Sittingbourne v Ashford Town. Ryman Division One South. 14th of February 2009.

Sittingbourne 1 Ashford Town 1
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent

Today’s Kent derby at Bourne Park was a genuine promotion “six-pointer”. That said, both teams will have been fairly happy with a point for this 1-1 draw, but Ashford Town Manager Steve Lovell might be forgiven for wondering what might have been. Before the Brickies’ equaliser, with their first real chance of the game, in the 71st minute, the visitors looked in complete control. With the Metropolitan Police and league leaders Kingstonian drawing 2-2 at Imber Court this afternoon, a 0-1 victory would have elevated Ashford to the top of the division.

I can’t remember the last time that Ashford Town actually sat on top of the table, but I do know that we’ve endured many seasons of either mid-table nothingness, or relegation struggles when a mid-table position has been something to dream of, so it’s simply wonderful that we have a team that is very much in the thick of it, at the right end of the table, for a change. With the situation so tight at the top this season, and with the team in fine form, there’s every chance that this fight for a play-off place will carry on until the final game of the season.

It was also nice, after all the snow and rain of recent weeks, to actually have a game to go and watch, and the sun shone for the duration of our journey down the M1, around the M25, along the M20 (avoiding the M2, which was chocker), and then North, up the A249. Our usual practice when the boys are playing at Bourne Park is to get some scran in the centre of Sittingbourne; today, however, we decided to avoid running the gauntlet of the dirty glasses in Wetherspoons, and broke our journey at a Harvester pub in Dartford, where the food never disappoints.

We arrived at the ground just after 2pm, and another large contingent of Ashford Town supporters was already in evidence – thanks mainly to the R&J Coaches coach party. The visitors certainly appeared to comfortably outnumber the home fans, in a crowd of 337 – Sittingbourne’s second-highest gate of the season so far.

I refuse to be rude about Bourne Park, as we always get a friendly welcome here, but I’d be failing in my duty if I didn’t portray it as a stark contrast to the more leafy destinations on the roster, such as Fleet, Chipstead and Whyteleafe. All of these grounds are downright rustic compared with Bourne Park, which is situated deep into an industrial estate, tucked behind the greyhound stadium. If this were a back-drop to a TV drama, it would be described as “gritty”, and there would be coppers chasing baddies all over the place. This is a land of corrugated steel sections, cold steel railings, breeze-blocked outbuildings and portacabins. From the small, but cosy, main stand, the view consists of large warehouse units and rows and rows of metal racks storing blue, yellow and green plastic pipes. In the foreground, off-set a few yards from the half-way line, is a much smaller, rather ramshackle, stand, which is home to The Brickies’ “Kop”. Perhaps more importantly, the pitch was looking in pretty good nick, considering the recent monsoons and the fact that ground-sharing Maidstone United also have two teams playing on this surface. There were a few slightly muddy areas, but it looked pretty good for mid-February, and it certainly played very well throughout the match.

The casual observer might have expected this fixture to have had a little extra edge to it, given that Steve Lovell was returning to the club that he left about mid-way through last season, especially considering that he lured as many as seven players from Sittingbourne to The Homelands, in his wake. Well, that wasn’t the case – mostly due to the fact that almost all of the players that followed Steve to Ashford have either since been released, or are currently unavailable for selection. In fact, the only former Sittingbourne player in the Ashford starting line-up today was Mitch Sherwood, with Bradley Spice, (son of The Brickies’ Chairman), on the bench. If anything, Ashford Town’s Sittingbourne connections added to the camaraderie of the occasion, and it was good to see Bradley touch palms with one of his former team-mates as the teams came out for the second half, and to witness the injured Mark Lovell, another former Brickie, exchanging pleasantries with the lady on the turnstiles, who clearly remembered him. The home side actually had one former Ashford player in their starting line-up, with Ryan Andrews at right-back.

Mark wasn’t the only currently-sidelined Ashford player to be in attendance at Bourne Park this afternoon. Top scorer Paul Jones, alas, had not recovered from the hamstring strain he suffered in mid-week, so was a spectator today. The suspended Tony Browne was also there, with his short & sharp new hair-cut, and both Jimmy Bottle and goalkeeper Josh Willis were in the main stand. Steve Lovell did, however, have the services of skipper Sean Ray, after his one-match ban, so Razor returned to the centre of the defence, alongside Elliott Brathwaite. As usual, Elliott’s brother Daniel was at left-back, Jimmy Elford was at right-back and Ryan Briggs occupied the centre of midfield. The strength and battling qualities of Danny Lye were preferred, alongside Briggs, to the silkier, creative talent of James Humphries, so James was on the bench. The in-form Charlie Glyde was deployed on the left side of midfield, with Mitch Sherwood, who scored on Tuesday, on the right. The return of Sean Ray to the side meant that his former defensive side-kick, Craig Wilkins, was again selected as a centre-forward, alongside new loan signing Orlando Smith. Joining James Humphries and Bradley Spice on a four-man bench were Ian Batten and goalkeeper Darren Ibrahim.

So this was my first sight of Orlando Smith – universally known as “Mucu”, it seems – a Jamaican forward or left-sided midfielder who comes to us on a month’s loan from Welling United, in the Conference South. My first impressions ? Well, the first thing that struck me was that, in appearance, he looks unnervingly like Shaun Bradshaw – but, thankfully, that’s where the similarity ends. Given that Orlando comes to us straight from Welling’s first team, it was no surprise that he stood out as being the quality player on the pitch this afternoon. He looks very skilful with the ball at his feet, and showed the ability to go past players without seeming to think about it too much. (The problem, of course, is how to harness that obvious ability for the good of the team). Knowing also that Mucu hasn’t actually scored for The Wings this season, it wasn’t surprising that he didn’t always get it right in front of goal. If there were reports from Tuesday night’s game, against Godalming, that he was a bit shy of shooting, he certainly compensated too much the other way this afternoon, having some fairly ambitious attempts when he might have looked up and sought other options. He also looks like he might be a little enigmatic, occasionally seeming to have lapses in concentration, and allowing himself to become wound up by the sly elbows that he received from the opposition this afternoon. Nevertheless, a player of Orlando’s obvious quality can do nothing but good for Ashford Town, so let’s hope that he goes back to Welling, (if he has to), having rediscovered his goal-scoring touch.

It was certainly the fleet-footed, dribbling runs, and occasional deft touches, of Orlando Smith that stood out in a very unexceptional first half, which provided little evidence that this was a top-of-the-table clash between the teams lying second and seventh in the table. In truth, there was only one team in it in the first 45 minutes, with the few half-chances that did occur being created by the visitors. Ashford’s back five was fairly untroubled, except for a slight mix-up in the seventh minute, when Jimmy Elford had to deal with a long, diagonal ball into the penalty area. At first, it wasn’t clear whether he and Seb Barton were on the same wavelength, but Jimmy managed to chest the ball close enough to Seb for him to be able to gather it safely.

Ashford, playing in their green & white home strip, certainly had the majority of possession in the first half, against a Sittingbourne side that turned out in their familiar colours of red & black stripes, with shorts and sockies the same shade of black as those worn by both goalkeepers and all three officials. (So much for being precious about avoiding colour clashes !). To the uninitiated, it might have looked like Hibs taking on AC Milan.

In spite of having the ball for the longest, and having several corners and free-kicks, The Nuts ‘n’ Bolts rarely threatened the Sittingbourne goal in the first half. Elliott Brathwaite got up well to meet a Charlie Glyde corner, in the tenth minute, but was unable to direct his effort downwards, and Ryan Briggs sent a free-kick all the way through to goalkeeper Matt Read, five minutes later. That free-kick was expertly “bought” by Orlando Smith, who, just a minute later, sliced a speculative long-range shot well wide of goal, (to ironic cheers from the home supporters). This was closely followed by Charlie Glyde scuffing a tame shot straight at Read, and then, in the 19th minute, Orlando beat one defender pretty easily, to get himself into the Sittingbourne penalty area, but was denied by a good, covering tackle.

In the 24th minute, Ryan Briggs hit a free-kick straight into a Brickies wall, after Charlie Glyde had been felled by a late challenge from Colin Richmond, but Charlie had the ball in the Sittingbourne net, a minute later. This began with Orlando Smith spreading the ball wide to Mitchell Sherwood, who saw plenty of the ball, on the right, today. Mitch’s cross was headed up in the air, and Referee Allum’s whistle had blown well before Glyde hit the ball into the net.

On a bright afternoon of blue sky and broken cloud, the football was still failing to match the weather conditions when, in the 31st minute, Smith easily danced around Joe Dowley, only to slice his shot well wide, from just outside the Sittingbourne penalty area. In the 36th minute, Ashford had a corner, on the left, but this actually led to the home side’s one glimmer of a chance before half time. As the ball was cleared, the break was on, with No.9 Tom Bradbrook carrying the ball through the centre circle. This was a two-against-two situation, with the prolific Richard Brady peeling off wide, to Bradbrook’s left – but the two Ashford defenders who had stayed back did a good job, holding a good line and catching Brady offside as the ball was fed through to him.

Centre-half Joe Dowley was fortunate to get away with not being shown a yellow card, after a cynical trip on Smith, after Orlando had slipped past him with some quick footwork, and looked to be away. However, Ashford did fashion a shooting chance on the stroke of half time. A throw-in from Daniel Brathwaite, who is the nearest we have to a long-throw specialist, now that Lee Hockey has gone to Chatham, was nodded on to Mitch Sherwood, in the centre of the penalty area. Mitch showed good technique in turning and shooting in one movement, but his low effort went straight at the goalie.

Brickies’ Manager Gary Abbott made a substitution at half time, (and a wise one, as it turned out), replacing the anonymous Hicham Akhazzan with Nick Reeves – but the whole complexion of the game changed when Ashford scored, just seconds after the restart. After combining well with Mitch Sherwood, on the right flank, Jimmy Elford sent over a high, hanging cross. Matt Read should have dealt with this, but, under an aerial challenge from Craig Wilkins, merely patted the ball to Orlando Smith, who was waiting on the edge of the penalty area. Orlando volleyed the ball low, into the empty net. Striking the ball cleanly, he made taking the chance look easy – but I can think of one or two current Ashford players that I’m pleased the ball didn’t fall to, at the moment.

Although the goal was well taken, Read should certainly shoulder some of the blame, and his confidence wasn’t helped when he was guilty of a complete “air shot” when attempting a clearance, just seconds later. Orlando probably had this in mind when, in the 48th minute, after a Sittingbourne corner had been cleared, he attempted a hopeful shot almost from the halfway line – but this time his execution was all wrong, and the shot went nowhere near the goal.

There was another great piece of work from Smith in the 52nd minute, when a deft flick from him sent Craig Wilkins clean through on goal. Well, Wilko is no whippet, but, despite the fact that he had some ground to make up to catch up with the ball, he managed to get there before the chasing Sittingbourne defence – only to shoot well wide.

The first piece of quality work we saw from the home side came in the 53rd minute. A good passing movement on the edge of the Ashford penalty area ended with Nick Reeves curling a rapidly-dipping shot just past the angle of post and bar. A minute later, however, the visitors had an even better opportunity to score. This time it was Ryan Briggs who was the exponent of the curling ball, bending a cross behind the Sittingbourne back line, which simply begged to be headed into the net. The cross found both Craig Wilkins and Charlie Glyde unmarked, beyond the far post, and it was Charlie whose header lacked any direction.

The Brickies had a great opportunity themselves, in the 58th minute, and this was presented to them by Sean Ray and Elliott Brathwaite, who both otherwise had a towering game in the centre of Ashford’s defence. A through ball into the Ashford penalty area clearly needed dealing with, and Brathwaite, in an attempt to hoof clear, hit the ball straight at Ray. The ball broke nicely for Tom Bradbrook, who, in spite of being outside the penalty area, now had a clear sight of goal – but sliced his shot wide, and the way he reacted by clasping his hands to his head afterwards told its own story ! It would have been a slightly fortunate way for Sittingbourne to equalise, but there was no doubt that the home side was very much starting to come into the game, albeit without troubling the Ashford defence unduly.

The next opportunity fell to the visitors, however, and Joe Dowley once again benefited from referee Allum’s leniency when he deliberately handled the ball to intercept a through-ball just outside the Sittingbourne penalty area, in the 69th minute. When Dowley was called to one side by the ref, it appeared certain that he was going to be shown a yellow card – after all, deliberate hand-ball is usually an automatic booking – but no further action was taken. From the resulting free-kick, Ryan Briggs this time managed to lift the ball over the wall, but his effort was also just too high.

Sittingbourne were beginning to command more possession, and started to pass the ball around, building patiently. One such build-up resulted in substitute Nick Reeves shooting just wide, from outside the area, in the 74th minute. The home side’s equaliser, in the 76th minute, coming shortly after big Elie Kayembe had been thrown on as sub in place of Mark De Bolla, resulted from a good passing move involving Sittingbourne’s two substitutes. Nick Reeves sent Kayembe through to the by-line, and the Congolese striker sent in a dangerous cross, which Richard Brady somehow bundled into the net, at the near post. This sparked an immediate protest from Seb Barton and the Ashford defence, who all felt that the goal should have been disallowed, (apparently because the ‘keeper had had the ball kicked from his grasp), but Mr Allum was unmoved. So 1-1 it was, and Ashford had once again, for the fifth successive game, found a way to concede a goal, (albeit just the one goal in each case).

If the referee had reduced his chances of receiving a Valentine’s Day card from any of the Ashford Town supporters, his goose was well and truly cooked, almost straight after the restart, when he booked Mitchell Sherwood for what appeared to be a perfectly legitimate attempt to challenge in the air for the ball. Given the leniency that Mr Allum had previously shown to Joe Dowley, this appeared to be very inconsistent.

The game really might have gone either way after the Sittingbourne equaliser, as the play gradually became more stretched. Shortly after Richard Brady had been put clean through on goal, in the 83rd minute, only to see the lino’s flag raised for off-side, it was Ashford’s turn to put together a decent passing movement. This resulted in Mitchell Sherwood’s attempted cross, from the right, being put behind for a corner. This was swung in, left-footed, by Charlie Glyde, and Sean Ray got up well, directing his header on target, but Matt Read redeemed himself, after his earlier error, tipping the ball onto the post, before Tom Bradbrook hoofed it away, from off the goal line.

Orlando Smith gave way to ex-Brickie Bradley Spice, in the 84th minute, in Steve Lovell’s only substitution of the game, after a performance that mixed high-quality skill with squandered opportunities. A minute later, Ashford were very nearly caught on the break. Daniel Brathwaite lost the ball, well upfield, when attacking down the left flank. Rio Alderton quickly spread the ball to Richard Brady, on the left, and the Player-Assistant-Manager’s cross found Tom Bradbrook, sliding in at the far post after arriving at pace, but Bradbrook put the ball wide.

The home side was certainly finishing the game the stronger, and at last started to look like promotion challengers, with right-back Ryan Andrews coming close, in the 87th minute. Meeting a cross from the left, Andrews had a great chance to snatch all three points, against his former club, but smashed the ball into the side-netting. Two minutes later, Elie Kayembe again had the ball in a dangerous position, just on the corner of the Ashford six-yard box. He squared the ball into the goalmouth, where Seb Barton came to claim. There was a brief scramble as the ball squirmed out of Seb’s grasp, but the Ashford defence eventually cleared.

Into injury time, and still Sittingbourne pressed forward. With 92 minutes on my watch, Colin Richmond, who was soon to be named as The Brickies’ Man of the Match, sent in a low, hard shot, which was saved by Seb Barton, diving to his left. But the real scare for Ashford came seconds later. A cross, from the right, was cleared, solidly enough by the visiting defence, but only as far as Tom Bradbrook. His low shot beat Seb Barton, but was cleared off the line by Jimmy Elford. The ball rebounded straight to Richard Brady, who had earlier scored his 15th league goal of the season, and his firm shot was once again saved on the line by Elford. This time it was Colin Richmond who found the ball at his feet, and he shot just wide of the angle of post and bar.

This was an heroic climax to the game for Jimmy, but he had already done enough to be named as the MK Man of the Match, for another solid and polished performance. This was not, however, a straight-forward decision, as Sean Ray and Elliott Brathwaite both impressed at the back, and Danny Lye had a strong, hard-working game in midfield.

Elsewhere, results in and around the play-off zone went more or less to form, with promotion contenders drawing against one another and beating teams from lower down the division – the exception was at Leatherhead, where The Tanners did us a favour by beating Fleet Town 2-0. Ashford went down a place, to third, as a result of today’s exertions, but, with the top six teams spread over just four points, it’s extremely tight at the top. With Kingstonian, Fleet and Worthing all having pretty easy home games over the next two or three days, it’s crucial for Ashford to take all three points when they travel to face an improving Whitstable Town side on Tuesday night.

Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Jimmy Elford