VCD Athletic 1 Ashford Town 2
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
Even the longest, darkest night must come to an end – and that is how it has seemed, waiting for this period of winter weather to come to an end, so that we can at last go and see some footy again. We set off for Oakwood, in Crayford, London, for this Kent Senior Cup tie, on the 19th evening of 2010. Ashford’s previous game was on Boxing Day, and, to extend the analogy of the long period of darkness, this was really not much more than getting out in the middle of the night for a pee, as the previous match to that had been on the 12th of December. So just one game in five and a half weeks for Steve Lovell’s boys, so, whatever your opinion of the importance of the Kent Senior Cup – and I, for one, love the competition, and would like to see us do well in it – the most important thing tonight was that the boys should get in some much-needed match practice, in preparation for the next league game, against Whyteleafe, on Saturday, with anything else being a bonus.
The silver lining to the clouds that have recently waterlogged The Homelands pitch, and then buried it under six inches of snow, is that Steve Lovell has been able to get some key players back from injury. Scott Chalmers-Stevens, who began the season as Ashford’s first-choice goalkeeper, has returned, and went straight back into the side, ahead of Darren Ibrahim, who might count himself as being a little unlucky to be left out, after his Man-of-the-Match performance against Folkestone on Boxing Day. Striker Joe Fuller is also back, but had to be content with a place on the bench this evening; with Paul Jones due to return on Saturday, and goalie Josh Willis reported to have rejoined the Club, Ashford could quite easily put out a side containing five ‘keepers and six strikers – whilst, logically, this might not seem to be a bad idea, it would probably never work !
The shortfall, at the moment, in the Ashford squad appears to be in defence. With Toby Ashmore still on the injury list, and Lee Hockey serving a one-match suspension this evening, The Gaffer was left with just three defenders available, and all of these were youngsters – centre-half Laurence Harvey, and full-backs Carl Harrold and Ryan Norman. This meant that versatile skipper Danny Lye once again had to fill in at the centre of the defence. As it turned out, this was not an issue, as Danny did a solid and tidy job, alongside the again-impressive Laurence Harvey, and Scottie Three Names was rarely troubled by a VCD attack that rarely, if ever, threatened.
There was a familiar look to the midfield, with Ryan Briggs and Ross Morley in the centre, Mitchell Sherwood on the right and Nick Smith on the left. Up front there was a first start for young Tom Murphy, (on loan from Gillingham), alongside Mark Lovell, with attacking options on the bench being strikers Joe Fuller and Kevin Swaisland, and midfielders Ronnie Dolan and Liam Geering, (who is also on loan from The Gills).
The one familiar face in the VCD Athletic line-up was ex-Ashford midfielder Anthony Hogg – but he was almost completely anonymous during the game.
If this was to be something of a warm-up for Saturday’s league game, then it could certainly be described as a dress rehearsal, as VCD, like Whyteleafe, play in the classic Celtic colours of green & white hoops, white shorts and white socks – right down to the detail of players having their number on the thigh of their shorts ! (With the visitors playing in their away strip, it looked like it was Celtic v Norwich City out there – although, if Delia had been here tonight, she would have struggled to make an impression with her “Where are you ?” speech, as it was a disappointing turn-out by the Ashford fans, in an attendance of only 81). It should also have been a fairly stiff test for the boys tonight, with VCD currently lying in eighth place in Ryman Division One North, but I thought our hosts looked a very ordinary side, having reportedly also been poor in their 1-2 defeat here last Saturday.
Vickers, Crayford & Dartford Athletic did, however, have the majority of possession in the opening ten minutes of the game – without being able to piece together anything worthwhile – but it was Ashford who created the first opening. In the ninth minute, the ball broke to Tom Murphy, a few yards inside the VCD half, and he immediately passed it into a wide area of space in front of Mitchell Sherwood, on the right. Mitch latched onto the ball, and curled in a cross which was just a little too far in front of the yellow shirts that were arriving in the centre. (For those who believe that a lack of service from the flanks is a major contributing factor to Ashford’s inability to score goals in recent times, I can state that this was the first of only two crosses that we managed to put in during the course of the 90 minutes).
In the eleventh minute, there was a sight and sound that Steve Lovell did not want, given the current thinness of our defensive resources, as Ryan Norman went down, with a loud yell, in the centre circle, clutching his right calf. After treatment, Ryan was able to carry on for another 49 minutes, but he must be a doubt for the Whyteleafe game.
Before Ashford opened the scoring, in the 20th minute, attempts on goal from either side were, at best, speculative – and a little pathetic. Athletic’s Kevin Winchcombe tried a snap shot from outside the penalty area, which was well wide, in the 13th minute, and then a long-range attempt from Ross Morley, two minutes later, was also always going to miss the target. Nick Hegley volleyed a long cross high and wide, in the 17th minute, and then Ross Morley pulled a long shot well wide, in the eighteenth. In fact, when VCD goalie Jack Bradshaw picked the ball out of the back of his net, it was the first meaningful act that was required from either ‘keeper. It was a well-taken goal, but I’ve no idea what happened to the VCD defence. Mark Lovell picked the ball up in the centre of the field, and spread it wide to Tom Murphy, on the right. There seemed to be a yawning space where the left-back should have been, and young Tom only had the goalkeeper to beat. As Bradshaw advanced off his line, Tom easily lobbed the ball over his head, and into the far corner of the net.
Four minutes later, Ashford were on the attack again, with Ryan Briggs, (who had a very good game tonight), turning and playing a good through-ball for Nick Smith to chase, in the inside-left channel. I sometimes think that Smudge lacks quality, to go with all his effort and commitment that is never lacking, but he showed good pace and strength, on this occasion, to get to the ball before the defender. Ashford hearts were lifted, as Nick momentarily had a clear sight of goal, but a tackle from a covering VCD player sent the ball spiralling into the air, and it was an easy pick-up for the ‘keeper.
However, our hearts didn’t have to wait too long to be gladdened, as, just two minutes later, Mark Lovell got himself on the score-sheet, for the first time since coming back from a 14-month lay-off through injury – his previous goal having been in the penultimate game of the 2007-8 season, at home to Walton Casuals. Of all the bonuses that Manager Steve Lovell might have wished for from tonight’s game, this must surely have been at the top of the list. The goal came from a free-kick, from wide on the right, after Mark had himself been fouled. Briggo put in a great cross to the far post, where Laurence Harvey got up well, directing a firm header on target. Jack Bradshaw actually made an excellent save, one-handed, but, after he had palmed the ball up into the air, Mark Lovell followed up, to head home from Nat Lofthouse range. This was Mark’s tenth goal for the Club – and it was 0-2 to Ashford in the cup tie.
The two-goal lead didn’t last long, though, since, in a game where all three goals were scored in a period of about ten minutes, the home side equalised in the 30th minute. This goal also came from a set-piece situation, and represented the only time that the Ashford defence really looked vulnerable. Ryan Norman fouled centre-forward Uche Ibemere in the shadow of the right corner flag. The cross to the centre was headed in, from about eight yards out, by left-back Jason Barton. The goal was greeted with almost complete silence from the VCD players, and their smattering of supporters, which momentarily created an atmosphere of suspended belief – but it was indeed 1-2, and Ashford were stopped in their tracks, having briefly looked likely to maybe over-run the home side.
In the 38th minute, Ibemere inexplicably gave the ball straight to Tom Murphy, who was about on the half-way line, and Tom turned to find that Ashford had a three v three situation with the Vickers defence. With several options available, Tom made a rare Horlicks of it, in what was a very impressive display from him on the night, wastefully blasting a shot high and wide, from long range. With a minute of the half remaining, Ashford had an excellent opportunity to score a third goal, when Jack Bradshaw came out of his goal to intercept a through-ball. Unfortunately for him, he found that he was also outside his penalty area as the got to the ball, so had no choice but to head the ball away. The clearance went straight to Mark Lovell, who instinctively attempted to curl the ball into the empty net – his effort was on target, but a defender managed to get back, and calmly controlled the ball on his chest, on the line, before clearing.
So Ashford went in at half time 1-2 to the good – and we had beaten the home side 6-0 in terms of the number of supporters behind each goal.
Lee Hockey was one of the few spectators at Oaklands this evening. He had a kick-about with the subs during the interval. The meagre crowd was also supplemented by the rare sight of two uniformed policemen. As usual, I became a little nervous as they approached where I was standing, and was preparing to utter the usual phrases, such as “I’m clean now, Guv – honest !”, and “No, not the face, Officer ! Not the face again !” – but I was then delighted to see that one of the on-duty coppers was one PC Charlie Glyde, fully kitted out with his helmet, whistle and knuckle-dusters. The ground is just about within Charlie’s beat, and he was given a warm welcome from both Ashford supporters and the Ashford bench. Folkestone fans with nothing better to do than to read this report will probably be pleased to learn that, in spite of not having time to play any serious footy, Charlie appears to be very happy in his new career.
The second half was a fairly quiet affair, with Ashford holding onto the one-goal lead fairly comfortably, against a home side who didn’t really put the visiting defence under real pressure until the final ten minutes. Steve Lovell was forced into making a change in both personnel and formation on the hour mark, when Ryan Norman could continue no longer, and was replaced by Ronnie Dolan. This meant a switch to 3-5-2 – purely on the grounds of the players that were now available, with Ronnie slotting into central midfield – but Mitchell Sherwood dropped back into what was effectively a right-back’s role whenever VCD came forward with the ball.
[ Memo to Steve and Hugo: When are you going to convert Mitch to a full-back ? He hasn’t had the confidence to pose an attacking threat for approximately 18 months now, and his best performances for Ashford have been when he has shone in his defensive duties. He’s brave, he’s a good tackler and quite competitive in the air – and I can count the number of meaningful crosses he’s put in this season on the digits of one hand and a groin. ]
The defensive alterations made little difference to the pattern of the game, as Scott Chalmers-Stevens – whose handling was confident, but whose kicking was generally poor – had just token saves to make, fielding a weak, long-range shot from Nick Hegley, in the 68th minute, and then comfortably taking an effort, from a similar distance, from Aaron Firth, in the 72nd minute.
Steve Lovell made a double-substitution in the 76th minute, giving Mark Lovell and Nick Smith a breather, replacing them with loanee Liam Geering and this season’s top scorer, with seven goals, Joe Fuller. The one blot on a very satisfactory evening for Steve L, apart from the injury to Ryan Norman, was the rather harsh yellow card that Ross Morley picked up for bundling over VCD substitute Meshach Nugent, in the 82nd minute.
During their late rally, the home side did actually start to knock the ball around, and Ashford had to do some defending – and for rather longer than they were expecting, as Referee Stuart Butler, for some reason, allowed the game to drag on into the seventh minute of injury time, when the announcement stated that there would be just four extra minutes. Meshach Nugent got in a curling shot, which went just over the bar, in the 83rd minute, and the much-travelled Leroy Huggins got his shaven head to a 90th-minute corner, but could do no more than steer the ball away from goal, at the near post. Stephen Hogg, another second-half substitute, volleyed the ball well over the bar, in the 93rd minute – but Ashford held on for a well-deserved victory, which puts them into the last eight of a competition that they have won, in various guises, five times, the most recent being in 1996. (Don’t knock it – Arsenal have only won the Kent Senior Cup three times !).
So plenty of positives to take away from Oakwood this evening – not the least of them being Mark Lovell’s first goal for the thick end of two years, and the team’s first away victory of any sort this season – before the rather more serious business of the league match at Whyteleafe, on Saturday, (the importance of which has been re-emphasised by the fact that Eastbourne Town picked up a point, away to Walton & Hersham, tonight, leaving Ashford six points adrift at the bottom of the table, albeit with five games and three games in hand of Eastbourne and Whitstable, respectively). Another thoroughly encouraging sign was the performance of young Tom Murphy, who was easily the brightest and most mobile player on the park for Ashford. Whilst Paul Jones is expected to make a very welcome return to the squad at the week-end, and Mark Lovell also played well tonight, I feel that Tom simply has to start against Whyteleafe.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Tom Murphy
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