Whyteleafe 2 Ashford Town 2
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
After the thoroughly uplifting victory at VCD – our first away win of the season - on Tuesday night, in the Kent Senior Cup, attention turned to the more serious business of pursuing valuable points in the league; and, given that we started the day bottom of the table, six points adrift of both Eastbourne Town and Whitstable Town, league football is indeed becoming a very serious business. I would venture to say that, satisfying as it is to be in the last eight of the Kent Senior Cup – that quaint grandmother of a tournament – the lads’ efforts in Crayford in midweek would have been worth very little if they had followed them with a defeat, here in leafy, suburban Surrey. As it turned out, we drove away from Church Road with a precious away point, and, just as importantly, some continuity was maintained, with the lads remaining unbeaten in the two matches that we have had so far in 2010.
Some of us still left the ground with mixed feelings, though, as there had been real hope for a victory at half time. We had ended the first half with a deserved 1-2 lead, and looked capable of scoring further goals; however, a spirited performance after the break from The ‘Leafe enabled them to largely dominate the second half, and, after Nick Smith had got himself sent off, in the 56th minute, Ashford had to dig in, to hang on to the point.
Honours have been fairly even between the two sides in recent seasons, during which we have both usually inhabited the bottom half of the table. The previous five seasons had yielded one win for Ashford, two for our hosts and two draws – with neither side managing to score a goal in our two league meetings last season. One of the more picturesque grounds in the division, Church Road wasn’t looking at her absolute best for today’s encounter. None of the trees that surround the ground had a leaf on them, and the game was played beneath sullen, ash grey clouds. The sloping pitch looked to be in a pretty reasonable state, apart from some bare, muddy patches on one side, but a few small, lingering patches of snow, in tiny hollows a few feet beyond the touchline, served as a reminder of the recent spell of wintry weather which has made life so difficult for groundsmen up and down the country. Temperatures were well down in single figures, hovering around 4ºC and 5ºC, which is pretty much what we might have expected for mid-January – but the great thing was that it was DRY, and we’re going to need an awful lot of dry between now and the end of April if we’re going to fulfil our fixtures this season.
We’re also going to need a bit of luck with injuries, (or a very large squad, or both), and the news on that front was not encouraging, with Steve Lovell having to cope with what is fast becoming a crisis in terms of defensive personnel. Ashford went into the VCD match with just three defenders available – youngsters Laurence Harvey, Carl Harrold and Ryan Newman – meaning that skipper Danny Lye had to fill in as a centre-back. Well, the downside to the victory in mid-week was that Carl and Ryan both picked up a knock, and were unavailable for selection, but that was mitigated to some extent by the return, after a one-match suspension, of Lee Hockey.
Steve Lovell did what he often appears to do, which is to select the formation of the team according to who is available, and his reaction today was to go for a 3-4-1-2 set-up, with Lee Hockey playing as the most central of three centre-backs, with Harvey on his right and Lye on his left. The midfield quartet consisted of Ryan Briggs and Ross Morley in the centre, with Nick Smith on the left, Mitch Sherwood on the right and Mark Lovell playing in “The Hole” behind the two strikers, Joe Fuller and Tom Murphy. When Whyteleafe had the ball and we were defending, the unit retreated to something more akin to 5-3-2, with the two wide midfielders acting as full-backs, and Mark Lovell dropping back into midfield. I’ve no intention of offering a critique of The Manager’s tactics, as that would be a bit like me trying to tell SuBo how to sing, but the dreaded three-at-the-back tactic did appear to work pretty well – at least it did until Lovell Snr’s plans were sent into disarray by the sending-off of Nicholas Frederick Smith.
The most disappointing team news was that Paul Jones, who has been out for several weeks now, with that troublesome under-side to his groin, broke down in training, with a recurrence of the injury, on Thursday. This is in spite of Jonah reportedly looking lean and fit, and raring to go, and also in spite of the recent arrival of baby Evie meaning that there has been less time for stress to have been put on that long-suffering under-carriage. Kevin Swaisland once again stepped in as striking cover on the bench. Returning goalkeeper Josh Willis also had to make do with a place on the subs’ bench this afternoon. By his own admission, Josh is still some way from being match fit, and with Scott Chalmers-Stevens, who made his own come-back from injury on Tuesday night, also having not yet achieved full match fitness, Steve Lovell kept faith with the improving Darren Ibrahim.
In keeping with the reality of having to draw upon a large squad for the remainder of the season, Steve Lovell drafted in Danny Shearing, (Paul Shearing’s boy), as full-back cover. A local boy, Danny has worked his way through the youth structure at Ashford, and is now part of Lee Ealham’s Reserves set-up. He played at right-back in the first pre-season game, back in August, away at Tunbridge Wells. Ronnie Dolan was also on the bench, and, when he was sent on in the second half, he was made his third appearance in an Ashford shirt in five days, having come on as sub against VCD, and played for the Reserves against Margit Reserves on Wednesday. Liam Geering, a midfielder on loan from Gillingham, completed the bench line-up.
Just as they had on Tuesday, Ashford made a bright, incisive start, and took an early lead. As early as the fifth minute, Lee Sidwell fouled Nick Smith, in a central position, half-way into the Whyteleafe half. Ryan Briggs touched the free-kick short, to Ross Morley, whose rather ambitious, long-range attempt at goal was deflected away for a corner, on the right. This was swung into the home side’s penalty area, and, after a brief melée, with the Whyteleafe defence failing to clear their lines, centre-back Laurence Harvey was there to thump the ball home, from close range, for his first goal for Ashford.
Unfortunately, this lead was short-lived, as The ‘Leafe were on level terms by the eighth minute – and this was a goal that appeared to be avoidable. A break down the left resulted in a cross-field ball which found Leon McDowall in behind the Ashford defence – and not off-side ! McDowall rounded ‘keeper Darren Ibrahim, who, quite rightly, resisted the temptation to make contact with the striker. What happened next appeared to take place in slow motion, and it’s hard to figure out why the Ashford defence was unable to come back to cover in the time that elapsed. McDowall’s touch seemed to have pushed the ball too far past Ibrahim, but he had time to pursue it to the by-line, prevent it from going out for a goal-kick, turn, come back a few yards to give himself an angle for a shot, and then hammer the ball past Darren, who had, by now, got back between the sticks.
Suddenly, from joyously attacking, and looking to build upon their early lead, Ashford found themselves having to defend, as the home side went very much onto the front foot. As well as having a distinct territorial advantage for a period after equalising, Whyteleafe came close to taking the lead, when McDowall hit the post with a left-footed shot that he curled around the diving Darren Ibrahim, in the 21st minute. Generally, though, the first half was fairly end-to-end, and was entertaining, as a result; and, after rebounding from Ibrahim’s right-hand post, the ball was immediately heading towards the Whyteleafe goal. Tom Murphy, whose pace caused more than enough problems for the home defence, latched onto a high ball that had enabled him to beat the ‘Leafe off-side trap. With Joe Fuller arriving in the centre, Tom instead cut inside, and laid the ball back to Ryan Briggs, whose shot was deflected for a corner on the right. As usual, Briggo took the corner himself, and it appeared that the defence had cleared the danger with little trouble – until Referee Knight, (who was the spitting image of Kev, and is almost certainly his love child), blew up for a penalty, indicating, with a movement of his arms, that he had spotted a defender pushing down on an Ashford player.
One certain asset that Ashford Town has is a player who doesn’t know the meaning of doubt when it comes to taking penalties, in Mitchell Sherwood. Although he appears to lack confidence and inspiration when going forward with the ball at his feet, Mitch is as reliable a penalty taker as you will see at any level of the game, (and is reputed to have never missed one), and it was no surprise at all when he stepped up and side-footed the ball firmly past Robert O’Hara. 1-2 to Ashford !
I was in no position to comment on Mr Knight’s decision to award the penalty, but I must say that there were some very strange decisions made by all three officials this afternoon. Probably the most peculiar, if least important, decision by the ref was to change the yellow ball for a white and red one, in the 26th minute. This was because it exactly matched the yellow of Ashford’s away shirts – which is fair enough, but it struck everyone concerned as being strange that it had taken him 26 minutes to come to this conclusion. For the record, I thought it was strange that the black shorts and black socks of the Whyteleafe team exactly matched the shorts and sockies of the officials and our goalkeeper - but that didn’t seem to bother Mr Knight, just as it doesn’t bother many other referees, given that approximately half of our opponents in this division play in black, or navy blue, shorts and socks when they’re at home. [ Cue: the sound of a hobby-horse, galloping off into the distance. ]
In the 28th minute, Mitch Sherwood fouled Sam Butler, who was a constant threat to Ashford on the left wing. Whilst the free-kick, just to the left of centre, was dealt with by the visitors’ defence, Whyteleafe kept up the pressure, and, seconds later, were gifted a corner by a decision that brought howls of derision from nearby eye-witnesses. After the corner had been taken short, the cries we heard were those of Whyteleafe players, appealing for hand-ball, but nothing was given. In the 30th minute, Lee Hockey committed a foul right on the edge of the penalty area, almost on the by-line; Referee Knight could so easily have awarded the second penalty of the game, but a free-kick it was – very much like a short corner in hockey, (no pun intended). Sam Butler came across to whip the ball in with his left foot, and this resulted in what looked to be a fairly obvious hand-ball by a green-shirted striker – but this was missed by the officials, and it was becoming clear that both teams would need a bit of luck with what appeared to be some very random decision-making.
Tom Murphy’s pace was once again seen to good effect, in the 35th minute, when he ran onto a ball over the top of the Whyteleafe back line, racing clear of the home defence – but his shot, across the face of goal, missed the target, almost going out for a throw-in. Then, in the 38th minute, Mitch Sherwood played a one-two with Mark Lovell, which resulted in him hitting a firm shot with his LEFT foot – giant goalie Robert O’Hara caught the ball well, head-high, but let’s celebrate the fact that we have a footballer who can hit a ball well with either foot, which is a rare and beautiful thing at this level of the game !
In spite of these efforts, it was the home side that finished the half the stronger. In the 40th minute, a left-footed shot by Sam Butler was deflected for one of seven Whyteleafe corners – (Ashford had five) – this one being on the left side of the field. The resulting cross was cleared by the Ashford defence, and then a follow-up shot was blocked. A minute later, the ball was chipped forward, into the path of Leon McDowall, but Danny Lye did well in coming across to cover; this was at the expense of another corner on the left, but Darren Ibrahim made a good job of catching Sam Butler’s cross. In the 44th minute, with half time approaching, Whyteleafe had a free-kick just a few feet inside the Ashford half, almost on the touchline. This was taken by big centre-half Rhys Coleman, who pumped the ball towards the Ashford area. This was nodded down, into the path of Danny Oakins, providing the striker with a sight of goal – although his firm shot was straight at Darren Ibrahim, the ‘keeper did well to parry the ball, and it was cleared to safety by the defence.
So Ashford went into the half-time interval a goal up, after 45 minutes during which they had played up the Church Road slope, so that Ibrahim’s excellent kicking had been seen to good effect. It had been a very good half of open football, with both sides looking capable of scoring a goal. The home side had probably had a slight edge in terms of possession and territorial advantage, but Ashford had looked the part, with what was probably a better performance than the one that we had seen on Tuesday night, and Murphy and Fuller looked to provide us with a lively and mobile strike-force. What was particularly encouraging was that we looked capable of scoring more goals, so that the feeling that we would never be able to get back on terms if the opposition were to score, which has haunted our season to date, was simply not there this afternoon.
So those were the grounds for optimism during the interval – but the second half took a very different course, and this was because of a lack of discipline from the visitors’ No.11, soon after the break. Nick Smith is one of the most wholehearted and feisty members of Ashford’s squad, and the 100% effort that he puts into his game was exemplified when he led a break down the left flank, in the 48th minute, and won a corner. Unfortunately, his admirable aggression is applied with all the self-control of a five year-old, so, when he and Whyteleafe No.4 Lee Sidwell had a little altercation over who was going to pick the ball up and take a throw-in, in the 52nd minute, it was no surprise to see Smudger quickly get involved in an angry session of push & shove. This was an ugly little incident, and The Black Knight was quite right to book the pair of them.
The niggly mood soon spread to others in the Ashford team, and, in the 50th minute, Mark Lovell was penalised for the blatant up-ending of Chris Head – although it must be said that this act appeared to be at least partially due to Mark’s frustration at the officials’ failure to spot an obvious foul on an Ashford player, just seconds earlier. The extent of the damage, on this occasion, was the concession of a free-kick, about 15 yards inside the Ashford half – the resulting chip into the Ashford penalty area was cleared, whereupon Rhys Coleman hit a low shot wide of Darren Ibrahim’s left-hand post – but Smith’s indiscretion, just one minute later, had more far-reaching consequences. With the ball in the centre circle, and with no immediate danger to the Ashford goal, Nick felled an opponent with a late tackle that was always going to be a stone-cold yellow card offence. Two yellow cards in four minutes for Smith – and Ashford were suddenly down to ten men, against a side that had shown great desire throughout the game, and had already looked more than capable of scoring.
The immediate danger was dealt with – the ball was played forward to Danny Oakins, on the edge of the Ashford area, who did well to get a shot in at all, but this was rather a weak one, and straight at Ibrahim. There was, however, some reorganisation to be done, and Steve Lovell instructed Mitchell Sherwood to drop in at right-back, to form a more orthodox back four, with Mark Lovell dropping back to boost numbers in midfield.
So it was rather a case of “all hands on deck” for the visitors, and Joe Fuller was seen to good effect, on the hour mark, helping out in defence, conceding a corner, on the right. The resulting cross was headed clear by Lee Hockey, but the ball was slung back into the danger zone, only to be headed clear again. Whyteleafe immediately attacked again, down the right flank, and Lee Hockey was again there to head clear. A minute later, a ‘Leafe shot was deflected wide for another corner on the right. This was hit long, to Danny Oakins, who attempted an ambitious volley, which he miss-hit high and wide, the ball almost sailing back to the corner flag from which it had come. This gave the Ashford defence some respite, but there was no doubt that they were considerably under siege.
One thing that the ten men of Ashford really didn’t need at this point was for one of the back four to be caught in possession of the ball as the last man – but this is what the normally consistent Lee Hockey inflicted on his team-mates, and an increasingly anxious Ashford bench, in the 63rd minute. Lee was robbed by Jason Goodchild, who laid the ball square, to Leon McDowall, but the Whyteleafe No.9 blasted the ball high and wide.
The first substitution of the game was made by ‘Leafe Manager Stuart Massey, who replaced Chris Head with Chris O’Flaherty, in the 64th minute. Then, just three minutes later, there were three more changes; two of these were made by Steve Lovell, with Liam Geering and Ronnie Dolan going on in place of Mark Lovell and Joe Fuller, with Massey replacing Danny Oakins with big Darren Watson. Both of the Ashford substitutions were one-for-one swaps, with Liam Geering joining his Gillingham club-mate in attack, and Ronnie Dolan taking over Mark Lovell’s midfield duties – but it was the home side’s replacement of big, burly Danny Oakins, with a bigger, burlier unit, that almost paid an immediate dividend. A cross from the right wing to the far post, in the 68th minute, was headed back across the face of goal, and Watson just failed to connect with the ball, from close range. This led to an almighty scramble in the Ashford penalty area, during which most of the players currently involved in the game had a touch – which included a fumbling and unsuccessful attempt at catching the ball from Darren Ibrahim – but the ball was eventually hacked away.
In the 70th minute, Jason Goodchild was well wide with a long-range shot that has to be a candidate for worst shot of the season, and Sam Butler pushed a weak shot wide of the target, in the 77th minute, but it was now all Whyteleafe, and Ashford were hanging onto the lead with what seemed to be increasing desperation. It was no surprise, therefore, when the home side scored, in the 78th minute. A minute earlier, Stuart Massey had sent Daniel Platel, who has scored against us here in the past, on in place of Lee Sidwell, with instructions to “be creative”, but it was one of the previous subs, Darren Watson, who did the trick for the ‘Leafe Gaffer. In spite of being closely monitored by Mitch Sherwood, Sam Butler managed to cross the ball to the edge of the Ashford area; this was nodded forward, into the goalmouth. Darren Ibrahim came out to collect the ball, and looked confident enough, but he had not reckoned on Watson intercepting the ball, and nodding it past him, into the net.
So it was all square, with twelve minutes remaining, and, judging by what had preceded Whyteleafe’s second goal, this seemed a long time for Ashford to hang on for the draw.
In the 79th minute, Lee Hockey showed the spirit that was required, when he blocked the ball with his face. This resulted in a corner, on the right, which was swung in by Sam Butler. Full-back Fred Fleming flew in – (alliteration) – with a header, from close range, but this went wide. A minute later, the hard-pressed Ashford defence was afforded the luxury of watching as young Tom Murphy did a good job of holding the ball up, deep inside the Whyteleafe area, before spreading the ball wide, to Ross Morley. Ross is often quite effective in wide positions, and he sent in a good cross, which found Liam Geering on the left side of the penalty area. The substitute hit a firm shot, which would have been a dream first goal for the Club for the loanee, but for a good save by Robert O’Hara. In the 83rd minute, the home side was on the attack, down the right flank, and Danny Lye, who had done a sterling job in defence all afternoon, was clearly in a spot of bother, and had no choice but to foul his opponent, who was in the process of beating him on his outside. This resulted in a free-kick, very near to the corner flag, but the resulting cross was headed clear.
Tom Murphy’s tireless efforts were brought to an end in the 84th minute, when Steve Lovell called him off, and replaced him with the fresh, and considerably sturdier, legs of Kevin Swaisland. Rhino immediately announced his arrival with a crunching tackle, deep inside the Whyteleafe half, which delighted the travelling Ashford fans behind Robert O’Hara’s goal, but, generally, the action was confined to the other half of the pitch during the closing minutes. In the 86th minute, a Whyteleafe corner on the left was swung in, left-footed, by Sam Butler. Lee Hockey was again there to head the ball to relative safety, behind for a corner on the other side of the pitch. This time, Chris O’Flaherty rose above everyone in the goalmouth, but headed the resulting cross over the bar, from about six yards out. Two minutes later, Danny Lye made sure that he blocked an attempted cross, from near the right corner flag, at the expense of another corner. Sensing that there was only likely to be one winner of this match, Stuart Massey urged his defenders forward, into the penalty area, leaving just one defender to mark the lone Ashford striker who was stationed on the half-way line. The initial corner was headed behind again, by Ryan Briggs, at the near post. The second attempt eluded everyone, and went all the way through the penalty area, and out for a goal-kick.
The amount of time that Darren Ibrahim took, (i.e. wasted), in taking the goal-kick just about summed up the balance of power during the closing minutes of the game, but Ashford’s ten men hung on to the end of the 90 minutes, and then through the four minutes of injury time that Referee Knight added.
So, in the end, this turned out to be a hard-fought point gained, after it had seemed, at half time, that this was a game that Ashford might well win.
Elsewhere, there were defeats for both Chipstead and Eastbourne Town, but Whitstable came back from a goal down, to win 2-1 at home to Walton & Hersham. That means that The Oystermen have a slight advantage over their immediate rivals in the relegation zone, so Chipstead and Eastbourne now appear to be the two teams that Ashford are most likely to overhaul – we have five games in hand of both of those teams, but trail them by nine points and five points, respectively. With nine of our last ten games having been at home, the spotlight now falls on the home match against Walton Casuals on Wednesday; the game after that will be the six-pointer against Eastbourne Town, at The Saffrons.
There were several candidates for Man of the Match today, and it was one of those games in which it was difficult to pick out one hero, but Ross Morley caught our eye. He worked tirelessly all over the pitch. A special mention should, however, be made of the Ashford defence, particularly Danny Lye and Mitch Sherwood, who did a good job in positions that are not particularly familiar to them. It should also be said that Laurence Harvey was once again superb at the back; he’s getting better with every game, and is showing remarkable consistency for one so young – and I’m developing a guilt complex for not yet having named him as a Man of the Match.
Finally, this was a very good turn-out by the Ashford faithful, who out-numbered and out-voiced the home supporters, in a crowd of 129, after a week that hasn’t been particularly clever for the Club off the pitch.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Ross Morley
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