Ashford Town 0 Metropolitan Police 0
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
The situation
for the season is pretty simple now – stark even. It’s either us or Dorking to
go down into the oblivion of “Step 5”. For us, in plain English, that’s the
Kent League. After our wild 4-1 win on Tuesday, against (an admittedly
under-strength) Bashley, we’re a point ahead of Dorking, with a much better
goal difference (which is worth another point). Both teams have a very similar
run-in: we’re both at home today, against a team still trying to secure a place
in the promotion play-offs; then next week we’re both away to a team with
seemingly little to play for, although The Dorks’ match away to mid-table
Whyteleafe looks less daunting than our trip to third-placed Horsham, who are
guaranteed a play-off place.
My thought,
driving down the M1 on Saturday morning, was that I’d settle for us matching
anything that Dorking achieve today, as that would mean Dorking having to WIN
at Whyteleafe next week to stay up, (and, realistically, that’s a “big ask”).
Of course, the
thought of where I was going to get my dinner was also not very far from my
mind. Happily, we had a clear run through on the M1, M25 and M20, and made it
to God’s own town in an hour and 45 minutes. (All strictly legal, you
understand – in case any of the Met. entourage are reading this). That meant
that there was time for Mrs Milton Keynes Correspondent and I to do our duty,
and visit one of the Club’s sponsors, the “Queen’s Head”, in Kingsnorth. As Tim
Thorogood made clear during the Presentation Evening, after the game, a club
like Ashford Town relies upon a coalition of volunteers, helpers and assorted
unsung heroes – from the man who picks the mud off the kit, to the lady who
paints the corridors, to the girls who fry the burgers, to the poor souls who
have to eat them – but also on a whole assortment of sponsors who contribute
various amounts to provide the fuel for keeping the Club running.
I’m pleased to
say that this visit was anything but a chore, as the “Queen’s Head” is a
cracking pub – the food is excellent, the service is very friendly and
professional, and there’s a great bar, bedecked with hops.
After recent
problems with availability of key players, due to injury and suspension, Tim
and John had virtually a full squad to choose from, with only Tom Evans, Gary
Clarke and the suspended Joffy missing – even Ian Ross was on the bench as a
possible fit & able replacement after breaking his leg on the Isle of Wight
last season, as opposed to being merely a token name on the team sheet ! This meant that players could be played in
their best position. Barry Gardner was in the David Beckham position, on the
right side of midfield, and was frequently the furthest forward of the midfield
quartet, with Matty Bower skippering the side from central midfield, alongside
Eddie Achoko, with Solomon Henry on the left. Joby partnered Paul Jones up
front, and there was a return to the side of John Whitehouse – thank goodness
for John Whitehouse ! The full-back
twins were back – Tommy Adlington on the right, and Paul O’Brien on the left –
but there was something of a surprise in the central defensive pairing. In
spite of big Tony Ritrovato and Mad Dog Holmes returning from suspension, they
were both left on the bench, in favour of Marc Cumberbatch and Lee Blackman,
who had played there together against Bashley. This was a slight gamble. For a
start, Lee is a striker, with little experience in defence, and Ritrovato’s
height might have been an advantage against a notoriously big and physical
side. No arguments about Marc Cumberbatch’s selection, though – he’s looked a
class act since he played for us last season, as a loanee from Barnet. Shaun
Bradshaw completed the line-up of subs.
As expected,
the main Police tactic was to try to exploit their physical advantage, with
their main weapons being the first-time lob over the defence, and the long
throw-in. These tactics generally proved to be ineffective, as both Blackman
and Cumberbatch are quick on their feet, pretty strong in the air, and were
generally too good for the opposing forwards.
The first
assault from the visitors, dressed appropriately in all blue, came in the
eighth minute. A long throw from the left was not convincingly headed clear by
the Ashford defence, and Craig Brown attempted a sharp volley from the edge of
the area, which went just over the bar. Ashford had their first worthwhile
attack two minutes later, led by Paul Jones, down the right flank. He pulled
the ball back to Tom Adlington, who sent in a cross with a left foot that I
never knew he had – Matt Bower rose and got a header in on target, but it fell
tamely into the arms of Stuart Mackenzie in the Police goal.
We had a
rather better chance after 19 minutes, when Barry Gardner was put through on goal
by a neat through-ball. He was some way out, and was muscled off the ball by
the Police defence, before being forced into committing a foul himself. Five
minutes later, the attack was at the other end, when a long, seige-gun of a
cross was launched into the Ashford area, and Marc Cumberbatch did brilliantly
to rise highest, to head the ball behind for a corner. The fact that he was
able to get his head above John Whitehouse’s hands suggests that John might
have been fouled, but all forwards in attendance were found not guilty.
In the 27th
minute, the visitors had a corner; this was pulled back short, to Dave Newman.
He twisted and turned on the edge of the Ashford area as the defence streamed
out, and managed to get in a low shot, which was well saved by John Whitehouse,
diving to his left.
In spite of
the referee getting plenty of stick for being biased against us, from the
Ashford Town Crier in the stand, Mr John, from Croydon, awarded a harsh
free-kick against full-back Paul Sears, on the edge of the area. This was for
hand-ball, after the ball had travelled about 18 inches onto Sears’ hand at
about 80 mph. As usual, Joby stood over the ball for the free-kick, but ran
over it; Barry Gardner hit a cleanly-struck shot past the two-man Police line, but
straight at the ‘keeper.
After a
lengthy break for some attention to Dave Newman, who had accidentally kissed
the back of Matt Bower’s head when he was expecting to head the ball, there was
a breakdown in communication between Whitehouse and Cumberbatch in the Ashford
defence, which resulted in Marc putting the ball behind for a needless corner.
The resulting cross from the right just grazed the Ashford bar, but ran away to
safety, and the teams went in at half-time all square at 0-0. The news from Dorking
was that they were also goal-less against Tooting, so no change in the
relegation situation so far.
Five minutes
into the second half, and a neat flick-on by Paul Jones gave Joby the chance to
run at the Police defences. With the thin blue line retreating, Joby unleashed
a powerful shot from about 20 yards, which was well parried by ‘keeper
MacKenzie. Barry Gardner, again well forward, was there to pick up the rebound,
but was unable to bundle the ball in.
Generally,
there was little quality from either side in the second half, and the visitors’
management was becoming increasingly frustrated with their forwards’ lack of
success against the Ashford defence. This resulted in a double-substitution,
after 63 minutes, with Stuart Harte and Rob Haworth replacing Kevin Cooper and
Mark Watson. (Whilst this was a change in personnel, this did not change or
lessen the threat, as Haworth, in particular, is a big, strong, forward – I
wonder if his nickname’s Rita ?!). This change resulted in the creation of the
best chance of the game, and the closest shave of the afternoon for our boys.
Yet another long ball into the Ashford area was headed on by Haworth, to Harte,
whose shot from close range was well saved by John Whitehouse – thank goodness
for John Whitehouse ! There was an
anxious silence among the crowd of 247 – the fourth-best gate of the season –
as the follow-up shot from the rebound was blocked on the line by Lee
Blackman’s thigh. I think there was a general understanding that, in a tight
game with few chances, there might’ve been no coming back if the ball had gone
in !
As the game
entered the final ten minutes, I think that most of the Ashford faithful would
have settled for the point. Chances continued to be few and far between. Joby
managed to waste three corners during this period – two were hopelessly
over-hit, and then a third dribbled into the side-netting. The best offering
from the Police was a tame, long-range effort by Scott Bennetts, in the 81st
minute.
The home side
did manage to put together a flowing move in the 83rd minute,
involving Joby, Sol Henry and Paul Jones – this ended with Barry Gardner’s snap
shot on the turn, which was always going just over the bar. Matt Bower also had
a shot that went just inches over the bar, in the 85th minute, and,
a couple of minutes later, Joby held the ball up well, before putting Paul
Jones through, in the Police penalty area. Jonah’s left-foot shot was blocked,
resulting in one of Joby’s wasted corners.
With just a
minute of normal time remaining, there was a Police charge down the left, which
resulted in a corner. There was another instant of panic, as Eddie Achoko – who
had played better than I’d seen him play before – badly fluffed a clearance.
Luckily, there was a green shirt beside him to hoof the ball away.
There were
shades of Walton & Hersham’s eight minutes of injury time, as the game
entered, by my watch, the 94th minute – but this enabled Ian Ross to
come on as substitute, for Sol Henry, and to do so to a standing ovation from
the crowd. Although Rossi didn’t actually touch the ball, this was a hugely
significant moment in the life of a young footballer who had been told that he
would never play football again.
As injury-time
extended to five minutes, a flowing Ashford move from defence found Paul Jones
approaching the Police area, with a chance to snatch three points, and
salvation. Just as the whole crowd was dreaming of him sliding the ball to his
left so that Rossi could smash the ball into the top corner of the net, Jones
chose to pass to Barry Gardner, on his right. With the Dorking game ending at
0-0, a goal now would have been enough to guarantee Ashford a place in the
Ryman League for next season, but he blasted over.
By his own
high standards, this wasn’t Barry’s best game, but, a few hours later, he
deservedly received the award for the Supporters’ Player of the Season. This
award was well earnt, as much for his versatility in playing in a number of
positions this year as for anything else. In spite of not being the biggest in
stature, he has even done a good job in central defence several times this
season – with Marc Cumberbatch and Lee Blackman playing extremely well in that
position this afternoon, against a side renowned for their physical presence,
this proves that you don’t necessarily need to be a big twat with a brick head
to be a good centre-half ! On the
subject of awards, Lee Blackman was the popular choice as today’s Elite
Security Man of the Match.
Getting back
to the Ashford Oscars – maybe they could be called The Peter Silletts – Paul
Jones collected both the Players’ Player of the Year, and the Player of the
Year, awards. Again, these were both richly deserved. Presenting the trophies,
Tim Thorogood described Jonah as being probably the best centre-forward he’d seen
at this level – added to that, he’s worked tirelessly up front all season, with
not always a great deal of help from the players around him, invariably being
tightly marked, and taking all the knocks. During his long lay-off with a
broken leg, Paul was usually there at matches, supporting the team, and we’re
certainly lucky to have him.
There was also
a well-deserved Peter Sillett for Alan Orsbourne, who was particularly rushed
off his feet today, flitting from job to job behind the scenes. There was also
a special presentation made to Steve Hackett, who has stepped in at short
notice to take care of the pitch – the pitch, incidentally, looked in pretty
good nick, considering the pounding it’s taken this season, what with the
Margate ground-share and a number of local finals.
Of course, the
announcing of award-winners, and Tim’s long list of thanks for all concerned,
might have given the impression that the season is over – and, of course, it
isn’t. Not by a long chalk ! We still
need to go to Horsham next Saturday for what has become just about the most
important game in the Club’s history. If Dorking fail to beat Whyteleafe, then
we’re saved from ending our worst-ever season with a humiliating relegation to
the Kent League. If they happen to beat the Leafe – and Sod’s Law states that
…. – then nothing but a win in Horsham will save us from a very deep hole which
will be very difficult to climb out of. It might be a nervy afternoon next
Saturday !
“Certainty of
relegation if we fail. Small chance of success. What are we waiting for ?!”
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