Burgess Hill Town 2 Ashford Town 2
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
Ashford Town travelled to Burgess Hill, in West Sussex, occupying a place in the relegation zone – second-bottom, with only Whitstable Town below us. Our hosts, on the other hand, are about as mid-table as you can get: won five, lost five, and with a goal difference of exactly zero. However, there were reasons for the AMb Travel-borne party of supporters to be optimistic. If we ignore the mid-week cup defeat at the hands of Tilbury – and, with a record low crowd of 61, it seems that that’s what most people did – Ashford were coming off a good performance away at Chatham, probably a side of similar strength to Burgess Hill, where a solid defensive performance enabled the lads to come away with a well-deserved 0-0 draw. Well, it’s fair to say that this was also a richly deserved point fought for away from home – but the most pleasing thing was that, as well as looking fairly secure at the back, Ashford also looked capable of scoring, throughout the match, so we’re certainly starting to look more like a football team now.
The performance and the point were all the more creditable for the fact that we had a few youngsters on duty this afternoon. Experienced personnel missing were Danny Lye, Paul Jones and Toby Ashmore; Danny Lye was unable to get to the game today, whilst Jonah is still on the sick list and Toby was serving a one-match suspension. Added to that, Ross Morley is currently suspended for something he did in Sunday League football, whilst there was no sign of Matt Newman, of Tunbridge Wells, who played in the Tilbury defeat, presumably as a trialist.
Laurence Harvey also played in mid-week, and I’m pleased to say that he retained his place in central defence alongside Lee Hockey, who was captain this afternoon, becoming the fifth player to captain Ashford this season, to my knowledge. (The arm-band must have done Lee the power of good, as he put in a commanding performance today). Steve Springett, the Man of the Match for the previous two games, retained his place at left-back, having extended his loan period from Gravesend for a further month, and right-back Carl Harrold completed the back four in front of Darren Ibrahim. There was also a starting place for young Ronnie Dolan, who partnered Ryan Briggs in central midfield, with Mitchell Sherwood on the right, and Nick Smith on the left. In Paul Jones’s continued absence, Mark Lovell and Joe Fuller were the front two. There was also plenty of youth on the bench – apart from the more experienced Bryan Pearce, we had goalkeeper Dan Mason, winger Dan Scorer and striker Sam Conlon, all from Lee Ealham’s Reserves squad. However, for the second away match in succession, Steve Lovell made no substitutions, sticking to the starting eleven for the entire 90 minutes – which illustrates just how well the lads performed as a unit.
Glancing at the Burgess Hill team sheet, there were, as usual, the ominous names of Steve Harper, The Hillians’ excellent, goal-scoring midfielder, and Danny Gainsford, their gigantic centre-half. Gainsford was mostly assigned to marking Joe Fuller, which he did successfully for pretty much the whole game; (when they went up for the ball in the air, young Joe looked like a puppy jumping up against someone’s leg !). But Harper’s the boy. With him in the side, Burgess Hill will always have a half-decent team. He’s on the four-goal mark already this season, including a hat-trick against Fleet Town.
I enjoy coming to Burgess Hill, probably because the footy ground is located on the edge of a housing estate that is very much like the one I grew up in in South Ashford; (The Crusader pub on a Friday night was always a bit like Millwall on a Saturday afternoon – but it was home !). I also have happy memories of Ashford coming to Leylands Park, and walking off with three points, on each of my two previous visits. In 2006-7, we won 0-2, with Kenny Jarrett-Elliott scoring the second, and we won 2-3 here the following season, with Danny Lye smashing home the winner in the 82nd minute. (I missed last year’s 1-1 draw).
This season’s visit was certainly character-building. The weathermen forecast wet and windy conditions, and that was exactly what we got, with the weather getting steadily worse as the game wore on. After a dry trip down from Milton Keynes, there were just one or two spots of rain in the breeze as we left The King’s Head, after a decent pub lunch – I had steak & kidney pudding, and Mrs MKC had ham & eggs – and that was how the weather was as the teams kicked off, under dark, overcast skies. However, it didn’t take Ashford long to catch a cold, as we found ourselves a goal down very early on – not for the first time this season. After Mitch Sherwood had gone on a promising run down the right wing, before planting his cross into the arms of goalkeeper Joe Adams, the home side attacked down the left, through 19 year-old winger Max Barnard. The No.11 cut inside, and his right-footed shot was deflected into the area, into the path of a Burgess Hill player, whose cross-cum-shot was tipped high into the air by Darren Ibrahim. I must confess that I thought the ball was sailing behind the goal for a corner, but Danny Curd had his whey, and charged in to head home from close range. This was Curd’s ninth goal of the season – and Ashford had found themselves 1-0 down as early as the second minute.
In some games this season, an early goal conceded by Ashford has soon led to another, and then, sometimes, another, so we feared the worst as the home side sought to press home their advantage. In the seventh minute, Lee Hockey did well to cut out a cross, at the expense of a corner, on the right. This was slung into the penalty area, and there were several scuffed attempts at goal, before Carl Harrold blocked Danny Curd’s shot at the far post, from close range, for another corner. The resulting cross was well caught by Darren Ibrahim, who appears to be growing in confidence with every game.
Soon, though, Ashford got a foot-hold in the match, and went forward, applying a bit of pressure at the other end. In the eighth minute, we won a corner. This was taken short, and Mark Lovell managed to get on the end of the cross that eventually came in, but his shot was blocked. Mark is yet to get on the score-sheet since coming back from his long-term knee injury, but he has brought plenty to the team since his return. He stitches play together well, gives us a bit of presence in the air, and is willing to get into wide positions. In the twelfth minute, Mark did some good work near the right touch-line, and put in a good cross, but the sliding-in Smudger Smith just failed to get on the end of it.
A minute later, Steve Harper very nearly extended the home side’s lead. At the end of a well-constructed move, he lobbed Darren Ibrahim, who deflected the ball upwards with his finger tips. The ball was about to drop into the net, first bounce, but Lee Hockey, running back, did tremendously well to hook the ball off the line. Then, in the 15th minute, Harper again showed his quality, when he delivered a curling, right-footed free-kick into the Ashford goalmouth, from the left touchline. Although this was a difficult ball to deal with, Darren Ibrahim gathered safely – after some initial juggling, for which we can probably forgive him, on this occasion.
As we reached the half-way point of the first half, the threatened rain materialised. This wasn’t (yet) torrential, but it was steady, and was driven across the ground, from left to right, as Darren Ibrahim looked out from his goal. The one, decent-sized stand at Leylands Park would have given good shelter to this horizontal rain – but we remained on the opposite side, sharing the soaking with the two benches, which, when you think about it, is a level of stupidity that could get a man discharged from the Army ! However, there was quite an entertaining game of football out there, to take our mind off the weather, and the visitors - playing in the green & white home kit, to avoid a clash with Burgess Hill’s yellow and black halved shirts, with sleeves reversed – held their own well, and launched just as many attacks in the first half as the home side.
Ashford’s best chance during this period came in the 28th minute. Darren Ibrahim, who kicked pretty well today, suggesting that his groin strain is currently holding up, sent a long goal-kick into The Hillians’ half. Joe Fuller got up well, flicking the ball on with his head, finding Mitchell Sherwood in the inside-right position. Urged on by the Ashford bench, and having just the one defender to beat, Mitch jinked, to transfer the ball onto his right foot, and then sent in a firm shot, on target, but straight at goalkeeper Joe Adams.
There was then joy, in the 39th minute, as Nicholas Smith put the ball into the home side’s net – but then frustration, as the “goal” was ruled out for off-side. The chance came from a corner, on the left. The hard-working Ryan Briggs took the kick short, to Mark Lovell, who returned the ball to Briggo, providing him with a wider angle. Briggo’s cross was then headed across goal, from the far post, but Smith was, apparently, a yard off-side when he nodded the ball in from close range.
Mark Lovell popped up on the left flank in the 43rd minute, and, after cutting inside, sent in a right-footed shot, but this went over the bar. Then, as the game went into the one minute of first-half injury time, Nick Smith went on a raid down the left; he passed the ball inside, to Ronnie Dolan, whose low shot was fairly comfortably saved by Adams, diving to his right.
So Ashford went in at half time 1-0 down, but there had been no suggestion of an impending landslide defeat, such as those we had witnessed earlier on in the season. On the contrary, we were left thinking that the boys might well get something out of the game, if they could only make a breakthrough, and stick the ball in the net.
Well, we didn’t have to wait long for an equaliser, as the visitors dominated the early exchanges after the break. In the 48th minute, Lee Hockey sent in a long throw, on the right, deep into the Burgess Hill half; this had a low, fast delivery, and Mark Lovell was able to flash a backward header towards Joe Adams’s goal, but the ‘keeper made a brilliant save, catching the ball cleanly, in spite of having very little time in which to react. Two minutes later, Ashford had a corner on the right, which was curled in, left-footed, by Steve Springett. Lee Hockey rose to meet the ball, but his well-timed header was blocked by Adams. The clearance was picked up by Ryan Briggs, 20 yards out, and he drilled a low shot, through the crowded penalty area, into the far corner of the net. This was greeted with yells of delight, both on the pitch and from behind the goal, as Briggo scored his first goal of the season. He only scored three goals last season, and his strike-rate over the two seasons is now equivalent to a goal every 15 games – but Ryan thoroughly deserved to get on the score-sheet this afternoon, as it capped a good, all-round performance.
This was also Ashford’s first goal in open play since the 2-2 draw at home to Dulwich Hamlet, back in October, but, without making any naff analogies to buses, another one came along just seven minutes later, in the 57th minute. An attack down the left flank culminated with Lee Hockey lofting a high, curling cross into the Burgess Hill penalty area. This was always going to be awkward for Joe Adams, and his life was made no easier by the presence of Mark Lovell. As the two men challenged in the air, the ball popped up again. Mitch Sherwood came charging in, and his momentum was always going to make him favourite to get to the ball – and he nodded it into the top corner of the net, for his fourth of the season. Suddenly, Ashford were 1-2 up, and scoring goals seemed, at last, to be not only possible, but distinctly doable !
But Burgess Hill were by no means a beaten side. They definitely have quality up front, and looked well capable of scoring for the remainder of the game. In fact, they hit back hard at Ashford on going behind, and Darren Ibrahim was forced to make a good save, pushing the ball around the post, for a corner, with the 1-2 lead just a minute old ! He then made a good catch from the resulting cross.
By the hour mark, the weather had deteriorated considerably, with the wind continuing to drive the steady rain into the plastic dug-outs, and into the face of Steve Lovell and the few idiots who were still standing on that side of the ground. Lovell actually looked a bit like Jack Hawkins in The Cruel Sea – saturated, but gazing defiantly through the onslaught of the elements, with his hands clasped firmly behind his back.
In the 62nd minute, Max Barnard went on a dangerous run down the left. He sent in a deep cross to the far post, where Steve Harper headed the ball into the Ashford goalmouth – but Lee Hockey was there to clear. The breach was made, however, five minutes later, and it has to be said that the home side equalised with what was probably the best goal of the game. A quick, flowing move by The Hillians, from left to right, found Lloyd Cotton on the edge of the area, and he sent a curling shot around Darren Ibrahim and into the net, giving Darren no chance. I’m surprised to note, in the excellent match day programme, that this is only Cotton’s second goal of the season.
As the game wore on, and the weather worsened further, the match developed into something rather more attritional, and it became all about determination, hard work and concentrating on not making a mistake - having said that, there were still chances at both ends. In the 70th minute, right-back Carl Harrold once again reminded us of the talent he has, when he went on a run through central midfield. This run was continued by Joe Fuller, deep into the Burgess Hill penalty area, but the home defence forced the ball out for a corner, on the right. Steve Springett once again came across to take the kick, and found Mark Lovell, in the centre of the penalty area. Mark got up well, and, in spite of his momentum taking him backwards, got plenty of power into his header – but the ball went just wide of the post. It’ll come ! Three minutes later, a good, flowing move from the visitors ended with Joe Fuller having his shot blocked, from an acute angle; soon after, Darren Ibrahim was in action again, making a good save from a header, at his near post.
Shortly after Hillians Manager Gary Croydon had made the only substitution of the game, when he replaced Max Barnard with Jon Lansdale, there was a major threat to the Ashford goal. This came in the 81st minute. The details of the incident are unclear, but there was the most almighty goalmouth scramble, during which the ball was cleared off the Ashford line, not once, but twice. The end-result was a corner to the home side, and Steve Springett being left in a heap on the wet turf – which at least gave temporary Physio Rachel Long a chance to strut her stuff, having remained on the bench for the duration of the Chatham match.
Nick Smith looked to be Ashford’s most dangerous player in the closing stages, having battled well, on the left, for the entire game. With two minutes of normal time remaining, he led a break for the visitors, down the left touchline, after a Jon Lansdale free-kick had been cleared, but the Burgess Hill defence put the ball behind, for a corner. This was taken by Ryan Briggs, but came to nowt. Smudger then blotted his copy book by getting himself yellow-carded, after squaring up aggressively to Lloyd Cotton, who was also booked, in a forehead-to-forehead confrontation.
As the game entered the second of the three minutes of injury time, with the rain still drifting across the ground, Steve Lovell showed a slightly sadistic side to his character, when he called out to his soaked and exhausted players: “Dig in, boys ! Last 20 minutes !”. Of course, he was smiling when he said it, and he was smiling even more when Referee Chris Phillips blew the final whistle, as this was a much-needed point gained.
Ashford knew they needed to get something out of this game, as two of our rivals in the relegation scrap, Horsham YMCA and Whitstable Town, were playing each other today, just a few miles up the A23, so one or both of those teams were going to pick up a point or three. As it turned out, it was YMCA who took all three points, with a 1-0 victory. Biggest shock at the bottom of Ryman Division One South, however, was Eastbourne Town’s 2-0 win at home to Dulwich Hamlet, but, with Chipstead losing, today’s point at Leylands Park was enough to lift Ashford up one place, and out of the relegation zone. Next, we have three crunch games, all against teams in the bottom six – one at home to Walton Casuals, on Wednesday, and then two, home and away, against Whitstable, (all weather permitting, of course). If we can’t get at least four points from those three games, then, quite frankly, we don’t deserve to stay in this division.
It was a good performance by all ten men in a green & white shirt this afternoon – and the goalie, in a grey shirt, also looked pretty solid again, in spite of one or two minor fumbles. Young Laurence Harvey might have been mistaken for a 28 year-old out there today, as he looked completely at home in central defence, and Ronnie Dolan also looked very lively, and didn’t let anybody down – but it was the more senior players who stepped up to the plate this afternoon, and the two who were particularly outstanding were Ryan Briggs and Lee Hockey. Briggo just got the nod as Man of the Match, but Lee probably played his best game to date for Ashford Town.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Briggo
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