Corinthian-Casuals 0 Ashford Town 2
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
Ashford went into this match with plenty of confidence. Steve Lovell is gradually building the squad that he wants, and there are definite signs that things are at last coming together. Bottom-of-the-table Molesey won’t have provided the sternest test of the team’s progress last Saturday, but the comfortable manner of the 3-0 victory must have instilled some belief, among players and fans alike. We’ve all been waiting patiently in Don & Tony’s space rocket, with seat belts securely fastened, for some time now. It seems like someone’s finally found some matches, so that we can prepare for launch.
The first stop on the rocket ride will, at some point, be promotion to the Ryman Premier. Is that still a realistic prospect for this season ? Well, it’s not out of the question. The team currently in the final play-off position is Dulwich Hamlet, 14 points ahead of us, but we have THREE games in hand. Manager Steve Lovell has certainly been quoted as saying that he’s focusing his players’ attention on a play-off position as a target for the remaining 18 games of the season.
If Ashford are going to succeed with a late run for a top-five position – we were 13th this morning – then the current little sequence of four games, all of which are against teams in the bottom six, is crucial. The games have a reassuring orderliness about them, beginning with Molesey (bottom) last week, Corinthian-Casuals (third-bottom) today, Eastbourne Town (fifth-bottom) on Tuesday and Walton Casuals (sixth-bottom) next Saturday. With only today’s game, of the four, away from home, and with three points already in the bag, Steve Lovell would surely be looking for at least ten points from this lot. But, to use a quaint Irish expression, there’s many a slip between cup and lip – or, as I once heard snooker commentator John Pullman say, “there’s many a slip between lup and kip” !
We’ve been getting used to seeing this afternoon’s opponents, Corinthian-Casuals, at this end of the table. They’ve finished in the bottom two for the past two seasons, but, due to clubs stepping down from the league, and the restructuring of the non-league pyramid, have escaped relegation on both occasions. It’s actually a standing joke, among the clubs newly-promoted to the league, that they just need to finish above Corinthians to survive, as the club never gets relegated ! It did, however, seem like Corinthians were making a far better fist of it this season, but a recent run of poor results has seen them plummet to a position just one place above the drop-zone. The Casuals are currently plumb-bottom of the six-game current form table, with just two points from those games, and with their previous game being a 0-5 home defeat to third-placed Cray Wanderers.
[ I’d like to make a brief disclaimer here. For the benefit of any pedantic Corinthian-Casuals supporters, I’ll point out that I’m aware of the correct name of your club, with its all-important hyphen, and that I understand that the club known as Corinthians plays, not in the Ryman League, but in Brazil – it’s just that I’m not going to use the full and correct term at every mention ! ]
I remember being quite disappointed when I first visited the King George Arena, in the 2005-6 season. I wasn’t expecting a big ground, but I did imagine that this world-famous old amateur club would have a ground with some character and a bit of grandeur, with maybe a quaint old wooden stand and a certain amount of Victoriana about it. Instead, I found a venue that was very low-rise and low-key – in fact, it’s all very 1970s, with the main feature being a long, corrugated stand, containing red plastic seats, just three deep. This gives a worm’s eye view of the pitch and the dug-outs on the far side. At each end, the narrow terracing is sheltered by a short stand.
King George’s is always a bugger to get to, being situated just off the A3, about ten minutes’ walk from Tolworth Station, and accessed via a pokey little road that runs parallel to the main A-road. What little parking there is at the ground is also a bit iffy. For anyone arriving in time, there might be a space on the compacted mud on the drive up to the single turnstile – otherwise, it’s the small, grassy field adjacent to the ground, (weather permitting). I sometimes wonder what they’ll do when they play Arsenal here in the Cup !
Although this description might seem like a bit of a moan, I’d still like to see Corinthian-Casuals on the roster for next season. We always get a friendly welcome here, and anyone with any feeling for non-league football cannot fail to admire this club for keeping the flag flying for genuine amateurism, since their players receive neither payment nor expenses for their services. Besides, it remains a club with a long and proud history, and this season Corinthian-Casuals FC celebrates its 125th anniversary. One of the events to mark this anniversary will be a friendly match against AFC Wimbledon at Wembley Stadium. Shouldn’t be any problems with the car parking there !
One thing that was immediately noticeable about the Corinthians side today was that they all looked very young. In fact, the only person on the pitch who looked younger than any of the home side’s starting eleven was the Referee. (This didn’t stop young Master Atkin from having an excellent game - he reffed the match with a calm authority, and it’s to his credit that he never had to resort to waving his yellow card about). I can’t tell you much else about The Casuals’ team today, except to say that they included some colourful names, to match their colourful strip – they started with a Daniel Green, a Byron Brown and a Luke Gay ! (I sometimes think that these things are sent to me as a gift !). In the fashion stakes, the famous pink & chocolate colour scheme is slightly different this season – the shirt is halved, with sleeves reversed – and the rose pink blended prettily with our lads’ daffodil yellow.
The Ashford Town team news was, as usual, that it was the usual line-up, both on the pitch and on the bench. The starting eleven, then, was Riley, Humphrey, Hockey, Ray (capt.), Brathwaite, Sherwood, Barnes, Briggs, Bottle, Jones and Lovell. Although there was no substitute goalie on the bench, there were the usual suspects: Tony Browne, Danny Lye, Rob Denness and Walid Matata, plus Anthony Hogg. Interesting that Steve Lovell is still starting with new signing Anthony Hogg on the bench – but, with the current team playing well and getting some good results, maybe it isn’t so surprising.
Today was the day when the thermal underwear made its seasonal debut, as it was forecast today to be decidedly parky; Mrs Milton Keynes Correspondent donned her snowboarding trousers – we have a ski slope in MK, you know ! [ “Skiing” is actually one of our favourite pastimes – it stands for “Spending Kids’ Inheritence” ! ] As it turned out, it wasn’t as cold as expected, and, with the game being played in bright sunshine, beneath almost cloudless skies and with not enough of a breeze to make a significant difference to the play, conditions were set fair for a good game of football.
That wasn’t what was delivered, though, as this was by no means a classic. This was probably mostly due to the fact that the two teams were anything but evenly matched. The youthful appearance of The Casuals’ players was confirmed very early on, as it seemed to be men against boys all over the pitch. This was most obvious when Ashford pressed forward, with Paul Jones’s superior strength and pace enabling him to just about do as he pleased in terms of grabbing possession, holding the ball up and linking up with other players – although his shooting is still not quite A1 ! Our defence was also in full control for most of the game, and Sean Ray and Lee Hockey might have played in their slippers. Having said all that, Ashford took quite a long time to fully impose themselves on the opposition, with things not quite clicking for them in the first 20 minutes or so. Our boys looked marginally the more likely side to score, but the quality of delivery was poor in the final third of the pitch.
Although our hosts were limited to the one shot on target during this opening period – Lee Matthews’s long-range shot, in the third minute, was straight at Jamie Riley – Jamie was still the busier of the two ‘keepers, with a number of back-passes to deal with, and through-balls to intercept. The game was always fairly free-flowing, with few stoppages – well done, Mr Atkin, once again. The first set-piece situation of note came in the 24th minute, when Corinthian-Casuals had a free-kick near to the left corner of the penalty area. As with all Casuals’ free-kicks and corners on the left, full-back Matt Smith and Brown Byron stood over the ball, but this time it was Brown who took the kick, but he rather wasted it by curling his cross beyond the far post.
Two minutes later, Ashford showed their first sign of breaking through, when a long throw, on the left, from Lee Hockey was flicked on by the head of Paul Jones, finding Mark Lovell in the six-yard box – but Lovell was flagged off-side. Seconds later, a cross-field ball found Brown Byron, free on the left, just inside the Ashford penalty area – and this time there was no flag. Brown attempted a cross, but this was smothered by Nicky Humphrey, who came sliding in, putting the ball behind for a corner. There were appeals for hand-ball, but this would have been a very harsh penalty. Brown and Smith again worked the dead-ball situation between them, and funneled the ball back to Tyrone Myton, who arced over a deep cross, from a wider angle. Centre-half Richard Price got on the end of this, but the ball slid off his shaven head, and behind for a goal-kick.
Highlight of the half came in the 27th minute, with an injury to Casuals’ Dale Hennessey – but only because it was an excuse for Corinthains’ gorgeous blonde Physio, Loreen Woodward to come onto the pitch. (Woodward ? So would I !). She glided across the Tolworth turf, long, flaxen hair trailing in her wake. What a vision of beauty ! And we’ve got Mo Alvi !
One way in which we bettered our opponents today was in the number of fans behind the respective goals. Early on, with the official attendance being 104, the score was 0-11 to the visitors, and this progressed to 3-13 as the first half wore on, with the added bonus of a green & white “ATFC” flag draped over the perimeter fence.
Back to the footy, then, and Ashford had their first real sight of goal in the 34th minute. A Daniel Brathwaite throw-in, from the left, found Paul Jones, in the penalty area. Jonah took one touch, on his chest, and then turned, to create a clear shooting chance – but he blasted this well over. Two minutes later, Corinthians had an opportunity, at the other end, with a free-kick just outside the area, awarded for a foul on Tyrone Myton. Matt Smith was faced with a four-man wall, and hit his effort straight into this wall; his second attempt, from the rebound, was charged down.
There were often cries of “not good enough” and “let’s raise it” to be heard from both sets of players during the first half, and it appeared that a fairly flat opening 45 minutes would end all square at 0-0 – but Ashford effectively won the match with two goals before the interval. The first of these came in the 39th minute. Nicky Humphrey, who has done a tremendous job at right-back this season, had possession of the ball on the right. He chipped the ball into the centre, where Paul Jones flicked the ball on, finding Jimmy Bottle. Jimmy quickly transferred the ball onto his favoured left foot, and was upended by Matt Smith, who had come lungeing in, only to find that the ball wasn’t there when he arrived. The ref had no hesitation in awarding a penalty. It’s true that this was a rash challenge by the defender, but Jimmy deserves a lot of credit as well, as it was his quick feet that drew the foul. I was a little surprised that it was Mitchell Sherwood who stepped up to take the penalty, but presumably this was because Steve Lovell knows that he is good at taking them ! Mitch calmly slotted the ball, low, into the corner of the net, with goalkeeper Colin Harris diving in the other direction, to open his account for Ashford Town.
Our second goal came in the 45th minute, but not before Corinthians actually had a great chance to equalise, with what was to be by far their best opportunity of the match. For once, Sean Ray failed to deal with a long ball from the home defence, in the 43rd minute – he seemed to misjudge this one, letting it go across his body, and this error resulted in Hinga Amara being put clean through on goal. This was a classic one-on-one situation, in the finest OK Corale tradition, with Amara having eons of space and acres of time. Jamie Riley came out of his goal, positioned himself and waited, fingers twitching, for Amara to advance. Jamie hasn’t been over-worked during his time at Ashford, but, when he has been called upon to make important saves, he hasn’t let us down. On this occasion, he showed great reflexes to save, low, with his right hand. This was a great stop, and it effectively sealed his second consecutive clean sheet.
Corinthians had half a shout for a penalty, in the 44th minute, for a little push in the area, but this was not very convincing, and Ashford went 0-2 up, just a minute later. This was again a result of an error from this young defence, and this time the blame can be laid at the feet, or rather the hand, of the goalkeeper. A free-kick from near the right touchline resulted in a steepling cross, which Harris really should have dealt with without too much trouble. Instead, he just palmed the ball out to Jimmy Bottle, who put the ball into a half-empty net, from a distance of about 15 yards. Jimmy showed good technique here, as he had plenty to do with this – he waited for the ball to settle, and then lashed it in with his RIGHT foot.
The second half was very comfortable for Ashford. The home side did very little in the way of closing down, or pressurising the man in possession, and the boys were able to put their little passing movements together. Ryan Briggs, in particular, was quietly impressive in central midfield.
One slight surprise was that Paul Jones didn’t get onto the score-sheet this afternoon, given his obvious physical advantage over his marker, Richard Price – but he had a clear chance in the 49th minute. He showed great strength to shrug off Price, to latch onto a through-ball from Nick Barnes. This time it was Colin Harris’s turn to have the better of a one-on-one situation, doing well to come out and block Jonah’s effort.
In the 53rd minute, there was again chaos in the Corinthians’ defence, when Scott Hassell rather skied an attempted back-pass to his ‘keeper. This resulted in a 50-50 between Harris and Jimmy Bottle. Jimmy was the stronger, and the ball broke kindly for him, to give him what seemed to be an open goal, but Richard Price did well to intercept the ball on the line. The ensuing recriminations in the home defence betrayed a lack of confidence in one another, and a growing frustration.
In the 56th minute, Price did well again, robbing Paul Jones of the ball and advancing into the Ashford half; he then let fly with an audacious long-range shot, which wasn’t all that far off target, but it went high and wide. A minute later, Casuals’ Manager Brian Adamson made a double-substitution, replacing Dale Hennessey and Hinga Amara with Sam-Yorke Delano (Slightly Silly Party) and Ayokunle Olusesi (ditto).
There were a few chances for Ashford to add to their two goals, but final passes and finishing remained pretty poor – so we didn’t really deserve to win by a wider margin, in spite of our dominance. In the 58th minute, Paul Jones again showed great physical strength to get to a long clearance from Nicky Humphrey ahead of the Corinthians’ defence. He advanced into the penalty area, but his attempted cross, looking for Jimmy Bottle, was blocked; the ball broke to Ryan Briggs, who hit his long-range shot wastefully high and wide. A long ball down the left touchline from Jimmy Bottle, in the 67th minute, found Paul Jones, who was duly fouled – but Ryan Briggs unerringly managed to find the head of a defender, with the free-kick. Daniel Brathwaite, who ventured forward on a number of occasions in the second half, found Mark Lovell, on the edge of the penalty area, in the 70th minute; Mark did well to touch the ball over the head of a defender, but then volleyed the ball high and wide. Then, in the 73rd minute, shortly after the first of the usual calls for “Wally” rang out from behind The Casuals’ goal, Paul Jones laid the ball off to Nick Barnes, whose shot, from outside the penalty area, went across the face of goal.
Well, Steve Lovell resisted the pleas to throw on Walid Matata, but, as early as the 74th minute, he felt secure enough with the two-goal lead to be able to make some substitutions, purely in the interests of giving the bench-warmers a run out. Initially, he sent on Anthony Hogg in place of Ryan Briggs, who had put in a good shift. Then, in the 77th minute, Tony Browne and Danny Lye replaced Nick Barnes and Lee Hockey – Nicky Humphrey moved across to a central defensive position, with The Browne Dog filling in at right-back. In normal circumstances, such a set of substitutions, on the back of a two-goal lead and with almost a quarter of an hour remaining, would have been something of a gamble - but not on this occasion, such was Ashford’s level of comfort.
In the 81st minute, Brian Adamson made the sixth, and final, substitution of the game, putting on Carlton Murray-Price in place of Matt Smith.
This was my first sight of Anthony Hogg on the pitch. He’s tall for a midfield player, and strongly built, and it probably says something about his stature that he was entrusted with taking the free-kicks and corners as soon as he came on. In the 85th minute, however, it was Hoggy who was left in a heap on the ground after a late tackle, so Jimmy Bottle took the resulting free-kick, from near the left touchline. Jimmy’s long cross went beyond the far post, and, after a brief session of head tennis in the Corinthians’ penalty area, Colin Harris was able to gather the ball, one-handed. Hogg did supply the cross, from a corner in the 88th minute, which provided Ashford with a final chance to increase their lead, but Sean Ray, rising high above the Corinthians’ defence, headed wide.
So, for the second successive Saturday, Ashford collected the three points without having to come out of second gear. I’d like to think that, if Tooting & Mitcham, or Cray Wanderers, had turned up in a coach to play us in the second half, then the boys would have been able to raise their game, as required – but three points is three points, and I’m one veteran of recent relegation scraps who still doesn’t look three points in the mouth. With Dulwich Hamlet playing out a 1-1 draw at home to Dover Athletic this afternoon, our heroes are now twelve points shy of a play-off position, and still with the three games in hand. Is it just me, or does this indicate that promotion at the end of the season is by no means a forlorn hope ?
It is at least refreshing that we are looking ahead of us, instead of over our shoulder at the relegation situation. Our hosts, on the other hand, need to worry a bit. It was certainly a bad day for them in terms of results elsewhere, with Whitstable and Eastbourne Town both winning, and Walton Casuals and (even) Molesey getting a point; only Horsham YMCA, of their rivals at the bottom, suffered a defeat today. Worse than this, Corinthians looked a poor side – a team of boys, lacking a leader or a talisman on the pitch. I was certainly considerably more impressed with what I saw from the YMCA a few weeks ago – so Corinthian-Casuals might need to rely upon their traditional immunity from relegation once again this year.
A couple of other points. Firstly, it was good to see the Ashford players acknowledge the travelling supporters at the final whistle – this hasn’t always happened. Secondly, we were pleased to present Jimmy Bottle with his Man of the Match medal today – he won the penalty, scored himself and worked tremendously hard, and effectively, up and down the left flank this afternoon. Jimmy’s goal makes him our second-top scorer this season, with six goals, just one behind Walid Matata.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Jimmy Bottle
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