Croydon Athletic 2 Ashford Town 0
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
With both
teams having suffered an early exit from the FA Trophy, this rearranged match
with Croydon Athletic gave me the chance, unusually, to see the boys on two
consecutive Saturdays – in fact, with the Fleet game next Saturday, this was to
be the second of three excursions in a row for Your Milton Keynes
Correspondent. An opportunity to monitor any improvement that the team might be
making, then – not difficult, surely, after the dire display against Whyteleafe
last week. Mind you, it should be said that reports emerging from the 1-1 draw
at home to Banstead, in between, have suggested a much better performance, with
at least some spirit and determination being shown.
Whereas Croydon,
a few weeks back, had been a very straightforward journey, Croydon Athletic –
Mayfields – was an absolute pig to get to. The trip down the M1, then clockwise
around the M25, past Heathrow, was simple enough, as far as Junction 8, but it
was from there that the problems started. Going North up the Brighton Road, the
A23, was typical stop-start London driving, from start to finish. Then, when
within a few hundred yards of the ground, there was a maze of residential
streets to negotiate, all totally choked with parked cars, and with a random
system of one-way streets, designed to confuse and frustrate the non-local.
When Mayfield Road was finally located, the route to the footy ground begins
with a narrow and muddy track, littered with pot-holes and totally redundant
SPEED humps ! Just as the first-time
visitor is starting to contemplate turning back – assuming that’s possible –
there is a white and maroon sign showing the way to Croydon Athletic Football
Club. More pot-holes; then we entered a small car park with a large puddle in
the middle. We were promptly directed through to the over-spill car park –
OVER-SPILL ! (The crowd was 66). This
was a small grassy area with space for about a dozen cars. Because the majority
of our team now resides in South London, there is no need for a team coach,
except for away trips to the likes of Bashley and the Isle of Wight etc. This
is just as well, as the ground is inaccessible to anything larger than a small
minibus, or Range Rover. We trudged off to find the turn-stiles, wondering what
will happen when they get drawn at home to Arsenal in The Cup !
The stadium
itself if fairly spartan, with a sizeable stand along one side offering the
only seated accommodation. We took our place, in maroon plastic seats, on the
half-way line, next to the reporter for the Croydon Advertiser. You
could say that we were the Press Corps. The pitch looked in very good condition
– so no excuses there for either side – and, whilst we couldn’t expect to have
a repeat of the Summer’s day we enjoyed last week at Whyteleafe, the game was
played in pleasantly mild conditions, but with a constant threat of drizzle.
Croydon Ath,
12th in the league at the start of play, made the brighter start,
and, within the first couple of minutes, managed both a corner and a shot on
target, through James Hall, but this was comfortably saved by John Whitehouse.
However, the score didn’t stay level for long. The home side, playing with good
width on both flanks throughout the game, spread the ball wide to the right, in
the sixth minute. The right-winger pulled it back to Danny Bolt, totally
unmarked in the area, who made no mistake in burying a firm shot into the
corner of the Ashford net.
This was a bad
goal to concede by a slightly unfamiliar-looking defence. In the absence of the
injured Steve Mackenzie – who has looked to be one of the best of the Southall
draft – we had the inexperienced pairing of Barry Gardner and Chris Holmes in
the centre. Although the more familiar figure of Tom Adlington was at right-back,
there was at last a starting position for Tom Evans, but in the less accustomed
role of left-back. The formation was almost 4-3-3, with Leon Dussard in left
midfield tending to push up to join Joby Thorogood and Andre Robinson in
attack. Matt Bower and Paul O’Brien, both returning from injury, provided some
quality in central midfield, whilst there was a rare start, on the right, for
Joffy Thorogood (in spite of his wearing the No.17 shirt). Byron Glasgow,
another just returning from injury, was on the subs bench, as was Erron
Dussard, Marvin Rufus (brother of Charlton Athletic’s Richard) and a new name
(not to mention an unpronounceable one!): Tony Rkrovato.
After nine
minutes, there was another test for our young defenders. Goalscorer Danny Bolt
– recently signed from the title-challenging Metropolitan Police, and probably
The Rams’ best player – whipped in a cross from the left, which was intercepted
by Barry Gardner, at the expense of a corner. The corner-kick resulted in a
goal-mouth scramble, which ended up with Tom Adlington clearing off the line.
The danger was not over, though, but as the ball was chipped back into the
danger area, John Whitehouse was able to collect it, just under his cross-bar.
Ashford’s
first recognisable chance came in the 14th minute, when Joby –
playing in his role just off Andre Robinson, rather than wide – put in a cross
from the right, and it was Robinson who tried a spectacular first-time effort
on the turn. His shot went well wide, but it was good to watch.
There was no
shortage of effort from the Ashford boys today, and a mass cave-in never looked
to be on the cards. However, they made little headway against the home side,
who were very tidy at the back. There were periods in the first half when
Ashford actually applied some pressure, and there were some good situations
created. In the 25th minute, Joffy was fouled on the edge of the
area, so won a free-kick in a central position. Brother Joby and Leon Dussard
stood over the ball, but, after scoring from a free-kick against Tooting
recently, Leon was always favourite. As it turned out, Leon did make a good
effort on goal, his curling, left-foot shot flashing just wide of the post.
This is the third time that I’ve seen Leon this season, and, although he’s so
far failed to set the world on fire, he clearly has ability, and crosses a good
ball with his left foot.
Athletic’s
Leon – Leon Johnson – also a No.11, was a constant threat down the left wing
throughout the match. On 36 minutes, he progressed unchallenged down this
channel, with the Ashford defence backing off, holding the line. Johnson’s long
ball to the opposite flank found Matty Fowler, totally unmarked, with only the
goal-keeper to beat. Fortunately, John Whitehouse pulled off a good save, to
spare the team’s blushes for some very poor defending.
The home side
had another excellent chance four minutes later. Barry Gardner found that he
was not quite tall enough to get his head to a cross that came in from a
free-kick on the right. The ball was instead nodded down by an Athletic
striker, and defender James Greenaway blasted his shot just over the bar.
A minute
later, Joffy Thorogood, our yellow card specialist, very nearly opened his
account for the afternoon when he put in a rash, late challenge on the edge of
the penalty area. Whilst he got away with just a few words from the referee,
the free-kick was in a dangerous position. Fortunately, skipper Matt Bower was
there to clear the resulting cross.
It looked like
the teams were going to reach the interval with the score at 1-0, but there was
quite an eventful end to the half. With 44 minutes on the watch, Paul O’Brien,
who was finding it difficult to get into the swing of things after his injury
lay-off, made his first contribution to the game, with some hand-bags with
James Greenaway. Shortly after that, Ashford managed their first corner of the
game, but Leon Dussard’s cross was too long, and went straight through the
penalty area. With 46 minutes gone, there was a great chance of an Ashford
break, with Joby in possession, and Andre Robinson level with the defence,
ready to make his run. All Andre had to do was to stay on-side, but he palpably
failed to do so. Up went Lino’s flag, as soon as Joby slid the pass through. In
fact, Robinson showed a talent for being caught off-side all afternoon.
The half-time
whistle was three minutes overdue when Croydon Athletic made it 2-0. It was
Leon Johnson once again who led a break down the left. He sensibly waited for
left-back Danny Cecil to overlap, down the line, before feeding the ball
through to him. Cecil’s cross was met by the head of an unmarked Matt Fowler,
who had an easy task to score. Two sloppy bits of defending, two goals, and
Ashford were virtually out of the game at half-time.
It’s fair to
say, though, that heads never really went down in the second half, and the lads
kept trying. There were changes in personnel, and formation, made at half-time.
Tony Rkrovato came on, and took up a position in the centre of defence –
presumably to give us some height in that department – with Chris Holmes
shifting out to left-back. This enabled Tom Evans to move forward into
midfield, with Leon Dussard being the man replaced. Tom had a much better
second half in this position, as he doesn’t really look like a defender. For a
start, it soon became clear that he has about as much heading ability as Frodo
Baggins, and that’s an important part of a defender’s job, even at full-back.
Seven minutes
into the second half, Barry Gardner, just a couple of games after being sent
off, did his best to get another card, with a late tackle over on the left, but
the referee was again content with just a lecture. The resulting free-kick was
squared to James Evans, who was given all the time in the world to line up a
shot from outside the penalty area – John Whitehouse saved the day once again,
diving to his left.
Three minutes
later, there were more hand-bags, and this time Tom Adlington managed to get
himself yellow-carded, with the referee’s patience running out. Shortly
afterwards, James Evans again bore down on the Ashford penalty area –
unchallenged ! – and had time to tee up another long-range shot. John
Whitehouse again saved, but this one was more comfortable, being aimed straight
at him.
With 65
minutes gone, our boys finally managed to create a chance from open play. Good
scrambling by Joby on the edge of the Athletic area resulted in the ball being
fed through to Andre Robinson, in the area. This opportunity was wasted, with
Robinson blasting well wide with his left foot. (Tim Thorogood was now starting
to seethe in the stands !).
Meanwhile, El
Tel, down on the bench, made a couple of substitutions: Matt Bower (who has a
tendency to tire) and Paul O’Brien were taken out of central midfield, to be
replaced by Byron Glasgow and Marvin Rufus. From this point, Ashford played
their best football of the match – largely due to the introduction of Glasgow,
which shows how important he could be, when fully fit. With quick feet, and
spraying passes from the middle of the park, he had an immediate impact, as
suddenly there was movement and ideas from the players around him.
Although he
didn’t do a great deal wrong, Rufus’s first contribution was to give the ball
away to Dean Lock, in a dangerous area. The unpronounceable Rkrovato got across
to partially block Lock’s shot, and John W managed to push the deflected effort
behind for a corner. John was also there to save a tame header, from the
resulting cross.
There was then
a quite bizarre incident. Chris Holmes went down in the middle of his own
goal-mouth, apparently seriously hurt, and with Athletic on the attack, but
neither the referee nor the home team saw fit to stop the game. Referee
Faulkner eventually stopped play and called the physio on, but Holmes had by
this time had time to have a glass of water and take a couple of aspirins
! Getting to his feet without waiting
for the physio to get to him, or going off for attention, Holmes got himself
booked. This was to be of some significance later on in the match !
With 76
minutes gone, and after a quick interchange of passes, Byron Glasgow played a
through-ball which found Joffy, running into the area. Unfortunately, Joff made
a mess of this, and shot tamely wide. This prompted a death-threat from his
father !
Leon Johnson
was still dangerous out on the left for the home side, and he had a shot, from
the corner of the Ashford area, which went just wide of the far post, after 80
minutes. Three minutes later, Johnson won a corner on the left. The resulting
kick managed to slip through a crowd of players on the near post, and had a
surprised John Whitehouse fumbling and juggling. The defence somehow scrambled
the ball behind for another corner. The second cross was met by the head of
James Hall, who was again unchallenged – are you detecting a pattern here yet
?! – but this was straight at Whitehouse.
With just a
minute to go of normal time, Andre Robinson went on a run almost from the
half-way line, and won a corner for his trouble – the resulting cross found
Joby, who controlled the ball on his cheat, but was never in control of a shot
that went well over the bar. Very soon afterwards, the ball was back at the
other end, but Tom Adlington (who had taken the skipper’s arm-band when Matt
Bower went off) seemed to have it under control – but this was to reckon
without the pace of Leon Johnson, who looked more like Ben Johnson compared to
Tom. The No.11’s cross into the six-yard box seemed a tap-in for substitute
Billy Jackson, but somehow Jackson and John Whitehouse contrived a way between
them of keeping the ball out.
I was just
wondering whether I could avoid the bomb craters in the car park on my way out,
but there was still time for the worst, and most brainless, incident of the
match. John Waite had the ball in the right-back position for the home side,
when Chris Holmes needlessly clattered him with an ugly, late tackle, over the
top of the ball. It was totally unnecessary at the end of a game that was
already lost, and he gave the ref no choice but to send him off, regardless of whether
he had previously received a yellow. So we finished the match with ten men,
but, at a time when we’re desperately looking for “little victories”, we’d at
least “drawn” the second half.
This
comfortable three points for Croydon Athletic puts them up to eighth in the
table – because Newport IoW lost the only other game in our division this
afternoon, Ashford remain in third-last position, but obviously the defeat
hasn’t done us any good !
As always, I’m
determined to end the latest instalment of this veil of tears on an optimistic
note, and some good news: Jonah not only played for the Reserves today, but he
also scored a goal in yet another Ressies’ victory.
GANDALF: “Hope
is kindled.”
No comments:
Post a Comment