ARCHIVE: Dorking v Ashford Town. Ryman League Division 1 South. 2004-5 season.

Dorking     0       Ashford Town   2

from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent

For those of you with a short attention span – and I presume this is mainly Americans and children under the age of 5 – I’ve flagged up the place where the account of today’s match starts.

There’s an element of déjà vu about today’s game. Two weeks ago we set off to Banstead anticipating a huge relegation six-pointer, a game we simply couldn’t afford to lose. Well, we lost. We should’ve won – but we lost. So that puts us right up a gum tree, (or you can choose your own analogy !). Well, we’re back in six-pointer land again – the latest stop-off on the pub crawl of Last Chance Saloons that will be the nature of the remainder of our season. Dorking are the team immediately above us – third-bottom, five points ahead, that is – so the consequences of another defeat don’t bear thinking about.

Whilst we certainly cocked things up at Banstead Athletic – we should’ve been comfortably ahead at half-time – it should be pointed out that that game was Tim’s first back in charge. Now that Terry Fenwick’s gone off to do his Simon Callow bit in Birmingham for an Asian TV station, The Gaffer has been in charge for three games, and he certainly seems to have made a difference. By all accounts, the team has shown a marked togetherness and team spirit, which has pleased the faithful. Tim has also brought some stability to a first team squad that’s had no continuity at all this season, and it has been the constant turnover of players that has probably contributed most to us finding ourselves in the predicament we’re in. Has anyone noticed that the starting XI was exactly the same for the Fleet and Hastings games this week, with exactly the same two players coming on as subs ?!  When was the last time that happened at Ashford ?!  I’m sure that this stability has been a factor in the score-lines since Tim’s been back at the wheel: 0-1, 1-0 and 1-1, compared with 1-4, 0-3 and 0-4 in Terry’s last three games. And what about that CLEAN SHEET against Fleet – the first one this season ?!  Our defence previously couldn’t keep a clean sheet on their wedding night !

I was hoping that we’d keep it similarly tight in today’s match – if you don’t concede many goals, there’s always a chance of nicking a point away from home, and it’s been away from home that our problems have really been this season. Our recent home form is reasonably good. If you discount the AFC Wimbledon game, which we expected to lose, we’re unbeaten in our last five home league matches.

Although we’re in no position to under-estimate anyone, Dorking surely represent as undaunting a fixture as we could wish for. Since they held us to a 2-2 draw at The Homelands, The Dorks have managed just two draws and six defeats in eight subsequent games; in fact, their record is three draws and eight losses in their last eleven, and, if you count a cup game, they managed to lose 0-7 in two consecutive games.

Off to Dorking, then – a smallish town a few miles South of the M25, at about “6 o’clock” – and plenty of reasons to be thankful that we weren’t trekking off to South London again. (Is it just me, or did anyone else think that Banstead Athletic’s ground was like a prison exercise yard ?). As suggested by the pictures on the DFC web-site, Meadowbank is a nice, cosy little ground – a traditional town centre non-league ground, and a complete contrast to the steel and breeze blocks we had to endure two weeks ago.

I particularly liked the main stand; only 200 seats, but the low roof and the transparent side panels provided excellent shelter, with no cold wind whistling through. There was a curious structure at one end of the ground – a shallow, wooden shelter extending for the width of the pitch, over terracing that was no wider than a path, providing cover for a crowd that could be anything up to two deep !  There is a slightly deeper shelter opposite the main stand, behind the dug-outs, with the remaining side of the ground open. The whole place is in a natural bowl, which must protect it from the worst of the weather, and there was a picturesque back-drop of local hills for anyone who wasn’t too preoccupied with the little matter of a relegation six-pointer.

Tim Thorogood might have been happy enough to name an unchanged side for the third game in succession, but this was not possible, due to injuries and suspensions. For a start, both full-backs were out: Tom Adlington was suspended, and Paul O’Brien had a back strain, so was named as one of the substitutes. Lee Blackman, who scored against Hastings on Tuesday, was also missing, which meant a start for new signing Shaun Bradshaw, who came on as sub against both Fleet and Hastings, up front alongside Paul Jones. The defensive reshuffle meant a switch for Barry Gardner to right-back, with Chris Holmes returning to partner Tony Ritrovato in the centre, and Tom Evans starting in the left-back position. With Matt Bower still not recovered from the clattering he got at Banstead, Ritrovato wore the skipper’s arm-band. The midfield quartet was, however, unchanged, with the Dussard brothers out wide and Eddie Achoko and Joffy Thorogood in the middle. John Whitehouse was, as usual, in goal – thank goodness for John Whitehouse !

The main team news for Dorking was, in fairness to them, that they were without leading goal scorer Musungu, who’s scored eleven goals in the league this season.

*** THE MATCH ***

The first 25 minutes or so was pretty scrappy, with little (in fact no) constructive play from either side. The most noteworthy incident in the early stages was Joffy’s foul after about six seconds, which must nearly be a record, even for him. Our most promising position was in the 13^th minute, with a free-kick near the by-line, after Tom Evans, pushing forward on the overlap, had been fouled. Erron Dussard, who took most of Ashford’s free-kicks and corners, rather wasted this opportunity by planting the ball in the side-netting.

There was an element of déjà vu – now I’m sure I’ve written that somewhere before ….. – about what happened in the 26^th minute. Leon Dussard picked up the ball in The Dorks’ penalty area, in almost exactly the same position as against Banstead, and, as before, his quick feet ensured that the defender’s tackle played him, instead of the ball. Penalty !! (again). Now the problem two weeks ago was that, in the Banstead game, Joby Thorogood dragged the penalty kick wide of the post. Reassuringly, (no offence you understand), a glance to our right confirmed that the suspended Joby was sitting in the stand, so the same thing wasn’t about to happen. Paul Jones stepped up, and with goal-keeper Tim Brewster going the opposite way, slotted the ball into the corner. That made it 0-1 in the 26^th minute.

The home side, playing in green and white hoops – like Whyteleafe, Yeovil and Glasgow Celtic, but with green shorts and socks – pressed hard for an equaliser, and had some good attacking situations in the few minutes following the opening goal. In the 28^th minute, a left-footed free-kick from Dorks’ No.7 Keiron Philppott was flicked on by the head of Stewart Vaughan, but went over the Ashford bar. A minute later, with the Ashford midfield struggling to protect the defence, Joffy conceded a foul on the edge of the penalty area. The defensive wall had a strange look about it with Joff in the middle, the top of his head hardly coming up to the shoulder of his team mates. This detail was obviously missed by the Dorking players, as the kick was hit low and hard – John Whitehouse made a good save, falling to his left.

In the 38^th minute, a long free-kick into the Ashford area caused a goal-mouth scramble, ending with a shot across goal which narrowly slid past John W’s far post. There was an even bigger scare in the 42^nd minute, when, after another scramble in the area, Barry Gardner had to clear a firmly-struck shot off the line. Two minutes later, our yellow-shirted defence had to scramble another corner away, and pushed out to catch Dorking centre-forward James Earp offside as the ball was chipped back into the area.

These chances apart, the balance of play was fairly even, with Ashford’s defence looking pretty solid, and the offside trap working well. The visitors ended a scruffy first half with the first glimmer of some flowing football - a move that was started by Erron Dussard just inside the Dorking half, involved both brother Leon and Paul Jones, and ended with Erron trying a chip that was always going well over the bar.

So Ashford went into the break 0-1 up, without having had to do very much.

The second half began with Shaun Bradshaw, who looked lightweight, and mostly easily pushed off the ball, with his back to goal, on the edge of the Dorking area – this time he won a free-kick in a dangerous position, but Erron Dussard then curled the ball straight into Brewster’s hands.

In the 52^nd minute, our boys had some defending to do, and didn’t do it particularly well on this occasion. First, Barry Gardner sliced his attempted clearance; then Tony Ritrovato, who mostly looks a commanding presence at the back, but occasionally looks a bit shaky, had his clearance charged down. The ball broke to James Earp, who lifted the ball over the advancing John Whitehouse, but also well over the bar.

Up until the 54^th minute, it’s probably fair to say that most of the Ashford faithful had been less than impressed with what they’d seen from Shaun Bradshaw, but there was a quick reassessment when the new boy made it 0-2 with a well-taken goal. The chance was once again set up by Leon Dussard’s quick feet, when he won another free-kick near the corner flag. The resulting cross from Erron flicked the head of one of the defenders in the Dorks’ two-man wall, and looped into the penalty area. Shaun was there with a firm header into the net, from about six yards.

Of course, at this point we started to get REALLY nervous, the team having surrendered a two-goal lead on no fewer than SEVEN occasions already this season, including in the home game against Dorking – and yes, I know that their real nickname is The Chicks. The home side certainly showed plenty of urgency and determination to get back into the game – the match was described in the programme as a six-pointer in two separate places, and they clearly didn’t want to get dragged into the relegation scrap – so it was never easy for our defence. Happily, they all played pretty well, including Paul O’Brien when he came on, with OB and Chris Holmes both having to thwart attacks with well-timed covering tackles.

Dorking showed their intent by putting on a fresh attack of Craig Duffell and Steve Velandria, in place of Keiron Philppott and James Earp, in the 59^th minute, but still the visiting defence stood firm.

After a brief period of Dorking pressure, the match swung to the other end, with Ashford forcing three corners in quick succession. The third of these, in the 62^nd minute, was won by Leon Dussard, for once over on the right. The kick was floated long to Barry Gardner at the far post – Barry’s header rebounded back to him, only for his shot to be blocked. Five minutes later, Dorking’s big No.5, Will Jenkins, was booked for a foul on Erron Dussard. Barry Gardner took the kick, and floated it long to Tony Ritrovato on the corner of the area. Tony took the ball down, and showed some decent foot-work for a big fella, before being fouled. Erron Dussard took the kick, which was punched clear by Brewster to Leon Dussard, whose shot went well wide.

After 70 minutes, having seen the referee use his yellow card, Joffy obviously thought that it was about time that he got one, and, after some hand-bags on the half-way line, he achieved his aim. This shouldn’t hide the fact that Joffy put in a good, competitive performance for the whole of the 90 minutes.

The home side’s best scoring chance came in the 72^nd minute, when a long clearance was allowed to go too far, unchecked, into the Ashford area – in fact, a Dorking forward was presented with a one-on-one with the goal-keeper, but John W came out to narrow the angle, and made a good stop. Thank goodness for John Whitehouse !

It was soon after this that OB came on to replace Leon Dussard, and a few minutes later, another new boy, Billy Rowmey – John Whitehouse was heard to ask: “What’s your name ?  What’s your name ?” – replaced Chris Holmes. All this caused some shuffling around, with Barry Gardner reverting to centre-half, Rowmey playing at right-back and O’Brien replacing Leon on the left side of midfield, although OB was later to swap with Tom Evans at left-back.

In the middle of all this, Eddie Achoko got yellow-carded for a foul.

As Dorking pushed forward, in search of a goal that would get them back in the match, the play began to open up a little for Ashford’s forward players, and there was the prospect of the boys extending their lead. In the 80^th minute, a long ball into the Dorking area found the head of Paul Jones – Jonah, who had a good, hard-working game, without really getting a sniff of goal from open play, headed the ball down to Shaun Bradshaw, who scooped the ball over, from six yards. In the 83^rd minute, Jones was again using his strength to keep possession, a little way inside the Dorking half, and managed to get the ball infield to Eddie Achoko; unfortunately, Eddie’s ambitious shot from way out was comfortably parried away by the goalie.

Dorking never gave up, and, with three minutes of normal time left on the clock, they had a free-kick near the corner flag on the right – the result was that Will Jenkins got up well to meet the cross, but headed just over.

Over six minutes of added time was played, but the second clean sheet in eight days (!!) was preserved. This was our first away win of the season, leaving today’s hosts as the only team in our division not to have won away. It was also the first time that Your Milton Keynes Correspondent has seen the boys win since we beat the mighty Histon 0-2 last season, with goals from Joby and Simon Elliott.

More to the point, it was a win that saw us move to within two points of Dorking - who have now managed just three points from their last twelve games - and that sounds a whole lot better than eight points (which is why these games are described as six-pointers, I suppose). It was actually a good day all round, with all the other sides at or near the bottom losing – except for bottom-club Croydon, who somehow managed to get a crazy 0-2 result at Corinthians.