Chesham United 5 Ashford Town 1
a special scouting report from Your Milton
Keynes Correspondent
As this is virtually a home game for Your Milton
Keynes Correspondent – at least it is compared to Bashley and Lymington – we
thought it was worth popping down the M1 for a look. I was also curious to see
what new players might be on trial, following the double loss of Marc
Cumberbatch and Eddie Achoko during the week. It was slightly disappointing,
therefore, that there were only two new faces – Jacob Stone (brother of my
hero, Adrian) and Andrew Burke, a left-sided midfielder – but Tim and John did
experiment with playing some current players in different positions.
Unfortunately, young Jacob – who is a much more
thick-set version of his brother – only lasted until the fifth minute, when he
got a heavy knock when trying to capitalise on a half-chance following a
corner. He was down injured for a long time, and, though he did try to run the
injury off, soon had to be replaced by Jazzy Bonaparte. This was a shame for
the lad, as this would have been his big chance to impress, having played in a
few of the pre-season friendlies. However, it’s an ill wind that blows no good,
and Jacob’s departure meant that there was a spare pair of socks, which our
intrepid Secretary was able to wear during the second half. (I think she got
quite a thrill out of this, so all she needs to do now is to drink Terry
McCann’s bath water, and she can die a happy woman !). The news is more
positive on Andrew Burke – he completed 75 minutes, and looked a useful new
recruit. He’s got good close control, is naturally left-footed and looks
capable of going past players.
Ashford had a squad of 15 players in attendance, and
there were plenty of coming and goings, with a liberal interpretation of the
substitution law used. (“Keitho” will be pleased to note that Kennickson
Jarrett-Elliott played, not once, but twice !). Goalkeeping Coach Ray Riseley
started in goal, with regular No.1 Sean Glover on the bench. Tom Adlington was
at right-back, as usual, but the good news was that Tommy led the team out,
wearing the captain’s armband ! The
ever-present Lynval Duncan was in central defence, alongside Mark Banks, with
Kenny Three Names at left-back. The midfield, from left to right, consisted of
Burke, Terry McCann, Nathan Thomas and (briefly) Jacob Stone. In the first of
the positional experiments, we had Sol Henry employed as a striker, alongside
Joby Thorogood.
The half-time score was 4-0 to Chesham – who are
currently 12th in the Southern League Premier Division – so you
might guess that the first half wasn’t an unqualified success ! We looked “OK” in midfield and going forward,
without really threatening the home side, but the problems were at the back.
Whilst I should add the caveat that Chesham had just four chances and scored
four well-taken goals, it was worrying that they were able to walk through what
was – in the absence of the departed Marc Cumberbatch and the injured Gary
Croxton – the strongest defence that Ashford could put out. (Don’t jump to the
conclusion that Ray “Wembley” Riseley’s presence in goal was anything to do
with the half-time scoreline, as there was nothing he could do about any of the
goals, except for the second one, perhaps, which went under his body). Whilst I
don’t think Tom Adlington and Lynval Duncan put a foot wrong, Mark Banks wasn’t
helped by the fact that he was dwarfed by Chesham’s big No.9, and Kenny had a
lively right-winger to deal with. The fact that two of the goals came from this
source, with the No.7 finding himself in acres of space, did nothing to
disprove my theory that Kenny is not a defender – I should also add that Three
Names showed some good skill, and looked composed in possession, when going
forward.
Terry Mac had his usual strong and steady game in the
centre of midfield, but I was a little disappointed that Nathan Thomas wasn’t
more influential, having looked so promising against Lymington & New
Milton. Solly did nothing to convince me that he’s a striker, and, given that
he’s been improving with every game in midfield, it would probably be a shame
to try to convert him.
The performance from the team was much better in the
second half, and we were actually the better side – but don’t get carried away
with that, as Chesham made a number of substitutions for the second half, and
we heard some of the home fans saying that they didn’t recognise many of the
players who played after the break. Nevertheless, Ashford did create several
decent chances, most of these made by Andrew Burke and falling to Joby
Thorogood, but Joby was unable to convert any of these.
The one substitution during the interval was Sean
Glover replacing Ray Riseley, but Sean actually only touched the ball in anger
once – more about that later ! Rossi was
given a run out at left-back, replacing Kenny, from the 58th minute,
but the biggest difference was made when Anthony Pace came on for Jazzy, in the
65th minute. Playing up front alongside Joby, Pace made the attack
look far more dangerous, and got a deserved goal in the 78th minute.
Joby did well to capitalise on some sloppiness by the Chesham defence, and,
with both strikers bearing down on the home goal, Joby squared the ball and
Pacey swept it in.
Ashford really should have “won” the second half, but
Sean Glover’s one involvement in the game was to gift Chesham a fifth goal,
almost as soon as the lads had pulled one back. Rushing out to attempt a
clearance, Shaggy made a complete hash of it, and, stranded about 25 yards out
of his goal, saw the ball lobbed into an empty net.
Kenny made a repeat appearance, in place of the
promising Andrew Burke, in the 75th minute, and Jazzy later came on
as sub for the second time in the match, replacing Joby Thorogood, who had
picked up a knock, for the last few minutes. I don’t think that Joby was badly
hurt, as he seemed to walk away OK after the match – which is just as well, as,
with Shaun Bradshaw, Darren Raymond and Steve Humphrey all on the injury list,
we’re going to need him fit for the Kent Senior Cup tie at Bromley on Tuesday.
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