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