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

Banstead Athletic      0       Ashford Town   1

from The Peter Mortley Appreciation Society

Banstead Athletic is one of those “borderline” clubs, at which football at Ryman League level appears to only just be viable. For a start, the club has no natural constituency – it’s not in Banstead, it’s in Tadworth – and struggles on with crowds averaging around the 65 mark (attendances aren’t recorded in the match day programme, but they are available elsewhere). Today’s audience was actually 46. When considering how on earth the Club manages to survive on such obviously small gate receipts, the answer probably lies in the income that must be generated from having three large mobile ‘phone masts overlooking the touchline opposite the main “stand”. This is no doubt the advantage of having a football pitch on locally high ground. (The pitch in Merland Rise is actually the highest, in terms of altitude, of all the grounds in our division – I don’t know how De Sade came across this gem of trivia, but I thank him for it all the same).

It’s difficult to describe the rest of the ground without being rude about it – and I occasionally get in trouble for such things. It would be discourteous to our hosts to describe the ground simply as being “horrible”, but it’s certainly one of those places that might be called “The Waldorf” – as it’s just a piece of ground, walled off !  The perimeter of the place is defined by a continuous wall of corrugated steel – the sort of material that cargo containers are made from – whilst the shelters providing cover for the main stand and two shallow stretches of terracing are made from the same stuff. It is in this main stand that there is the only seating; this is a small construction made of breeze blocks, with about 50 backless, plastic seats. The playing area itself is bordered with unpainted, steel railings. Credit where credit’s due, however, since, in the Gentlemen’s Restroom adjacent to the main bar, the end urinal is thoughtfully positioned at an extra low height; I’m reliably informed that this is for the benefit of little boys, jockeys and Dion Dublin.

Given the obvious constraints that Banstead Athletic FC has to work within, therefore, it is very much to the club’s credit that the team is currently holding its own fairly comfortably this season. At the start of play, Athletic were in 18^th place in the division, no fewer than eleven points ahead of Ashford. In the corresponding fixture last year (played on the 8^th of January), it was very different, with the two teams in 20^th and 21^st place – we were four points behind them, with a game in hand. This was the first match following Terry Fenwick’s resignation as Manager. It’s also interesting to note, from last season’s match day programme, that Corinthian Casuals were fourth in the division at the time, whilst Burgess Hill Town were in as high as 8^th position.

Ashford’s current main problem, as has been well documented, is a paucity of strikers in the First Team squad. With Joby Thorogood serving the final leg of a four-match ban, Shaun Bradshaw is currently our only fit and available striker. Today he was dropped to the subs’ bench, which left us with none. The makeshift pairing this afternoon was Marc Cumberbatch – the centre-half who scored, in this role, in the previous game, on the Isle of Wight - and Sol Henry, who’s looked as goal-shy, on the left of midfield, as the Kennedys are gun-shy. John-Paul Collier was back on the right side of midfield, after serving his ban for those ten minutes of madness at Whyteleafe, meaning that Joffy Thorogood switched to the other side – complete with knee brace on his left knee. This reshuffle enabled The Management to retain the central midfield partnership of Denver Birmingham and Gary Clarke, and also to keep the same defensive unit of Tom Adlington (31), Peter Mortley, Mark Banks, Skipper Ian Ross and ‘keeper Dave Wietecha. Joining Bradders on the bench were RJ Boorman, Manny Sackey and Kenny Jarrett-Elliott. I was particularly pleased to see RJ here today. Whatever issues the boy needs to deal with outside of football – which are none of my business – it’s good to see that our only contracted player still appears to be part of the set-up at Ashford. Whilst he still looks, as he did at the start of the season, to be our most talented player, he had, according to the House Rule, to start on the bench, having been absent for the previous game. The position of reserve goalie was once again vacant, with young Sean Glover gaining valuable experience and match practice with Thamesmead, in the Kent League.

For Banstead, Michael Beale also started on the bench – having played for Ashford a few seasons ago, in a team that included Adrian Stone, Lee McRobert, Rob Gillman, Sam Saunders and John Whitehouse etc, Micky has become quite a favourite at Banstead, and scored the winning goal against us in their 1-0 victory in last season’s corresponding game.

And the match ?  There have been a few occasions in the past when my report on a match has been very short – oh yes, there have ! – and this has formerly been due to a lack of time, due to pressures of work. On this occasion, however, my brevity is purely down to the fact that very little happened. There were very few incidents of note, and very few chances created in open play. In the latter sense it was a very similar game to the one we witnessed last week, against Newport (IoW), but last Saturday there was at least a whole succession of free-kicks and corners for both sides – today there were strangely few set-pieces. Once again, the defence and midfield all put in pretty competent performances, and the lack of chances created could certainly not be put down to our lack of specialist strikers – it was more a question of Ashford’s whole approach being to keep things nice and tight, whilst creating little. This was also not due to the visitors “parking the bus” in front of goal, as we kept two strikers up front throughout the game, with Joffy Thorogood pushing well forward, on the left, whenever possible.

With twenty minutes gone, and nothing more to report than two ineffective corners to Banstead, and one to Ashford, the home side, playing in all amber, had the first real chance of the game. A ball was played up to Athletic’s No.9 Simon Mitchell, and he appeared to inadvertently let the ball slide under his foot – maybe it was a brilliant dummy, as the effect was for the ball to also elude his marker, to put his strike-partner, John Fowler, clean through on goal. Fortunately for the visitors, having to play in their home strip for the second successive away match, Dave Wietecha, who had yet to play in a winning Ashford team this season, was out quickly to save at Fowler’s feet.

Five minutes later, Fowler and Mitchell combined once again to create a chance for Banstead. With Mitchell coming back from an off-side position, Fowler went in the opposite direction, to beat the off-side trap. He raced clear through in the inside-left channel, and crossed the ball to his partner, who had taken up a good position in the centre, but Mitchell could do no more than flip the ball onto the roof of the net. A minute after this, a good through-ball to Mitchell presented him with a one-on-one situation with Tom Adlington; instead of taking Tommy on, Banstead’s top scorer this season, with 12 goals, four of these coming at Hastings last week, chose to send in a weak shot, which was never going to inconvenience Dave Wietecha.

Ashford’s only recognisable chance in the first half came from an Ian Ross free-kick from deep, in the 40^th minute. Whilst the quality of Rossi’s delivery, particularly from free-kicks and corners, has been a feature of recent matches, his left foot had a bit of an off-day this afternoon. There was nothing wrong with the cross on this occasion, though, as it homed in onto the forehead of Denver Birmingham, on the six-yard line, but Two Cities could do no more than direct his header straight at Andy Parkinson, in the Banstead goal.

The second half panned out in much the same way as the first. Up to the hour mark, the only incidents of note were a couple of half-chances which fell to Simon Mitchell. The first of these, in the 51^st minute, was a shot from an acute angle, which was comfortably saved by Dave Wietecha; then, in the 58^th minute, Mitchell stole in whilst the Ashford defence was trying to let the ball roll back to Wietecha, but, although he managed to lift the ball over our giant ‘keeper’s body, his attempt was off-target.

The first caution of the match came in the 62^nd minute, when Daniel Amsbury, having previously been warned by Referee Johnson for the frequency of his fouling, earnt a yellow card for an infringement on Marc Cumberbatch. Rossi planted the free-kick straight down the ‘keeper’s throat.

A free-kick against Peter Mortley, for pushing, in the 64^th minute, gave Banstead a free-kick on the edge of the Ashford area – this was certainly the most dangerous position for a free-kick in the entire match. The kick was taken by Michael Beale, who had come on as substitute without telling me, but his shot over the wall curled wide of the near post – Dave Wietecha appeared to have the effort well covered.

Whilst Michael was preparing to take the kick, RJ Boorman replaced J-P Collier – one Alphabet Boy for another. He initially appeared to take up a position “in the hole”, behind the two strikers, but soon pushed forward alongside Marc Cumberbatch, with Solly reverting to the right side of midfield. The introduction of RJ certainly livened things up a little, and Ashford looked brighter for a time. During a forward movement in the 68^th minute, Tom Adlington was fouled, whilst overlapping down the right flank. Ian Ross came across to take the free-kick, and again Ashford came close with the Ross-Birmingham combination; Rossi’s cross was curled into the near post, where Denver got a little touch on the ball, but again his effort went straight at the ‘keeper.

With Mo Ceesay replacing John Fowler for Banstead, in the 78^th minute, the game did begin to open up a little, with attacks at both ends, during the final ten minutes. The best chance for the home side during this period fell to Simon Mitchell, and this was no more than a speculative cross-cum-shot, which went out for a throw-in. For Ashford, Gary Clarke seemed to be rather harshly booked, in the 85^th minute, for holding an opponent – so the ref presumably thought that there was something cynical in this act. Two minutes later, Joffy Thorogood went down, with what appeared to be a severe attack of cramp in his good leg. He took no further part in the game, and was part of a double substitution, with Denver Birmingham also going off, and Shaun Bradshaw and Manny Sackey both coming on. The change in formation saw both Sackey and Marc Cumberbatch playing in midfield, with Bradshaw now partnering Sol Henry up front.

The change nearly paid dividends, as, with 90 minutes up, on my watch, Sol beat Banstead’s Marcel Dennis on the left flank – this drew a foul from Dennis, which, in turn, drew a yellow card from the referee. (Actually, with the home side being full of Fowlers, Mitchells, Beales and Dennises, there were chilling reminders of “Eastenders” – not that I watch it, of course). RJ Boorman came across to take the free-kick, and curled a excellent cross, right-footed, to the far post, but no Ashford head was there to do it justice.

Sol Henry’s golden moment came in the 93^rd minute. A ball forward from midfield, into the area, found (according to the consensus of those present) Marc Cumberbatch, who squared the ball to Henry. Sol took one touch to control it, and then hit a sweet, right-foot shot into the corner of the net. In 45 hours of play this season, Sol had only a jammy goal against Whyteleafe to show for his efforts – and that was a gaff by the goalie that really should’ve been classed as an own goal – but there was no doubt about the quality of the finish this time. More importantly, of course, it was a goal that nicked three precious points. Ashford managed to hang on until the end of a game that extended into the 96^th minute – but not without Tom Adlington getting a yellow card for what Mr Johnson considered to be time-wasting, at a throw-in, which means that Tommy will shortly get a two-match holiday for clocking up ten yellows for the season.

There was no doubt that this was the scruffiest of scruffy victories, but the lads have played well on too many occasions recently for little or no reward for anyone in the Ashford camp to worry about that. One very big difference today was that we kept a very rare clean sheet – if you don’t concede, there’s always a chance of nicking the points; if you concede one, two or three every game, as we have been, then scoring that odd goal brings few rewards. Most importantly, I think, stealing this win laid quite a few “ghosts” to rest: an away victory at last; a clean sheet at last; Solly has finally got himself a proper, striker’s goal; Big Dave no longer feels that he’s a Jonah. Let’s hope that some confidence flows from this result.

We shouldn’t forget, of course, the importance of the three points, in the context of the fight for Ryman League survival – although our joy was tempered by the fact that, with Sod’s Law going into overdrive, Corinthians, Newport and Burgess Hill all somehow managed to win this afternoon, and convincingly so, in each case. (Someone please explain to me how Newport managed to go to Cray Wanderers and beat them 0-3 !). Still, on a positive note, I think we might have gained some psychological Brownie Points on the day – with The Port 0-2 up at half time, folks on the Isle of Wight were taking an unnaturally close interest in the progress of events in Tadworth this afternoon, and it must have been a sickener for them to learn, at about 5 o’clock, that Solly’s goal had effectively cancelled out what must have been a wonderful performance.

The next game comes up very quickly, as it’s away at Kingstonian on Monday – the second game in three days. Kingstonian are one of the few teams that Ashford have beaten this season, but they’re one of the form sides in the division at the moment, and drew at home to Dover this afternoon. Ashford should, though, be almost at full strength, with Joby Thorogood back from suspension and RJ Boorman eligible to start.