Sittingbourne 2 Ashford Town 1
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
We were over on the Isle of Wight at the week-end, attending an event that included a fund-raising element. Part of this was an auction, and one of the “lots” was a week’s holiday in the Kempinski Hotel, in Adu Dhabi, which is one of the world’s very few Seven Star hotels. The Emirates Palace complex has every amenity you can think of, and many more besides, with servants to wait on you, hand and foot. The winning bid was one of £1,500, made by some dippy woman who’d had far too much to drink.
I didn’t bid. Instead, Mrs Milton Keynes Correspondent was treated to a Tuesday night trip to Bourne Park. Now, I don’t count myself among the many people who dislike coming here – there’s plenty of car parking, and it adds to the wide variety of locations that we get to visit whilst following Ashford Town around the Ryman League – but I’d be failing in my duty of description if I didn’t point out that, whilst the view of the Town Hall from Eastbourne Town’s ground occupies one end of the spectrum of picturesque backdrops, the Bourne Park vista, consisting of warehouses and factory yards, is anchored at the opposite end. As kick-off neared, the August sun had all but sunk, leaving just a salmon reflection on the extractors on the roof of the industrial unit to the North of the ground. Although it had been a pleasantly warm day, there was a distinct chill to the breeze – which is about as balmy as it gets in Sittingbourne in August.
So this was the fourth game of a season which began disastrously with that 7-0 rogering at Croydon Athletic, but, in spite of coming here occupying the bottom place in Ryman Division One South, with one point from three games, Manager Steve Lovell could be encouraged by steadily improving performances. His largely inexperienced team came away from Croydon and lost 0-2 at home to Merstham, in spite of putting in a much better display and creating plenty of chances; then two Paul Jones goals put us 2-0 ahead of Godalming Town on Saturday, with less than ten minutes remaining, but we managed to salvage a 2-2 draw from that one.
It was in some way comforting that Steve Lovell sent out a largely unchanged side this evening, which showed that he has faith in the lads that he has put together – but it probably also reveals a distinct lack of depth in the squad. A major problem so far, which was very evident in pre-season, has been with the defence. In front of Scott Chalmers-Stevens, we had a back four of Carl Harrold (who has impressed many with his performances at right-back this season), the on-loan John Guest, Bryan Pearce and Lee Hockey (who, at left-back, was already completing the full set of back-four positions for Ashford, since rejoining us from Chatham Town). I actually thought that Lee had a good game tonight, and, importantly, John Guest gradually emerged as a strong presence in the centre of defence, having been decidedly anonymous during the Croydon game. Carl Harrold had a quieter game, but, when on the ball, did show himself to be a skilful and confident ball player.
The midfield was, is and will be heavily focused on Ryan Briggs, the Skipper this season. Although he’s a solid and experienced player, I’m not sure that he has the engine or the ability to drive the team on on his own, so I was heartened by the performance of Ross Morley alongside him. Ross looks a decent player, as does Joe Fuller, who looked pretty good at times up front alongside Paul Jones – although I’m not totally convinced that Joe’s best role is as a striker, and he faded a little in the second half, after an encouraging first. I’d prefer to see Nick Smith, who looked lively on the left side of midfield, partnering Jonah up front. The midfield quartet, in a 4-4-2 formation, was completed by Mitch Sherwood, who I thought had his best game for some time.
The list of substitutes also had a settled look to it, consisting of goalkeeper Darren Ibrahim ,(who I’m sure is never confused with Deren Ibrahim, who was in goal for Sittingbourne this evening), Jon Ralph, Ryan Norman, Rikki McDonnell and Ben Robbins.
The word on the Sittingbourne team was that they were short of fire power up front, with Player-Assistant Manager Richard Brady only on the bench and Bradley Spice, who scored in The Brickies’ opening game of the season, allegedly out with a back problem. There were some suggestions that the latter omission might have been for political reasons, given that it seems that not everyone was entirely happy with the manner of Bradley’s exit from Ashford Town in the middle of last season.
The home side soon set out their stall as to how they were going to play, with some careful possession football during the opening five minutes. It actually looked like The Brickies had an extra player on the pitch – not because they were so good, but because their strip this season is almost entirely black when viewed from behind, with red stripes on the front of the shirt only, meaning that there was an obvious colour clash with Referee Darren Blunden. Given that there was one set of floodlights not in operation during the first half, as dusk descended, it was the canary yellow shirts of Ashford’s away strip which shone out the brightest.
In spite of the home side’s meticulous passing, there was no real threat to the Ashford penalty area until the seventh minute, when Carl Harrold’s leap wasn’t enough for him to get his head onto a ball chipped in towards the penalty spot. This fell to a Sittingbourne player, in a dangerous position, but Lee Hockey came across well to cover. Lee was also in the right position, in the eleventh minute, when a Sittingbourne corner, swung in from the left, eluded the head of Ryan Briggs, at the near post, the former Sittingbourne defender heading clear. This was shortly after Joe Fuller had got a snap shot, from outside the area, on target, only to see Deren Ibrahim comfortably pat it down in front of him – but the Hockey clearance now set Ashford off on a break. This was led by Paul Jones, down the right flank, and the result was a throw-in, deep inside the Sittingbourne half. This provided the opportunity for one of Lee Hockey’s Rory Delap throws. On this occasion, Joe Fuller got up well, but his looping header went straight into the hands of the ‘keeper.
In the 13th minute, Ashford’s defensive uncertainties were highlighted, when the back five failed to deal with a ball sent into the six-yard box – this resulted in Jon Neal heading the ball against the bar, from close range; the No.9’s effort bounced down in front of Lee Hockey, who cleared the ball away from the goal-line. In the 19th minute, however, the visitors showed that there is some real ability there, when going forward. A flowing passing move involving Joe Fuller, Ross Morley and Paul Jones sent Jonah on another run down the right flank. This ended with a good cross into the centre of The Brickies’ penalty area, which Nick Smith was just unable to get on the end of.
Ross Morley was again seen to good effect, in the 23rd minute, when he approached the Sittingbourne area, from the right. Just as everyone was expecting a cross, he attempted an ambitious shot, with the outside of his right foot, which glanced off the far angle of the crossbar. Seven minutes later, Paul Jones rose to meet a free-kick pumped into the Sittingbourne area by Scott Chalmers-Stevens, from inside his own half. Jonah headed the ball down to Mitchell Sherwood, who scored seven goals in as many matches at the start of last season, but Mitch sliced his left-foot shot from outside the area.
Generally, the goal-less first half was very even, but it was noticeable that the Sittingbourne players gave the ball away far more often than our lads did. The only other incidents to report, before half-time, were a weak shot on the turn by Kweku Ansah, in the 40th minute, and then a low shot which was deflected straight at Scott C-S, in the 42nd minute. The second of these two chances arose from a corner, on the left, after Scott, with a Sittingbourne player right in front of him, managed to get enough on the ball to clear it to the edge of the penalty area.
The main talking point during the interval was the fact that only one bulb of the cluster of lights that had not been lit during the first half had now illuminated, meaning that it was a bit murky in the corner of the pitch that the home side was about to defend in the second half. Supporters of both clubs will know that there is some history in this fixture when it comes to the Bourne Park floodlights. It was during the 2006-7 season when the match was abandoned after 42 minutes, with an impressive home side leading Ashford Town 2-0. The irony was that Steve Lovell was then Manager of Sittingbourne, and I’m told that he still feels peeved to this day that Ashford goalkeeper Jake Whincup rather pulled a flanker on that occasion. Well, the situation must have caused some degree of concern, as Referee Blunden, (whose name is uncomfortably close to Blunder), trooped out to the offending pylon, accompanied by Brickies’ Manager Gary Abbott, and one of his linesmen, and had a chat with two men wearing green dayglo jackets. The ref then had a consultation with Steve Lovell, just as Steve had emerged from the players’ tunnel. It’s impossible to tell whether the Ashford Manager felt that he was now in a fairly weak bargaining position, but he seemed to indicate that he was happy for the game to continue – and there certainly seemed little justification for it not to do so.
First incident of the second half was a booking for Nick Smith, in the 51st minute. Nick was a little unlucky here, as he was tussling for the ball with Colin Richmond, and part of this process included kicking his opponent on the back of the leg. I’m sure that this was more enthusiasm than maliciousness, but Nick nevertheless picked up his second yellow card of the season. (He needs to be careful, as I understand that we have one or two suspensions coming up on the horizon, and this might be a real issue, given the thinness of the first-team squad). Conceding the free-kick, near to the half-way line, just in front of the dug-outs, almost led to further punishment for Ashford, as the resulting cross was headed down into the visitors’ six-yard box, before a diving header hit the post. A minute later, Ashford broke away, with the ball being spread wide to Mitch Sherwood, in space, on the right. Mitch had time to put in a good cross, but it was just too far in front of Paul Jones, who was arriving in the centre.
Sittingbourne took the lead in the 56th minute, and the goal originated from a long throw-in of their own. This was taken by Nick Reeves, on the left, about level with the Ashford 18-yard line. There were appeals from the home crowd as the ball appeared to hit Ryan Briggs on the arm, although this would have been an extremely harsh penalty. In the event, it made little difference, as Reeves picked up Briggo’s clearance, and sent in a low, hard shot, straight at Scott Chalmers-Stevens. There’s a chance that Scott might have been a little unsighted by Hicham Akhazzan, who was standing in front of him, but the bottom line is that the ‘keeper failed to hold on to the shot, and Akhazzan gratefully thumped the rebound into the net, via the underside of the bar.
At the time, I felt that this might have been the mortal blow, in spite of there being plenty of time left on the clock, as it had seemed that one goal might be enough to decide things, in a very even game with few chances. However, I was wrong, since, not only did the game open up a little from here, but Ashford got back into the game fairly quickly, in the 63rd minute.
The equaliser was vintage Paul Jones. Mitch Sherwood sent in a good, long ball over the Sittingbourne defence. Jonah ran onto it, into the penalty area, and had a start of about a length on his pursuers. Nevertheless, he checked and turned, transferring the ball onto his right foot, and then fairly smashed the ball into the top corner of the net. This was Paul’s, and Ashford’s, third goal of the season, and, even after this evening’s games, only Croydon Athletic’s Gary Noel (with six) has scored more in Ryman Division One South.
There was now a period of play during which Ashford showed how good they can be when going forward, and playing with confidence. After a Lee Hockey long throw had failed to settle in the penalty area for an Ashford player, in the 65th minute, we saw what was probably the best move of the match, in the 71st. Paul Jones laid the ball off to Nick Smith, who was flying down the left flank. He managed to feed the ball through to Ross Morley, who was also approaching the Sittingbourne penalty area at pace. Morley did well to get the ball wide to Mitch Sherwood, in space, on the right. Sherwood’s cross found Morley again, in the centre, but his low shot was well saved by Deren Ibrahim.
A minute later, Ashford had to deal with a free-kick, from wide on the right – the danger was averted when John Guest headed the ball behind to safety, at the far post, after which the resulting corner was cleared. In the 75th minute, Paul Jones found Mitch Sherwood, in loads of space on the right, yet again, but his cross, which was looking for Jones, in the middle, was put behind for a corner. This was taken by Ryan Briggs, right-footed, on the right. Although the ball bounced around in the Sittingbourne area, it refused to settle for an Ashford player, eventually being cleared as far as Ross Morley, whose looping shot went over the bar.
The 76th minute saw both a yellow card for Lee Hockey and the winning goal for the home team. It was impossible to make a judgment as to what really went on in the Sittingbourne gloom, in the creeping shadow of the town’s light industrial units, but Lee dived into a tackle, near his own corner flag, and a yellow was shown. More importantly, a corner, just seconds later, led to Sittingbourne’s winner. There are some present who might point the finger of blame at Scott Chalmers-Stevens for this goal as well, but I think that would be harsh, and prefer to highlight the fact that this was a very well-worked, and well-taken, goal from a set-piece. The ball was whipped in at pace, headed on at the near post, and then Matt Bourne was there, in the centre, to head home from point-blank range.
From here, The Brickies did a thoroughly efficient job of closing the game down, and, in spite of committing plenty of men forward, and the substitution of Ryan Norman for Lee Hockey, in the 83rd minute, to inject some extra pace down the left, Ashford never looked like equalising for a second time. Our best chance was probably immediately following Steve Lovell’s one and only substitution, when Nick Smith flicked the ball on to Paul Jones. Jonah trapped the ball and turned, and appeared to be in the frame of mind to do the job all on his own, but his shot, this time from outside the penalty area, went straight at the goalie. Our final chance came a minute later, when we were very fortunate to be awarded a free-kick. This gave Ryan Briggs the opportunity to look for the head of John Guest, who had gone up to provide just about the only real aerial threat we had during the game, but his header went straight up in the air.
The final whistle was greeted by just about the only cheer we heard all night from the home supporters – the attendance of 179 was certainly considerably boosted by visitors from East Kent. The three points moves Sittingbourne up to sixth place in the division, in spite of the fact that they have only scored four league goals from their four games to date – although Folkestone Invicta are actually in second place tonight, having scored the same number of goals from the same number of games !
The defeat, of course, leaves Ashford at the bottom of the table, with just the solitary point. I thought the lads played pretty well tonight, and deserved at least a draw from the game. If this had been a mid-season game, with the side in mid-table, then it would be easy to be philosophical about the result, and accept that the home side had nicked the points, after an even contest, with a well-worked set-piece goal – but the current context is one of a developing young side which is fairly desperate for a confidence-boosting win.
Maybe that win will come on Sunday, when we play Mile Oak at home, in the Preliminary Round of the FA Cup. Mile Oak are currently bottom of their division – which is Division One of the Sussex League – with no goals, and no points, from their first three games. They won their Sussex Senior Cup tie tonight, though, so maybe they’re cup specialists ! However, I hope, and expect, Ashford to get off the mark, with a win, on Sunday, which should give their season some impetus.
The decision as to the Man of the Match, after the “roll-over” of the previous away game, at Croydon Athletic, was not entirely straightforward, as there were good performances from Lee Hockey, Ross Morley, John Guest, Joe Fuller and Nick Smith, but it went to Paul Jones, who worked tirelessly up front tonight, often being the provider, as well as banging in the only goal.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Paul Jones
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