Walton Casuals v Ashford Town. Ryman League Division One South. 20th of December 2008.

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