ARCHIVE: Ashford Town v Waltham Forest. FA Trophy Preliminary Round Replay. 2006-7 season.

Ashford Town   1       Waltham Forest                   1

Joby Thorogood 74                     Thomas 17

(1-1       after 90 minutes)

(1-1       after extra time)

(Waltham Forest won 5-4 on penalties)

from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent

FA Trophy Preliminary Round, First Replay. I describe it in that manner because I’m old enough to remember the days when cup ties sometimes became sagas, with five or six replays. Tonight, of course, there had to be a finish, with extra time and penalties being used, if necessary.

It wasn’t the plan to attend any home games this season, but we were so enthralled by Saturday’s drama that we just had to go and see the sequel – the fact that we’d already taken time off work for the Kent Senior Cup tie away at Folkestone, which would otherwise have been played on the Monday, also had something to do with it. We joked, of course, that, if extra time and penalties were required, then it might be around about 1 o’clock in the morning before we got to bed – well, there’s many a true word spoken in jest, and, as you will already know, that’s more or less how it turned out. It was a long night last night for all concerned, and this could turn out to be a very long report, if I’m not careful, so let’s cut to the chase. (Except I would like to say that we arrived in Kingsnorth with enough time to visit our sponsors, The Queen’s Head – partly because they sponsor the Club’s web-site, but mostly because it’s a great pub).

In terms of team selection, it’s almost a case of “hands up who’s fit”, as the playing staff is looking thinner, and more depleted, with every game. The one change from the team that played at Waltham Forest on Saturday was for George Fenwick to start, with Richard Sinden unluckily relegated to the bench. There was, however, a change in formation. Joby Thorogood, last season’s top scorer, returned to the attack, with skipper Simon Glover dropping back into midfield. Joffy Thorogood pushed well forward, so that we mostly appeared to use a 4-3-3 formation, with a midfield trio, from left to right, of Glover, Allman and Clarke. The back five was unchanged, with Ian Ross, Dan Tanner, Marc Cumberbatch and Tommy Adlington in front of Simon Overland.

I reckon there were just two “fit” subs on the bench – Richard Sinden and Kenny Jarrett-Elliott, who we know is carrying a hamstring injury anyway. Barry Crawford was there, but, for a player of his quality to be constantly warming the bench, I reckon that his ankle injury must be serious enough for him to be available to play in an emergency only. Wearing the No.12 shirt was 16 year-old Joe Hitchings, who very much seems to be Ashford Town’s equivalent of Theo Walcott – he has his boots on, and his Mum says he’s allowed to play, but The Management seems totally disinclined to use him. In spite of being named as a sub in all bar two games this season, Joe has been given just one outing, which lasted for all of two minutes. Not surprisingly, neither Joe nor Barry was used, so Ashford relied on just the 13 players for the two hours plus of play last night. Peter Mortley is described as still being on the long-term injury list, Graham Porter has made one appearance, as an unused sub, since the 2^nd of September, and Stuart Playford appears to have hung up his boots. And that’s it. With the Reserves apparently without a Manager, which raises the question of how long that particular squad is going to stick together, we might be down to calling up the under-16s soon.

Where was I ?  Yes, cutting to the chase.

Last night we had the same referee, Rob Hyde, that reffed the first game, on Saturday, and, for some reason, he again started the game some five minutes late. (I already had one eye on what time I might get to bed). The pattern of the game was set early on, with Waltham Forest looking to put long balls over our defence, for their forwards to exploit what they no doubt saw as the lack of pace of our defenders, with Ashford trying to get the ball down and play some passing football. (Unfortunately, although this is clearly what Tim and John are trying to get the boys to do, this was very rarely achieved – as was the case on Saturday, they only really seemed to play composed and coherent football for a period after they had scored, and this has to be down to a collective lack of confidence).

What was again apparent last night was that Waltham Forest have some talented individuals in the side, particularly in attack, and the consensus appears to be that they are taking time to gel together under their new Manager. One of their better players seems to be Danny Kenny, a wide-right player, who came on as a substitute at half time on Saturday. He’s a good deliverer of the ball, as he showed in the 11^th minute, with a free-kick from the right touchline, which was headed clear. Two minutes later, he showed good vision when attempting a through-ball from the halfway line, but this was just too strong for the Waltham Forest runners.

Ashford’s first chance came in the 15^th minute. After a foul on Simon Glover, an Anthony Allman free-kick was headed clear by The Stags’ defence, but only as far as Gary Clarke, just outside the penalty area. Gary, who is still yet to score this season, having scored three goals last season, saw his shot go just wide of the post, but there must have been a deflection, as a corner was awarded, on the right. Ian Ross swung a dangerous cross into a crowded six-yard box; the ball went just over the bar, from a Waltham Forest head, but the referee had seen a foul somewhere.

Although Ashford were trying to play football, it was all a bit frantic and rushed in the early stages. Although our visitors were looking for the early, long ball, that’s not to say that they couldn’t play, and they put some nice moves together in the first half. We saw one of these in the 17^th minute, when Waltham Forest took the lead. This featured a very neat one-two which enabled Andrew Thomas to get into the Ashford area with just Simon Overland to beat. Thomas made no mistake, and slid the ball into the net, for a well-taken goal; Simon managed to get a touch on the ball, but was unable to prevent it from going in.

A feature of both of these games, between two struggling sides, was that the balance of confidence swung more than one might normally expect when a goal was scored, and it was no surprise that Waltham Forest subsequently looked like adding to their lead. The next few minutes were basically played in the Ashford half, and the visitors had a corner in the 21^st minute. This was neatly controlled by Danny Kenny, on his chest, but his shot, from outside the area, was deflected wide. The cross from the follow-up corner was well claimed by Simon Overland. Two minutes later, a free-kick for Forest, wide on the right, was floated to the far post, headed back into the centre and then headed goalwards by Andrew Thomas, but Simon made a good save.

The incident that led to that free-kick had resulted in a yellow card for Joffy Thorogood, our one-man disciplinary problem; his Father clearly appears to be losing patience with him, as he immediately decided to haul him off, with Kenny Jarrett-Elliott being the replacement, as early as the 23^rd minute.

Ashford actually broke out of defence, in the 24^th minute, with Simon Glover sliding a ball through for the other Thorogood, Joby, to chase. With a clear sight of goal, Joby decided to hit the ball from outside the area – his firmly-struck shot was always just too high, but this was at least an encouraging sign.

Nevertheless, the visitors, again playing in their first-choice strip of white shirts, black shorts and white sockies, were soon back on the attack, in the 28^th minute. With the ball being spread wide to the left, the resulting cross was headed on, into the Ashford penalty area, for the unpronounceable Fola Orilonishe to chase. Fola got to the ball marginally before the advancing Simon Overland, and, in spite of there being a definite, audible contact between the two players, and with the ball running fairly harmlessly towards the by-line, the No.11 chose not to go down to claim a clear penalty. This act of honesty incensed one or two of his team-mates, who berated him for not throwing himself to the ground. Maybe I’m old-fashioned (well, there’s probably no “maybe” involved), but I was pleased to see Orilonishe do the right thing, and would hope that any of our players would have acted in the same way, (but wouldn’t actually put what’s left of my meagre pension on it).

Orilonishe nearly made amends, a minute later, when he combined in a nice move with Andrew Thomas – Thomas dinked a neat pass into him inside the right-back, received a reversed return pass from Fola from the by-line, but then side-footed the ball wide of the post, from about eight yards out.

Waltham Forest continued to look very bright and dangerous when coming forward, mixing some neat passing movements with the first-time ball over the top, and went close again, in the 34^th minute. This chance came about as a result of quite a good tackle by Simon Glover, chasing back; unfortunately for Gloves, though, the ball broke into the path of Danny Gabriel, whose dipping shot went just over the bar. Two minutes later, Simon Overland had to tip over a speculative, lobbed shot from well outside the penalty area. The resulting corner was headed clear, but Simon Glover was caught in possession, near his own by-line, whilst trying to play the ball out of defence. This led to some more anxious moments in the Ashford penalty area, before Rossi chested the ball behind for a corner. Although this was dealt with, Forest had another corner, in the 38^th minute, when Dan Tanner blocked an attempted cross. This time, the corner was hit low, to Ryan Oliva, on the edge of the box, but Oliva’s hooked shot went just over the bar.

Ashford’s response was genuine Route One stuff, with a headed flick-on from the goal-kick putting George Fenwick in with a sight of goal; George struck his shot firmly, but straight at the goalkeeper. A minute later, Ashford were moving forward again, through Kenny Jarrett-Elliott, on the left; just as Joff Thorogood had done before him, Kenny pushed well forward, so that he was often effectively a third striker. Three names squared the ball to Joby, on the edge of the penalty area, but he didn’t really time his attempt, with his left foot, and the ball trickled through to ‘keeper Jason Willis.

With a minute to go before half time, our boys put a good move together, down the right, involving Anthony Allman, Tommy Adlington and Joby Thorogood. This ended with Joby attempting to go around the full-back, Matt Waldron, in the corner, but Waldron went sliding in recklessly, and earnt himself a yellow card from Rob Hyde. Rossi put in a dangerous cross from the resulting free-kick, but this was headed clear, and Waltham Forest went in at half time 0-1 up – they were probably value for 0-2 or 0-3, but it was just the one goal separating the two sides.

As the second half kicked off, it was still pleasantly mild, and I actually watched the whole of the proceedings in shirt sleeves, which is unusual for an evening game in October. (Apologies to our friends in the South Atlantic, once again, for mentioning it). Almost immediately, Ashford won a free-kick, in a deep position, for a foul on Simon Glover. Ian Ross pumped this into the penalty area, using George Fenwick’s head as a target. Jason Willis came out, into a crowd of players, to collect the ball, and promptly lost it, but his defenders rescued him by clearing their lines.

Ashford continued to try hard to play a high-tempo passing game, but the visitors countered this by breaking up play, and taking plenty of time over substitutions and throw-ins. This was probably an entirely understandable tactic, and it succeeding in disrupting Ashford’s rhythm. The first of Forest’s substitutions came in the 52^nd minute, with Fola Orilonishe being replaced, due to injury, by Danny Flynn. Whilst this substitution was taking place, Jason Willis went down injured, and there was a further delay for him to be treated. (My thoughts again strayed to the issue of when I might get to bed). After play had eventually got underway again, Ashford were putting together another promising move, involving Gary Clarke, Simon Glover, Tommy Adlington and Kenny J-E, in the 56^th minute, when another Stags player went down, needing treatment. This time it was Ryan Oliva, and both teams took the opportunity to have a drinks break.

In the 58^th minute, a poor kick-out by Jason Willis went straight to Marc Cumberbatch, and Marc was able to head the ball forward to Joby Thorogood. Joby attempted a one-two with Anthony Allman, but the plan didn’t quite work out, and the ball rolled away for a goal-kick. As the hour mark was passed, we still hadn’t seen our heroes create a really clear-cut chance; there was some good, quick passing at the back, and around the half-way line, but we had virtually no quality possession in the final third of the field.

With Waltham Forest making another leisurely substitution in the 63^rd minute, when Nick Muir replaced Ryan Hall, Ashford’s next chance came after 67 minutes. Simon Glover attacked from the right, and found Anthony Allman, infield, just outside the penalty area. Anthony tried a shot from distance, which went across the face of goal, but the team must have at least been lifted by the fact that he had a shot.

In the 68^th minute, the play was at the other end, and Ian Ross was penalised for a foul, when it looked like he was the one being fouled; however, Danny Flynn’s cross from the resulting free-kick was headed wide of the target. Two minutes later, just about in the middle of the Ashford half, Tommy Adlington was guilty of a late tackle, and was shown a yellow card for his trouble. Although the free-kick was some way out, Victor Renner, the ex-Dover man, attempted a shot, which was not too far over the bar. Dan Tanner then had a situation to deal with, chasing a Forest through-ball, running back towards his own goal, in the 71^st minute; he attempted to put the ball out for a throw-in, but sliced his effort behind for a corner – this was headed clear by the Ashford defence. A minute later, Danny Kenny again showed his quality, with a cross-field pass; this found Renner, who hit a firm shot into a crowd of players, and it was Marc Cumberbatch who side-footed the ball clear.

In the 73^rd minute, The Management made a widely anticipated change, when Richard Sinden was sent on for George Fenwick. I’m afraid that George looked very rusty out there last night, and was constantly frustrated when his touch let him down – he also looked very tired as he returned to the bench, and both of these issues might be put down to the fact that he’s missed a couple of games. I’m not sure whether the substitution had anything to do with it, but Ashford finally made the break-through within a minute of Sinders coming on. Simon Glover controlled a clearance from the Waltham Forest defence on his chest, and spread the ball out wide to Anthony Allman; Anthony threaded a pass into the area, for Joby Thorogood to run onto, and Joby slotted the ball into the net, with a low shot. The reaction of the Ashford players appeared to be one of relief, as much as joy – and at last we were on level terms.

From the time of the goal to the end of normal time, we were suddenly looking at a different team – suddenly, Ashford were looking for the winner, and the players finally looked like they believed that they could do it.

In the 76^th minute, Kenny J-E and Joby put together a good move, down the left, and this ended with Simon Glover’s attempted cross being charged down, and behind, for a corner. This was headed behind, for another corner, on the other side. This one was headed away, for a throw-in. Anthony Allman then put Joby Thorogood in, with another good, incisive pass, this time in the inside-right channel, and Joby managed to get a low cross in, from the by-line. His cross found Richard Sinden, bursting into the area; Sinders managed to chip the ball over the body of the advancing Jason Willis, who had gone to ground, but the ball went just wide of the upright.

In the 79^th minute, Victor Renner got himself booked when he left his foot in with Gary Clarke, but Ashford were on the attack again a minute later, with a free-kick. This was sent in deep, by Ian Ross, finding the head of Simon Glover, who in turn found Richard Sinden. Sinders returned the ball, in the air, to Gloves, who tried a Paolo Di Canio-style bicycle kick, which went just wide of the post. In the 81^st minute, we had another free-kick, wide on the left, after Gloves had been held. This resulted in a high, hanging cross, right under Jason Willis’s crossbar. Willis looked uncertain with his handling, and didn’t take the ball cleanly, but the referee’s whistle came to his rescue.

But it wasn’t all one-way traffic in the closing stages, as Forest also really wanted to win this tie – a match away at Hastings promised to be a fairly lucrative prize for the winners – and they pressed forward in the 84^th minute. An attempted cross by Danny Flynn bounced off an Ashford defender, and fell to Danny Kenny, whose well-struck shot went straight at Simon Overland. From here, Ashford broke away, in the person of Kenny Jarrett-Elliott, who fed the ball forward to Joby thorogood; with his back to goal, Joby induced the foul, and we had a free-kick in a dangerous position. Joby took this himself, and his curling shot, over the Forest wall, was heading for the far top corner, before Jason Willis made a great diving save, turning the ball away for a corner. Willis had looked a little butter-fingered last night, up to this point, but certainly redeemed himself with this save, which kept The Stags in the match. Ian Ross took the corner, and it was another dangerous ball into the six-yard box, but it went all the way through, with no Ashford player able to get the vital touch.

In the 88^th minute, Richard Sinden managed to get a flick-on to a Simon Overland kick-out, for Joby Thorogood to run on to, but Matt Waldron managed to put it behind for a corner. With 90 minutes up on the watch, a throw-in found Anthony Allman, near the corner flag, and he sent in a great cross – this was met by an equally good header by Richard Sinden, from just a few yards out. Richard did all he could to stick the ball into the back of the net, but Jason Willis was there once again, with a brilliant reflex save.

As it turned out, those two chances, denied by Willis’s saves, were the closest that Ashford came to setting up a Derby game with Hastings – but they still continued to press, for the remainder of normal time. In the 91^st minute, Joby Thorogood won a corner, on the right. This was taken by Rossi’s trusty left foot, but Willis punched clear. The ball fell to Anthony Allman, whose hopeful shot from a long way out went well wide, and had just a touch of desperation about it.

So the match ended all square, at 1-1, just as it had in Walthamstow, just three days earlier – and a report from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent goes into extra time, for the first time.

The home side did most of the attacking in the opening minutes of extra time, but no clear-cut chance was forthcoming. The first slightly wobbly moment for either side actually came at the other end, in the 93^rd minute, when a long, looping cross from the right touchline looked like going harmlessly out for a goal-kick – Simon Overland came out to collect the ball, and let it slip through his hands, but the lino’s flag had already gone up for offside.

In the 98^th minute, Forest made another substitution, with Cary Wright replacing Andrew Thomas. Then, after 100 minutes of the match, The Stags had a throw-in, near the left corner flag, which was launched into the Ashford penalty area. This resulted in a nasty clash between Tommy Adlington’s forehead and the back of Victor Renner’s head. Whilst Renner wheeled away holding his head, Tommy came off much worse, and was on the ground for some time. During a delay of some four to five minutes, our Physio, Mo Alvi, did a painstaking job of applying a head bandage, as Elaine, our intrepid Secretary, revved the car up, behind the stand, ready for a white-knuckle dash to William Harvey Hospital. All the indications were that this was a blood injury, and, sure enough, Tommy went to hospital after the match, to have some stitches inserted. For now, he marched bravely on with his bandage on, looking like one of the runners-up in the Crimean War. In fact, Tommy was fairly symbolic of the battered and tired squad of players that we now have.

Eventually play restarted – “When am I going to get to bed ?”, I thought – and, with 108 minutes on the watch, Ashford had a free-kick, for a foul on Simon Glover. Jason Willis managed to punch the kick, taken by Ian Ross, clear, but only as far as Anthony Allman, whose volley from outside the area went just wide of the post. Two minutes later, Joby Thorogood fed a ball forward to Richard Sinden, who was challenged late by Ryan Oliva, and that resulted in a booking for the Waltham Forest defender.

As Rob Hyde blew his whistle for the end of the first period of extra time, the score remained at 1-1 – both sides were, inevitably, tiring, so a penalty shoot-out appeared to be increasingly likely.

If my bed was calling, my bladder was screaming for mercy, so there was nothing for it but to pay a visit to what the Americans call the restroom. I wouldn’t normally mention this, but I do so now because it resulted in me missing the first couple of minutes of the second period of extra time, and so I didn’t witness Tommy Adlington’s sending off. This was for collecting a second yellow card, which was awarded, I’m told, for going into a tackle with his foot up.

So Ashford were down to ten men for the final 14 minutes of the game – not that Waltham Forest needed any encouragement, as they continued to show a great desire to win this. In the third minute of the final period, Danny Flynn ended a well-constructed Forest attack with a long-range shot that flashed just wide of the post. Then a minute later, defender Sid Nelson tried a shot from outside the area, which also went wide.

The home side created a chance in the 110^th minute – this resulted from Simon Glover doing well to win the ball, in the centre circle. Gloves spread the ball wide, to Anthony Allman, who put in a great cross, looking for Richard Sinden’s head, but Sinders couldn’t quite get there on this occasion. Two minutes later, another good cross was curled into the Waltham Forest goalmouth, this time by Ian Ross, from a corner. Jason Willis came for the ball and failed to collect, but his defence managed to bundle the ball away to safety.

Forest’s Matt Waldron was booked for tapping the ankles of Simon Glover, in the 116^th minute. Joby Thorogood lined up to take the resulting free-kick, faced with a two-man defensive wall; this time, though, he put in a cross which was fairly disappointing, and this was easily cleared. Ashford had a few more opportunities with set-pieces, but, perhaps due to tiredness, the lads were unable to put in a telling cross. On one of these occasions, when the 120 minutes were up on my watch, an Ashford free-kick on the left side of the field went straight to the first defender, and, in the 121^st minute, Anthony Allman did something similar with another free-kick. This time, however, the ball broke to Rossi, whose rather mis-hit shot fell to Marc Cumberbatch. Marc’s shot went straight at the ‘keeper, and the referee’s final whistle, at 10.20pm precisely, signalled the need for a penalty shoot-out.

There’s no other way of describing penalties other than to give you the bare facts; so here they are.

With Ashford legend Peter McRobert looking on, these took place at the “Road End” (as opposed to the “Other End”). I don’t know which of the skippers, Simon Glover or Liam Baptiste, won the toss, but Ashford took the first kicks. In order of play, Anthony Allman, Marc Cumberbatch, Richard Sinden and Simon Glover all scored – Jason Willis managed to get a touch to the first three of these, but Glovesie’s kick sent him the wrong way. Danny Gabriel, Danny Flynn, Matt Waldron and Victor Renner all replied with an impressive penalty, which went in as clean as a whistle.

So it was 4-4 as Joby Thorogood stepped up to take his penalty. Jason Willis indulged in some minor gamesmanship, but I don’t think it made any difference, so I won’t make a thing about it. Anyway, Joby hit the post with his effort, and then Danny Kenny made no mistake with his, and Waltham Forest went off in celebration as if they had won the FA Trophy itself. The reason it meant so much to them, of course, is that it was the first victory of any sort for this squad of players. Judging by the talented individuals that were on show over the two games, I don’t think that it will be too long before they haul themselves off the bottom of Ryman Division 1 North.

A night of bitter disappointment for the Ashford boys, of course. They now have an 8-day break before their next match, which is away to Maidstone United, in the league, so there’s time for morale to be repaired. The most urgent job that Tim Thorogood has to do, however, is to strengthen the squad with some reinforcements, as they’re looking very tired and battle-weary now.