ARCHIVE: Corby Town v Ashford Town. Doc Martens League Division 1 East. 2003-4 season.

CORBY TOWN  0       ASHFORD TOWN      5

From Your Milton Keynes Correspondent

Third game of what is a very important season for Ashford Town, with major restructuring of the non-league section of football’s pyramid due to take place at the end of the year. A lot has been said about the need to finish in the top seven in order to gain promotion to the Premier Division. This is untrue. It’s correct to say that we’ll be in what will be called the Ryman or Doc Martens Premier Division if we make the cut, but, with a Conference Division 1 North & South between us and the Conference, that will put us at exactly the same level as we are at the moment (i.e. Level 7). The reality is that the bottom 15 will be relegated to something that might be called the Premier Division South South-East, or something – a glorified Kent League, that is !

Not that I’m not optimistic about our chances of a top-seven finish. Having finished 12^th, 14^th and 11^th in our last three seasons, we clearly need to improve, but a natural continuation of the progress we’ve been making under the stewardship of Tim Thorogood et al should give us every chance of being in the shake-up. With our financial situation now sound, and the playing structure, from under-16 level upwards, seemingly going from strength to strength, we’ve a very solid base from which to launch the campaign. (Look around at some of our rivals, struggling with ground developments, barely being able to pay players’ wages, etc.).

We also seem to have had a very good closed season. I’m not referring to the results of friendlies – although these have been good. I’m referring to the very precious commodity, at this level, of continuity. Tim’s managed to keep largely the same young and improving squad together for the third season running now. The likes of Stone, O’Leary, Anderson, Whitehouse, Westwood, Skinner etc. can only improve with an extra year on their back. Tim’s also replaced the two major losses from last year – the departure of The Duracell (alas for the Ginger Ninja !) has been covered by the signing of an experienced striker, in Paul Jones, whilst Rob Gillman, from Luton Town, has been brought in to replace Ian Gibbs, who was the Rock in central defence by the end of last season. Add to that six additional signings, some of which, by all accounts, would appear to be very exciting new players, and the expectation that some familiar faces will be returning from long-term injury, and it appears that we go into the 2003-04 season with a bigger and better squad. It certainly seems that T.Thorogood is taking this important season plenty serious enough.

I don’t think anybody knows how the various divisions are going to be carved up geographically after the forthcoming restructuring, but I’m assuming that there will be a more sensible regional pattern, replacing the one that puts the likes of Salisbury and Eastleigh in an “Eastern” Division, and causes little clubs in East Kent to travel as far afield as King’s Lynn, Banbury and the Isle of Wight !  Sadly for me, though, this means that my footy team will make far fewer appearances within a seventy mile radius of Milton Keynes. I’m therefore treating this season’s away-trip programme as something of a farewell tour of some much-loved venues.

I’m really going to miss some of the places we go to. Corby isn’t one of them !

Now I’ve written some fairly libellous things about the fair town of Corby in recent times – some of them just about actionable – so I’m determined to mention only the nice things about the place this time. (Should make it a shorter report !). The first positive thing is that we’re going to Little Scotland in August, and not in the middle of January, when the single, West-facing stand acts as the opposite of a wind-break, leaving the entire crowd (?!) wide open to the elements. You can also pretty well guarantee peace and quiet at the Rockingham Triangle Stadium, with the tranquillity of a sunny Saturday afternoon unlikely to be disturbed by any interest that the Town’s population might have in its local football team. The other major thing that Mrs Milton Keynes Correspondent and I look forward to is a decent lunch in the hotel next-door to the ground before the match.

In fairness to Corby, I should also say that the playing surface, within the eight-lane running track, is pretty good – flat, and not complicated by undulations or a ridiculous slope like you often get at this level. There were a few patches of brown here and there, which is only to be expected in late August, and it was a very bright and warm sunny day. The weather certainly swelled the crowd a little, and I reckon that the attendance might have been pushing the 130 mark. (This is a club that has had league attendances down as low as 29 in recent times, so this was a reasonable crowd for Corby ! ).

The Ashford line-up was interesting, as the starting eleven included no fewer than six of the new in-take. With the familiar sight of Whitehouse, Anderson and O’Leary in the 1., 2. and 3. positions, we had a new central defensive partnership. Gone are the Mitchell Bruvvers, and we now have two young defenders with a full head of hair – 19 year-old Rob Gillman, fresh from Luton Town, and 22 year-old Lyndon Tucker, who’s come from Faversham. Happily, these boys had very little to do during the match, so I might as well deal with them now. Both look the part. They’re big lads, and Rob in particular has plenty of presence about him. I must say that I didn’t notice Lyndon Tucker during the game at all, so he couldn’t have done much wrong !

There was no Sam Saunders in midfield, so we had Tom Adlington, who is just starting his second spell with the Club, playing alongside new skipper and play-maker Ian Ross in the centre. The new striking-partnership of Adrian Stone and Paul Jones was up front, with new boys Lewis Phillips and Michael Beale wide on the left and right, respectively. Both wide players pushed up throughout the game, and both have the skills and inclination to call themselves “wingers”, so you can take your choice as to whether we were playing 4-2-4 or 4-4-2.

There was plenty of talent on the bench (which is always a good yard-stick !), namely Lee McRobert, Kevin Skinner, Jay Westwood, a fit-again James Gardner and Joby Thorogood.

The first five minutes of the game demonstrated, I think, the potential that the side has, and the way that it appears the Management wants the team to play, as we dominated possession during that period with some quick and precise passing. There were to be no chances created during this time, though, but we did manage to force three corners.

The first minor scare at the other end came after eight minutes. John Whitehouse came out to intercept a through-ball, but, realising that he was out of his area, had to clear with his head. The ball fell to Corby’s Lee Glover, who aimed a speculative lob towards the empty net, from long range. The attempt went well wide.

Ashford had a corner on the left after ten minutes. Like all the corners from that side, it was taken by Tom Adlington, swung in with his right foot. The headed clearance fell to Aaron O’Leary – who took all the corners from the other side, swinging them in with his left – but Aaron did what all defenders do in that situation; he leant back and blasted the ball high and wide for a goal-kick.

The boys continued to play well, knocking the ball around nicely. After 12 minutes, a move that must have included more than twenty passes ended up with Paul Jones, in the area, having one defender to beat. Unfortunately, Jones’s control let him down as he tried to take the ball on, and the move finished tamely, with a goal-kick.

Three minutes later, Aaron O’Leary took a throw-in, on the left, near the corner flag. Clearly, the fact that Aaron has a long throw came as a complete surprise to the home side, as he was able to find Paul Jones, unmarked on the corner of the six-yard box. Jones was also obviously surprised by the time and space that he had, and it looked like he was in two minds as to whether to volley it first time, or to bring the ball down and pass it a few feet into the net. What happened was that he did neither – the ball bounced off his foot, and was easily cleared. Paul Jones looks to be a shrewd addition to the team. He’s strong and experienced, and a proven goal scorer, and seems the perfect partner for young Adrian. It must be said, though, that, whilst he looked the part during the game as a whole, this was not a particularly encouraging start by Jonesy.

By the middle of the first half, Corby started to come into the game more, and things were much more even, but the deadlock was broken, in the 27^th minute, with a move that started with an old-fashioned up-and-under from Aaron O’Leary. This was chased by Adrian Stone, who got to the bouncing ball first, turned, and hit a curving left-foot shot high into the far, top-left-hand corner of the net.

G-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-L !!  A-d-r-i-a-a-a-a-a-n-h-o-o-o-o-o-o-o !!

Adrianho brings the Copa Cabana to Corby yet again !  It just amazes me that he can hit a sweet shot with either foot, whilst very few of his team-mates can shoot properly with one !

Seven minutes later, Adrian had another chance to shine. An appalling clearance from the Corby defence went straight to him, near the right touch-line. He rolled the ball along the line a few times with the sole of his boot, and then fed it inside to Michael Beale. Beale, in turn, found Paul Jones in the area, with his back to goal. Lewis Phillips was free on the left as the extra man – not for the only time in the match ! – but Jones was able to turn and bury the ball in the corner of the net. An accomplished striker’s goal, and the new man’s third, in his third league game.

It was a very bad goal for the home team to concede – they looked a poor side, and it was already looking like being a very comfortable afternoon for the visitors.

With four minutes to go before half-time, though, Corby had their first genuine chance of the game. A corner from the left was headed up into the air by the Ashford defence – the ball really should have been cleared with the second touch, but it fell instead to Andy Eastel, near the edge of the area. His powerful shot was deflected onto the inside of the post by John Whitehouse, and the rebound could’ve gone anywhere, but the follow-up shot was blocked. You have to give the ‘keeper credit for yet another great reaction save, but the home side very nearly got a goal that they certainly didn’t deserve.

Adrian Stone was involved in most of Ashford’s good work leading up to half-time, but, unfortunately, was also involved in a bit of a skirmish with Corby’s Scott Marshall, after 43 minutes, right in front of the Ashford bench. This resulted in a stern and prolonged talking-to from the referee for both players. It must be said that Mr Stretton did well to control the game in this manner for the whole 90 minutes, without resorting to dishing out loads of cards, and was actually applauded by the Ashford fans, who often have a habit of giving the officials a rough time if they think they’re not up to it !  So both sides finished the first half with eleven men, but with the boys having a comfortable 2-0 lead.

Ashford started the second half brightly, and, almost immediately, Ian “Lombardo” Ross put Adrianho through in the centre, but our hero was just off-side.

Two minutes after the interval, Paul Jones embarrassed the Corby right-back by catching him in possession, and found the distinctive Lewis Phillips – all Afro-Caribbean gentlemen who dye their hair blonde are distinctive ! – in space, in the area. The situation had “goal” written all over it. Phillips crossed the ball along the six-yard line. Adrian Stone stepped over it, and Michael Beale, on the right, thumped the ball in with his left foot, for 3-0. Michael was clearly delighted at scoring his first goal for the Club, and it was just reward for a good individual performance.

To the home team’s credit, they continued to press for a goal of their own, but the next chance, after 58 minutes, came to the Kermit Greens. Lewis Phillips, the Abel Xavier look-alike, picked up the ball on the left, and went past a defender – worth mentioning, as not too many people in the team at the moment can do that ! – and the visitors briefly had a three-against-two situation. The ball was squared to Adrianho, who controlled it by flicking it over his head, turned and then scooped the ball over the defence for Phillips to run onto. It looked off-side, but the flag stayed down. With only Lavin beat, in the Corby goal, Xavier blasted well wide. It was a bad miss, and a shame, as the move deserved better.

After 63 minutes, with Ashford continuing to press forward up both flanks, there was a chance at the other end. After Martin Anderson had done well to put the ball behind for a corner, the in-swinging cross was flicked on at the near post, and went just wide of the far post. The referee obviously thought there was an Ashford head on it somewhere, as he awarded another corner. Again, the corner was defended successfully by the defence, which was looking solid, after some reports of it being a little shaky in previous games. Certainly, with the exception of the lapse at the end of the first half, the team seemed to deal well with set-pieces.

In the 65^th minute, with the game pretty well sewn up, Tim started to make a few substitutions – clearly wanting to save some key players for the big Bank Holiday game with Folkestone, on Monday. Paul Jones came off, to a very good round of applause from the Ashford supporters, and was replaced by Lee McRobert. It was good to see Lee Mac have a run-out in his orthodox striking role. Appearances from the substitutes’ bench are becoming increasingly common for Lee, and, with the arrival of Paul Jones, I feel that it’s probably something that he’ll have to get used to. It can’t be easy for him, as it’s not long ago that he was comfortably our “star player”, the only player who’d had a reasonable career with a League club (i.e. Millwall). It’s still disappointing that, just a week into an important season, there are rumours that he’s not happy with life at The Homelands, although it could be that the rumours have no substance to them. Personally, I think that we really need to have players of Lee’s calibre on the bench, competing for places, as we faltered last year when we started to have a few injuries and suspensions – O.K., when we started to have a lot of injuries and suspensions. The pre-season activity has shown that Tim realises that he needs a quality squad of players if we’re to finish in the top seven this season, so I hope that Lee sticks at it. Besides, I don’t think he warrants an automatic first-team place, on the performances I saw last season – he looks competent and skilful, but never has a profound influence on a game, and his goals total last year was ordinary, even by midfield standards.

Having said all that, McRobert had an immediate impact on this particular match. He picked the ball up in the middle of the Corby half, on 68 minutes, and slipped a crisp pass through to Lewis Phillips, who slid the ball neatly past the ‘keeper. A very slick little move, and, in spite of Adrianho’s individual skill, probably the best goal of the lot.

Immediately, Rob Gillman was substituted by utility man, James Gardner. Quite possibly a precautionary substitution, this, with Monday in mind; Rob having been down for quite a long time, in the first half, after being clattered.

By this time, the sun, which had been mostly obscured behind fluffy white clouds, was starting to burn down on the players and the crowd alike, and it developed into a very warm afternoon. On the 70-minute mark, the heat must’ve been getting to the Corby goalie, as an appalling clearance was picked up by Xavier. He could have had a shot himself, but he laid the ball off to Ian Ross, whose low drive was partially parried by Levin, but had enough momentum to trickle into the net for Ashford’s fifth. The second year in succession that the boys have put five past Corby on this ground, and it was good to see the skipper get his name on the score-sheet.

Again, Tim Thorogood took the opportunity to make a substitution, and put on his son, Joby (variously referred to as Jody, Jobi and Toby), to give Adrianho a rest. He’s a chip off the old block, Joby – very short and very aggressive (a bit like Mrs Milton Keynes Correspondent, actually), and very much a miniature version of his Dad. He’s probably the first hobbit to represent Ashford in the Doc Martens League, but his introduction brought about an additional item of trivia – it meant that all three of the management team on the bench had a son playing on the pitch. I can’t imagine that that’s happened many times at any level of football. It just needed George Sargeant’s Great-Grandson to play to make it a full collection ! 

What we got from Joby Thorogood, in the twenty minutes that he was on the pitch, was an enthusiastic little cameo, which both he and the Ashford fans thoroughly enjoyed. First, though, in the 71^st minute, the first yellow card of the game was issued. The heat and the five-nil thrashing finally got to the Corby skipper, Gary Kennedy, who made a bad tackle on Lyndon Tucker that clearly angered the Ashford players. This was the one occasion when words were not enough for the referee !  A few minutes later, Kennedy surrendered all dignity by shouting abuse at the Ashford supporters in the crowd. He probably also kicked the dog when he got home !

After 74 minutes, it was party-piece time, as Ian Ross sprayed a long, Beckham-like ball out to Michael Beale, in space on the right. Beale laid the ball off to Martin Anderson, who’d clearly got bored with nothing to do at the back, but his low shot was straight at the ‘keeper.

Two minutes later, Rossi was on the ball again, and this time put Joby through down the left. His first-time cross found Lee McRobert in the centre, but Macca pulled his shot wide of the post.

Every time Joby got the ball he was shouted loads of encouragement from the Ashford faithful, who clearly warmed to his bustling, all-action style – probably appreciating the contrast with Lee Mac’s more leisurely approach to life – and he was off again after 77 minutes. From a Corby corner, he led an Ashford break down the left wing; he cut in, with the ball on his right foot, but his shot went just over the bar. On 81 minutes, The Hobbit again had the ball on the left side, and was easily able to thread the ball through a square and static Corby defence, to Michael Beale, but Michael made a meal of rounding the goal-keeper, and eventually pulled his shot across the face of the goal.

With five minutes of normal time remaining, Corby’s misery was very nearly complete when ‘keeper Lavin aimed an Enkelman-style air-shot at the ball – unfortunately, he merely sliced it behind for a corner. He redeemed himself, though, by neatly catching Tom Adlington’s resulting cross.

Two minutes later, Joby Thorogood was on the ball yet again, in the inside-right position, with only one defender between him and the goal. He again fed Michael Beale, in the centre, but Beale’s shot was saved.

The game ended in farce, as there was a little incident on the left touchline, involving Lewis Phillips, which seemed to confuse everybody. Anyway, regardless of what it was all about, the result was that Corby’s Danny Marlow was booked, and Lewis took his shirt off and trooped off the pitch, clearly upset about something, leaving the team to play the last couple of minutes with ten men. I think we could have a bit of a character on our hands here, as I don’t think he’s too tightly wrapped !

Never mind. A good day, all round. An easy victory, a clean sheet, no cards and no obvious injuries. Folkestone will be a completely different proposition on Monday, though. They’ve now taken nine points out of nine, and already look the team to beat this year.