ARCHIVE: Ashford Town v Leatherhead. Ryman League Division 1 South. 2005-6 season.

Ashford Town   0       Leatherhead      0

from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent

It would have been easy for expectations to have been raised after the boys’ breath-taking 2-4 victory over Kingstonian on Monday – not that there were many Ashford fans there to witness the performance – but that was always going to be a mistake, as we approached another very difficult match, at home to Leatherhead. Today’s opponents are no mugs, and started the match in 8^th place in the table. One certainty is that someone from Leatherhead will have been at Kingsmeadow on Monday, and we could count on The Tanners’ management having John-Paul Collier, among others, under close arrest for most of the game, following his two wonder goals in that game. (That feeling that we all got when J-P’s second, and Ashford’s fourth, hit the back of the net will stay with me for a very long time). No, the priority for today was that the team should remain solid, focused and tight at the back, and get at least something from the game. It was also to be hoped that Dave Wietecha wouldn’t need to be in the superb form that he showed in the Kingstonian game.

The six points gained in three days at the week-end have put us three points clear of Newport (IoW), although The Port have two games in hand, and Corinthian Casuals’ 0-3 defeat on Tuesday night means that they are now six points behind us, having played the same number of games. Those two teams meet each other today, on the island, and a defeat for Corinthians would put them in all sorts of trouble.

But it’s not so much about how our rivals in the relegation scrap get on, as about how many points we can pick up ourselves. That’s not just some clichéd dressing-room mantra; it really is the way it is. I’ll explain why. The latest news from the FA on the restructuring of the non-league pyramid for the 2006-7 season is that part of this will involve SEVEN teams being relegated from Step 4. (That’s us). Going on the Walk of Shame will be the four teams that finish bottom of Ryman Division 1, Northern Premier Division 1, Southern League East and Southern League West, along with the three teams finishing second-bottom in these divisions that have the worst record in terms of points per game. At the moment, the three teams in the frame for second-bottom place in the other Step 4 divisions are our former Doc Martens League rivals Spalding United, with 28 points from 29 games so far (0.966 points per game), Berkhampsted Town (25 points from 27 games; 0.926 per game) and Stourport Swifts (24 points from 28; 0.857 per game). Ashford Town currently have 25 points from 30 games (0.833 per game). If we can get that ratio up to somewhere above a point per game, then we might survive even if Newport sprout wings and leave us second-bottom.

Even if we don’t reach safety by this method, it is important to improve this ratio as much as possible, since, if there are reprieves to be had because of teams from leagues below us not getting the required ground grading, or teams above us going bankrupt, etc., then the Get Out Of Jail Free cards will be handed out to second-bottom Step 4 clubs in order of their points per game ratio.

Of course, it would be much simpler for us to win our remaining 15 games.

[ Before the details of what happened this afternoon, here is a commercial. The Queen’s Head, in Kingsnorth, is an excellent hostelry – a typical, Kentish country pub, with dried hops over the bar, selling great local ales. It also offers great lunches, which we availed ourselves of prior to the game, with Mrs Milton Keynes Correspondent washing hers down with a pint of vodka & coke. (Sometimes it’s like being married to Paul Gascoigne). ]

There were certainly more than a few echoes of Monday night’s performance in today’s team-sheet – mainly because Ashford were unchanged in every detail, from numbers 1 to 17. This included retaining the same midfield quartet of (from left to right) Joffy Thorogood, RJ Boorman, Gary Clarke and J-P Collier. That meant a start for both of the Alphabet Boys, RJ and J-P. I’m quite intrigued by the linguistic quirke of both of their names being “double-shortened”, with RJ usually being addressed as “Arj”, and J-P being referred to by his team-mates as “Jape” – Professor David Crystal would have a field day !  Quite sensibly, the back-four that has been fairly solid in recent matches (Ross, Banks, Mortley and Adlington) was also retained, meaning that Marc Cumberbatch continued in his role of makeshift striker for the fourth successive game, alongside one of Monday night’s heroes, Joby Thorogood. There was once again the reassuring sight of Dave Wietecha in goal. (I used to say that about John Whitehouse). Ashford’s current strength in depth in midfield was reflected by the personnel on the subs’ bench, which included Sol Henry, Denver Birmingham and Manny Sackey; Shaun Bradshaw was the substitute striker, whilst Kennickson Jarrett-Elliott was the only defensive cover.

The most notable name in the Leatherhead line-up was Lynval Duncan, who played so well for us against The Tanners at their place, earlier in the season, that they signed him. I was also pleased to see Gary Croxton warming up with the Ashford substitutes before the game. Gary has had problems with injury and confidence recently, but it was good to see that he’s still with us.

Not unexpectedly, the lads never threatened to come anywhere near the heights that were reached in the Kingstonian match; in fact, this was more of the attritional stuff that we had witnessed at Banstead, but this was just the sort of solid, all-round performance that was required. Ashford certainly made the slower start of the two teams, and barely got out of their own half in the first ten minutes. Most of the coherent and constructive play in the first half came from Leatherhead - playing today in their away strip of blue shirts, white shorts and blue sockies – but they managed to create few clear-cut chances.

The Tanners’ most dangerous moments were at set-pieces. One of these came as early as the second minute, after Gary Clarke had been penalised for having a foot high, in the vicinity of Lee Doherty’s face. Although the resulting free-kick was just outside the penalty area, Leatherhead opted for putting in a cross, rather than having a pop at goal, and the danger was cleared by the head of Peter Mortley.

The first caution of the match went to Marc Cumberbatch, who picked up his yellow card, in the 25^th minute, by going in late on Leatherhead skipper Iain Hendry. The second card handed out was for a rather worse tackle by J-P Collier. Whether this was technically a two-footed tackle or not is open to debate, but studs certainly clattered into shin, after the ball had gone, and the colour of the card could easily have been red on another day. The Management was clearly wary of the dangers of going down to ten men when they took J-P off, four minutes later, and replaced him with Sol Henry; a cautious, and unusual, policy of replacing a player after he has been booked appears to have been adopted. This was a bit of an anti-climax for all concerned, after J-P’s heroics on Monday – and the lad was clearly disappointed himself – but I’m sure that there will be more to come from the 18 year-old midfielder. Also, if he continues to bring the whole Collier family to games with him, he’ll certainly boost attendances. (The gate was 205 this afternoon).

Sol Henry took up his position on the left side of midfield, with Joffy coming over to the right, to fill the gap left by J-P. The free-kick that resulted from J-P’s original foul was curled over the bar by Steve Sargent.

Three minutes later, the same player was on the end of a flowing move from Leatherhead, which began when an Ashford corner was cleared upfield. Sargent, coming in from the right wing, hit a firm shot, on target, but Dave Wietecha was always well behind the ball. It was a similar story in the 38^th minute, when Sargent’s long-range shot was well saved by Wietecha.

Leatherhead had a free-kick in a dangerous position in the 41^st minute, as a result of a Peter Mortley late tackle. The visitors attempted an intricate move that had obviously been developed on the training ground, but made a complete Mary of it, and the chance was gone.

Two minutes later, Ashford had a free-kick themselves, near the right touchline. This was an opportunity for Rossi to deliver the ball into the Leatherhead area; his in-swinging cross was met by the head of Joby Thorogood at the near post, but Ashford’s top scorer this season, with ten goals, was unable to direct the ball towards goal. So no sight of goal for Joby in the first half, and he was generally coming second in his personal battle with Lynval Duncan – although this was unsurprising, since this particular battle was taking place mainly in the air.

The crucial piece of information during the half-time interval: Newport and Corinthians were drawing 0-0.

The second half was fairly even, with chances still being few and far between. After a Leatherhead free-kick, on the right touchline, had been punched clear by Dave Wietecha, in the 56^th minute, a free-kick for a foul on Gary Clarke, two minutes later, gave Ashford their most promising position of the match. Only RJ Boorman stood behind the ball, so the intention was clear; unfortunately, Arj blasted the ball well over the bar. This rather summed up RJ’s afternoon, as he had a fairly ordinary game.

There was yet another free-kick, this time to Leatherhead, in the 60^th minute; this was in a central position, right on the edge of the area. Steve Sargent bent the ball around the wall, and this time the ball was on course to curl inside the far post, but Dave Wietecha made a good, diving save, palming the ball out for a corner. Four minutes later, the visitors created a rare chance from open play. Julien Thompson showed good skill when he easily “turned” Ian Ross, just outside the penalty area. Thompson cut inside, into the area, but shot into the side-netting when he had plenty of options for picking out a blue shirt in the goalmouth.

In the 65^th minute, Joffy Thorogood conceded a free-kick, after some blatant holding. This was his second offence of this nature in a short period of time, so Referee Irvine Woodward showed him a yellow card. True to the current policy for cautioned players, Joffy was replaced by Manny Sackey, three minutes later, shortly after Leatherhead had made a double-substitution, with Warren Waugh and Mark Harper coming on for Iain Hendry and Julien Thompson.

In the 71^st minute, a free-kick for Ashford, on the right corner of the Leatherhead penalty box, appeared to be rather over-hit by Ian Ross, but Warren Waugh decided on a “safety first” policy, and put the ball behind for a corner. The resulting cross was easily cleared by the Tanners’ defence.

A feature of Marc Cumberbatch’s play, when used as a target man, is that he wins surprisingly few balls in the air – and this might be one of the reasons why many Ashford fans appear to be uncertain as to whether he is really the best choice to partner Joby Thorogood in attack – but he did manage to get a good flick-on to the ball in the 75 minute, which set Manny Sackey off on a run down the right wing. Manny managed to pull the ball back, from the by-line, and get it into the area. The ball broke to Tom Adlington, a few yards outside the area, and Tommy sent in what was either a cross or an attempted shot. (If it was supposed to be a shot at goal, then the ref should’ve booked him for time-wasting !). Anyway, what happened was that the ball went curving through the penalty area, at pace, and Gary Clarke attempted a spectacular volley, over his left shoulder. The ball went straight at Tommy Dunn, in the Leatherhead goal, but the incident appeared to lift the Ashford players, and we had a good spell for a few minutes. In the 78^th minute, Manny Sackey was this time the provider for Marc Cumberbatch, when his flicked through-ball gave Marc the chance to run through on goal, but Dunn was quickly off his line.

As the game entered the closing stages, it was Leatherhead who looked the more likely to snatch the win. Dave Wietecha had to concentrate to save a long-range effort from Dave Stevens, in the 82^nd minute, and then had to punch clear a corner, two minutes later. In the 86^th minute, an attempted clearance by Sol Henry, from near his own touchline was charged down by a Leatherhead player, and then went of Solly, for a corner. This was headed clear by the Ashford defence. The ball was soon coming back in the direction of the Ashford goal, and Dave Wietecha made a comfortable save from Dean Carpenter. In the 88^th minute, the Ashford goal was threatened by a dangerous, diagonal cross, behind the home defence, which Tommy Adlington put behind, for a corner. This was headed clear by Marc Cumberbatch, who certainly won some important headers in defence. A minute later, he actually got his head to a cross in the Leatherhead penalty area, after Ashford were awarded a free-kick near the left touchline, but there was no power in his back-header, and it was an easy pick-up for Dunn in the Leatherhead goal.

It wasn’t a performance that pleased everyone, but it was another precious point gained and, probably more importantly, it extended the unbeaten run to four games – the best unbeaten run so far this season. It was also the second clean sheet in three games. I saw this as a good, battling performance, which would only have been disappointing to someone who was expecting a repeat of Monday night, which was never a realistic expectation. On the subject of battling, Gary Clarke was deservedly named Man of the Match, after turning in another fighting display in the centre of midfield.

Elsewhere, Newport and Corinthians also drew 0-0, so The Port missed a golden opportunity to put us under some pressure, in terms of league position, and still haven’t won a game at home this season. As we are now looking at the goings-on in four divisions, I should also report that, whilst we were improving our points per game to 0.839, Stourport Swifts lost 0-3 at home, Spalding United lost 0-2 at home, whilst Berkhampsted Town drew 2-2.