Godalming Town 1 Ashford Town 1
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
The long slog to avoid relegation to the Kent League continued today, but, due to an upturn in form over the past few weeks, which has seen Ashford Town climb into the top half of the current form table, those of us who traveled to Weycourt, Godalming, Surrey, did so with more than a little cause for optimism that our boys would line up in the Ryman League again next season. At the start of the day, we were four points clear of Walton Casuals, with four games in hand of them, and two points clear of Eastbourne Town, with three games in hand – and that’s a whole lot different to the situation a little while back, when we were six points adrift at the bottom, and playing so poorly that it didn’t matter how many games we had in hand of those above us. It’s certainly true to say that we have looked genuinely competitive in recent weeks, and capable of taking points from any team in the division, and it has been this improvement in the level of performance that has been the main source of optimism for those of us of a green & white persuasion. A very telling statistic, I believe, is that Ashford haven’t been beaten by more than one goal for twelve games now, (the 1-4 defeat at the hands of Fleet Town, on the 3rd of February, being the last time that happened).
The warning in my heart, however, is that two points is not much of a cushion between ourselves and Eastbourne Town, the team most likely to overhaul us, and the three games we have in hand of them might count for very little if we say that these three are the fixtures we have coming up against, say, Croydon Athletic, Worthing and FleetTown; (and there’s also a very tough match against Sittingbourne to negotiate). The other thing that is bothering me a little is that the squad is starting to look a bit thin again, and there is a distinct possibility that injuries and fatigue will take their toll as one fixture follows another in quick succession. Manager Steve Lovell is already drawing quite heavily on the Club’s youth to bolster the squad, and it looks likely that he will continue to need to do so in order to get through the remaining ten games of the season.
The most notable absentees for today’s game at Godalming were striker Tom Murphy, still out with a thigh strain, Club Captain Danny Lye, whose hamstring appears to be fraying under the stress of so much football, and Nick Smith, who has recently returned from a four-match suspension. Matt Newman, who was limited to just a ten-minute substitute appearance against Chipstead in mid-week, was also absent. Steve Lovell covered these absences by calling up defender Danny Shearing, winger Dan Scorer and striker Sam Conlon, as substitutes, from the Reserves squad, (alongside sub goalie Darren Ibrahim).
The starting line-up, in an orthodox 4-4-2 formation, consisted of Scott Chalmers-Stevens in goal, with Carl Harrold at right-back, Lee Hockey and Toby Ashmore in the centre of defence, and, in the absence of a specialist left-back in the squad, Laurence Harvey at No.3; we had a pretty young and inexperienced midfield quartet today, with Ross Morley on the right, Chris Borchescu and Ronnie Dolan in the centre, and Mitch Sherwood, the old git of the four, at the age of 23, out on the left; Joe Fuller partnered Mark Lovell in attack.
I don’t know a great deal about today’s opposition, but we are all aware that Godalming Town, in their fourth season at this level, having won the Combined Counties Championship in 2005-6, have been mounting a serious challenge at the top of our division all season, and their two stand-out players have been Phil Williams and Glen Stanley, who have scored 36 goals between them, in all competitions. Williams is certainly one of the outstanding players in the division, and began today’s game as joint third-top scorer in Ryman Division One South, with 18 goals. Godalming went into the match in fifth place, and seemingly well placed to secure a play-off position come May. The news that Stanley was not playing this afternoon was a source of encouragement, but this was nevertheless going to be a tough fixture.
Given that expectations as to what we might get out of the game were at a fairly low ebb, the solution was to proactively console ourselves with a decent lunch before the game – after which any result is that much easier to take. Fortunately, we stumbled upon The Harrow Inn, in the nearby village of Compton. Things got off to a promising start when we were informed that there was waitress service, (most unusual that, for a pub), and the food turned out to be excellent – in the same class as The White Hart, in Chipstead. Mrs Milton Keynes Correspondent had what she definitely considered to be the best fish n chips that she had ever tasted – and my homemade sausages weren’t half bad, either ! I’d definitely say, from a purely selfish, culinary point of view, that the priorities for this season are that Chipstead should avoid relegation, and Godalming should miss out on promotion.
Could anything dampen our spirits, as we arrived at the ground ? Well, there was always the possibility of getting soaking wet, given the BBC forecast of “heavy showers”, coupled with the fact that there’s not a great deal of shelter available at Weycourt. For those unfamiliar with Godalming Town FC’s pleasant little ground, the only cover provided is in the form of a small stand, situated just off-centre on one side of the pitch. Bums are parked on seven rows of wooden benches, painted green, with two half-rows of red, plastic seats in the Directors’ Box. There is a canopy of sorts behind the goal that Scottie Three Names defended during the first half, but this is little bigger than a bus shelter, and thirty people would probably struggle to squeeze themselves under the curved roof, even for a bet ! In fact, there was a stark contrast provided by the dug-outs, situated on the opposite side to the green main stand, which are probably the most spacious that I have seen. Behind the dug-outs was Broadwater Golf Course, where the yellow flags on the nearby greens clashed disconcertingly with the flag of the lino on that side !
The match actually began in bright sunshine, in spite of the presence of much broken cloud, and it was the home side that tried to make hay in the very early stages, with a concerted attack. A throw-in on the left side of the field found Phil Williams, inside the penalty area, and the G’s’ talisman confidently turned and shot, in one movement, causing Scott Chalmers-Stevens to make a good save, diving low to his right. With the ball still in play, Lee Hockey conceded a free-kick, on the right edge of his penalty area, with a trip; this earnt Lee an early lecture from Referee Neil, who was no doubt mindful of the presence of the Referees Assessor in the stand. The resulting free-kick was curled over Ashford’s defensive wall, but was then cleared as far as Chris Wales, who was waiting just outside the “D”; Wales’s shot was blocked, at point blank range, by Mitchell Sherwood, and Mitch was very unlucky to be penalised for hand-ball. The free-kick was in a dangerous, central position, very close to the 18-yard line, but Arjan Tajbakhsh’s attempted chip into the danger area was headed away by the green & white wall, and the ball was eventually put behind, for a corner, on the right. The resulting cross was a good one, and was met by a header that would have given the home side the lead, if the ball had not been cleared off the line, (by Ronnie Dolan, I think, who was stationed by the far post).
Ashford, playing in their home strip, for the quite understandable reason that Godalming’s green & yellow colours à la Norwich City are identical to our away kit, did eventually get into the home side’s half during the first quarter of an hour, but, in spite of a couple of Lee Hockey’s trademark long throws, were unable to create anything resembling a chance. Then the first of a number of heavy showers – the weather forecasters are rarely wrong – arrived, and we decided to abandon our position between the dug-outs, on the open side of the ground, and seek shelter in the stand. We arrived to find that most of the crowd of 155, including a squad of noisily enthusiastic under-11 footballers, was already congregated there. We also arrived in time to discover that, whilst we were walking behind this stand, the home side had put the ball in the back of the net, but the “goal” was disallowed, (for a foul, I think).
In the 14th minute, Ashford had a free-kick, on the half-way line, which Toby Ashmore, (who was skipper this afternoon), floated into the penalty area. Lee Hockey won the ball with a back-header that he deliberately aimed at goal, and, although this attempt did seem a little innocuous, goalkeeper Rodney Chiweshe had to scramble a little to put it out for a corner. This came to nothing, as did a couple of other corners for the visitors during the following five minutes, and the next opportunity fell to Godalming. Unsurprisingly, it was Phil Williams who was the source of the danger. He picked the ball up on the right, in the 22nd minute, cut inside and then beat one Ashford defender, which took him inside the Ashford area, before the ball rather ran away from him, and went out for a goal-kick.
Still the rain fell, intensifying, if anything – and the stand continued to fill, as more and more refugees from the touchline arrived.
In almost every move, the home side tried to feed the ball to Williams. In the 28th minute, he was given possession in the Ashford penalty area. Like any good striker accustomed to scoring goals, his only thought was to stick the ball in the back of the net, and he turned and made several attempts to make room for a shot. His eventual effort hit a defender on the back, and deflected away for a corner, on the right. As the ball was put into the danger area, there was a goalmouth scramble that was probably repeated in any number of non-league matches up and down the country this afternoon. This one resulted in a shot, on target, from the home side, which required an excellent left-handed save from Scott Chalmers-Stevens, low down. It was all Godalming at this stage, and Scottie Three Names, who looked confident and secure throughout the game, certainly deserved credit for keeping the score at 0-0.
In the 33rd minute, however, Three Names was grateful for the assistance of the woodwork – (which I know isn’t really made of wood !). After Laurence Harvey, in his right-back position, had charged down an attempted cross, at the expense of a corner, on the left, the subsequent cross was flicked on at the near post. This found Phil Williams, in the centre, and, although the Godalming No.11 was unable to get very much power into his effort, his looping header hit the bar, near the angle.
The rain had ceased by this time, but the pitch had become very slippery on top. Nevertheless, it was noticeable that, in spite of the home side hogging the majority of possession in the first half, Ashford, at every opportunity, tried to play controlled, passing football. In fact, I could not recognise the side that had been slated by its fans for playing hopeful, up in the air, hoofing football during the previous two home games. It was a joy, at times, to watch young players in an Ashford shirt stroking the ball around – particularly considering the playing surface, which the rain had made extremely difficult. There was a particularly good passing movement put together by the visitors in the 37th minute, during which I swear the ball never went above six inches from the ground. The move ended with Joe Fuller shooting straight at goalkeeper Rodney Chiweshe, from a central position.
The sun came out for the final few minutes of the first half, during which both sides had good situations from set-pieces. In the 42nd minute, Godalming’s Richard Taylor launched a long throw into the visitors’ crowded penalty area. A yellow-socked foot directed the ball goalwards, at the near post, and Scott Chalmers-Stevens again had to be alert, going down to save, low, to his left. The home side then had a free-kick, near the right touchline, after a foul by Mitch Sherwood. Arjan Tajbakhsh – and that’s an Iranian name – crossed the ball into the Ashford area, but the ball was cleared, for a corner, by an Ashford shin. Two minutes later, even deeper into first-half injury time, Lee Hockey launched a long throw into the Godalming area, and the ref blew for half time as the ball was cleared.
So 0-0 it was at the interval. The home side had certainly had the better of the half, and had looked unnervingly dangerous in attack, but the Ashford lads had certainly tried to play football at every opportunity, albeit without carrying much threat up front.
It was the latter thought that immediately sprang to mind in the third minute of the second half – as Godalming Town took the lead, and it was then very difficult to imagine how Ashford were going to get back on terms. The goal was actually very simply constructed. The diminutive Victor Kiri fed the ball down the left flank, for Phil Williams to latch onto. Williams did so in such a casual, languid way, that I assumed that he had seen the lino’s flag go up for offside, or that the ball had gone out of play – but he picked out defender Russell Pym, on the edge of the penalty area, who very calmly side-footed the ball into the corner of the net.
Almost immediately, the sky darkened considerably, and, as the floodlights shone down on Weycourt, the rain returned. This time it was driving rain, which angled in from behind the Ashford players as they attacked the Godalming goal, to our right. By now, the little scaffolding & tin shelter behind this goal was crammed full of Ashford Town’s travelling faithful.
Just after the hour mark, these fans had to watch and hope from a distance, as Carl Harrold was caught in possession, deep inside his own half. Inevitably, the ball was quickly fed forward to Phil Williams, who was soon inside the Ashford area. Williams, faced by Lee Hockey, transferred the ball onto his left foot, and tried to make room for a shot – but the Ashford defender snuffed out the danger with an excellent tackle. This was typical of Lee’s work this afternoon, as he had another outstanding game.
As the game entered its final quarter, there was a rash of yellow cards. Laurence Harvey was the first in Mr Neil’s book, for a trip in the 65th minute – and it’s possible that the ref had simply run out of patience with a succession of Ashford fouls, and thought that a lecture would no longer do. Seconds later, Godalming’s Tajbakhsh was yellow-carded for a similar offence, right in front of the dug-outs, and then his team-mate, Graeme Purdy, was booked for a late tackle in the 69th minute.
Godalming Manager Chuck Martini – and I’ve already done all the Joan Collins and Leonard Rossiter jokes – then sprang a surprise, in the 70th minute, when he replaced star player Phil Williams with Adam Bernard, but this was presumably due to injury.
In the 74th minute, as the sun came out and glistened on what was now a very wet pitch, Ashford put together an excellent passing movement, down the right, which involved Joe Fuller, Mark Lovell and Ross Morley – but the home defences held firm, and put the ball out, for a throw-in. This was taken, long, by Lee Hockey, resulting in a corner on the same side of the pitch, but the attack eventually came to nothing.
Steve Lovell made his own substitutions in the 76th minute, replacing Laurence Harvey and Ross Morley with Dan Scorer and Sam Conlon. This meant that Mitch Sherwood dropped back into the right-back position, Scorer played as an orthodox left-winger and young Sam joined Fuller and Lovell in a three-man attack.
Dan Scorer always looks impressive when he comes on, and he had an impact within two minutes of entering the fray. Scott Chalmers-Stevens had made another good save, this time from a header, in the 78th minute, and, as the ball was cleared from the Ashford defence, centre-half Richard Taylor conceded a free-kick when making an aerial challenge for the ball, just inside his own half. As with most of the visitors’ set pieces this afternoon, it was Chris Borchescu – another impressive young player when he has the ball at his feet – who was entrusted with the delivery. Borchescu’s cross into the Godalming area was headed away as far as Dan Scorer, on the left. Dan whipped the ball in, with his right foot, and goalkeeper Chiweshe somehow squeezed the ball away to safety, with the help of his near post.
Joe Fuller was the next man to be shown a card by the referee, and, depending on your point of view, this was either a harsh yellow, or Joe was lucky that the colour of the card was not red. Certainly, the home crowd did its best to get Joe sent off – giving him the “off–off–off” treatment – but I think the ref got it just about right. What actually happened was that the Godalming goalie pounced on the ball as it was about to trickle out of play for a corner, and Joe Fuller slid in, challenging for a ball that I think he was just about entitled to go for. As usual, this sparked a furore among the defenders, and there was a brief, heated exchange of words – and a yellow card was the result.
In the 82nd minute, it was Russell Pym’s turn to commit a foul when challenging an Ashford player in the air, and Chris Borchescu again prepared to curl the ball into the danger area, from a position just to the right of centre. This time, though, in a move that had probably been rehearsed on the practice pitch, Carl Harrold went charging off on the overlap, and Borchescu switched the ball down the line to him. Still running with pace, Carl sent in a fast cross, and Joe Fuller met the ball with a bullet header that went just inches wide of the angle of post and bar.
In truth, in spite of these opportunities from set-pieces, Ashford did little to bother the home ‘keeper, and Godalming looked very comfortable with their one-goal lead – so, when the visitors equalised, in the 88th minute, it came as a bit of a surprise. After a good move, down the right, Mitch Sherwood whipped in a cross, which resulted in a shot that was blocked by the home side’s defence. The follow-up shot was also blocked, almost on the line, and the referee was certain that this effort was stopped by the hand or arm of James Wade. Mr Neil had no hesitation in awarding a penalty, before showing Wade a yellow card. There were celebratory hugs among some of the Ashford players – which probably reflects their belief that Mitch scoring from the penalty spot is about as much a certainty as death and taxes ! If that’s the case, then they are pretty good judges, as Mitch struck the ball firmly into the back of the net, before trotting off to celebrate, in his sodden shirt, with the Ashford fans behind the goal. This was The Nuts & Bolts’ first ever goal at Weycourt, having been beaten 2-0 and 3-0 in their previous two visits.
Suddenly, the visitors were on fire, and there was quite a finale. As the game entered its final minute, Mitch Sherwood attacked down the right wing, in a manner that has rarely been seen during his three seasons at the Club. He took on, and beat, the first defender, and continued his run into the Godalming penalty area, before delivering a cross, but this was cut out, giving Ashford a corner, on the right. Chris Borchescu’s initial attempt at getting the ball across was charged down, for another corner, but his second attempt was met by the head of Lee Hockey, at the near post, but he put his effort wide. As the game went into the first of four minutes of injury time, Sherwood again attacked down the right, and sent in an inviting cross, but Mark Lovell was unable to make contact as he slid in through the mud, in the middle of the Godalming penalty area. Seconds later, Mark tried to get on the end of another cross, this time from the left, but there was an element of “It’s a Knock-out” as he stooped low, with an attempted header, almost with his nose on the ground, before falling on the ball. His desperate, weary attempt would not have counted, though, as the lino was already flagging for off-side.
Both sides had their moments of going forward, in the closing moments, and Godalming’s Victor Kiri even found time to get himself booked for dissent, before Mr Neil, who had had a pretty good game, blew his whistle to end proceedings.
This was definitely a couple of points dropped by the home side, in their quest to secure a place in the promotion play-offs, and it’s probably fair to say that Ashford burgled a point, with Godalming looking very comfortable with their 1-0 lead before the award of the penalty – but this precious point was certainly not undeserved, as the lads had shown plenty of spirit, in appalling conditions, throughout the 90 minutes. With all four of the other sides involved in the relegation dog-fight losing, Ashford inched a little further away from the precipice – we are now three points ahead of Eastbourne Town, with three games in hand.
After the game, Steve Lovell expressed how proud he was of how his side had performed, playing good, passing football, in spite of the difficult conditions. Steve was also at pains to emphasise how young the side is at present – and it was certainly good to see youngsters like Borchescu, Dolan and Morley holding their own in midfield, against one of the better sides in our division; Laurence Harvey and Carl Harrold also showed great quality, at times, in defence. If Steve can keep these lads together, then they can only improve in the future – but it was the longer-serving players, Mitch Sherwood and Lee Hockey, who really stood out today, with Mitch just shading it as our Man of the Match.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Mitchell Sherwood
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