Chatham Town 0 Ashford Town 0
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
Thirteen games now gone in the season, at the start of this one, and Ryman Division One South was starting to take shape – and I think it’s probably significant that the bottom six teams in the table were also the bottom six teams in the Current Form table, and very much the sides that, on recent form, we’d expect to be involved in the relegation scrap: that’s Chipstead, Horsham YMCA, Eastbourne Town, Walton Casuals, Whitstable Town and, I’m afraid, Ashford Town. If the league table didn’t convince ourselves of that, then Ashford’s previous two performances certainly should have done – at Horsham YMCA, two Tuesdays ago, we were able to compete on equal terms, and were just edged out 2-1; at Walton & Hersham, in mid-week, we were out-matched by a mid-table team, unable to manage a single shot on target.
However, one glimmer of hope I’ve managed to detect is that Ashford’s away form, with the lads having lost every single game away from The Homelands, bar one, is far worse than our home form, since our home record is actually three wins and two draws from six matches. What dawned on me recently was that no fewer than NINE of the last twelve matches, including today’s at Maidstone Road, have been away – so we must have a few at Fortress Homelands to come !
It was certainly good to be back at Chatham, after The Chats’ ridiculous one-year exile in Ryman Division One North, and they’ve made a great start this season, lying in sixth place this morning – which has not been entirely surprising, since the signing of the excellent Brendan Cass, from Dartford, in the Summer. Looking through some old match reports, I noticed that there is just one man who played in all four matches at Maidstone Road between these sides, in the 2002-3, 2003-4, 2006-7 and 2007-8 seasons - I’ll spill the beans as to who it was, at the end of the report.
First news from the Ashford camp concerned a change in Physio. There had been rumours in mid-week that Alan Orsbourne, who has been our Sponge Man in recent weeks, was so exhausted from running on and off to attend to Mark Lovell on Tuesday – first it was Mark’s ankle, then it was his face, then it was his knee, etc. – that he would have to have a lie-down this week-end. There were also counter-rumours that Steve Lovell was planning to use Alan in a man-to-man marking role, following Mark around the pitch, with his bag. In the end, neither was the case, as Alan was due to attend a physio course – so in stepped Rachel Long, who is one of the so-called Physy Fillies, a group of trainee physiotherapists at Canterbury Hospital. Unfortunately, we never had the chance to see Rachel in her faster paces, but she’s an attractive, leggy filly, with a kind head and plenty of bone.
Long Rachel has arrived just in time, as it’s all about groins in the Ashford dressing room at the moment. Paul Jones continues to suffer from wedding-related fatigue in that area, and ‘keeper Seb Barton, Man of the Match on Tuesday, picked up an injury, towards the end of that game, that has also been diagnosed as a groin problem. As if that weren’t enough, Darren Ibrahim also has a groin injury, but was still preferred, in goal, to Dan Mason, which must be interpreted as a major vote of confidence from Manager Steve Lovell. It’s impossible to know the extent of the injury, but it was serious enough for Toby Ashmore to take all of Darren’s goal-kicks this afternoon.
The other injury blow for Ashford Town was that, as expected, top-scorer Joe Fuller had not recovered from the knock that forced him to come off after 20 minutes against Walton & Hersham – in fact, he was limping around the ground this afternoon every bit as feelingly as he had limped to his car at Stompond Lane on Tuesday. That left us distinctly short of strikers, but it’s quite likely that Steve Lovell would, in any case, have opted for the 4-3-1-2 formation, with son Mark “in the hole”, that served Ashford pretty well in the second half of the Walton game.
With our only available recognised striker playing just behind the front two, it was a couple of wingers who played up front: Mitchell Sherwood and Nicholas Frederick Smith. The midfield three were the experienced Ryan Briggs and Danny Lye, with Ross Morley operating on the right; the back four in front of Darren Ibrahim were Carl Harrold, Toby Ashmore, Lee Hockey and Gravesend loanee Steve “Geordie” Springett.
There were some interesting names on the bench, including three who had featured in the Reserves’ 0-2 defeat at home to Hythe Reserves on Wednesday – these were Dan Mason, Ronnie Dolan and Dan Scorer. It was good to see the elder of the two Scorer brothers involved again; the last time we saw Dan was when he went down with a freak knee injury, just 16 minutes after coming on as a substitute in the opening game of the season, at Croydon Athletic. Bryan Pearce was also on the bench, as defensive cover, but I was a bit surprised to see Jamie Forshaw, our other loanee from Gravesend, named as a substitute.
We arrived in good time today, so there was the opportunity to go to the bar and watch fellow Step 4 club Paulton Rovers playing at home to Norwich City in the First Round of the FA Cup. Paulton’s participation at this stage of the competition reminds us of what we ourselves can achieve – Lest We Forget, to use a phrase that has been well-used this week-end – but it was also good to see a team playing in Ashford Town’s away strip score seven goals away from home.
One of the major questions of the day was whether the team playing in yellow & green at Maidstone Road this afternoon could improve on Tuesday’s effort, by actually managing a shot on target during the 90 minutes. Well, this question was answered within the first 90 seconds, when a pot-shot from Mark Lovell, from outside the penalty area, was comfortably saved by Dean Ruddy, in the Chatham goal. This was the cue for something else that was missing on Tuesday – the first chorus from the travelling Ashford fans, who had arrived in Chatham in good voice, and in good numbers, considering that there was no Supporters’ Club coach available today.
Shortly after Mark Lovell’s triumphant shot on target, the home side counter-attacked at the other end, with a long cross, from the right, looking for Brendan Cass. The Chats’ No.9 got up for the header, which was also on target, but Darren Ibrahim made a good catch. Moving into the second minute of the game, Ashford had a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area. This was crossed to the far post by Ryan Briggs; Danny Lye got up well, and his downward header forced Ruddy Dean to make a good diving save, low to his right.
So this was a bright start from the visitors, and they looked a different side to the one that we had seen at Walton. Everyone seemed up for this one, and Mark Lovell, in particular, was an inspirational force, dropping short to collect the ball from the midfield and defence, and showing a lovely touch. From the outset, it was clear that Steve & Hugo weren’t setting out to blind the opposition with science. Short of numbers in midfield, we were never going to try to pass them to death. The idea was to release the ball early from the back, using the pace of the two lads up front, and to look for the aerial prowess of Danny Lye and Mark Lovell at set pieces. This was all very positive, as far as I was concerned. Ashford had a plan – and it looked like we might have the tools to make something happen.
There wasn’t much between the two sides in the early part of the game, or throughout the game, for that matter – certainly no evidence of the twelve league positions that separated the teams at the start of the day – with both having good situations, through corners and long throws. The first incident of real note, however, came in the 16th minute, when Mitchell Sherwood clearly barged Dean Ruddy, after the Chatham ‘keeper had taken the ball. It was an incident that Mitch might have got away with on another day, but, with the dreaded Referees’ Assessor in the stand, Mr Hicks was always going to demonstrate who was boss, and waved a yellow card.
I’m not sure what the Assessor thought of Craig Hicks’ overall performance, but the players were sometimes frustrated by what seemed to be a fairly esoteric interpretation of the advantage rule, and Steve Lovell clearly thought that he was a bit over-keen on blowing up for free-kicks, remarking: “Has he got a new whistle for his birthday ?”. For the record, the total count was 14 free-kicks awarded for fouls against Ashford, and 18 awarded against Chatham; (thanks, Rob & Tim, for the stats).
One of those free-kicks was awarded to Ashford in the 34th minute, and, for once, Ryan Briggs went for goal, from just outside the penalty area. Whilst our set-pieces on Tuesday tended to be awful, Briggo got this one right on target, curling his shot into the top right-hand corner of Dean Ruddy’s goal, but the ‘keeper once again made a good save. Seconds later, Lee Hockey sent one of several long throws into the Chatham area, but these refused to fall to an Ashford player this afternoon. (In fact, to coin a footballing phrase, we had about as much “second ball” as Adolf Hitler today).
The ball did, however, break Ashford’s way in the 38th minute. Carl Harrold sent a high, looping ball into the home side’s penalty box. Dean Ruddy, Mitchell Sherwood and a Chatham defender waited for the ball to come down, and, somehow, the Chatham pair made a mess of this. The ball fell to Mitch, who had little time in which to react, and his instinctive shot was blocked.
So the first half ended all square, at 0-0, thanks to an energetic team performance, and some uncomplicated defending (particularly from Toby Ashmore), by the visitors.
The home side had a dangerous-looking free-kick situation, as early as the second minute of the second half, after Toby Ashmore appeared to have been unlucky to have been penalised for what looked to be an excellent challenge – but Matthew Solly’s low shot was cleared. Then ,a minute later, a Lee Hockey long throw, from near the left corner flag, was headed clear at the near post, and, finally, fell to an Ashford Town player, waiting on the edge of the area – unfortunately, the player was a defender, and Steve Springett’s left-footed effort was hopelessly ill-directed.
In the 50th minute, a foul by Danny Lye, (who, as usual, tested the boundaries with the referee), on Ray Powell led to the first appearance of a Physio on the field, and so we discovered that Chatham’s sponge bearer was also a lady. The resulting free-kick, about 25 yards out, just to the right of centre, was crossed in by Justin Ascheri, but Brendan Cass’s glancing header went just wide of the target.
Cass was in the thick of it again, in the 54th minute, when he appeared to go down under a challenge from Toby Ashmore. Well, Toby must have thought that this was an example of what the bureaucrats at You Wafer refer to as “simulation”, as he reacted angrily; there was a squaring-up session, which quickly led to both teams congregating in the Ashford penalty area to join in the discussion. After a lengthy consultation with his Lino, Craig Hicks showed Toby a yellow card. Three minutes later, the same card was out again – this time it was waved at Chatham’s James Lyons, for a really daft deliberate hand-ball, on the half-way line.
The free-kick for the hand-ball was pinged in by Ryan Briggs towards the far post, where it was cleared for a corner, on the left. Again, Briggo launched the ball into the goalmouth, where Dean Ruddy was fouled by Danny Lye as he rose to catch the ball. Again, there were a few fairly direct words exchanged between the players. In the 61st minute, Danny Lye finally ran out of rope, and he was yellow-carded for a foul on Brendan Cass. It was a fairly regulation Lyesy foul, so the card must have been for persistent offending. The resulting free-kick, taken by Ashley Probets, went straight through to Darren Ibrahim.
Two minutes later, the well-worn whistle was blown for a “foot-up” offence in the vicinity of Nick Smith, on the half-way line. Steve Springett pumped the ball to the edge of the Chatham area, where Danny Lye got up to win a header; Lye’s flick on found Mark Lovell, who helped the ball on to Nick Smith, who hooked a shot over the bar.
It’s probably a measure of how well Ashford’s eleven men were playing that Steve Lovell made no substitutions at all in the match - Chats Manager Alex O’Brien, however, used all three subs, starting with Thomas Davey, for James Lyons, in the 69th minute – and, as the second half wore on, there were some green shoots of hope that a solid defensive performance from the visitors might actually produce a goal. In the 73rd minute, a fairly typical long hoof from defence, this time by Lee Hockey, was successfully chased down by Nick Smith, who caught up with the ball near to the corner flag, on the right. Smudge was surrounded by three Chats defenders, who, between them, committed a foul. The resulting free-kick was swung in towards the far post by Steve Springett. Mark Lovell, who had had a quieter second half, was definitely pushed as he closed in on the cross, but the ref had already blown up for an infringement by an Ashford player. Then, in the 77th minute, Ashford actually created a chance from open play, and, unusually, it came when one of our boys got to the by-line and crossed the ball from one of the flanks. On this occasion, it was Ross Morley who showed an impressive turn of pace, down the right, but a Chatham defender managed to put the ball behind for a corner before Mark Lovell could get on the end of the cross. The corner, from the left, was met by Steve Springett, who had made a great run into the box, but he couldn’t keep the ball down, and his header went well over the bar.
In the 79th minute, a ridiculous free-kick award to the home side gave Matthew Solly the opportunity to put the ball into the Ashford penalty area. His cross was cleared as far as David Hall, but he shot well wide.
The most significant of Alex O’Brien’s substitutions came with just ten minutes of normal time remaining, when he replaced Justin Ascheri with Byron Walker, in a like-for-like swap up front. Walker made an immediate impact, picking the ball up near the right touchline, just inside the Ashford half – he turned and went off on a run which took him past three Ashford players, before the third of these, Lee Hockey, hacked him down. Yellow card to Lee !
We then witnessed the pivotal incident of the game, from the resulting free-kick. The difference between gaining a well-deserved point and going away frustrated and empty-handed hinged on this. Mark Green took the kick, swinging the ball to the far post. This was bundled away, but broke to where Brendan Cass was lurking, around about the penalty spot. Now the mark of a top-class striker is the ability to hit the target with that one chance, even though he might have been very quiet for the rest of the game. Cass certainly proved himself worthy of being spoken about in these terms, when he swivelled and shot in one motion. Thankfully, Darren Ibrahim was also equal to the test, and flung himself to his left, to make a brilliant save. It was the only time that Darren was really asked a serious question this afternoon, and he wasn’t found wanting.
Whilst, in retrospect, Darren’s save effectively secured the point, the action was certainly not over. In the 86th minute, Lee Barnett became Chatham’s third substitute, replacing David Hall, and, a minute later, Ray Powell was booked for a foul on Nick Smith, deep inside The Chats’ half. Ryan Briggs hit the resulting free-kick towards the far post, but Dean Ruddy was able to punch clear, conceding a throw-in, near the right corner flag. Predictably, this led to another Lee Hockey long throw. Whilst Lee’s initial effort was cleared, the ball came straight back to him, whereupon he sent in a good cross, which was met with a glancing header by Danny Lye, but this went straight at the ‘keeper.
Generally, though, it was the home side on top, boosted by the pace and skill of Byron Walker, in the closing stages, and there was certainly plenty more work for the Ashford defence to do. Walker was certainly looking threatening, in the 90th minute, when Toby Ashmore attempted to muscle him off the ball. Unfortunately for Toby, he did so with his elbow raised and his arm quite a long way from his body, and made contact with his much smaller opponent right in front of the linesman. Referee Craig Hicks was also right on the spot, so it was inevitable that Ashmore was about to make the short, but early, trip to the dressing-room in the large, whitewashed building behind Darren Ibrahim’s goal. It was really just a question of whether the ref would show Toby a straight red card, or a second yellow card in the match. Mr Hicks opted for the latter. There really wasn’t time for Steve Lovell to reorganise the side, so it was left to the remaining ten men to hold out until the final whistle – starting with avoiding conceding a goal from the resulting free-kick. Fittingly, it was Lee Hockey who headed clear Mark Green’s cross.
I use the word “fittingly” because it was very much the Ashford defenders who were the heroes this afternoon. Both Lee Hockey and Toby Ashmore put in a tremendous shift today, although Lee did also make a number of errors, and Toby blotted his copy book by getting sent off. He will certainly be missed, as he has, at times, looked Sean Rayesque in central defence this season, and he’ll be hard to replace when his suspension kicks in. Darren Ibrahim put in a flawless performance this afternoon, and must be feeling triumphant in making an important contribution to Ashford’s first clean sheet of the season, but the real credit should go to the men in front of him, who restricted an on-form Chatham Town to just that one clear chance that fell to Brendan Cass. Of course, the acknowledgement for this should go to the whole team, but the other man who stood out in defence today was Steve Springett, and he was our MK Man of the Match.
So a point each – and a point that lifted Chatham to fifth in the division, but, ironically, caused Ashford to move down a place, to third-bottom, thanks to Chipstead’s 2-4 victory in the relegation six-pointer at Eastbourne Town. However, the league position hardly matters. What was important today was that Ashford discovered that, with an all-round team effort, they could comfortably hold one of the form teams in the division. Whilst I think that our well-documented problem with the goalkeeping position is far from being solved, defending well all over the pitch and restricting the opposition to very few, if any, chances is a good way of minimising the impact.
[ The answer to the little teaser I posed earlier on – it was John Whitehouse, who played in goal for Ashford in the first two of those games, and then for Chatham in the other two. ]
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Steve Springett
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