Ashford Town
from Your Milton Keynes
Correspondent
Ramsgate at home, and time to cast envious glances at
what’s going on over there in Thanet. The Rams are having a wonderful season –
their first season at this level, having won the Kent League and Kent League
Premier Division Cup double last year. Although the league table is very messy
at this time of year, with teams having played a different number of games, The
Rams would appear to be one of the leading three teams in the chase for the championship,
along with Dover
The consolation for us long-suffering fans is that
there’s the potential at our Club to, not only match, but far exceed anything
that Ramsgate have so far achieved.
Much of the acknowledgement for the recent success of
today’s visitors must go to Scotsman Jim Ward, who is one of a handful of
football managers at this level with an undoubtedly proven track record, but
credit must also go to the Club’s Board for having the foresight in 2001-2 to
embark upon a commitment to its youth development programme by only using local
players. To say that this policy appears to have paid off is a bit of an
understatement.
One of the benefits of this first ever competitive
meeting between the two sides (but, as always, I stand to be corrected on that
one) is the prospect of a decent crowd, with Ramsgate expected to bring a few
down for this Kent derby; also, the Milton Keynes contingent was up to four
this week-end, as we combined the visit to the Homelands Temple with a “Christmas
Run” to what’s left of my family down there. All of this resulted in an
attendance figure of 241, the biggest league gate of the season, and only the
third of 200+ so far. Whilst this probably won’t reverse the current trend for
attendances to nose-dive, this is a very encouraging figure, especially given
that the game was scheduled during the “graveyard” period running up to Christmas.
This provides great encouragement for the sort of crowds we might hope for in
relation to the other major local derbies, i.e. Dover
(which is next, on January the 2nd), Tonbridge and Hastings
An advantage of basing your side on local talent – apart
from that lovely, warm glow it gives you, and the fact that you can connect
with the local population and retain a decent nucleus of loyal support – is
that it generates its own internal loyalty and team spirit among the players.
Although Tim Thorogood is beginning to establish a settled side again, after
recent additions to the squad, he was dealt a blow this week when centre-half
Lynval Duncan upped sticks and left. Apparently, he played so well against
Leatherhead recently that they wanted to sign him, and Lynval had no
compunction about leaving us for the side that was in fourth place in the
division on Saturday morning. This follows Marc Cumberbatch’s defection to
Dover Athletic, shortly after playing a blinder for us against them.
Ironically, Lynval had been our most “loyal” player, having played all bar five
minutes of every game, up to his departure. He was one of the successes of
Ashford’s recent policy of recruiting players from the Protec Academy
Lynval’s absence was once again covered by Tom
Adlington switching to the centre, alongside the similarly vertically
challenged Mark Banks, meaning that, with Jamie Smith on the right and Skipper
Ian Ross on the left, we had three full-backs in the back four. Given the
theoretical vulnerability to air attacks, it was good to see the towering
presence of Dave Wietecha in goal.
There is some competition for places in midfield these
days, but today’s central partnership of RJ Boorman and Gary Clarke seems to
have become established as the first-choice pairing – Emmanuel Sackey (Man of
the Match against Banstead) and Sol Henry were the wide men. Terry McCann was
(I think) on holiday, and Denver Birmingham and Anthony Pace were on the bench.
This was RJ’s last game before a two-match suspension, and Gary Clarke, who was
limping around the place after the game, is bound to pick up injuries, given
the way he plays, so let’s hope that those not currently in the starting
line-up can maintain their patience. I’ve no news of Nathan Thomas’s absence,
although he doesn’t appear to be on the injury list.
It was the “Old Firm” of Joby Thorogood and Shaun
Bradshaw spearheading the 4-4-2 formation, with Steve Humphrey (three goals in
the equivalent of 5½ games this year), Kennickson Jarrett-Elliott and Sean
Glover making up the subs bench. (The roll-call of subs is largely irrelevant,
as Ashford once again declined to make any substitutions).
There was no Dean Hill (ex-Ashford) in the Ramsgate
side, but the immediate impression given by The Rams, playing in all red, was
that they had a noticeable advantage in height and physical size over our lads.
There were few incidents to report in the early
stages, except for a yellow card for Jamie Smith, which was significant in the
light of later events. It was Smith, who looks a class act whenever he gets
near the ball, who won a free-kick in the 12th minute, on the right
side of the field. The resulting cross, from Ian Ross, was headed clear by the
Ramsgit defence, and RJ Boorman’s attempted header at goal, from the edge of
the penalty area, went tamely wide. Two minutes later, Sam Denly, at the other
end, had a side-footed effort straight at Dave Wietecha in the Ashford goal.
In the 16th minute, Gary Clarke won the
ball with a good tackle, and laid it off to Emmanuel Sackey, who had plenty of
time to look up and assess the possibilities. Manny fed the ball through to
Shaun Bradshaw, but Bradders managed no more than a weak, left-footed shot from
outside the area. This was the effort of a man who is badly lacking in
confidence – one goal for Shaun every five games so far this season – and when
challenging for the ball in the air today he seemed to lack conviction, jumping
up alongside his marker, rather than making a strong, determined attempt at
making contact.
On twenty minutes, Ramsgate had a corner, on the left,
as a result of a covering tackle by Tom Adlington, and this was taken by one of
the stars of the Kent League last year, Michael Yianni. Sam Denly came powering
in with a header – showing how it should be done – meeting Yianni’s cross well,
but his effort went over the bar.
Both sides tried to play good, passing football, but
there was little end-product during the first half-hour of a fairly even game.
Ashford’s next chance came in the 31st
minute. Shaun Bradshaw, who spends much of his time tightly marked, with his
back to goal, showed that he actually has good pace when given the opportunity
to run with the ball, and went off on a break, down the left flank. He squared
the ball to RJ, who had plenty of time to organise himself for a shooting
chance; ever the stylist, RJ was probably attempting to curl the ball inside
the far post, but his shot went well wide, and must have taken a deflection, as
a corner was given. Ian Ross once again came across to the right to take the
kick, but this was well caught by Rams’ ‘keeper Danny Twyman, who fell awkwardly,
leading to a lengthy delay.
Four minutes later, good work in midfield by Gary
Clarke enabled Boorman (on three goals so far this season) to have another
long-range shooting chance. This time, his shot struck the arm of a defender,
right on the edge of the penalty area. Clarkey took the kick himself, but his
shot went straight into the red defensive wall. In the 37th minute, Gary
There appeared to be a bit of “feeling” between the
two sides, and there were a few niggles, a few harsh words and “feet being left
in”, which Referee Rob Smith failed to get on top of. The needle was ramped up
a notch in the 38th minute, when Jamie Smith appeared to go in for a
50/50 ball with his foot raised. There seemed to be no contact made with either
ball or player, but the talk after the game was that Jamie might have been
lucky to stay on the field, given that he was already on a yellow card.
Back to the football, and the balance of an even game
was tilted in the 41st minute, with a moment of quality from the visitors.
Shaun Welford ran onto a quick through-ball from midfield, and neatly slotted
the ball past Dave Wietecha in the Ashford goal. In many ways, it was the unfussy
simplicity of this goal that was the truest expression of its quality – the
fact that Ramsgate can do this and Ashford can’t is one of the reasons why they
seem nailed on for at least a play-off place whilst we continue to be
threatened with relegation.
Ashford’s best chance of equalising before the break
originated from Emmanual Sackey, who played on the left during the first half,
with Sol Henry on the right. Sackey spread the ball wide to Jamie Smith, who
was advancing fast from the right-back position. It almost seemed that Jamie
had too much to do to get to this pass, but he showed good technique to deliver
a first-time cross. Twyman came out to claim the ball, and lost it, but there
was no Ashford man there to take advantage.
The second half began with the animosity on the pitch
being reflected by plenty of needle between the two benches, and Referee Smith
had to stop play in the 50th minute to instruct both clans to be
nice to each other. (I should explain that, for all the qualities that Jim Ward
is reputed to have, “niceness” isn’t one that I’ve heard of – maybe it’s currently
an especially sad time for Scots, with World Cup Finals draws being made, so
perhaps he was extra grumpy this week-end).
After Richard Boorman had curled a corner-kick onto
the roof of the net, in the 51st minute, Ramsgate had a good chance
to go further ahead, three minutes later. A long, through-ball fell right at
the feet of Shaun Welford, in the Ashford area, but Tommy Adlington was there
to touch it behind for a corner. (Before the kick was taken, Jim Ward made the
first of his three substitutions, replacing Shane Suter with Stuart Vahid; this
fourteen-man policy was in contrast to Ashford’s approach of not using any
subs, but I can’t honestly say that this affected the result in any way). When
the corner came over, it was cleared by the Ashford defence, and a quick break
was on. Sol Henry did brilliantly to leave Liam Morris for dead, near the left
touch-line, and he was off and away. Sol centred the ball to Joby Thorogood, on
the right side of the area. Joby had time to control the ball and shoot, but
his firm and accurate shot was well saved by the goal-keeper.
This was Ashford’s best chance yet, and provided
much-needed encouragement – this incident also initiated a 15-minute spell of
good momentum for the home side, during which we looked like we might actually
score. In the 57th minute, Joby Thorogood went on a promising solo
run, mid-way into the Ramsgit half, which ended with his shot being blocked for
a corner. Then, a minute later, Joby ran onto a through-ball, which was
threaded into The Rams’ area by Manny Sackey, but another good shot from The
Halfling brought out another good save from Danny Twyman. (It’s a pleasant
change to report the opposition ‘keeper having to have a good game!). Joby
popped up again on the hour mark, this time to the right of the penalty area,
near the by-line. His cross landed on the top of the crossbar, and a corner was
given, so the goalie must have got a touch once again.
Ramsgate must have been pleased to relieve some of the
pressure, when they won a corner in the 61st minute. Jim Ward also
restored more order with substitutions in the 62nd and 66th
minutes (Steffan Ball for Sam Denly, and Lee Minshull for Michael Yianni,
respectively), but Ashford were again on the attack, through Joby Thorogood, in
the 67th minute. Progressing through the inside-left channel, Joby
was held back, and a free-kick was awarded. This was taken by Richard Boorman,
but RJ tried the imaginative side-foot to the near post – which didn’t work –
instead of slinging the ball into the middle, which might have been a better
option, maintaining the pressure on the Ramsgate defence.
Shaun Bradshaw managed a speculative shot on the turn,
in the 70th minute, which, in spite of taking a deflection, went
straight into Twyman’s arms, but the match took a decisive turn, a minute
later, when Ashford were reduced to ten men. Jamie Smith put in what looked to
be a late tackle, on the far side, and received a second yellow card. I was too
far away to make a judgement as to whether it was a bad foul, or even a foul at
all, but the referee was soon surrounded by 20 players, so it’s probably safe
to assume that he deserved the booking. Ashford’s reaction was to go to three
at the back, with Tom Adlington reverting to his usual role at right-back, and
Mark Banks in the middle – but, more to the point, the lads fell apart at the
back after this. This was probably due in part to the fact that they were still
pressing for an equaliser, but the result was that we now frequently got
outnumbered at the back, and Ramsgate really could have scored five or six.
The first scare came in the 74th minute,
when The Rams had a numerical advantage of five against three after an Ashford attack
broke down. The ball was passed, rugby style, all along the line to Steffan
Ball, on the right. Ball cut inside, transferring the ball (confusing, innit ?)
onto his left foot, and beat Dave Wietecha with a firm shot, but Ian Ross came
sliding across to clear the ball off the line. In the 76th minute,
Ashford were caught two against two at the back, with Simon Pettit arriving to
make it 3 v 2 in favour of the visitors; again, though, it was Rossi who came
across, putting the ball behind for a corner. A minute later, Mark Banks was
similarly forced to concede a corner, but the resulting cross was well caught
by Dave Wietecha.
In the 79th minute, Ashford had a corner on
the right, at the other end. This was taken by Ian Ross, and was cleared as far
as Gary Clarke; Gary
Ball (the player) went closer in the 83rd minute.
He picked the ball up wide on the right, just outside the penalty area; he cut
inside, beating Rossi, and, having the ball on his left foot, unleashed a
powerful shot. The ball (the spherical thing) pinged off Mark Banks’s head, and
then against the crossbar, with neither Mark nor the crossbar knowing much about
it.
A minute later, substitute Michael Cassar rose at the
far post and headed the ball across the goal-mouth, but there was no Ramsgate
player there to apply the finishing touch. Ashford’s luck didn’t hold for much
longer, though, as the defence was once again outnumbered; the ball was fed
through to Shaun Welford, who slotted the ball past Dave Wietecha for his, and
Ramsgate’s, second goal.
It was now just a question of how many, and in the 88th
minute, shortly after Tom Adlington was yellow-carded for what looked like
dissent, it became 0-3. Again, the defence was exposed with a two against two
situation, and, as the ball was spread wide to Steffan Ball, he made no
mistake, thumping his namesake high into the roof of the net.
It was now target practice for The Rams, and Welford
had a half-chance for his hat-trick a minute after the third goal, shooting
just over the bar, from outside the area. Ashford also had the odd chance late
in the game, although the game was over as a contest, with Sol Henry, still
looking for his first goal for Ashford, trying a long-range shot – Joby
Thorogood, in the line of fire, tried to deflect the ball into the net, but it
went just over.
It’s also worth noting that, with the match into
injury time, Tommy Adlington threw himself at a shot from David Cory, making an
effective block, which reminds me to point out that the boys never gave up this
afternoon. There was also a good moment in the 92nd minute of play,
when Sol Henry won a corner, on the left. This was taken by RJ Boorman, and
Joby Thorogood rose well to meet the cross with a good header, but Danny Twyman
earnt his clean sheet by tipping the ball over the bar.
There’s little consolation that can be taken from a
0-3 home defeat, but this was by no means a bad performance. The worrying thing
is that, having gone behind, Ashford never looked likely to draw level. In
fact, with only six goals in the last 13 games, it’s fairly obvious where our
problems lie. The defence played well (when there were four of them), and there’s
plenty of talent in midfield; Emmanuel Sackey looks a useful acquisition, and
Sol Henry is beginning to look a good player when on the ball. The boys played
some nice football from deep positions, and looked OK when playing in front of
the Ramsgate defence, but there was a distinct lack of penetration.
If we’re looking for crumbs of comfort, then both
Corinthian Casuals and Newport (IoW) also lost
today, and Burgess
Hill Town
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