the season, but, if there is, Brathers has accumulated enough Pink Points at this stage of the season to be streets ahead of his team-mates. Watch this space.
It was great to see Jimmy Bottle back, after missing him for five games following the opening up of his right eyebrow by a clash of heads against Chipstead. His pace on the left wing was a constant threat to Fleet, but there were one or two signs of “ring rust”. In the 33rd minute, he gave away a free-kick with a miss-timed tackle, but the resulting cross towards the penalty area was headed clear, to Claude Seanla on the half-way line. Claude turned and spread the ball wide to Jimmy, in space on the left, and suddenly Jimmy had a clear sight of goal – but lack of match practice showed again, as he pulled his shot across the face of goal.
Fleet gradually began to ease themselves into the game, and did look dangerous going forward. Smart Nathan showed good persistence to break through a couple of Ashford tackles, in the 35th minute, and struck his eventual shot against an Ashford arm, from close range - but there was never going to be a penalty awarded for that, (nor should there have been). The ball was still in the penalty area, but Jamie McClurg blasted it over the bar.
In the 36th minute, Daniel Brathwaite conceded a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area. This was taken by Fleet’s dead-ball specialist James Field. Faced by a four-man wall, Field chipped a shot to the near post, but Jamie Riley made a good save, pushing the ball behind, for a corner on the right. Jamie came out to claim the resulting cross, and seemed to have caught the ball cleanly, but then fumbled it, and dropped it – but an Ashford defender on the line cleared it as it span towards the line. The clearance only went to a player in a blue shirt, just outside the area, whose shot was well saved by Jamie, at the expense of another corner, this time on the left. There were groans from the home fans as the taker failed to clear the first defender with the corner, as there were two minutes later, when Daniel Brathwaite cleared another corner, with a near-post header.
Nevertheless, this was a good period of Fleet pressure, and Ashford desperately needed to get out of their own half. Eventually, they managed it, and it was a relief to have a throw-in, deep into the home side’s half of the slope, in the 40th minute. The ball was thrown to Jimmy Elford, who sent a left-footed cross into The Blues’ penalty area. Paul Jones got up to flick the ball goalwards with a back-header, but this was comfortably caught by David Smalley. A minute later, the ball broke to Jimmy Bottle, in the Fleet area, but his shot was blocked, and Ashford had a corner on the right. Sean Ray, still looking for his first goal of the season, got up well, with a downward header that was on target, and it appeared, from the stand, as if a defender’s foot had flicked a clearance over the bar, from inside the six-yard box – but nobody seemed to complain when a goal-kick was awarded.
In the 44th minute, just as the PA Announcer informed us that there would be three minutes of added time at the end of the first half, Ashford were awarded their first free-kick in a dangerous position of the match, for a foul on Claude Seanla. This was curled in by Dan Brathwaite, but there was anti-climax as the Lino flagged immediately for off-side. But Ashford went in at half time with a deserved 0-1 lead, and the travelling fans who had also witnessed the performance at Merstham on Tuesday night were very encouraged by the boys’ much improved showing.
Whilst Ashford played well in the first half, the same cannot really be said about the home side – but, as The Great Brian Clough once said: “They played as well as they were allowed to play, young man”. [ On the subject of great men, I heard on the telly, recently, that Peter Sillett still holds the Chelsea record for goals scored by a defender, and might get more mentions in the near future as John Terry closes in on his total. ] Anyway, Andy Sinton wasted no time in ringing the changes, as he replaced his two strikers, Jermaine Hamilton and Bernard Asante, with Mark Anderson and Eddie Smith.
As the rain continued to pour, Eddie Smith’s first contribution was to get clogged by Craig Wilkins, in the 51st minute – Wilko had lost the ball, on the halfway line, and was rightly yellow-carded for his late challenge.
Two minutes later, a high cross was sent into the Ashford penalty area, from the right, and Jamie Riley came for the ball and managed to finger-tip it away. The defence failed to clear the danger immediately, and the ball was bouncing around in the area – but then the referee noticed that Jamie was flat on his back in the six-yard box, so he had no choice but to halt play. This was a bit worrying, as the only other option was to use Lee Hockey as a makeshift goalkeeper – but Jamie was OK after treatment.
Ashford then had a period of good pressure. Jimmy Bottle won a corner, on the left, which was taken by the hard-working Ryan Briggs. His cross was cleared to the edge of the area, where Claude Seanla picked the ball up, turned and shot. His effort seemed to get momentarily stuck in the wet and the mud of the goalmouth, but eventually slid just past the post. There must have been a Fleet touch en route, though, as another corner was awarded. Briggo again swung the ball in from the left, into David Smalley’s six-yard box, but it rebounded off Sean Ray’s shin, and into the ‘keeper’s hands.
Fleet equalised, the first time, in the 63rd minute. This came about as a result of a free-kick awarded against Daniel Brathwaite – for pulling his man back, according to the Lino’s mime. From a position just to the right of centre, James Field sent in a high, curving cross. This appeared to be relatively harmless, but Steve Hemmings, almost facing his own goal, managed to get his head around the ball, to send his header goalwards. The ball crept just inside the post, and it was “game on”, at 1-1.
The game might have gone either way from this point, but it was Ashford who regained the lead, in the 76th minute – a minute after Andy Doerr had been sent on in place of Claude Seanla. It was a goal that involved both of Ashford’s wide men. Mitchell Sherwood sent in a long, looping cross, from wide on the right. Jimmy Bottle converged on the ball from the left wing, and timed his arrival perfectly, side-footing a volley low, into the net, from about ten yards out, for his first goal of the season. It was good to see Jimmy get on the score-sheet, on his return from injury – but, ironically, it appears that this injury prevented him from taking any further part in the game, as it seems that the hugs and kisses from his team-mates opened up his eyebrow again. He was immediately substituted for Tony Browne, before Fleet could kick off.
Andy Doerr – who should earn a few Pink Points for the white polo-necked vest he was wearing underneath his shirt – very nearly added to his impressive strike-rate as a substitute, in the 80th minute. Paul Jones ran on to a long through-ball, over the top, down the right wing. Jonah did well to catch up with the ball and deliver a good cross into the centre. Doerr timed his shot perfectly, but Smalley made a fantastic, point-blank save, to keep Fleet in the match.
The home side, who certainly looked stretched at the back as they pushed forward for an equaliser, had a free-kick, from about the same position as the one that had led to their goal, in the 83rd minute. Again it was James Field who sent in a high, looping cross. Jamie Riley used his finger tips to good effect, to intercept the cross, and then got back to make a good save, low at his near post, at the expense of a corner. This was lofted high, from the left, and Jamie was there again, diving low, and scooping the downward header away for another corner. Last season’s No.1 ‘keeper sometimes looked ungainly in making his saves, and is certainly still nowhere near his best, but he showed this afternoon that he hasn’t lost his ability as a shot-stopper.
Andy Sinton made his third and final substitution in the 85th minute, replacing Damien Smith, (one of three Smiths in the Fleet squad today), with Darren Campbell, but, as the playing surface got wetter, and players started slipping and sliding all over the place, Ashford appeared to remain in full control. Most of the closing minutes of the game, including an incredible six minutes of injury time conjured up by the Mackrell, were played in Fleet’s half of the field, with Ashford content to run down the clock. Unfortunately, there was one more attack left in the home side – this came with 95 minutes on the clock. A cross from the right found Eddie Smith, on the left side of the penalty area. Smith E took one touch, to control the ball, and then thumped the ball firmly into the far corner of the net, to preserve Fleet’s unbeaten run.
Although this was a real sickener, so late on, arguably the most important thing today was that the team’s performance was much improved – and this was against a very decent side. I overheard one Fleet fan, in the bar afterwards, say that he thought Ashford were the best side to come to Calthorpe Park this season – which is always a compliment. The challenge for Steve Lovell and the boys is now to maintain this level of form, consistently, over a period of time. If they can achieve that, then a place in the play-offs, at the end of the season, might still be a possibility.
It was one of those all-round team performances that made it difficult to nominate a Man of the Match – but Daniel Brathwaite just shaded it. He must have headed the ball clear a hundred times, and might almost be forgiven for wearing those gloves on this occasion.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Daniel Brathwaite
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
It was good to be back at Fleet again. For reasons best known to the people at the FA who allocate non-league clubs to different leagues, Fleet Town, along with Godalming Town, were shoved into the Southern League Division One South West for last season. Well, they’re both back this year – at the expense of Thamesmead Town and Chatham Town – so the trip to Calthorpe Park, our shortest away trip in the league, was back on the roster.
This was always going to be a test for the boys. Fleet are a good side. It was just a few years ago that they were one of the whipping boys perennially struggling against relegation – like us – but former Spurs and England winger Andy Sinton has certainly turned them around since taking over as Manager. They finished fifth under Sinton in our division in 2006-7, and were then runners-up in their division last year. In August I actually fancied them to make a play-off position for the third successive season, but they made a fairly sticky start to the current campaign, and were in ninth place this morning – but closer inspection of that league table reveals that Fleet would actually be SECOND if they win the two games they have in hand of all the teams above them. They were unbeaten in their last seven league games, so were very much one of the teams in form.
That’s more than could be said about Ashford, coming into this game. With one win in the last eight, and only one goal in the last four, (and that a gift, after a defensive error), we were looking decidedly ropy. I’m not into encouraging pressure on the manager or any of the players when results aren’t good, but I wouldn’t be setting the scene for this match properly if I didn’t mention that Steve Lovell had been receiving his fair share of criticism since Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat at Merstham – and, with five wins in 17 games this season, and the team sinking to 14th place, there have been one or two suggestions among the supporters that he might not be the man to lead us to the play-offs in May. This was therefore a very important game for both Steve Lovell and his squad of players.
Well, I’m pleased to report that, although this was just a single point gained in Hampshire this afternoon, all seems to be on a much more even keel tonight. This was a much improved performance, and one which heartened the travelling coach-load of support from Ashford. It was just a shame that an equaliser from the home side in the fifth minute of injury time robbed the boys of what would have been a thoroughly deserved victory.
Part of the reason for the improvement might have been the fact that Steve Lovell sent out what many of us believe is his best starting line-up. Jimmy Bottle was back on the left wing, with Mitchell Sherwood starting on the right, and Ryan Briggs and Danny Lye was the central midfield pairing. (It’s true that Ashford tended to bypass the centre of midfield a little this afternoon, but this might have been understandable, given the employment of two wide players. Paul Jones and Claude Seanla is surely the best partnership option up front – the strong hold-up man and the sharp finisher – and Craig Wilkins and Sean Ray look an accomplished pairing in the centre of defence. Daniel Brathwaite was back at left-back today, after having been on his travels in midfield and at centre-half, with Jimmy Elford wearing the No. 2 shirt. To complete the “ideal eleven”, Josh Willis was in goal – Josh has out-performed Jamie Riley this season, and, since making his debut, he has only lost his place when having a genuine reason for being unavailable.
On the subs bench were Jamie Riley, Lee Hockey, Tony Browne (who’s had a good run on the right side of midfield this season) and Andy Doerr.
Ashford’s cause today was also helped considerably by the fact that we made a good start. As early as the third minute, Jimmy Elford played a low ball forward to Claude Seanla, who laid it off to Paul Jones. Jonah took a touch, to take the ball infield, and got in a low, left-footed shot, which was well saved by ‘keeper Dave Smalley. This was rather a sign of how things were to develop, as Smalley made a number of good saves this afternoon, and Ashford looked most dangerous when attacking down the right flank, with Claude, Jonah, Mitch Sherwood and Jimmy Elford combining well. We certainly went forward in numbers, when we had the ball, and looked likely to score – which is not something that could be said about the performance at Merstham on Tuesday.
On this occasion, Smalley’s save was at the expense of a corner, on the right, which was cleared, but only as far as Ryan Briggs, whose firm shot went straight at the ‘keeper. Fleet turned defence into attack, but made a mess of the assault, and lost the ball in midfield. Immediately, the ball was played upfield for Paul Jones to run on to, and Jonah was soon clear of the defence, with only the goalkeeper to beat. He rounded Smalley and struck the ball firmly into the empty net. It was a good striker’s goal, and Paul’s seventh of the season – which equals his total for last season.
It was all Ashford, playing in their Norwich City-style away kit, in the opening minutes, as the visitors didn’t let the home side get into the game. In the fifth minute, Ryan Briggs spread the ball wide to Jimmy Bottle, who was in hectares of space – note the modern, Euro-friendly terminology – on the left. Jimmy cut inside and got in a right-footed shot, but this was saved by goalkeeper Smalley. A minute later, Claude Seanla, starting with his back to goal in the “D”, turned and shot, but was well off target.
Fleet, playing in familiar colours of sky blue shirts, and navy blue shorts and sockies, did manage one attack during this early phase – in the eighth minute, James Field went smoothly, and unchallenged, through the Ashford midfield, and tried a long-range shot which crept past Josh Willis’s right-hand post. Nineteen year-old Josh must have got a touch, as a corner was awarded – but this came to nothing.
At the other end, in the tenth minute, Mitchell Sherwood took a throw-in on the right. He found Paul Jones, in the penalty area, who turned and shot, but tamely, and straight at the ‘keeper.
A feature of today’s game was that it was played, from start to finish, in steady rain. This meant that the entire crowd of 162 this afternoon could be found under the cover that was available. The main, medium-sized stand was the place to be for maximum dryness, but the majority of the intrepid Ashford Town coach party huddled beneath a very ramshackle shelter, made mostly from scaffolding poles, behind each goal. It was good to see a large Ashford Town FC flag in the midst of this gathering. A green & white cross of St George. A flag to die for. “Cry God for Harry ! Ashford, and St George !”.
It might well have been the rain-affected surface that caused Steve Lovell his first real moment of concern, in the 16th minute, when goalkeeper Josh Willis sustained an injury to his left thigh, which was certainly not related to a challenge. After some brief first aid, Josh tested his thigh with a gentle jog, but it was immediately obvious that he was unable to continue, so Jamie Riley was sent on to deputise. It was a good thing that we had a ‘keeper on the subs bench with plenty of first team experience – but it seems that the luckless Josh is doomed to not have an extended run in the team.
Ashford, playing up Calthorpe Park’s diagonal slope in the first half, continued to make the running. In the 25th minute, Jimmy Bottle chipped in a cross from the left, which found Mitch Sherwood at the far post. Mitch fluffed his initial attempt at goal, with his right foot, but still had time to have a second crack, this time with his left – which he pulled well wide. Three minutes later, Mitchell had another shot at goal, which was deflected wide, for a corner. This was taken by Ryan Briggs, on the right. Sean Ray got up well with the header, but Referee Eric Mackrell must have seen something fishy about the challenge, so blew up for a free-kick. (OK, so I’m still working on the act !).
On the half-hour mark, the Mackrell failed to spot a hand-ball by lively Fleet striker Nathan Smart in the Ashford area. Nevertheless, Mitchell Sherwood was there to put the ball behind for a corner, on the left. The resulting cross, a little worryingly, was allowed to travel all the way through the Ashford penalty area, before Sean Ray nodded the ball behind for another corner, on the right. This time it was Daniel Brathwaite who cleared the lines, with a header away.
Which reminds me that I have another entry to make to the Pink Report. Whilst the boys made a generally good showing today, wearing short-sleeved shirts on this cold and very wet afternoon, Daniel B was still caught wearing gloves in public. This is most disappointing. I’m not sure whether there will be an appropriate award at the end of the season, but, if there is, Brathers has accumulated enough Pink Points at this stage of the season to be streets ahead of his team-mates. Watch this space.
It was great to see Jimmy Bottle back, after missing him for five games following the opening up of his right eyebrow by a clash of heads against Chipstead. His pace on the left wing was a constant threat to Fleet, but there were one or two signs of “ring rust”. In the 33rd minute, he gave away a free-kick with a miss-timed tackle, but the resulting cross towards the penalty area was headed clear, to Claude Seanla on the half-way line. Claude turned and spread the ball wide to Jimmy, in space on the left, and suddenly Jimmy had a clear sight of goal – but lack of match practice showed again, as he pulled his shot across the face of goal.
Fleet gradually began to ease themselves into the game, and did look dangerous going forward. Smart Nathan showed good persistence to break through a couple of Ashford tackles, in the 35th minute, and struck his eventual shot against an Ashford arm, from close range - but there was never going to be a penalty awarded for that, (nor should there have been). The ball was still in the penalty area, but Jamie McClurg blasted it over the bar.
In the 36th minute, Daniel Brathwaite conceded a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area. This was taken by Fleet’s dead-ball specialist James Field. Faced by a four-man wall, Field chipped a shot to the near post, but Jamie Riley made a good save, pushing the ball behind, for a corner on the right. Jamie came out to claim the resulting cross, and seemed to have caught the ball cleanly, but then fumbled it, and dropped it – but an Ashford defender on the line cleared it as it span towards the line. The clearance only went to a player in a blue shirt, just outside the area, whose shot was well saved by Jamie, at the expense of another corner, this time on the left. There were groans from the home fans as the taker failed to clear the first defender with the corner, as there were two minutes later, when Daniel Brathwaite cleared another corner, with a near-post header.
Nevertheless, this was a good period of Fleet pressure, and Ashford desperately needed to get out of their own half. Eventually, they managed it, and it was a relief to have a throw-in, deep into the home side’s half of the slope, in the 40th minute. The ball was thrown to Jimmy Elford, who sent a left-footed cross into The Blues’ penalty area. Paul Jones got up to flick the ball goalwards with a back-header, but this was comfortably caught by David Smalley. A minute later, the ball broke to Jimmy Bottle, in the Fleet area, but his shot was blocked, and Ashford had a corner on the right. Sean Ray, still looking for his first goal of the season, got up well, with a downward header that was on target, and it appeared, from the stand, as if a defender’s foot had flicked a clearance over the bar, from inside the six-yard box – but nobody seemed to complain when a goal-kick was awarded.
In the 44th minute, just as the PA Announcer informed us that there would be three minutes of added time at the end of the first half, Ashford were awarded their first free-kick in a dangerous position of the match, for a foul on Claude Seanla. This was curled in by Dan Brathwaite, but there was anti-climax as the Lino flagged immediately for off-side. But Ashford went in at half time with a deserved 0-1 lead, and the travelling fans who had also witnessed the performance at Merstham on Tuesday night were very encouraged by the boys’ much improved showing.
Whilst Ashford played well in the first half, the same cannot really be said about the home side – but, as The Great Brian Clough once said: “They played as well as they were allowed to play, young man”. [ On the subject of great men, I heard on the telly, recently, that Peter Sillett still holds the Chelsea record for goals scored by a defender, and might get more mentions in the near future as John Terry closes in on his total. ] Anyway, Andy Sinton wasted no time in ringing the changes, as he replaced his two strikers, Jermaine Hamilton and Bernard Asante, with Mark Anderson and Eddie Smith.
As the rain continued to pour, Eddie Smith’s first contribution was to get clogged by Craig Wilkins, in the 51st minute – Wilko had lost the ball, on the halfway line, and was rightly yellow-carded for his late challenge.
Two minutes later, a high cross was sent into the Ashford penalty area, from the right, and Jamie Riley came for the ball and managed to finger-tip it away. The defence failed to clear the danger immediately, and the ball was bouncing around in the area – but then the referee noticed that Jamie was flat on his back in the six-yard box, so he had no choice but to halt play. This was a bit worrying, as the only other option was to use Lee Hockey as a makeshift goalkeeper – but Jamie was OK after treatment.
Ashford then had a period of good pressure. Jimmy Bottle won a corner, on the left, which was taken by the hard-working Ryan Briggs. His cross was cleared to the edge of the area, where Claude Seanla picked the ball up, turned and shot. His effort seemed to get momentarily stuck in the wet and the mud of the goalmouth, but eventually slid just past the post. There must have been a Fleet touch en route, though, as another corner was awarded. Briggo again swung the ball in from the left, into David Smalley’s six-yard box, but it rebounded off Sean Ray’s shin, and into the ‘keeper’s hands.
Fleet equalised, the first time, in the 63rd minute. This came about as a result of a free-kick awarded against Daniel Brathwaite – for pulling his man back, according to the Lino’s mime. From a position just to the right of centre, James Field sent in a high, curving cross. This appeared to be relatively harmless, but Steve Hemmings, almost facing his own goal, managed to get his head around the ball, to send his header goalwards. The ball crept just inside the post, and it was “game on”, at 1-1.
The game might have gone either way from this point, but it was Ashford who regained the lead, in the 76th minute – a minute after Andy Doerr had been sent on in place of Claude Seanla. It was a goal that involved both of Ashford’s wide men. Mitchell Sherwood sent in a long, looping cross, from wide on the right. Jimmy Bottle converged on the ball from the left wing, and timed his arrival perfectly, side-footing a volley low, into the net, from about ten yards out, for his first goal of the season. It was good to see Jimmy get on the score-sheet, on his return from injury – but, ironically, it appears that this injury prevented him from taking any further part in the game, as it seems that the hugs and kisses from his team-mates opened up his eyebrow again. He was immediately substituted for Tony Browne, before Fleet could kick off.
Andy Doerr – who should earn a few Pink Points for the white polo-necked vest he was wearing underneath his shirt – very nearly added to his impressive strike-rate as a substitute, in the 80th minute. Paul Jones ran on to a long through-ball, over the top, down the right wing. Jonah did well to catch up with the ball and deliver a good cross into the centre. Doerr timed his shot perfectly, but Smalley made a fantastic, point-blank save, to keep Fleet in the match.
The home side, who certainly looked stretched at the back as they pushed forward for an equaliser, had a free-kick, from about the same position as the one that had led to their goal, in the 83rd minute. Again it was James Field who sent in a high, looping cross. Jamie Riley used his finger tips to good effect, to intercept the cross, and then got back to make a good save, low at his near post, at the expense of a corner. This was lofted high, from the left, and Jamie was there again, diving low, and scooping the downward header away for another corner. Last season’s No.1 ‘keeper sometimes looked ungainly in making his saves, and is certainly still nowhere near his best, but he showed this afternoon that he hasn’t lost his ability as a shot-stopper.
Andy Sinton made his third and final substitution in the 85th minute, replacing Damien Smith, (one of three Smiths in the Fleet squad today), with Darren Campbell, but, as the playing surface got wetter, and players started slipping and sliding all over the place, Ashford appeared to remain in full control. Most of the closing minutes of the game, including an incredible six minutes of injury time conjured up by the Mackrell, were played in Fleet’s half of the field, with Ashford content to run down the clock. Unfortunately, there was one more attack left in the home side – this came with 95 minutes on the clock. A cross from the right found Eddie Smith, on the left side of the penalty area. Smith E took one touch, to control the ball, and then thumped the ball firmly into the far corner of the net, to preserve Fleet’s unbeaten run.
Although this was a real sickener, so late on, arguably the most important thing today was that the team’s performance was much improved – and this was against a very decent side. I overheard one Fleet fan, in the bar afterwards, say that he thought Ashford were the best side to come to Calthorpe Park this season – which is always a compliment. The challenge for Steve Lovell and the boys is now to maintain this level of form, consistently, over a period of time. If they can achieve that, then a place in the play-offs, at the end of the season, might still be a possibility.
It was one of those all-round team performances that made it difficult to nominate a Man of the Match – but Daniel Brathwaite just shaded it. He must have headed the ball clear a hundred times, and might almost be forgiven for wearing those gloves on this occasion.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Daniel Brathwaite
Wednesday 29 October 2008
Merstham v Ashford Town. Ryman Division One South. 28th of October 2008.
Merstham 1 Ashford Town 0
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
I don’t like to begin match reports with a meteorological bulletin – as there are currently more important issues to discuss – but we’ve already had a wide range of weather conditions in which to watch footy this season. For four consecutive away games, we’ve lounged in the sun at Imber Court, sheltered from a bitingly cold westerly in Great Wakering, sunbathed again at Hayes Lane and then, last night, frozen our balls off at the Moatside, Merstham. In fact, as we got into the car at 5pm yesterday, it was snowing in Milton Keynes. Not sleeting – snowing, with the largest snowflakes I’ve seen for a long time.
There was a constant mix of rain, snow and sleet for the outward and return journeys to Merstham, a small town that is squeezed into the angle between the M25 and M23 motorways, to the South of “La Périférique”. Worst hit by the elements was the Hertfordshire area, where the snow had clearly started to lay in the fields as we passed through on the way home. I later discovered that the scheduled match at Boreham Wood had been postponed because of “snow / flooded pitch”, whilst the game at Cheshunt was abandoned after 75 minutes.
Strangely, it stayed dry for the duration of our game – it was just bloody freezing. There was also little to warm our heart on the field, as this was a poor game of football – simply because both sides performed poorly, with errors from individuals all over the pitch. Merstham might have had an excuse of sorts, as their line-up was, according to one of their fans, a little depleted – they were certainly without their skipper, Craig Vernon – but Steve Lovell appeared to have the strongest side available to him. Josh Willis, who we must consider to be Ashford’s first-choice goalkeeper, (on the grounds that he has only missed games, since his debut, when he has been unavailable for some reason), was in goal. In a simple, 4-4-2 formation, we had Jimmy Elford at right-back, Daniel Brathwaite in his birth-position of left-back, and a central defensive pairing of captain Sean Ray and Folkestone Invicta refugee Craig Wilkins. Danny Lye returned in central defence, alongside the hard-working Ryan Briggs – with Anthony Hogg, who had been widely slated for his performance on Saturday, nowhere to be seen, (which may or may not be significant). As has become the norm recently, it was Tony Browne on the right side of midfield – playing wide, and well upfield – but Charlie Glyde started on the left, in place of the out-of-form Mitchell Sherwood. It’s been a strange season for Mitch – he started off with seven goals in the first seven games, but has failed to score since, and he was certainly due for a rest. Up front, there was Paul Jones and Claude Seanla – as good a pairing as any team could hope for at this level, but they failed to make an impression yesterday evening.
In fact, this was a 0-0 draw in all bar the scoreline – the home side sneaked off with the massive reward of all three points thanks to a defensive aberration by Jimmy Elford in the second half, which spoilt an otherwise very solid performance from Ashford’s back five. Nevertheless, this slight injustice shouldn’t mask the fact that we failed to make any impression on a Merstham side that was clearly not at its best. The Moatsiders are no mugs – they started the game in eighth place, one above us, and are enjoying their first season at this level of the pyramid thanks to a dominant performance in becoming Champions of the Combined Counties League in 2007-8 – but, to use a tired old expression, “we need to be beating these teams”, if we have ambitions to make the play-offs.
Merstham FC is one of a number of clubs that has risen to Step 4 status during the recent expansion of the base of the non-league football pyramid. Moatside is a tidy little ground, which is rather hemmed in on all sides of a square patch of land within a residential area whose streets and pavements provide just about the only car parking facility. There is an attractive, red-roofed clubhouse, and a new-looking stand with black and amber seats, on one side of the ground, and a dinky little standing-only stand behind one goal, and a much larger structure, with a roof extending for the width of the pitch, behind the other. They don’t get huge crowds here; the average so far this season is 146, and that includes last night’s attendance of 102. This is comfortably the smallest of the season for them, and it would have been very thin indeed if it had not been for another healthy turn-out of Ashford supporters.
The traveling fans did their level best to lift the team, with plenty of vocal support from behind the goal, but their efforts were unrewarded. Actually, there was no question of a lack of effort on the pitch being the issue. I can’t think of any of the lads who started not appearing to give 100% - and the three substitutes used by Steve Lovell entered the contest too late to make an impression. It was a lack of quality, or a lack of know-how, that was our undoing. As I’ve previously suggested, it was in Merstham’s half of the field that we were lacking, as the defence mostly looked secure, with Craig Wilkins, in his second game since signing from beleagured Folkestone, looking a class act on the ball. The only real moment of uncertainty at the back came in the second minute, when Josh Willis hesitated when coming out to intercept a long through-ball. This indecision allowed Kevin Lock to nip in between Josh and Daniel Brathwaite, getting to the ball before the ‘keeper, but his lob went just wide of the angle between post and bar. Josh’s momentum caused him to collide with the Merstham striker, just outside the area, but this resulted in nothing worse than a free-kick which came to nothing.
Both teams started at a fast pace, but both also favoured the early long ball during the opening quarter of an hour – so there was no attempt to blind each other with science last night. Unsurprisingly, given Ashford’s lack of real aerial presence up front, this resulted in few chances being created for the visitors, who turned out in their home strip of green & white, à la Hibernian, in contrast to Merstham’s amber & black striped shirts, black shorts and amber sockies. The other tactic employed by Ashford was to try to exploit Tony Browne’s pace down the right. There’s no doubt that the Brown Dog is a tremendous athlete, but he’s not a natural right-winger, and largely failed to provide the service required. The one occasion when he did succeed in putting in a dangerous cross, was in the fourth minute. A long-range one-two with Paul Jones provided him with some space down the right flank, and his cross found Claude Seanla, well beyond the far post. Claude attempted an ambitious volley, which would have been the Goal of the Season if it had gone in, but the ball went high and wide, and (not for the last time yesterday evening) ended up in somebody’s garden.
Danny Lye made a difference in midfield, on his return from injury. Although he probably tired a little, before being substituted in the 80th minute, he showed the ability to win the ball, both in the air and on the ground. In the 15th minute, as the Moatsiders looked to come forward, Danny won the ball with an excellent tackle, mid-way inside the home side’s half. He turned and carried it infield, and sent in a firm, left-footed shot; this was straight at ‘keeper Ian Chatfield, but the effort certainly injected some urgency into the team’s performance.
By this time, the game had settled down a little, and Ashford, in particular, were starting to pass the ball around. However, there was still no way through or around the Merstham defence, and, in the 31st minute, after two successive corners had come to nothing, the Moatsiders counter-attacked. This resulted in a hard shot being sent in from the right wing, but Josh did well to beat the ball away with his fists, Spanish goalie style.
The only other incident of note to report from the first half was a free-kick in a dangerous position just outside the penalty area for the home side. This came about when Kwabena Agyei – the spellchecker goes mad ! – latched onto a through-ball just ahead of Josh Willis, who had raced out of his area in an attempt to intercept. Agyei poked the ball past the ‘keeper, whose momentum caused him to collide with the big striker, resulting in a yellow card for Josh. On another day, the colour of the card might have been red, but I think the (Kentish) referee got this one right, (as he did most things last night), as there was no intention to commit a foul. This provided Merstham with the best opportunity of the half for either side, but it came to nothing, so the teams trooped in at the interval with the score at 0-0.
Merstham made one change at half time – Leon Wallace replaced Michael Morgan. I assume that this was due to injury, since Morgan looked to be the one man in stripes who might trouble the Ashford defence, showing a willingness to move forward with the ball. Something else that I noticed at the start of the second half was that there was one entry to be made to The Pink Report – and I’m ashamed to say that the man to put on report was one of ours. I don’t know how to put this, so I might as well come straight out with it – Daniel Brathwaite was wearing gloves. In fact, he was also wearing a dark blue, long-sleeved T-shirt under his footy shirt. It might be OK in the Premiership, but it’s not acceptable at this level, Daniel. I’ll keep you all posted on Daniel’s future conduct.
There continued to be very little created by either side, in the second half, with the most likely source of a goal appearing to be from a corner – if only because both sides had a whole succession of them. Merstham had three corners in succession, in the 51st minute – first from the left, then from the right and then from the left again. All three were taken by Kevin Lock - so there was no chance of him getting cold on a chill evening – but Ashford were strong in the centre of defence, and repelled each assault on the six-yard box. Merstham came closest with the third of these corners, which found Chris Boulter beyond the far post, but the tall centre-back hoofed the ball wide – into somebody’s garden.
Ashford’s main threat from corners was supplied by Charlie Glyde, who whipped in some dangerous left-footed crosses from the right. In the 54th minute, Charlie supplied a similar cross from a free-kick, from near the right touchline. This found Claude Seanla, in the penalty area, but Claude’s first-time shot was blocked. The ball fell to Paul Jones, but Jonah blasted wide from close range. We had another chance a minute later, when Danny Lye managed to get into the penalty area and on the end of a Daniel Brathwaite cross, but his glancing header went wide of the far post. (Actually, how often this season have we seen an Ashford Town midfielder have an attempt on goal, from inside the opposition’s penalty area, in open play ?!).
Both of our strikers worked hard tonight, but with nothing coming off for them, and, although I’ve seen reports that Paul Jones and Claude Seanla are beginning to develop an understanding, I didn’t see much evidence of that last night – in fact, to my untrained eye, they seemed to be playing too far apart. Paul was just a little ring-rusty, following his short break from the game to get married and go on honeymoon, but looked the more likely of the two to break the deadlock. In the 59th minute, he ran onto a through-ball from Ryan Briggs, in the inside-right channel, but planted his shot, from about twelve yards out, into the side-netting. Then, in the 61st minute, he led a break out of defence, in a move that also involved Tony Browne and Claude Seanla. This ended with the Merstham defence conceding a corner, on the right, and this was one of those that Charlie Glyde curled into the box, right under Ian Chatfield’s cross-bar. The tactic was obvious – to take advantage of Sean Ray’s powerful presence, in a dangerous area – so Steve Lovell can’t be accused of being shy about trying to “win ugly” ! On this occasion, Sean got on the end of the cross, but his downward header was blocked on the line, and cleared. Razor is still looking for his first goal of the season, having scored three goals last season.
A minute later, it all went wrong. Jimmy Elford, who had otherwise had a good game, put an attempted back-pass into the path of Kwabena Agyei, who calmly slotted the ball past Josh Willis, and into the far corner of the net. It was the moment that robbed us of the consolation of earning a point from a tepid, but fairly solid, performance. It was also the moment that sent us plunging to 14th place in the league table, with the two teams immediately behind us having games in hand, and that lifted Merstham up to fifth, which, on the balance of the results they have achieved so far this season, they thoroughly deserve.
Ashford tried hard to force an equaliser – and there were more corners – but never looked like beating the pink-shirted Ian Chatfield. Ryan Briggs attempted a long-range shot at him, in the 70th minute, and Tony Browne sent in a good, low shot, in the 76th minute, after Paul Jones had set the ball up for him, but Chatfield didn’t have to move far to make the save on both occasions. It was actually the home side that came closest to scoring a second goal, and this was an attempt of real quality by Kevin Lock. He moved with the ball through the midfield area, in the 77th minute, and hammered a shot, from just outside the area, which crashed against Josh Willis’s crossbar.
When they came, Steve Lovell’s substitutions appeared to be too late for any impact to be made. In the 80th minute, there was the double-substitution of James Humphries and Mitchell Sherwood for Danny Lye and Charlie Glyde, in a straight swap, in both cases; then, four minutes later, there was the replacement of full-back Jimmy Elford with a third striker in Andy Doerr. (Lee Hockey and Jamie Riley were the unused substitutes). The subs did, however, combine in the 85th minute, when James Humphries won the ball in the Merstham half, and found Andy Doerr – he then squared the ball to Claude Seanla, but Claude’s shot was deflected wide. It should also be said that Mitch Sherwood did make one telling run, down the left wing, with 90 minutes on the clock. He managed to put in a good cross, but this was headed behind, for a corner. The corner was taken short, to James Humphries, whose cross to the far post found Andy Doerr, who headed the ball down and into the danger zone. A goalmouth scramble followed, but no Ashford player was able to get a clear shot at goal.
Referee Wilde managed to find five minutes of stoppage time from somewhere, but we probably wouldn’t have scored if we’d had another fifteen. In my opinion, the illness has entered a new phase. Initially, Ashford’s problem was clearly one of a lack of consistency, but our recent record of one win in the last eight league games indicates that we’re now into a full-blown slump. In our four most recent matches, we’ve collected just two points, and the solitary goal has been the one handed to us on a plate by a comical gaff from an opposition goalie. We’re now 14 matches into a season in which we’ve managed just four league wins – so the play-offs are looking a long way off at the moment.
It was a hard job deciding on a Man of the Match. It was really a toss-up between the three defenders who hadn’t made a cock-up for Merstham’s goal – in fact, if there was a consolation to be had from the evening’s events, it was that Ashford looked to be pretty secure at the back, so that’s something to build upon. We went for Craig Wilkins, who looked classy and composed in everything he did. I should imagine that he’d come across as a commanding figure in a good team – the trouble is ………….
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Craig Wilkins
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
I don’t like to begin match reports with a meteorological bulletin – as there are currently more important issues to discuss – but we’ve already had a wide range of weather conditions in which to watch footy this season. For four consecutive away games, we’ve lounged in the sun at Imber Court, sheltered from a bitingly cold westerly in Great Wakering, sunbathed again at Hayes Lane and then, last night, frozen our balls off at the Moatside, Merstham. In fact, as we got into the car at 5pm yesterday, it was snowing in Milton Keynes. Not sleeting – snowing, with the largest snowflakes I’ve seen for a long time.
There was a constant mix of rain, snow and sleet for the outward and return journeys to Merstham, a small town that is squeezed into the angle between the M25 and M23 motorways, to the South of “La Périférique”. Worst hit by the elements was the Hertfordshire area, where the snow had clearly started to lay in the fields as we passed through on the way home. I later discovered that the scheduled match at Boreham Wood had been postponed because of “snow / flooded pitch”, whilst the game at Cheshunt was abandoned after 75 minutes.
Strangely, it stayed dry for the duration of our game – it was just bloody freezing. There was also little to warm our heart on the field, as this was a poor game of football – simply because both sides performed poorly, with errors from individuals all over the pitch. Merstham might have had an excuse of sorts, as their line-up was, according to one of their fans, a little depleted – they were certainly without their skipper, Craig Vernon – but Steve Lovell appeared to have the strongest side available to him. Josh Willis, who we must consider to be Ashford’s first-choice goalkeeper, (on the grounds that he has only missed games, since his debut, when he has been unavailable for some reason), was in goal. In a simple, 4-4-2 formation, we had Jimmy Elford at right-back, Daniel Brathwaite in his birth-position of left-back, and a central defensive pairing of captain Sean Ray and Folkestone Invicta refugee Craig Wilkins. Danny Lye returned in central defence, alongside the hard-working Ryan Briggs – with Anthony Hogg, who had been widely slated for his performance on Saturday, nowhere to be seen, (which may or may not be significant). As has become the norm recently, it was Tony Browne on the right side of midfield – playing wide, and well upfield – but Charlie Glyde started on the left, in place of the out-of-form Mitchell Sherwood. It’s been a strange season for Mitch – he started off with seven goals in the first seven games, but has failed to score since, and he was certainly due for a rest. Up front, there was Paul Jones and Claude Seanla – as good a pairing as any team could hope for at this level, but they failed to make an impression yesterday evening.
In fact, this was a 0-0 draw in all bar the scoreline – the home side sneaked off with the massive reward of all three points thanks to a defensive aberration by Jimmy Elford in the second half, which spoilt an otherwise very solid performance from Ashford’s back five. Nevertheless, this slight injustice shouldn’t mask the fact that we failed to make any impression on a Merstham side that was clearly not at its best. The Moatsiders are no mugs – they started the game in eighth place, one above us, and are enjoying their first season at this level of the pyramid thanks to a dominant performance in becoming Champions of the Combined Counties League in 2007-8 – but, to use a tired old expression, “we need to be beating these teams”, if we have ambitions to make the play-offs.
Merstham FC is one of a number of clubs that has risen to Step 4 status during the recent expansion of the base of the non-league football pyramid. Moatside is a tidy little ground, which is rather hemmed in on all sides of a square patch of land within a residential area whose streets and pavements provide just about the only car parking facility. There is an attractive, red-roofed clubhouse, and a new-looking stand with black and amber seats, on one side of the ground, and a dinky little standing-only stand behind one goal, and a much larger structure, with a roof extending for the width of the pitch, behind the other. They don’t get huge crowds here; the average so far this season is 146, and that includes last night’s attendance of 102. This is comfortably the smallest of the season for them, and it would have been very thin indeed if it had not been for another healthy turn-out of Ashford supporters.
The traveling fans did their level best to lift the team, with plenty of vocal support from behind the goal, but their efforts were unrewarded. Actually, there was no question of a lack of effort on the pitch being the issue. I can’t think of any of the lads who started not appearing to give 100% - and the three substitutes used by Steve Lovell entered the contest too late to make an impression. It was a lack of quality, or a lack of know-how, that was our undoing. As I’ve previously suggested, it was in Merstham’s half of the field that we were lacking, as the defence mostly looked secure, with Craig Wilkins, in his second game since signing from beleagured Folkestone, looking a class act on the ball. The only real moment of uncertainty at the back came in the second minute, when Josh Willis hesitated when coming out to intercept a long through-ball. This indecision allowed Kevin Lock to nip in between Josh and Daniel Brathwaite, getting to the ball before the ‘keeper, but his lob went just wide of the angle between post and bar. Josh’s momentum caused him to collide with the Merstham striker, just outside the area, but this resulted in nothing worse than a free-kick which came to nothing.
Both teams started at a fast pace, but both also favoured the early long ball during the opening quarter of an hour – so there was no attempt to blind each other with science last night. Unsurprisingly, given Ashford’s lack of real aerial presence up front, this resulted in few chances being created for the visitors, who turned out in their home strip of green & white, à la Hibernian, in contrast to Merstham’s amber & black striped shirts, black shorts and amber sockies. The other tactic employed by Ashford was to try to exploit Tony Browne’s pace down the right. There’s no doubt that the Brown Dog is a tremendous athlete, but he’s not a natural right-winger, and largely failed to provide the service required. The one occasion when he did succeed in putting in a dangerous cross, was in the fourth minute. A long-range one-two with Paul Jones provided him with some space down the right flank, and his cross found Claude Seanla, well beyond the far post. Claude attempted an ambitious volley, which would have been the Goal of the Season if it had gone in, but the ball went high and wide, and (not for the last time yesterday evening) ended up in somebody’s garden.
Danny Lye made a difference in midfield, on his return from injury. Although he probably tired a little, before being substituted in the 80th minute, he showed the ability to win the ball, both in the air and on the ground. In the 15th minute, as the Moatsiders looked to come forward, Danny won the ball with an excellent tackle, mid-way inside the home side’s half. He turned and carried it infield, and sent in a firm, left-footed shot; this was straight at ‘keeper Ian Chatfield, but the effort certainly injected some urgency into the team’s performance.
By this time, the game had settled down a little, and Ashford, in particular, were starting to pass the ball around. However, there was still no way through or around the Merstham defence, and, in the 31st minute, after two successive corners had come to nothing, the Moatsiders counter-attacked. This resulted in a hard shot being sent in from the right wing, but Josh did well to beat the ball away with his fists, Spanish goalie style.
The only other incident of note to report from the first half was a free-kick in a dangerous position just outside the penalty area for the home side. This came about when Kwabena Agyei – the spellchecker goes mad ! – latched onto a through-ball just ahead of Josh Willis, who had raced out of his area in an attempt to intercept. Agyei poked the ball past the ‘keeper, whose momentum caused him to collide with the big striker, resulting in a yellow card for Josh. On another day, the colour of the card might have been red, but I think the (Kentish) referee got this one right, (as he did most things last night), as there was no intention to commit a foul. This provided Merstham with the best opportunity of the half for either side, but it came to nothing, so the teams trooped in at the interval with the score at 0-0.
Merstham made one change at half time – Leon Wallace replaced Michael Morgan. I assume that this was due to injury, since Morgan looked to be the one man in stripes who might trouble the Ashford defence, showing a willingness to move forward with the ball. Something else that I noticed at the start of the second half was that there was one entry to be made to The Pink Report – and I’m ashamed to say that the man to put on report was one of ours. I don’t know how to put this, so I might as well come straight out with it – Daniel Brathwaite was wearing gloves. In fact, he was also wearing a dark blue, long-sleeved T-shirt under his footy shirt. It might be OK in the Premiership, but it’s not acceptable at this level, Daniel. I’ll keep you all posted on Daniel’s future conduct.
There continued to be very little created by either side, in the second half, with the most likely source of a goal appearing to be from a corner – if only because both sides had a whole succession of them. Merstham had three corners in succession, in the 51st minute – first from the left, then from the right and then from the left again. All three were taken by Kevin Lock - so there was no chance of him getting cold on a chill evening – but Ashford were strong in the centre of defence, and repelled each assault on the six-yard box. Merstham came closest with the third of these corners, which found Chris Boulter beyond the far post, but the tall centre-back hoofed the ball wide – into somebody’s garden.
Ashford’s main threat from corners was supplied by Charlie Glyde, who whipped in some dangerous left-footed crosses from the right. In the 54th minute, Charlie supplied a similar cross from a free-kick, from near the right touchline. This found Claude Seanla, in the penalty area, but Claude’s first-time shot was blocked. The ball fell to Paul Jones, but Jonah blasted wide from close range. We had another chance a minute later, when Danny Lye managed to get into the penalty area and on the end of a Daniel Brathwaite cross, but his glancing header went wide of the far post. (Actually, how often this season have we seen an Ashford Town midfielder have an attempt on goal, from inside the opposition’s penalty area, in open play ?!).
Both of our strikers worked hard tonight, but with nothing coming off for them, and, although I’ve seen reports that Paul Jones and Claude Seanla are beginning to develop an understanding, I didn’t see much evidence of that last night – in fact, to my untrained eye, they seemed to be playing too far apart. Paul was just a little ring-rusty, following his short break from the game to get married and go on honeymoon, but looked the more likely of the two to break the deadlock. In the 59th minute, he ran onto a through-ball from Ryan Briggs, in the inside-right channel, but planted his shot, from about twelve yards out, into the side-netting. Then, in the 61st minute, he led a break out of defence, in a move that also involved Tony Browne and Claude Seanla. This ended with the Merstham defence conceding a corner, on the right, and this was one of those that Charlie Glyde curled into the box, right under Ian Chatfield’s cross-bar. The tactic was obvious – to take advantage of Sean Ray’s powerful presence, in a dangerous area – so Steve Lovell can’t be accused of being shy about trying to “win ugly” ! On this occasion, Sean got on the end of the cross, but his downward header was blocked on the line, and cleared. Razor is still looking for his first goal of the season, having scored three goals last season.
A minute later, it all went wrong. Jimmy Elford, who had otherwise had a good game, put an attempted back-pass into the path of Kwabena Agyei, who calmly slotted the ball past Josh Willis, and into the far corner of the net. It was the moment that robbed us of the consolation of earning a point from a tepid, but fairly solid, performance. It was also the moment that sent us plunging to 14th place in the league table, with the two teams immediately behind us having games in hand, and that lifted Merstham up to fifth, which, on the balance of the results they have achieved so far this season, they thoroughly deserve.
Ashford tried hard to force an equaliser – and there were more corners – but never looked like beating the pink-shirted Ian Chatfield. Ryan Briggs attempted a long-range shot at him, in the 70th minute, and Tony Browne sent in a good, low shot, in the 76th minute, after Paul Jones had set the ball up for him, but Chatfield didn’t have to move far to make the save on both occasions. It was actually the home side that came closest to scoring a second goal, and this was an attempt of real quality by Kevin Lock. He moved with the ball through the midfield area, in the 77th minute, and hammered a shot, from just outside the area, which crashed against Josh Willis’s crossbar.
When they came, Steve Lovell’s substitutions appeared to be too late for any impact to be made. In the 80th minute, there was the double-substitution of James Humphries and Mitchell Sherwood for Danny Lye and Charlie Glyde, in a straight swap, in both cases; then, four minutes later, there was the replacement of full-back Jimmy Elford with a third striker in Andy Doerr. (Lee Hockey and Jamie Riley were the unused substitutes). The subs did, however, combine in the 85th minute, when James Humphries won the ball in the Merstham half, and found Andy Doerr – he then squared the ball to Claude Seanla, but Claude’s shot was deflected wide. It should also be said that Mitch Sherwood did make one telling run, down the left wing, with 90 minutes on the clock. He managed to put in a good cross, but this was headed behind, for a corner. The corner was taken short, to James Humphries, whose cross to the far post found Andy Doerr, who headed the ball down and into the danger zone. A goalmouth scramble followed, but no Ashford player was able to get a clear shot at goal.
Referee Wilde managed to find five minutes of stoppage time from somewhere, but we probably wouldn’t have scored if we’d had another fifteen. In my opinion, the illness has entered a new phase. Initially, Ashford’s problem was clearly one of a lack of consistency, but our recent record of one win in the last eight league games indicates that we’re now into a full-blown slump. In our four most recent matches, we’ve collected just two points, and the solitary goal has been the one handed to us on a plate by a comical gaff from an opposition goalie. We’re now 14 matches into a season in which we’ve managed just four league wins – so the play-offs are looking a long way off at the moment.
It was a hard job deciding on a Man of the Match. It was really a toss-up between the three defenders who hadn’t made a cock-up for Merstham’s goal – in fact, if there was a consolation to be had from the evening’s events, it was that Ashford looked to be pretty secure at the back, so that’s something to build upon. We went for Craig Wilkins, who looked classy and composed in everything he did. I should imagine that he’d come across as a commanding figure in a good team – the trouble is ………….
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Craig Wilkins
Sunday 5 October 2008
Great Wakering Rovers v Ashford Town. FA Trophy Preliminary Round. 4th of October 2008.
Great Wakering Rovers 5 Ashford Town 3
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
The Preliminary Round of the FA Trophy - (1973 and all that). Away to Great Wakering Rovers. “What and where is Great Wakering ?”, I hear. It’s little more than a large village, just to the East of Southend-on-Mud, on the marshy flats between Southend and the North Sea. I don’t know when global warming is going to start to have an Impact on sea level in this part of the world, but, when it does, I should imagine that the good people of Great Wakering will have a ring-side seat – right at the front, (no puns intended).
That’s where it is geographically. In footy terms, Great Wakering is in the lower-middle region of Ryman Division One North – 15th, in fact. Given that Division One South is probably slightly the stronger of the two Divisions, this shouldn’t have been a daunting task for Ashford, currently lying in sixth place in the Southern Division. If we wanted a “formline” to this afternoon’s hosts, they drew 1-1 at home to Chatham Town on Tuesday, in front of a crowd of 67.
I don’t think I’m being disrespectful to Great Wakering Rovers when I describe them as a little club that has risen to Step 4 during the recent reorganisation of the non-league pyramid – just has Ashford Town, formerly a major power in the old Southern League, has been shuffled down in the opposite direction. Rovers didn’t even move up to the Essex Senior League until the 1992-3 season, and entered the Ryman League at the level of Division 3, when there was one, in 1999-2000. It was the 2002-3 season when the club rose to the heights of Ryman Division One North, which is where it is now, after having had a brief spell in Southern League Division One East.
Burroughs Park, doubtless named after the Club President, Roger Burroughs, is actually situated to the North of the village, on the clumsily-named Little Wakering Hall Lane, opposite some allotments. [ I used to have a large allotment – but I got fed up with it in the end, and concreted the whole lot. ] The venue largely reflects the humble recent history of the club, but it’s a tidy little ground. Seating is restricted to the red seats of one, small stand, but, with three steps of open terracing behind each goal, there is a larger stand on the opposite side which covers terracing that is raised to provide a view above the two dug-outs. This was the place to be this afternoon, as it provided shelter from the strong and chilly Westerly breeze – just a week after soaking up the warm sun on the terracing at Imber Court. The dug outs are very quaint little wooden structures, complete with a dinky ball rack, which looks like it’s been converted from a cattle trough.
So everyone looking forward to a competitive cup tie today – including another strong contingent of supporters from Ashford, thanks to the good offices of Supporters Club sponsors R & J Coaches. As today was all about the FA Trophy, I was actually not going to mention the League, but there were some significant aspects of Tuesday’s 2-3 defeat at home to Chipstead. First of all, Ashford’s dreadful performance in the first half in that game, after which they went in at half time trailing 0-3, having defended like a set of tarts, prompted Steve Lovell to revert to three-at-the-back for the second half – and the inside word was that he was going to employ the same defensive formation again this afternoon. Secondly, the legacy of one of the other major incidents from this game – the sickening clash of heads that left young Jimmy Bottle unconscious on the turf for a couple of minutes – meant that, unsurprisingly, he was not going to take any part in today’s game. I’m pleased to report, however, that James was present at Burroughs Park today, looking in good spirits and quite well, apart from a stitched gash along the length of his right eye-brow. The stitches are due to come out on Tuesday, after which he should again be available for selection.
In spite of several reasons to be depressed about Tuesday’s result, there was one shining silver lining that evening – the performance of new signing Claude Seanla, who scored twice on his Ashford debut. Stephane Claude Seanla – who is reported to prefer to be called “Claude”, but who is addressed as “Steph” by Steve Lovell and his team-mates – originates from the Ivory Coast, but has also been described as being Belgian by some sources. I hope that these details will become clearer in subsequent reports – but what we do know is that he comes to us from Barnet, having also played for Spurs Reserves, and one game for Watford’s first team. I can also report that today’s Man of the Match display by Claude, (as he will now be known, until further notice), confirmed that he’s a classy performer, and that he’s likely to contribute more goals to the Ashford cause in the future.
So the plan today was for a back three of Lee Hockey, Sean Ray and Daniel Brathwaite to play in front of Jamie Riley, (after Sean and Daniel had done such a great job in the centre of a back four in last Saturday’s 1-2 victory at Met Police), with a midfield five of (from left to right) Mitch Sherwood, Danny Lye, Ryan Briggs, Anthony Hogg and Tony Browne – although Hoggy, on his return to the team after a spell on the sidelines, started just behind the front two of Paul Jones and Claude Seanla, so it was really a 3-4-1-2 set-up. On the substitutes bench were Jimmy Elford, Charlie Glyde, Andy Doerr, Bradley Spice and sub goalie Josh Willis, so there was no sign today of Robbie Ryan.
One spurious observation is that Lee Hockey, who rarely stands very close to the razor – except Sean, of course - was barely recognisable today in clean-shaven form. Also, before I get on to the serious stuff, I must blow the whistle on Rovers’ No.11 Dan Jones, who was wearing gloves ! (In fact, I will continue to report on any similar girlish choices this season, including the wearing of tights, polo-necked vests and ear muffs – I shall call it “The Pink Report”). Thankfully, some of our lads made us proud to be Kentish, by wearing short-sleeved shirts, in spite of it being a cold, breezy day.
As has so often happened this season, Ashford made a bright start, passing the ball around, pressing forward, and certainly had the better of the opening quarter of an hour – but without sticking the ball in the net. In the opening minutes, beneath a clear, blue sky, Daniel Brathwaite sent in a long, hanging cross, into the Westerly that blew from right to left as Ashford attacked the goal at the Allotment end in the first half. Ryan Briggs rose to challenge for the ball, but Great Wakering goalie Richard McKinney punched clear. In the sixth minute, a cross from Mitchell Sherwood, from the left, found Claude Seanla in the centre, but the Ivorian showed that he was human, with a genuine air-shot - the ball broke to Danny Lye, who just about got the ball out from under his feet, but directed his shot straight at McKinney. A minute later, Lee Hockey sent in a long throw from close to the left corner flag, but it was a Rovers head that got to the ball first, and the home side had an opportunity for a break, in the form of Dan Jones. On this occasion, Jones, who was readily identifiable with his Mohawk hair-cut – this is commonly known as a “Mohican”, but the Mohican tribe actually shaved their head completely, and it was the Mohawk that left the central strip of hair – hit his shot, from outside the area, harmlessly high, but he was to prove a bloody nuisance to the Ashford defence for the remainder of the afternoon.
In the tenth minute, a good move involving Seanla, Paul Jones and Tony Browne, down the right, resulted in a corner for Ashford. This was swung in by Ryan Briggs. Sean Ray came flying in to meet the ball, but Danny Lye got his head to it first, and rather took the ball away from his skipper, and the chance was gone. In the 14th minute, Ashford were again having a good spell of possession, before the ball was given away, and Great Wakering broke forward. Again it was Dan Jones who led the break, down the left flank, and he sent a cross beyond the far post – this was headed back into the goalmouth, but was safely gathered by Jamie Riley.
Great Wakering, in green and white stripes, white shorts and green socks – rather like an Ashford Town strip of (I think) the early nineties – took the lead in the 17th minute. This can be partly put down to a defensive slip by Sean Ray, who attempted to head a lofted through-ball behind for a corner, but he failed to “find touch”. Dan Jones didn’t give up on this, and caught up with the ball near the by-line, crossing to the far post, where Neil Richmond was on hand to open the scoring.
Ashford tried to hit back immediately, when Paul Jones, now recovered from his mid-week bout of ‘flu, laid the ball off to Claude Seanla, but Claude’s long-range shot dribbled wide. The home side then took a 2-0 lead, with a second goal in three minutes – and this time Ashford’s defensive frailties were all too obvious. Lee Hockey had looked slow and nowhere near full fitness this afternoon – and the strapping on his right thigh merely confirmed this – and when, in the 19th minute, he found himself a little out of position upfield, and Great Wakering spread the ball out to Jimmy Webb on the left, Lee was visibly struggling to get back to cover. He never looked like making it, and Webb chipped the ball to the unmarked Neil Richmond, who easily headed the ball home, at the far post. So, once again, following similar occurrences against Crowborough Athletic, Corinthian-Casuals and Chipstead, Ashford had fallen behind to early goals against essentially limited sides. Quite simply, today we looked easy to score against – and it didn’t stop at two goals.
On the other hand, we often looked good going forward, and had our fair share of possession and opportunities throughout the game. In the 21st minute, a trip on Claude Seanla, as he was collecting a lay-off from Paul Jones, gave Ashford a free-kick in a dangerous position, just outside the penalty area – but the attempt at goal clipped the top of the four-man wall, and was cleared. Two minutes later, a deflected shot from Mitchell Sherwood, coming in from the left wing, resulted in a corner. This was swung into the Rovers penalty area, but, after some head tennis and a brief scramble, was cleared.
By this time, the experiment of playing three at the back had been abandoned, with Danny Lye dropping back into central defence alongside Sean Ray, and Anthony Hogg tending to play in front of the back four, instead of just behind the front two. Off the field, the traveling choir had continued to try to lift the Ashford team – but it occurred to me, at this point, that the away-day coach parties had so far witnessed five goals scored against Ashford, without reply.
In the 28th minute, Claude Seanla found himself twisting & turning inside the Rovers area, before laying the ball back to Anthony Hogg, who shot just over the bar. A minute later, Tony Browne, on the right, fed the ball down the line, to Claude, who found Paul Jones with a cross. Jonah made a good turn, and got in a shot, but this was deflected across the face of goal, and out for a corner - which came to nowt.
It was Great Wakering’s turn to put together a good move, in the 31st minute, down the right flank. Right-back Jack O’Connor, overlapping, collected a good return pass from Dan Jones – this gave him a clear sight of goal, but his shot was comfortably saved, at the near post, but Jamie Riley.
By the 37th minute, gathering pale grey clouds had completely obscured the sky, but there was some light relief for Ashford, as they pulled a goal back – and Claude Seanla was again the scorer. A cross by Tony Browne, from the right, found Anthony Hogg in the centre of the penalty area. Hoggy did well to lay the ball back to Seanla, teeing it up perfectly so that Claude could smash the ball, on the volley, into the net. This was a cleanly-struck finish, which had quality written all over it – but it only counted as one, so Ashford were still trailing 2-1.
Ashford could really have done with an equaliser before half time – but it wasn’t to be. There was, however, an awkward moment for Rovers’ ‘keeper Richard McKinney in the 40th minute. Ryan Briggs sent a deep cross into the Great Wakering goalmouth. McKinney called for it, but the ball kicked up at him as it bounced, and he had to hurriedly tip it over the bar. Briggo’s corner was cleared, but only as far as Mitchell Sherwood, just outside the penalty area – Mitch took two juggling touches, and then shot just over the bar. A minute from the interval, Daniel Brathwaite tried a long-range shot, which was well struck, but it went straight at McKinney.
So 2-1 it was at half time, but I thought that Ashford had shown enough quality going forward to suggest that there was every chance of a turnaround in the second half.
That hope, which springeth eternal, lasted until the second minute of the second half. Ashford enjoyed a period of good possession just after the restart, but that ended when Great Wakering picked up a loose ball in a fairly vacant central midfield. The ball was fed through to Neil Richmond, who was put through with a one-on-one with Jamie Riley. There wasn’t much that Jamie could do at this point, and Richmond calmly slotted the ball past him, low, into the corner of the net. This was Richmond’s hat-trick, and, in the context of the game, it meant that Ashford were once again chasing a two-goal deficit.
I was a little surprised that Steve Lovell hadn’t made changes at half-time – especially after he’d made three changes at half time on Tuesday – as the hastily rearranged back-four of Sean Ray and Danny Lye in the centre, and Daniel Brathwaite on the left, still had the obviously struggling Lee Hockey at right-back. With specialist No.2 Jimmy Elford on the bench, one possible change seemed obvious, but Steve stuck to the personnel and formation that had finished the first half, with Anthony Hogg still playing in front of the back four. Hockey certainly had his moments with the team going forward, and he linked up well with Paul Jones, in the 48th minute, releasing Jonah down the right. Making it to the by-line, the No.10 crossed the ball back to Anthony Hogg, whose header went straight at Richard McKinney, who seemed to have some sort of magnetism for the ball this afternoon.
In the 53rd minute, a long ball from about half-way, deep into the Ashford penalty area, seemed to be covered by Sean Ray – maybe the trajectory of the ball was altered by the stiff breeze, but it eluded his head, and was picked up by Neil Richmond, on the corner of the six-yard box. It looked odds-on that Richmond would score his fourth goal of the game, but his powerful shot went over the bar.
A minute later, a shot from Mitchell Sherwood, from an acute angle, was deflected behind for a corner – but the resulting cross, with the Westerly wind behind it, went over the gaggle of yellow-shirted Ashford players in the penalty area, and was cleared. By the 56th minute, the play was again at the other end, and Dan Jones showed yet another side of his talent, by launching a long throw into the Ashford penalty area, from near the left corner flag. (Maybe that was why he was wearing the poncy gloves ?). Rovers’ Jones certainly has a decent throw on him, every bit as long as Lee Hockey’s, and, throwing the ball into the wind, he reached the edge of the six-yard box. The ball was knocked down, and hat-trick hero Richmond ambitiously attempted to hook the ball into the net, but his effort was too high.
Great Wakering were, by now, playing some good, confident football, and, in the 59th minute, the Ashford back line again had problems with a long, high, diagonal ball. This time it went over the head of Lee Hockey, and fell to Jimmy Webb. Hockey managed to get back to cover, but it made little difference – with a great piece of skill, which Webb has probably learnt from watching Cristiano Ronaldo on the telly, he easily beat Lee, to find himself inside the Ashford penalty area. His shot was blocked, but the ball rebounded to Mark Cartlidge, (great name for a footballer !), whose long-range shot went just over the bar.
On the hour mark, Lee Hockey again had a chance to launch a long throw into the home side’s penalty area. This found the tall Anthony Hogg, who flicked the ball on to Claude Seanla, but this time Claude failed to connect cleanly with the ball, and sliced his shot wide. Lee soon had work to do at the other end, though, and, yet again, he failed to get his head to a high, wind-assisted, cross-field ball. I’m not sure whether Great Wakering practise this mode of delivery, but, every time such a ball eluded an Ashford defender, there was a green & white shirt waiting to collect it. This time it was Dan Jones who picked the ball up, on the left. He crossed the ball into the centre, and found Neil Richmond, who got up to send a looping header into the net. There was prolonged celebration, from the small, but noisy, section of Rovers supporters in the larger stand at the side of the pitch, of what they thought was Richmond’s fourth goal, but nobody had noticed the lino’s flag, which was raised for off-side.
This might have been a let-off for Ashford; I couldn’t tell, from where I was standing, whether it were a good decision or not – nor could Rovers’ Manager Ian O’Connell, or the Great Wakering market traders in the stand, but it didn’t stop the linesman from getting plenty of stick from them for the rest of the game. So, with the score remaining at 3-1 to the home side, Steve Lovell made his first substitution of the match, in the 65th minute, when he replaced Lee Hockey with striker Andy Doerr.
On 67 minutes, a foul on Claude Seanla presented Ashford with a free-kick, about 25 yards out and just to the right of centre. Anthony Hogg sent in a high cross which hung in the breeze. Sean Ray got on the end of this, well beyond the far post, but headed the ball straight into the hands of McKinney. A minute later, there was a free-kick from an almost identical position. Big Sean Ray again went up for this, but the ball went straight through to the goalkeeper.
In the 69th minute, Jamie Riley pulled off an excellent save, to keep Ashford in the cup tie. A cross from the right was met with a firm header, bang on target, from Dan Jones, but Jamie’s diving save with his left hand prevented it from going into the top corner of the net. Nevertheless, it was a corner to Rovers, on the left, which was swung into the goalmouth, but this was cleared, at the expense of a throw-in on the other side of the pitch. The home side continued to apply pressure on the Ashford defence, and soon won a corner on this right-hand side. The resulting cross was again cleared, but only as far as Neil Richmond, who was just outside the area. He sent in a low shot which went all the way into the far corner of the net. This time there was no denying Richmond his fourth goal of the match, and, at 4-1, the cup tie was surely now over.
As the grey clouds overhead darkened further, Steve Lovell reacted by making a second substitution – Charlie Glyde replaced Anthony Hogg, in the 71st minute. There was an almost immediate reaction to conceding the fourth goal, as the visitors pulled a goal back, in the 73rd minute. As the ball was played forward, Andy Doerr laid it off into the path of Claude Seanla. This was a deft touch by the substitute, putting Claude through on goal. The Ivorian just had the ‘keeper to beat, from about 16 yards, but he did it in the manner of a man who is used to scoring goals. There was no attempt to wrong-foot the goalie, or to slide it into the corner – Claude simply smashed the ball into the roof of the net, with as powerful a finish as you are ever likely to see. 4-2, then, and Monsieur Seanla had now scored all four of Ashford’s goals since making his debut, on Tuesday night, having also scored in both of his outings for the Reserves. That’s what is commonly known as “making an impact” !
Claude actually had chances to emulate Rovers’ Richmond, and score four himself this afternoon. With 15 minutes of normal time remaining, Tony Browne beat two players, from the right wing, and found Claude with a cross, but this time his shot was horribly sliced. The ball fell to Paul Jones, who was nearby, in the penalty area, but Jonah also sliced his effort, and it went wide.
Almost immediately, the play switched to the other end, with a high cross being sent into the Ashford penalty area. Jamie Riley came well out of his goal for this, fumbled the ball and fell, which left Dan Jones with an open goal at his mercy. Getting on the scoresheet would have been just reward for the Mohawk’s performance this afternoon, but he pulled his shot wide. It really should have been a fifth goal for the Rovers.
Ashford had a real chance to get back in the tie, in the 78th minute – and, if this one had gone in, the result just might have been different. Daniel Brathwaite did some good work, down the left flank, playing a one-two with Paul Jones. There was still plenty for Daniel to do, after he’d caught up with the ball near the by-line, but he managed to pull it back to Seanla, in the centre. Claude hit his shot well, but it hit the far post, rebounding to Tony Browne, who then blasted the ball over the bar, with his left foot, from about five yards out. It almost looked easier to score, and there were Ashford heads in hands all over the pitch, and in the crowd. Oh, Browne Dog !!
A minute later, Tony had a chance to redeem himself, but with a much less clear-cut opportunity, when he got on the end of a high, Ryan Briggs cross, but his firm header went wide.
Then, in the 81st minute, Great Wakering Rovers scored again. With a good turn, just outside the area, in a central position, Mark Cartlidge – careful with that knee ! – found Jimmy Webb, in space and unmarked, on the left. Webb had no trouble with hitting the ball high, into the net, past Jamie Riley.
A minute later, with the score 5-2 to the Rovers, Ian O’Connell replaced Neil Richmond with Billy Johnson, so that the No.10 could get a well-deserved ovation from the home supporters. Four goals, and one disallowed – which isn’t a bad afternoon’s work.
At the time, Ashford’s Charlie Glyde was preparing to take a corner, on the right – he eventually sent in a cross that went over Daniel Brathwaite’s head, and fell at the feet of Sean Ray. The big centre-back was unable to react quickly enough, however, and the ball rebounded off his shin, and was cleared. In the 84th minute, Sean and Daniel made a hash of playing the ball between them at the back, and, on losing possession, this gave Dan Jones the opportunity to attack down the right. He bore down on Ashford’s goal, but rather greedily blasted the ball over the bar.
Two minutes from time, Ashford scored the eighth, and final, goal of the game. Paul Jones did well to turn and run onto a through-ball, down the right flank. He crossed the ball into the centre, and there was Andy Doerr, getting in front of the defender, to turn the ball in. Richard McKinney got something onto it, but couldn’t prevent the goal. This was a good, striker’s finish, and Andy appears to be moving ahead of Bradley Spice in the pecking order of forwards. He certainly has an impressive strike-rate, having now scored twice, in 137 minutes on the pitch, this season – including his goal at the end of last season, his overall strike-rate for Ashford now stands at a goal every 103 minutes.
There was still time, and, incredibly, still opportunities, for Ashford to earn an unlikely replay – but not many teams concede five goals without losing, and it was not to be. With 90 minutes up, on my watch, the Browne Dog showed good persistence, over on the right, to give himself a shooting chance. His shot was on target, but Richard McKinney saved well, down at his near post. A minute into injury time, a long ball from Ashford’s back line went all the way through to Paul Jones, who turned and shot, but his firm strike was well saved by the ‘keeper. Then, into the third minute of stoppage time, Ryan Briggs cut in from the right wing, but McKinney again didn’t have to move very far to save his firm, left-footed shot.
Final score: 5-3 to Great Wakering Rovers, who will now go on to play fellow Ryman Division One North side Enfield Town, who won 1-5 at Godalming, in the next round.
A cold drizzle began as we got into the car, and the rain stayed with us all along the A127, around the M25 and up the M1. As we didn’t stay for a drink in the bar after the game, I can’t report on the mood of the travelling Ashford fans, but they must have been bitterly disappointed. There was so much anticipation and hope for a decent cup run in one of the major cups this season, and the Supporters’ Club has done a marvellous job in organising transport to the cup ties at Kingsmeadow, and now at Great Wakering – only to witness a defeat on both occasions. It was the size of the travelling contingent that was responsible for elevating today’s crowd into three figures – it was 112 – but the team let them down badly on this occasion. In a wider context, those of us who know non-league football understand that there are two types of supporters – one type is only prepared to go along and support a winning side, but these are the people that The Management needs to attract if the Club is to progress in the manner that is envisaged. A half-decent cup run would have done wonders to promote and accelerate the cause – but, yet again, it has failed to materialise.
Claude Seanla was a shoo-in for Man of the Match this afternoon, and he looks an invaluable acquisition. Paul Jones also worked extremely hard, as usual, but was always tightly marked, and Ryan Briggs was also a shining light in midfield – always wanting the ball, and striving to run the show. As mentioned before, we actually looked pretty good when going forward, but the defence was abysmal. Let’s not forget that this was a very ordinary side that we played against today – they’ve only managed to score ten goals in ten games in the league so far – but they made scoring against us look easy. I understand that the 0-3 scoreline at half time against Chipstead on Tuesday is being blamed on a “mad ten minutes” in defence – well, the vulnerability of the back five was apparent throughout the game here this afternoon, from the moment that Rovers went 1-0 up.
I wasn’t going to talk about the league campaign in this report, but, if we can’t hold our own against (with respect) the likes of Chipstead and Great Wakering Rovers, then there have to be doubts about our ability to achieve a top-five finish. Whatever the problems are in the defence, this simply isn’t good enough.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Claude Seanla
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
The Preliminary Round of the FA Trophy - (1973 and all that). Away to Great Wakering Rovers. “What and where is Great Wakering ?”, I hear. It’s little more than a large village, just to the East of Southend-on-Mud, on the marshy flats between Southend and the North Sea. I don’t know when global warming is going to start to have an Impact on sea level in this part of the world, but, when it does, I should imagine that the good people of Great Wakering will have a ring-side seat – right at the front, (no puns intended).
That’s where it is geographically. In footy terms, Great Wakering is in the lower-middle region of Ryman Division One North – 15th, in fact. Given that Division One South is probably slightly the stronger of the two Divisions, this shouldn’t have been a daunting task for Ashford, currently lying in sixth place in the Southern Division. If we wanted a “formline” to this afternoon’s hosts, they drew 1-1 at home to Chatham Town on Tuesday, in front of a crowd of 67.
I don’t think I’m being disrespectful to Great Wakering Rovers when I describe them as a little club that has risen to Step 4 during the recent reorganisation of the non-league pyramid – just has Ashford Town, formerly a major power in the old Southern League, has been shuffled down in the opposite direction. Rovers didn’t even move up to the Essex Senior League until the 1992-3 season, and entered the Ryman League at the level of Division 3, when there was one, in 1999-2000. It was the 2002-3 season when the club rose to the heights of Ryman Division One North, which is where it is now, after having had a brief spell in Southern League Division One East.
Burroughs Park, doubtless named after the Club President, Roger Burroughs, is actually situated to the North of the village, on the clumsily-named Little Wakering Hall Lane, opposite some allotments. [ I used to have a large allotment – but I got fed up with it in the end, and concreted the whole lot. ] The venue largely reflects the humble recent history of the club, but it’s a tidy little ground. Seating is restricted to the red seats of one, small stand, but, with three steps of open terracing behind each goal, there is a larger stand on the opposite side which covers terracing that is raised to provide a view above the two dug-outs. This was the place to be this afternoon, as it provided shelter from the strong and chilly Westerly breeze – just a week after soaking up the warm sun on the terracing at Imber Court. The dug outs are very quaint little wooden structures, complete with a dinky ball rack, which looks like it’s been converted from a cattle trough.
So everyone looking forward to a competitive cup tie today – including another strong contingent of supporters from Ashford, thanks to the good offices of Supporters Club sponsors R & J Coaches. As today was all about the FA Trophy, I was actually not going to mention the League, but there were some significant aspects of Tuesday’s 2-3 defeat at home to Chipstead. First of all, Ashford’s dreadful performance in the first half in that game, after which they went in at half time trailing 0-3, having defended like a set of tarts, prompted Steve Lovell to revert to three-at-the-back for the second half – and the inside word was that he was going to employ the same defensive formation again this afternoon. Secondly, the legacy of one of the other major incidents from this game – the sickening clash of heads that left young Jimmy Bottle unconscious on the turf for a couple of minutes – meant that, unsurprisingly, he was not going to take any part in today’s game. I’m pleased to report, however, that James was present at Burroughs Park today, looking in good spirits and quite well, apart from a stitched gash along the length of his right eye-brow. The stitches are due to come out on Tuesday, after which he should again be available for selection.
In spite of several reasons to be depressed about Tuesday’s result, there was one shining silver lining that evening – the performance of new signing Claude Seanla, who scored twice on his Ashford debut. Stephane Claude Seanla – who is reported to prefer to be called “Claude”, but who is addressed as “Steph” by Steve Lovell and his team-mates – originates from the Ivory Coast, but has also been described as being Belgian by some sources. I hope that these details will become clearer in subsequent reports – but what we do know is that he comes to us from Barnet, having also played for Spurs Reserves, and one game for Watford’s first team. I can also report that today’s Man of the Match display by Claude, (as he will now be known, until further notice), confirmed that he’s a classy performer, and that he’s likely to contribute more goals to the Ashford cause in the future.
So the plan today was for a back three of Lee Hockey, Sean Ray and Daniel Brathwaite to play in front of Jamie Riley, (after Sean and Daniel had done such a great job in the centre of a back four in last Saturday’s 1-2 victory at Met Police), with a midfield five of (from left to right) Mitch Sherwood, Danny Lye, Ryan Briggs, Anthony Hogg and Tony Browne – although Hoggy, on his return to the team after a spell on the sidelines, started just behind the front two of Paul Jones and Claude Seanla, so it was really a 3-4-1-2 set-up. On the substitutes bench were Jimmy Elford, Charlie Glyde, Andy Doerr, Bradley Spice and sub goalie Josh Willis, so there was no sign today of Robbie Ryan.
One spurious observation is that Lee Hockey, who rarely stands very close to the razor – except Sean, of course - was barely recognisable today in clean-shaven form. Also, before I get on to the serious stuff, I must blow the whistle on Rovers’ No.11 Dan Jones, who was wearing gloves ! (In fact, I will continue to report on any similar girlish choices this season, including the wearing of tights, polo-necked vests and ear muffs – I shall call it “The Pink Report”). Thankfully, some of our lads made us proud to be Kentish, by wearing short-sleeved shirts, in spite of it being a cold, breezy day.
As has so often happened this season, Ashford made a bright start, passing the ball around, pressing forward, and certainly had the better of the opening quarter of an hour – but without sticking the ball in the net. In the opening minutes, beneath a clear, blue sky, Daniel Brathwaite sent in a long, hanging cross, into the Westerly that blew from right to left as Ashford attacked the goal at the Allotment end in the first half. Ryan Briggs rose to challenge for the ball, but Great Wakering goalie Richard McKinney punched clear. In the sixth minute, a cross from Mitchell Sherwood, from the left, found Claude Seanla in the centre, but the Ivorian showed that he was human, with a genuine air-shot - the ball broke to Danny Lye, who just about got the ball out from under his feet, but directed his shot straight at McKinney. A minute later, Lee Hockey sent in a long throw from close to the left corner flag, but it was a Rovers head that got to the ball first, and the home side had an opportunity for a break, in the form of Dan Jones. On this occasion, Jones, who was readily identifiable with his Mohawk hair-cut – this is commonly known as a “Mohican”, but the Mohican tribe actually shaved their head completely, and it was the Mohawk that left the central strip of hair – hit his shot, from outside the area, harmlessly high, but he was to prove a bloody nuisance to the Ashford defence for the remainder of the afternoon.
In the tenth minute, a good move involving Seanla, Paul Jones and Tony Browne, down the right, resulted in a corner for Ashford. This was swung in by Ryan Briggs. Sean Ray came flying in to meet the ball, but Danny Lye got his head to it first, and rather took the ball away from his skipper, and the chance was gone. In the 14th minute, Ashford were again having a good spell of possession, before the ball was given away, and Great Wakering broke forward. Again it was Dan Jones who led the break, down the left flank, and he sent a cross beyond the far post – this was headed back into the goalmouth, but was safely gathered by Jamie Riley.
Great Wakering, in green and white stripes, white shorts and green socks – rather like an Ashford Town strip of (I think) the early nineties – took the lead in the 17th minute. This can be partly put down to a defensive slip by Sean Ray, who attempted to head a lofted through-ball behind for a corner, but he failed to “find touch”. Dan Jones didn’t give up on this, and caught up with the ball near the by-line, crossing to the far post, where Neil Richmond was on hand to open the scoring.
Ashford tried to hit back immediately, when Paul Jones, now recovered from his mid-week bout of ‘flu, laid the ball off to Claude Seanla, but Claude’s long-range shot dribbled wide. The home side then took a 2-0 lead, with a second goal in three minutes – and this time Ashford’s defensive frailties were all too obvious. Lee Hockey had looked slow and nowhere near full fitness this afternoon – and the strapping on his right thigh merely confirmed this – and when, in the 19th minute, he found himself a little out of position upfield, and Great Wakering spread the ball out to Jimmy Webb on the left, Lee was visibly struggling to get back to cover. He never looked like making it, and Webb chipped the ball to the unmarked Neil Richmond, who easily headed the ball home, at the far post. So, once again, following similar occurrences against Crowborough Athletic, Corinthian-Casuals and Chipstead, Ashford had fallen behind to early goals against essentially limited sides. Quite simply, today we looked easy to score against – and it didn’t stop at two goals.
On the other hand, we often looked good going forward, and had our fair share of possession and opportunities throughout the game. In the 21st minute, a trip on Claude Seanla, as he was collecting a lay-off from Paul Jones, gave Ashford a free-kick in a dangerous position, just outside the penalty area – but the attempt at goal clipped the top of the four-man wall, and was cleared. Two minutes later, a deflected shot from Mitchell Sherwood, coming in from the left wing, resulted in a corner. This was swung into the Rovers penalty area, but, after some head tennis and a brief scramble, was cleared.
By this time, the experiment of playing three at the back had been abandoned, with Danny Lye dropping back into central defence alongside Sean Ray, and Anthony Hogg tending to play in front of the back four, instead of just behind the front two. Off the field, the traveling choir had continued to try to lift the Ashford team – but it occurred to me, at this point, that the away-day coach parties had so far witnessed five goals scored against Ashford, without reply.
In the 28th minute, Claude Seanla found himself twisting & turning inside the Rovers area, before laying the ball back to Anthony Hogg, who shot just over the bar. A minute later, Tony Browne, on the right, fed the ball down the line, to Claude, who found Paul Jones with a cross. Jonah made a good turn, and got in a shot, but this was deflected across the face of goal, and out for a corner - which came to nowt.
It was Great Wakering’s turn to put together a good move, in the 31st minute, down the right flank. Right-back Jack O’Connor, overlapping, collected a good return pass from Dan Jones – this gave him a clear sight of goal, but his shot was comfortably saved, at the near post, but Jamie Riley.
By the 37th minute, gathering pale grey clouds had completely obscured the sky, but there was some light relief for Ashford, as they pulled a goal back – and Claude Seanla was again the scorer. A cross by Tony Browne, from the right, found Anthony Hogg in the centre of the penalty area. Hoggy did well to lay the ball back to Seanla, teeing it up perfectly so that Claude could smash the ball, on the volley, into the net. This was a cleanly-struck finish, which had quality written all over it – but it only counted as one, so Ashford were still trailing 2-1.
Ashford could really have done with an equaliser before half time – but it wasn’t to be. There was, however, an awkward moment for Rovers’ ‘keeper Richard McKinney in the 40th minute. Ryan Briggs sent a deep cross into the Great Wakering goalmouth. McKinney called for it, but the ball kicked up at him as it bounced, and he had to hurriedly tip it over the bar. Briggo’s corner was cleared, but only as far as Mitchell Sherwood, just outside the penalty area – Mitch took two juggling touches, and then shot just over the bar. A minute from the interval, Daniel Brathwaite tried a long-range shot, which was well struck, but it went straight at McKinney.
So 2-1 it was at half time, but I thought that Ashford had shown enough quality going forward to suggest that there was every chance of a turnaround in the second half.
That hope, which springeth eternal, lasted until the second minute of the second half. Ashford enjoyed a period of good possession just after the restart, but that ended when Great Wakering picked up a loose ball in a fairly vacant central midfield. The ball was fed through to Neil Richmond, who was put through with a one-on-one with Jamie Riley. There wasn’t much that Jamie could do at this point, and Richmond calmly slotted the ball past him, low, into the corner of the net. This was Richmond’s hat-trick, and, in the context of the game, it meant that Ashford were once again chasing a two-goal deficit.
I was a little surprised that Steve Lovell hadn’t made changes at half-time – especially after he’d made three changes at half time on Tuesday – as the hastily rearranged back-four of Sean Ray and Danny Lye in the centre, and Daniel Brathwaite on the left, still had the obviously struggling Lee Hockey at right-back. With specialist No.2 Jimmy Elford on the bench, one possible change seemed obvious, but Steve stuck to the personnel and formation that had finished the first half, with Anthony Hogg still playing in front of the back four. Hockey certainly had his moments with the team going forward, and he linked up well with Paul Jones, in the 48th minute, releasing Jonah down the right. Making it to the by-line, the No.10 crossed the ball back to Anthony Hogg, whose header went straight at Richard McKinney, who seemed to have some sort of magnetism for the ball this afternoon.
In the 53rd minute, a long ball from about half-way, deep into the Ashford penalty area, seemed to be covered by Sean Ray – maybe the trajectory of the ball was altered by the stiff breeze, but it eluded his head, and was picked up by Neil Richmond, on the corner of the six-yard box. It looked odds-on that Richmond would score his fourth goal of the game, but his powerful shot went over the bar.
A minute later, a shot from Mitchell Sherwood, from an acute angle, was deflected behind for a corner – but the resulting cross, with the Westerly wind behind it, went over the gaggle of yellow-shirted Ashford players in the penalty area, and was cleared. By the 56th minute, the play was again at the other end, and Dan Jones showed yet another side of his talent, by launching a long throw into the Ashford penalty area, from near the left corner flag. (Maybe that was why he was wearing the poncy gloves ?). Rovers’ Jones certainly has a decent throw on him, every bit as long as Lee Hockey’s, and, throwing the ball into the wind, he reached the edge of the six-yard box. The ball was knocked down, and hat-trick hero Richmond ambitiously attempted to hook the ball into the net, but his effort was too high.
Great Wakering were, by now, playing some good, confident football, and, in the 59th minute, the Ashford back line again had problems with a long, high, diagonal ball. This time it went over the head of Lee Hockey, and fell to Jimmy Webb. Hockey managed to get back to cover, but it made little difference – with a great piece of skill, which Webb has probably learnt from watching Cristiano Ronaldo on the telly, he easily beat Lee, to find himself inside the Ashford penalty area. His shot was blocked, but the ball rebounded to Mark Cartlidge, (great name for a footballer !), whose long-range shot went just over the bar.
On the hour mark, Lee Hockey again had a chance to launch a long throw into the home side’s penalty area. This found the tall Anthony Hogg, who flicked the ball on to Claude Seanla, but this time Claude failed to connect cleanly with the ball, and sliced his shot wide. Lee soon had work to do at the other end, though, and, yet again, he failed to get his head to a high, wind-assisted, cross-field ball. I’m not sure whether Great Wakering practise this mode of delivery, but, every time such a ball eluded an Ashford defender, there was a green & white shirt waiting to collect it. This time it was Dan Jones who picked the ball up, on the left. He crossed the ball into the centre, and found Neil Richmond, who got up to send a looping header into the net. There was prolonged celebration, from the small, but noisy, section of Rovers supporters in the larger stand at the side of the pitch, of what they thought was Richmond’s fourth goal, but nobody had noticed the lino’s flag, which was raised for off-side.
This might have been a let-off for Ashford; I couldn’t tell, from where I was standing, whether it were a good decision or not – nor could Rovers’ Manager Ian O’Connell, or the Great Wakering market traders in the stand, but it didn’t stop the linesman from getting plenty of stick from them for the rest of the game. So, with the score remaining at 3-1 to the home side, Steve Lovell made his first substitution of the match, in the 65th minute, when he replaced Lee Hockey with striker Andy Doerr.
On 67 minutes, a foul on Claude Seanla presented Ashford with a free-kick, about 25 yards out and just to the right of centre. Anthony Hogg sent in a high cross which hung in the breeze. Sean Ray got on the end of this, well beyond the far post, but headed the ball straight into the hands of McKinney. A minute later, there was a free-kick from an almost identical position. Big Sean Ray again went up for this, but the ball went straight through to the goalkeeper.
In the 69th minute, Jamie Riley pulled off an excellent save, to keep Ashford in the cup tie. A cross from the right was met with a firm header, bang on target, from Dan Jones, but Jamie’s diving save with his left hand prevented it from going into the top corner of the net. Nevertheless, it was a corner to Rovers, on the left, which was swung into the goalmouth, but this was cleared, at the expense of a throw-in on the other side of the pitch. The home side continued to apply pressure on the Ashford defence, and soon won a corner on this right-hand side. The resulting cross was again cleared, but only as far as Neil Richmond, who was just outside the area. He sent in a low shot which went all the way into the far corner of the net. This time there was no denying Richmond his fourth goal of the match, and, at 4-1, the cup tie was surely now over.
As the grey clouds overhead darkened further, Steve Lovell reacted by making a second substitution – Charlie Glyde replaced Anthony Hogg, in the 71st minute. There was an almost immediate reaction to conceding the fourth goal, as the visitors pulled a goal back, in the 73rd minute. As the ball was played forward, Andy Doerr laid it off into the path of Claude Seanla. This was a deft touch by the substitute, putting Claude through on goal. The Ivorian just had the ‘keeper to beat, from about 16 yards, but he did it in the manner of a man who is used to scoring goals. There was no attempt to wrong-foot the goalie, or to slide it into the corner – Claude simply smashed the ball into the roof of the net, with as powerful a finish as you are ever likely to see. 4-2, then, and Monsieur Seanla had now scored all four of Ashford’s goals since making his debut, on Tuesday night, having also scored in both of his outings for the Reserves. That’s what is commonly known as “making an impact” !
Claude actually had chances to emulate Rovers’ Richmond, and score four himself this afternoon. With 15 minutes of normal time remaining, Tony Browne beat two players, from the right wing, and found Claude with a cross, but this time his shot was horribly sliced. The ball fell to Paul Jones, who was nearby, in the penalty area, but Jonah also sliced his effort, and it went wide.
Almost immediately, the play switched to the other end, with a high cross being sent into the Ashford penalty area. Jamie Riley came well out of his goal for this, fumbled the ball and fell, which left Dan Jones with an open goal at his mercy. Getting on the scoresheet would have been just reward for the Mohawk’s performance this afternoon, but he pulled his shot wide. It really should have been a fifth goal for the Rovers.
Ashford had a real chance to get back in the tie, in the 78th minute – and, if this one had gone in, the result just might have been different. Daniel Brathwaite did some good work, down the left flank, playing a one-two with Paul Jones. There was still plenty for Daniel to do, after he’d caught up with the ball near the by-line, but he managed to pull it back to Seanla, in the centre. Claude hit his shot well, but it hit the far post, rebounding to Tony Browne, who then blasted the ball over the bar, with his left foot, from about five yards out. It almost looked easier to score, and there were Ashford heads in hands all over the pitch, and in the crowd. Oh, Browne Dog !!
A minute later, Tony had a chance to redeem himself, but with a much less clear-cut opportunity, when he got on the end of a high, Ryan Briggs cross, but his firm header went wide.
Then, in the 81st minute, Great Wakering Rovers scored again. With a good turn, just outside the area, in a central position, Mark Cartlidge – careful with that knee ! – found Jimmy Webb, in space and unmarked, on the left. Webb had no trouble with hitting the ball high, into the net, past Jamie Riley.
A minute later, with the score 5-2 to the Rovers, Ian O’Connell replaced Neil Richmond with Billy Johnson, so that the No.10 could get a well-deserved ovation from the home supporters. Four goals, and one disallowed – which isn’t a bad afternoon’s work.
At the time, Ashford’s Charlie Glyde was preparing to take a corner, on the right – he eventually sent in a cross that went over Daniel Brathwaite’s head, and fell at the feet of Sean Ray. The big centre-back was unable to react quickly enough, however, and the ball rebounded off his shin, and was cleared. In the 84th minute, Sean and Daniel made a hash of playing the ball between them at the back, and, on losing possession, this gave Dan Jones the opportunity to attack down the right. He bore down on Ashford’s goal, but rather greedily blasted the ball over the bar.
Two minutes from time, Ashford scored the eighth, and final, goal of the game. Paul Jones did well to turn and run onto a through-ball, down the right flank. He crossed the ball into the centre, and there was Andy Doerr, getting in front of the defender, to turn the ball in. Richard McKinney got something onto it, but couldn’t prevent the goal. This was a good, striker’s finish, and Andy appears to be moving ahead of Bradley Spice in the pecking order of forwards. He certainly has an impressive strike-rate, having now scored twice, in 137 minutes on the pitch, this season – including his goal at the end of last season, his overall strike-rate for Ashford now stands at a goal every 103 minutes.
There was still time, and, incredibly, still opportunities, for Ashford to earn an unlikely replay – but not many teams concede five goals without losing, and it was not to be. With 90 minutes up, on my watch, the Browne Dog showed good persistence, over on the right, to give himself a shooting chance. His shot was on target, but Richard McKinney saved well, down at his near post. A minute into injury time, a long ball from Ashford’s back line went all the way through to Paul Jones, who turned and shot, but his firm strike was well saved by the ‘keeper. Then, into the third minute of stoppage time, Ryan Briggs cut in from the right wing, but McKinney again didn’t have to move very far to save his firm, left-footed shot.
Final score: 5-3 to Great Wakering Rovers, who will now go on to play fellow Ryman Division One North side Enfield Town, who won 1-5 at Godalming, in the next round.
A cold drizzle began as we got into the car, and the rain stayed with us all along the A127, around the M25 and up the M1. As we didn’t stay for a drink in the bar after the game, I can’t report on the mood of the travelling Ashford fans, but they must have been bitterly disappointed. There was so much anticipation and hope for a decent cup run in one of the major cups this season, and the Supporters’ Club has done a marvellous job in organising transport to the cup ties at Kingsmeadow, and now at Great Wakering – only to witness a defeat on both occasions. It was the size of the travelling contingent that was responsible for elevating today’s crowd into three figures – it was 112 – but the team let them down badly on this occasion. In a wider context, those of us who know non-league football understand that there are two types of supporters – one type is only prepared to go along and support a winning side, but these are the people that The Management needs to attract if the Club is to progress in the manner that is envisaged. A half-decent cup run would have done wonders to promote and accelerate the cause – but, yet again, it has failed to materialise.
Claude Seanla was a shoo-in for Man of the Match this afternoon, and he looks an invaluable acquisition. Paul Jones also worked extremely hard, as usual, but was always tightly marked, and Ryan Briggs was also a shining light in midfield – always wanting the ball, and striving to run the show. As mentioned before, we actually looked pretty good when going forward, but the defence was abysmal. Let’s not forget that this was a very ordinary side that we played against today – they’ve only managed to score ten goals in ten games in the league so far – but they made scoring against us look easy. I understand that the 0-3 scoreline at half time against Chipstead on Tuesday is being blamed on a “mad ten minutes” in defence – well, the vulnerability of the back five was apparent throughout the game here this afternoon, from the moment that Rovers went 1-0 up.
I wasn’t going to talk about the league campaign in this report, but, if we can’t hold our own against (with respect) the likes of Chipstead and Great Wakering Rovers, then there have to be doubts about our ability to achieve a top-five finish. Whatever the problems are in the defence, this simply isn’t good enough.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Claude Seanla
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