ARCHIVE: Chatham Town v Ashford Town. Ryman League Division 1 South. 2006-7 season.

Chatham Town 1       Ashford Town   0

from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent

We travelled to Maidstone Road this evening exactly half-way through our 42-game league programme. Given our poor start to the season, which had yielded just 22 points from the first 21 matches, and the fact that there’s a growing belief that we now have one of the better squads of players in the division, there are not many of us who love the green & white who don’t expect a substantially larger haul for the remaining 21.

Whilst I’ll leave a full Anorak’s Corner for another time, it’s interesting that we’ve used 31 players up to now – we used 48 altogether last season – and there have been FIFTEEN different goal-scorers in all competitions (not including abandoned games). Those of you who are retired, or simply bored at work (Tommy ?), might like to try to name these fifteen, before I list them at the end of the report.

Chatham Town came into this game having failed to win in their last eight games, a run which has seen them slide to a position just above the relegation zone. At the start of tonight’s match, The Chats were actually just three places off the bottom, one place, and two points, ahead of Ashford, but having played no fewer than four games more. Technically, Chatham were four points clear of the drop zone, having played a game more than second-bottom Walton Casuals; in reality, however, it is probably very likely that the team finishing 21^st this season will not be relegated, with the number of divisions at Step 4 due to increase from five to six for the 2007-8 season. Nevertheless, there are probably one or two teams just above us in the table who might be getting just a little nervous, especially with Walton picking up the odd point here and there, and “dead & buried” Corinthian Casuals suddenly showing play-off form. (The word is that there is some campanology going down at King George’s Field !).

This was a welcome return to Maidstone Road for us, with Chatham having been in the Southern league for the past two seasons. This was our third visit to The Sports Ground – previous memories of the fixture include arriving at the ground in a horsebox (don’t ask !), and a debut for a slightly-built 16 year-old called Gary Clarke. Gary was in the dug-out this evening, in his official capacity of Water Boy. The good news is that he played for the Reserves at the week-end, and came through 80 tough-tackling minutes with no obvious ill effects. (When I say that we’ve used 31 players this season, I should mention our Physio, Mo Alvi, as the “32^nd” – we shouldn’t forget the valuable role that he plays).

A glance through past Chatham programmes shows that Simon Glover played in one of those previous two games, during an earlier spell with Ashford, and John “Thank Goodness for John Whitehouse” Whitehouse was in goal for us on both occasions. John was, of course, in the opposition goal this evening, and was one of three ex-Ashford players, along with Tom Binks and the recently-departed Drew Watkins, in the Chatham line-up.

John Cumberbatch was forced into making two changes to the side that beat The Bill on Saturday, with the two players going off injured in that game – Anthony Allman and Luke Coleman - being unavailable. The Coleman, the remaining loanee on the Club’s books, has a calf injury, whilst Anthony, who was limping around here tonight, still feeling the effects of his ankle injury, might be out for another couple of weeks. So it was all-change on the right side for Ashford, with Joby Thorogood returning in midfield, and Nick Fenwick filling in at right-back. I was a little surprised that Tommy Adlington, who was available for tonight’s match, before starting a four-game suspension, wasn’t given the No.2 shirt. Whilst I can understand that John Cumber didn’t want to disrupt the central defensive partnership of Marc Cumberbatch and Graham Porter, I thought that Tommy might slot back into his usual position on the right. (As it turned out, Nick actually had a pretty good game, especially in the first half).

The line-up, then, in 4-4-2, was Jake Whincup; Nick Fenwick, Marc Cumberbatch, Graham Porter (capt.), Simon Glover; Joby Thorogood, Matt Carruthers, Kevin Lott, Kenny Jarrett-Elliott; Walid Matata, Steve Sodje. On the subs bench we had Ian Ross, Joe Hitchings, Tommy Adlington, Ray Akontoh and Lee Ealham.

It was almost as interesting to note who was off the pitch, as on it. Apart from Anthony Allman and Gary Clarke, George Fenwick was also in attendance – George appears to have largely recovered from his back injury, but will probably have his return delayed for at least another couple of games, as a precaution. It was also good to see Maidstone resident Simon Overland in attendance, for no other reason than to come along and see his mates play – that made it two outstanding former Ashford goalies at the match; (no pressure, Jake !). There were also three former Ashford Town Managers present: as well as Tim Thorogood, the familiar faces of Tommy Sampson and Neil Cugley could be seen. Tommy was obviously having a browse in advance of our match against his Horsham YMCA side, on Saturday week – Cugley could only have been sniffing around one or two of our better players, with his Folkestone Invicta feeling the cold, damp draught of the Premier Division trap-door around their ankles. Maybe he was just sussing out the opposition for next season.

Strangely, after the 4-3 classic at Dartford ten days ago, this was a rather tepid game of few incidents; there were no yellow cards for either side, and the match looked nailed on as a 0-0 draw, before the home side nicked all three points with a well-taken goal, in the 86^th minute. Although there was no shortage of effort, things never quite happened for Ashford up front, and John Whitehouse did not have a single proper save to make – and I can only remember Jake making one save at the other end. Whilst there’s no doubt that Chatham were good defensively, they otherwise looked a very limited side, and made themselves easy to play against by often giving the ball away, particularly in the opening 20 minutes.

For the record, Ashford probably had the majority of possession during the game, but never threatened to deliver an end-product. The best chance for the visitors, playing in all yellow, early on came in the 12^th minute. After the Chatham defence had failed to clear their lines properly, the ball fell to Steve Sodje, just outside the area. He flicked the ball up, and then sliced his shot well wide of goal – this was a poor effort from a player who comes to us with a tall reputation and a Premier Division pedigree. (Steve might conceivably have made the excuse that the white goal is almost invisible against the large, white wall at that end, and with the floodlights at the ground being not the brightest !).

The home side’s first real opportunity came in the 16^th minute, with an attack down the left, which ended with a weak shot from centre-forward Ian Hilaire, which amounted to no more than a backpass for Jake Whincup, in the Ashford goal. Two minutes later, Darren Smith attempted a long-range shot from outside the area, but this, in spite of dipping, was always going over the bar.

There was little service from the flanks for Ashford this evening. With Kenny having one of his quieter games, Walid Matata spent more time than was really good for us in the left-wing position; Simon Glover also failed to produce a meaningful cross from that side, in spite of looking threatening when on the ball. (On the right, Joby was, understandably, a shade rusty, after his lay-off). In the 20^th minute, Gloves did go on a good run down the left touchline, which won us a free-kick. Matt Carruthers whipped in a high, looping, testing cross, but John Whitehouse made a good catch, just beyond the far post.

With honest endeavours being stimeyed by player errors and offside flags, both defences appeared to be fairly comfortable, until, in the 27^th minute, Ashford suddenly had the chance to break from defence. Matt Carruthers launched the ball forward, from his own half, and found Walid Matata, wide on the left and well forward. With the Chatham defence momentarily stretched, Walid turned and cut inside, but attempted a shot when a cross might have been the better option, and the ball ended up in the side-netting.

Our first shot on target did not come until the 36^th minute – after a decent period of Ashford pressure, Simon Glover sent in a low cross, which found Joby Thorogood, on the edge of the penalty area; just like Hilaire’s effort at the other end, however, this was weak, and straight at the ‘keeper, and John Whitehouse had no problems, in spite of the ball bobbling through a muddy penalty area. Ashford’s next chance came as a result of some careless play by the Chatham defence, in the 40^th minute, which gifted the ball to Matt Carruthers. What Matt does very well is to quickly instigate break-aways from defence, and he immediately found Steve Sodje, in space, in the inside-right position. Sodj transferred the ball onto his left foot, and attempted a long-range curler that was always going straight down John Whitehouse’s throat.

There were several minutes of injury time at the end of the first period, mainly due to Kenny Three Names being treated for something in the Ashford penalty area, and 49 minutes were on the watch when Matt Carruthers let fly with the widest and wildest shot of the half, from outside the penalty area – the ball even went wide of the tea bar hatch.

Ashford started the second half brightly, and put together a good move within two minutes of the re-start. This involved Steve Sodje, Joby Thorogood and Walid Matata, and ended with Sodje taking a touch to go into the Chatham penalty area, and hitting a fierce shot just high and wide of the target. The home side also went close, just a minute later, from a Darren Smith corner, on the right. This was met by a powerful header at the far post, which needed a brilliant save by Jake, diving low to his right. Simon Glover immediately did just as well to block the follow-up attempt from the rebound.

The best chance of the match, however, (apart from the goal), came in the 52^nd minute, and arose as a result of a defensive error. Marc Cumberbatch and Graham Porter appeared to have the situation well under control, before Ports tried to play the ball out, instead of hoofing it clear, and presented the ball to Ian Hilaire. The Chats centre-forward attempted something elaborate with the outside of his right foot, when he should really have put his left foot through it, and the ball went extravagantly wide.

In the 55^th minute, Walid Matata’s pace almost fashioned a chance out of nothing – intercepting a backpass, he managed to nick the ball past John Whitehouse, but the ball was always just running into touch, and he could do no more than hook the ball into the side-netting. Two minutes later, the home side was on the attack, with Hilaire and Darren Smith combining well, down the right. Smith whipped in a cross from the by-line, which Jake Whincup plucked out of the air with an impressive catch. (Jake does occasionally show flashes of brilliance like that, so there’s no doubt about his talent – the main doubt with him is with his confidence, but he appears to have recovered from his embarrassing gaff at Dartford, which looked, at the time, like it could even be a career-ending error !). Jake immediately made a clearance which found Joby Thorogood, wide on the right. Joby fed the ball forward to Steve Sodje, who sent in a good cross, looking for Walid Matata at the near post, but Walid’s header was blocked by his marker.

Ashford continued to apply pressure to the home side’s defence, but still with no end-product – Chatham just had a long-range shot from Drew Watkins, which he pulled well wide, to show for their efforts during this time – until Chats’ Manager Phil Miles decided, in the 65^th minute, to make a change, throwing on Mark Brooks for Ian Hilaire. This substitution didn’t, however, do much to change the balance of the play, with Ashford being mainly responsible for what half-chances there were. One of these came in the 67^th minute, when a clearance by John Whitehouse found Matt Carruthers, on the half-way line. Matt teed the ball up for Walid Matata, who tried an ambitious shot from many leagues out; it was a good idea, as the ‘keeper was still making ground back to his goal, but Walid’s effort curled just wide of the post.

There was a much better chance in the 71^st minute, which came following a fairly desperate clearance from the Ashford defence. The ball was chased by Kenny Jarrett-Elliott, down the left, and his cross found Steve Sodje, in the centre, about 12 yards out – this was probably Ashford’s best chance of the night, and, although Sodje hit his shot on target, it was deflected behind, for a corner. Three minutes later, Steve had a chance to make amends, and this was with a situation that he largely created for himself. Robbing a defender on the far right, he cut inside and attacked the penalty area; a step-over took him past one defender, after which he fell to the ground, but the Referee immediately signaled “no penalty”.

Soon after, it was John Cumberbatch’s turn to make some changes – Joe Hitchings replaced Joby Thorogood in the 77^th minute, with former Leyton striker Ray Akontoh making his second substitute appearance for Ashford, in as many matches, in place of Steve Sodje, in the 79^th minute.

Whilst these substitutions produced no change in Ashford’s attacking fortunes, there did appear to be a change at the other end, with the linesman patrolling the line in front of the home side’s dug-out flagging for a succession of free-kicks against Ashford defenders, having had Phil Miles bending his ear throughout the match about the decisions he should be making. Resulting free-kicks in the 82^nd and 85^th minutes were successfully defended by the visitors, but it was a free-kick from inside the centre circle, in the 86^th minute, that led to Chatham’s winner. This was a very simple goal, but one that was well executed, and not easy to defend against. Drew Watkins it was who pumped the ball straight down the centre, aiming for big centre-half Robert Goodger, who was positioned right in front of the goalkeeper – aim for the lighthouse !  Goodger got his head to the ball, and just had to deflected it either side of Jake Whincup, for his second goal of the season.

In a game of few chances, Ashford never looked like they were going to recover from this, in spite of nearly five minutes of injury time being played. (The immediate problem for John Cumberbatch was that Nick Fenwick was hobbling badly, so this gave Tom Adlington the opportunity for a brief run-out, in the 89^th minute, before what jockeys refer to as a “holiday”). Our best chance for an equaliser came in the 92^nd minute, when Walid Matata cut in from the left wing, and into the penalty area, but was crowded out by the Chatham defence. The ball broke to Kenny J-E, but his cross was well caught by John Whitehouse.

The lads were very down-hearted after the game. It’s not just the fact that we lost – and, of course, losing is a natural depressant – but the fact that they failed to impose themselves on a side that they felt well capable of beating. (And they’re right, of course). I reckon there would still have been a sombre mood in the dressing-room if the game had finished 0-0, such is the extent to which expectations have been raised recently. Marc Cumberbatch demonstrated the feelings of the entire group of players when he was an extremely reluctant recipient of the MK Man of the Match award. (He was more than just sheepish; he seemed ashamed – which is daft, considering that there were few candidates to rival him tonight, but it does show that he sets very high standards for himself).

One theory mooted, as a possible explanation for the lads’ failure to reproduce Saturday’s performance, was that several of the players don’t have two games in four days in them, from a fitness and sharpness perspective. I’m not sure about that, but we might soon find out, as we now have a match on six of the next seven Tuesdays !

This season’s 15 goal scorers: Allman, Glover, Cumberbatch, Joby Thorogood, Joffy Thorogood, Jarrett-Elliott (just counts as one), Sinden, Coleman, O’Neill, Tanner, George Fenwick, Matata, Ealham, Playford and Hitchings. (Bet you didn’t get Playford !).

Man of the Match

(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)

Marc Cumberbatch