ARCHIVE: Banbury United v Ashford Town. Doc Martens Division 1 East. 2003-4 season.

BANBURY UNITED    1       ASHFORD TOWN      0

From Your Milton Keynes Correspondent

The rise and fall of Ashford Town this season can be summed up in very few words – nine games unbeaten at the start of the campaign, with an average strike-rate of more than two goals per game, followed by a run of six defeats and two draws from eight, during which we scored only three !  The turning of the tide has almost certainly been due to the broken leg suffered by our newly-acquired ace goal scorer, Paul Jones. It’s not just his goals that we’ve missed, but also his ability to act as the pivotal hold-up striker, and be the hub of all of the team’s attacks. He is our Shearer. Also, I reckon, the loss of one of our few truly class acts has badly affected confidence in the squad.

It should also be pointed out that players who have previously scored plenty of goals – i.e. Stone and McRobert – have scored just five between them so far, so you have to raise a question mark about the quality of service from midfield. There, too, we’ve been hit by the early departure of the promising Michael Beale, and by the prolonged absence of Matt Bower, Simon Elliott and Sam Saunders. The upshot of all this is that The Management has concluded that the squad is currently not strong enough, so has begun the process of looking for new players. I won’t use the expression that is currently fashionable – about “kick-starting the season” – as this is to be more of a complete relaunch.

This process started with the arrival of Joe Wade, a midfielder from Gravesend, via Bromley [ Your MKC spits on the floor ], and he made an immediate impact by scoring the winning goal against Stamford last Saturday. That ended the long barren run, so let’s hope that it’s the beginning of a trend. It was certainly the right time for the lads to get back to winning, since that game was the first of three consecutive “six-pointers” in the context of this most important season: Stamford, Banbury and Histon. With the top seven qualifying to play in one of the Premier Divisions next year, after the restructuring of the non-league pyramid, these are the games that we really need points from. I reckon that Tonbridge and King’s Lynn are certainties for a top-seven place, which leaves eleven of us scrapping over five places, and I’d include all three of these teams in that group. Ashford have a little ground to make up if we’re to finish top-seven. If you look at the league in terms of the number of points that teams have dropped – which is how you need to look at it when some teams have played four more games than others – we’re effectively about eleventh, five points adrift of the team that’s effectively seventh.

No shortage of incentives for today’s game, then, and, with the teams having already drawn 1-1 in the opening league match of the season, every prospect of a close match. It was also to be probably the final competitive game between the two sides, as we’re bound to go our separate ways from next year. Last chance to win at the Spencer Stadium, too – a ground that we haven’t won at since the 1969-70 season, when Gordon Burden was a lad !

One thing about Banbury’s ground is that it’s not hard to find – you simply follow the signs to the railway station, as the stadium is virtually adjacent to one of the platforms. A match between two clubs with a stout railway tradition !

  It’s something of a hotch-potch of a ground, with most of the crowd accommodated in the compact, metal stand on the railway side of the ground, or the covered terracing behind one of the goals. The far side of the ground has nothing but waste ground, and two large bonfires burned throughout the match. It looked like Mordor on November the 5^th !

The day was dry and bright, and it was a relief that the strong winds that we’d had during the week in the South Midlands had died down. Watching Ashford’s 16-man squad warm up before the game, it was good to see that young Delroy Parkes had made the trip – by all reports, he’s looked good in the last three games that he’s played in, having graduated from the reserves with a prolific scoring record. In fact, Delroy started the game, alongside Adrian Stone, in spite of Stoney having his left thigh heavily strapped. The rest of the side was a little bit mix ‘n’ match, with several players playing out of their usual position. Martin Anderson partnered Rob Gilman in central defence, which I was pleased about, as I’ve always considered this to be his best position, long-term. (But what do I know about it ?). This was in spite of the inclusion in the squad of a new centre-back signing – Mark Cumberbatch, who joins us from Barnet’s first team squad. Aaron O’Leary was back from injury, in his familiar left-back role, but Barry Gardener (a.k.a. Gardner / Gardiner) was at right-back, rather than in midfield. Skipper Ian Ross again tried his hand wide on the left, with Saturday’s hero Joe Wade on the right, leaving Tom Adlington and Sammy Saunders in the centre of quite an ordinary-looking midfield.

Lee McRobert, who turned out for the reserves in mid-week, did not make the trip, so that left Joby Thorogood (a.k.a. Jody / Jobi) as the only attacking option on the bench. The other sub.s were Lewis Phillips, winner of more Man-of-the-Match awards than any other player this season, and full-back Dean Hill.

So we set out with the usual 4-4-2 formation, but there was little pattern or shape to the game for the first 15 minutes or so. The first incident of note occurred after eight minutes, when a push from Our Mart’n gave away a free-kick just outside the penalty area. The ball was floated into the danger area, and bounced around a few times before Rob Gilman’s attempted clearance ricocheted off Barry Gardener and, fortunately, went straight into the arms of John Whitehouse.

A couple of minutes later, at the other end, Delroy Parkes did well to win a corner. He’s a strong, stocky lad, who looked quite at home in the first team – obviously, his first goal at this level will do a power of good for his confidence, but that probably goes for the team as a whole. Sam Saunders floated the resulting corner in from the left, but the home defence headed clear.

On twelve minutes, Barry Gardener did well to block Mark Simms’ shot, at the expense of a corner; the resulting corner kick was long, to the far post, but the header across goal was deflected behind for another corner …. except that the referee gave us a goal-kick, to the utter disbelief of the Banbury forwards.

Four minutes later, the action was at the other end – although please don’t think that this was “end to end stuff”, as, unfortunately, it wasn’t that type of game ! – with a deep Aaron O’Leary cross from the left flank. In truth, it was a grossly over-hit Aaron O’Leary cross from the left flank. Although he was his usual solid self defensively, Aaron played today as if he had his boots on the wrong feet – every pass or clearance seemed to be sliced, scuffed or shanked. On this occasion, though, Ian Ross spared his blushes, and, saving the goal-kick, pulled the ball back to Joe Wade, whose first-time shot just missed the angle of post and bar. Immediately after the restart, Banbury, playing in all red with a yellow flash under the arms, attacked at the other end. This time a cross from wide on the right was glanced just wide by the head of local favourite George Redknap.

After 20 minutes, the home side gave the ball away to Martin Anderson. A flowing Ashford move from right to left, involving Joe Wade and Sammy Saunders, found Ian Ross on the far side, but Rossi pulled a tame shot wide of the goal. This was the first sign of anything really gelling for the visitors, who seemed fairly hesitant in many of the things they did, and there were signs of a lack of understanding all over the pitch – something to be expected, with so many players either new to the squad or playing in a new position.

After this flurry of activity, the game settled down to being a fairly poor affair, with numerous errors, stoppages and free-kicks. The Puritans’ Ollie Stanbridge had a speculative long-range shot straight at John Whitehouse after 24 minutes, but the next proper chance fell to Ashford skipper Ian Ross, after 31. A late tackle on Tom Adlington, who took his fair share of knocks during the game, gave the boys a free-kick just inside the Banbury half. The resulting kick found Aaron O’Leary on the left-hand edge of the penalty area. His short chip into the centre was met by Rossi with a “snap header” which just missed the target.

There was a rather better chance five minutes later. Adrian Stone did well to hustle a defender out of the ball, and suddenly the green shirts had a 3 .v. 2 advantage, with Adrian, Delroy and Sam Saunders bearing down on the Banbury defence. Adrianho found Sammy on the left, but he was pulled back, just as he was going past the last defender, to have a clear sight of goal. That resulted in a free-kick, and the only yellow card in the match. Sammy took the free-kick himself, and bent the ball over the wall, but just the wrong side of the near post. Simon Tricker in the Banbury goal must have got a touch, as a corner was awarded, but this came to nothing.

[ I pause to pour myself a glass of Mann’s Brown Ale – this has no relevance to anything, but I often have trouble in deciding what to leave out of these reports ! ]

Our boys were just showing signs of putting some football together at this point, albeit in short bursts, but in the 38th minute it was the home side’s turn to create a clear chance. An Ashford attack fizzled out, and Banbury broke from their own half, with Chris Potter – he carried the ball almost to the edge of the Ashford penalty area, and laid the ball off to Redknap, who sliced a shot well wide of the goal. [ His namesake Harry, in his younger days, would’ve buried it with his left foot; his namesake Jamie would probably have sliced a shot well wide of the goal ! ]

If anything, we ended the first half slightly in the ascendancy. Tom Adlington, his nose bunged up with tissue paper to stop a nose bleed, shot just wide from long range, after 40 minutes, and then we arguably came closest to scoring in the match in first-half injury time. Sammy Saunders took a corner on the left, which he curled almost under the Banbury bar, aiming for the head of Adrian Stone. In the ensuing melée, Adrianho did his best to force the ball over the line, but it just wouldn’t “sit” for him.

So 0-0 at half time, with neither ‘keeper having been properly tested.

The most note-worthy thing about the interval was the chance to sample quite the most appalling portion of tea – I won’t use the term “cup”, as this tea was served in a cardboard vessel – any of us are likely to experience, let alone pay for. Mrs Milton Keynes Correspondent pronounced it “undrinkable”, although she was freezing at the time and would’ve accepted almost anything warm and wet. [ It didn’t stop me from drinking it, but I’d drink anything, including Mann’s brown, so I’m hardly a good judge ]. I understand that poor catering is as much part of the non-league footy scene as poor football, but this was pushing the limits of acceptance. Admittedly, we were warned that the tea was ‘orrible by a Banbury visitor to the web-site during the week, but that’s all the more reason for something to be done about it. We don’t expect Earl Grey and scones, but it can’t be that difficult for a semi-professional club to make a decent cup of tea !

Oblivious to such suffering, the home side did most of the pressing for the first ten minutes of the second half, but our defence coped pretty well. Rod Gilman, of course, was outstanding; a real class act in what is probably the strongest department of the team – probably no more than you’d expect from a lad who captained Luton Town’s reserves at the age of 19 !  Our Mart’n also had a good game next to him in central defence, but, if we’re going to be really harsh, he was maybe a little at fault for the goal, on 59 minutes, a Banbury forward managing to get around him on the edge of the area, in spite of a little tug of his shirt by our Evertonian. The resulting cross found Paul Eldridge in the middle, who powered the ball past John Whitehouse from about six yards. Immediately I had that awful sinking feeling that, in a pretty poor game of few chances, where one goal would probably have been enough, this looked like being that one goal.

Things could’ve got a whole lot worse immediately afterwards, with Banbury, buoyed by scoring the goal, starting to attack with a bit of confidence for five minutes or so. Their best chance in this period came in the 66^th minute, with an attack on the left; John Whitehouse was forced to make a good save at George Redknap’s feet, but the flag had already gone up for offside. Generally, though, Ashford had more of the ball for the remainder of the game, as they searched for an equaliser.

Five minutes after going behind, Tim Thorogood made the first of his three substitutions. This was a tactical switch, with new boy Mark Cumberbatch coming on for Joe Wade, although it must be said that, whilst Wade seems to have impressed most people with his debut on Saturday, he was very anonymous today, and contributed little. Still, he is obviously a player of some quality, so we can look forward to better from him once he attains full match fitness. Cumberbatch slotted into his natural position of centre-back, to form with Rob Gilman what looks like being our first-choice partnership in central defence, certainly for the six to eight weeks during which Lyndon Tucker will be out injured.

Mark seems a fairly deceptive character. When he was warming up on the touchline he looked about 15 years old, and nothing like what you’d expect a centre-half to be, and I assumed that he was either one of theirs or our mascot or something. Once he took his place in defence, however, he immediately looked the part. He wasn’t called upon to do much, but he showed great composure and confidence in everything he had to do. He’s got good feet, good balance, and obviously knows what he’s doing. I particularly liked the way he “bought” himself a free-kick on the one occasion that he was under pressure.

The introduction of Cumberbatch, for his debut, enabled Our Mart’n to go to right-back, with Barry G pushing up on the right flank. This was virtually a double-substitution, as, two minutes later, Joby Thorogood replaced Delroy Parkes. It was quite a promising performance by Delroy. In fact, Adrian also had a fairly good game, leading the attack. Neither of the young forwards did much wrong; neither missed a clear-cut chance. I can’t speak for the many games that I haven’t seen this season, but on the evidence of today’s game the problem the team has, if we can narrow it down to one problem, is in the creation of chances from midfield, and not in a lack of quality up front.

Ashford certainly pressed for the equalising goal, but Simon Tricker in the Banbury goal was never asked to make a save worthy of the term. Sammy Saunders had a long-range shot from outside the area after 76 minutes, which went wide, and then led a break three minutes later. He fed the ball forward to Joby, who laid the ball off to Barry Gardener, on the right, but nothing more came of that than a corner. This was taken by Aaron O’Leary, on the right, and the ball bobbled around in the box for a while, before Joby headed just wide. As usual, Sammy gave 100% effort, but he’s not regained the form he showed last season, (and, again, this could change as he gets himself properly match fit).

Five minutes from the end, Lewis Phillips was thrown on, in place of Martin Anderson, as a last throw of the dice, but it was too late for Lewis to make an impact. This was especially so as Banbury ran down the last few minutes on the clock by shielding the ball near the corner flag – if nothing else, it shows that they’ve been watching plenty of television !  I think this is an appalling practice, and FIFA, UEFA, the FA, or BUPA, or someone, should outlaw it by instructing referees to issue a yellow card and award a free-kick. What’s the point in all the other weird and wonderful regulations to speed the game up – such as eliminating back-passes etc. – if players, at all levels, are going to do this ?  Still, the home side effectively killed the game, to ensure they held on to the three points, and the only thing that might have happened in the dying moments was an increasingly frustrated Sam Saunders or Ian Ross getting a yellow card. Thankfully, this didn’t happen, but the damage was done, with yet another failure in Banbury. That’s seven defeats in the last ten games, now, with one win and two draws.

In conclusion, this was a game between two ordinary-looking sides, which should’ve ended in a goal-less draw – Banbury had one clear chance, and took it, so good luck to them. Everything about Ashford at the moment says “mid-table”, but the good news is that this is clearly not good enough for The Management, and moves are already afoot to improve things. I’m sure that the situation will improve, as more new faces are introduced, more players come back from injury, and the ones that are currently playing get to know one another better. Things need to come together soon, though, as, looking at the “points dropped” table, we’re now seven points adrift of the team that’s effectively seventh.