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

Dover Athletic   4       Ashford Town   0

from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent

This was the fixture on the list that was ear-marked as the one where we got to visit a big, posh club, at a big, posh ground. Of course, all things are relative – and this fact was hammered home to me on Thursday, when I visited The City of Manchester Stadium, a venue that puts most sports arenas into context – but, at Ryman Division 1 level, Dover Athletic is a giant club. Dover’s average home attendance is not just head & shoulders above the rest of the division; it is actually more than twice that of the next-best supported club, (which is Maidstone United, who ground-share at Sittingbourne). In short, it’s quite unnatural for them to be in this division at all, so we really should “enjoy” their presence, and the crowd they bring to The Homelands, while we can. Life at this level, Step 4, has certainly been an uncomfortable experience for all concerned at Crabble Athletic Ground, so, having unexpectedly missed out on promotion last year, when losing to Tonbridge Angels in the Play-off Final (and many Ashfordians still derive lots of lovely schadenfreude from that result), everyone at the club is stretching every sinew to make sure they get out of this predicament this season.

There was always a high probability, therefore, that our boys might get thrashed today, with a superior Dover side being in no mood for making mistakes, especially after the humiliation of defeat at The Homelands last season. (That was the day that Denver Birmingham got out of his armchair, made a box-to-box run and headed the winner, in a 3-2 victory). One source of optimism, however, was Ashford’s performance this season in similar games, i.e. matches against local rivals that are supposed to be (and, let’s face it, are) bigger and better than us – I’m thinking of our 2-0 win over (an admittedly under-strength) Bromley, our 2-4 victory against (a full-strength) Folkestone at Cheriton Road, our 0-1 win at Hastings in the league and a decent performance, in a 3-1 defeat, against Tonbridge Angels in the Cup. Somehow, though, with The Whites having lost precious points in their previous two matches, having been held 1-1 by both Godalming Town and Whyteleafe, the feeling in my water was that the home side was unlikely to make any mistake this afternoon.

In setting the context for the match, I could do much worse than report on the preview that appeared on the DAFC web-site in mid-week, as I must say that this was a particularly well-reasoned and well-informed piece. The main point brought out from this preview was the fact that Ashford had four ex-Whites returning to The Crabble this afternoon. The most eagerly-anticipated return was that of Matt Carruthers, who is a Dover lad, and played for them during more successful times for the Club. Simon Glover also had a spell at The Crabble, during his peroxide blond / sun bed phase. The author of this piece was also very gracious towards Marc Cumberbatch, who spent a brief, and not particularly happy, period at Dover last season – he or she acknowledged that Marc is a talented player, whose time with The Whites coincided with a spell during which the team as a whole, and a number of individuals, were a little below par. There also seemed to be genuine warmth and pleasure in mentioning that George Fenwick, who was with Dover Reserves last season, has made a good start to his first-team career at Ashford.

The main thing to take from the opposition’s preview, though, was a genuine respect for the quality of our current squad, in spite of our lowly position in the league, with Anthony Allman and Drew Watkins also being singled out, supporting the theory, that many of us believe, that we’ve the best squad of players that we’ve had for several years.

Today’s trip – another visit to a “local” ground very familiar to Ashford supporters, but one which, like Cheriton Road, Bourne Park and The Pilot Field, I hadn’t previously visited – was also something of a pilgrimage. Having mis-spent some of my youth avidly following Kent County Cricket Club, (and you should see one of my reports on a four-day County Championship game), I never actually made it to The Crabble. Of course, the days of first-class cricket at Dover are long gone, but the complex is still used as a multi-purpose sports facility. It is still possible to detect the archaeological remains of The Crabble’s more opulent, and better-funded, past, with the remnants of a painted scoreboard on the side of a green shed. The large, flat, circular grassed area, bordered by a tarmac track, is obviously where cricket used to be played, but the grass is now long. When we arrived, and parked the car just off this perimeter track, members of Dover Rugby Club were amusing themselves with a game of Catch with an odd-shaped football which seemed not to be able to roll properly, which is what I thought was the primary function of a ball. (It occurred to me that Ashford might usefully use one of these special balls at The Homelands, as it might inconvenience visiting teams that misguidedly try to play the ball along the ground).

Having climbed the hill to the turnstiles, my first sight of the footy ground confirmed that Dover Athletic FC is indeed very much a Conference Club that is slumming it, at least for the time being, at a lower level. There’s nothing particularly imposing about the ground, and it’s certainly not impressive in the same way as Kingsmeadow or Tooting & Mitcham’s ground; in fact, it’s distinctly low-rise, and is probably unique in lacking a main stand, but there is plenty of covered accommodation all around the pitch. On one side, there are red seats, four rows deep, in a covered stand that extends for the whole length of the pitch, with a similar stand, about one third the size, on the opposite side. There is much covered terracing behind both goals, so, in all, there is shelter for spectators extending for about five-sixths of the perimeter of the pitch.

There were also other subtle signs that people are used to staging football at a slightly higher level here. For a start, they have the gall to charge two quid for a programme, which is distinctly inferior to our own £1.75 production, but it was noticeable that the two teams ran out together for the start of the match, with the man on the tanoy encouraging the crowd to give them a welcoming cheer. At Walton Casuals a few weeks ago, the players wandered onto the pitch in their own time, in a hushed silence.

The biggest difference to what we are used to in Ryman Division 1 South, though, was that there were some people in the ground – literally hundreds of them, in fact !  Not only was the crowd of 792 the largest we’ve seen so far this season, but there was also a presence of a “kop” of fans behind the home goal, which sang and chanted songs throughout most of the 90 minutes. I’ve heard such things on the telly, but it’s a phenomenon that I’ve rarely witnessed on my travels with Ashford Town. I remember two or three middle-aged blokes at Whyteleafe breaking into “Whyteleafe Wonderland” now and again, but here we had a choir of more than a dozen voices, accompanied by a percussion section, (or a bloke with a drum, at least). There were a few boos of remembrance and acknowledgement for ex-players Matt Carruthers and Marc Cumberbatch when the teams were announced – something else that I have heard tell of from the land of the Big Club People.

Whilst the chorus from the Dover Kop was largely tuneless and monotonous, it was not without a sense of humour. It seemed like they had prepared one for Marc Cumberbatch in advance: “Thierry Henry: you’re ‘aving a larf” – which was the only thing which brought a smile to Tim Thorogood’s face all afternoon. Nick Fenwick was treated to some anti-ginger nut abuse, which is increasingly being seen as “racist” in some quarters, with “Get back in your biscuit tin”, whilst the Matt Carruthers chant will not be repeated here. There was also a chant that made certain suggestions about what Simon Glover does in his spare time – this was not only fairly predictable, but also almost certainly untrue; from what I can gather about Glovesie’s personal life, I’d be surprised if he’s done that for a number of years.

All four of our ex-Dover players started the game today. Although the Dover preview had stated that Ashford could pick from a full squad of players, Tommy Adlington was suffering from a heavy dose of man-‘flu’, and was also carrying a groin strain and a thigh strain, so started the game on the bench – he was replaced by Drew Watkins, who has himself been off with an injury lately. For the first time this season, we started the game without either of our stalwart full-backs, as the other book-end, Ian Ross, was far away on holiday, in Australia. That meant that Kenny Jarrett-Elliott once again dropped in at left-back, with Nick Fenwick and Marc Cumberbatch again in central defence, in front of Simon Overland. Anthony Allman (the captain) and Simon Glover occupied the key positions in the centre of midfield, with Joby Thorogood on their right and Matt Carruthers (probably out of position) on the left. George Fenwick, with 11 goals in the equivalent of 15 games, again led the attack, and Adam O’Neill got the nod over Luke Coleman to partner him up front. Ashford had a full complement of substitutes: joining Tommy and Luke on the bench were Joe “Joe 90” Hitchings, Dan Tanner (who wore some strapping on a thigh during the pre-match warm-up) and a new face, Jamie Leggett. John Cumberbatch again took charge of the team, with Tim Thorogood, still serving a touchline ban, prowling around in the stand like a fenced-in Jack Russell.

I’m tempted to give chapter & verse on what we had for lunch – anything to delay writing about the match, as there is little cheer in the account that I am about to give – but I suppose I really ought to take the plunge. (For my own future reference, in case Dover either miss out on promotion again, or we draw them in the Kent Senior Cup, we found a very good pub, “The Old Gate”, a few miles up the A2).

First of all, I should scotch any assumptions that our lads weren’t up for this game, as they’d been looking forward to this fixture for some time, and they were reportedly “nervous” before the game, which is a good sign. We also made a very lively start, for the first fifteen minutes or so, with Simon Glover looking particularly determined, and in the mood, for the entire game, running with the ball and attacking the home defence at every opportunity. Unfortunately, Gloves again still failed to deliver, and the team as a whole was utterly outclassed by a Dover side that won this game in a hack canter.

Just like last Saturday, when we had an early opportunity with an Anthony Allman free-kick before the Met Police jumped all over us, the afternoon began with a glimmer of hope. This time the free-kick was awarded for a foul on George Fenwick, in the fourth minute, but Anthony’s cross was headed clear. It was actually the home side, playing in white shirts, black shorts and black sockies, (meaning that Ashford again turned out in their home strip), that came closest to scoring an early goal. A Dover free-kick, in the fifth minute, definitely bounced up and hit Kenny Three Names on the arm, but the referee ignored the loud and raucous appeals for a penalty; meanwhile, the ball broke to Matt Bourne, whose first-time shot was well saved by Simon Overland, diving low to his right.

Two minutes later, there was further alarm in the Ashford penalty area, but the ball was, after a goal-mouth scramble, forced behind for a corner. Simon Overland came out for the resulting cross, lost the ball, but was then saved by Referee Venamore blowing up for a foul. At the other end, in the ninth minute, (and, yes, it was “end-to-end” for a brief period), Simon Glover was running with the ball through the Dover half; he let fly with a shot, but this was deflected for what was probably the most obvious corner of the season so far – a goal-kick was given.

On ten minutes, Anthony Allman fed the ball forward to Adam O’Neill, on the edge of the area, with his back to goal; he laid the ball back to George Fenwick, who side-footed a curling shot just around the angle of post and bar. Two minutes later, it was again Gloves who instigated an attack, playing a one-two with George Fenwick, and then playing a ball through for Adam O’Neill to chase, but the David Beckham lookalike was caught off-side. In the 15^th minute, Gloves was fouled by Craig Wilkins, near the left touchline. Anthony Allman floated the ball into the box, and the ball was headed clear to Matt Carruthers, outside the penalty area, but Matt’s long-range bid for glory was always going to sail miles over the bar.

Glover was back defending, in the 16^th minute, and was penalised for hand-ball. This gave Whites’ skipper Lee Spiller the chance to cross the ball into the Ashford penalty area – Simon Overland then had his one truly horrific moment of the afternoon, when he got both hands to the ball, but it slipped through them, and went out for a corner. It was from this situation that Dover scored the first of four goals from set-pieces, as the corner was whipped in low, to the near post, where Tommy Tyne hooked the ball into the net.

And, as if to mirror the slope into which The Crabble is built, it was steadily downhill after that. Shortly after the goal-scorer, Tommy Tyne, was lucky not to be booked for dissent, Drew Watkins limped off, in the 19^th minute, which was quite obviously a recurrence of the thigh injury he picked up at Walton Casuals – an example of the gamble of returning from injury too soon not paying off. That meant that Tommy Adlington had to drag his tired and aching carcass off the bench. He took his place in a defence that was already under pressure, facing the prospect of a long throw – this was launched in by Craig Cloke; Nick Fenwick left this for Simon Overland, and a Dover foot got there just ahead of the ‘keeper, but could do nothing more damaging than put the ball behind for a goal-kick. A minute later, our boys gave the ball away in their own half, and Dover immediately launched an attack down the left, which led to Jimmy Dryden pulling his shot across the face of goal.

In the 22^nd minute, Kenny Jarrett-Elliott had an awkward moment – he lost his footing when setting himself to make a defensive header, and the ball skidded off his head, and behind for a corner. This was headed clear by the defence. Two minutes later, Kenny conceded another corner, but this time it was as a result of making a saving tackle, with Jimmy Dryden going through, inside the Ashford area. There were again appeals for hand-ball as Simon Glover attempted to clear the resulting cross, but we somehow got away with a goal-kick !

George Fenwick became the first man to get booked, in the 25^th minute, after a late challenge on John Keister. It looked like George might be in more trouble, just two minutes later, when he caught Craig Cloke in the mouth with his elbow, when challenging for the ball in the air. Cloke was down for a long time, being treated, but, in spite of plenty of advice from the Dover players, supporters and Directors, Referee Venamore declined to show a red card.

There was almost further cause for emergency dental work, in the 29^th minute, when Byron Walker stooped low, to head the ball, on the edge of the Ashford area. Marc Cumberbatch made an attempt to boot the ball clear, but instead connected with Walker’s face; although the little winger was not badly hurt, Dover did get a free-kick, in a dangerous position. Lee Spiller (I think) took great pains to line up an attempt at goal, but his shot went straight into the Ashford wall. However, the ball broke to Matt Bourne, who stuck it in the back of the net, for Dover’s second.

Towards the end of the first half, with the home side rather sitting back on their two-goal lead, and the Dover faithful behind the goal taking a rest from singing, Ashford did get to see more of the ball. In the 41^st minute, after an earlier promising run from Simon Glover had taken him past three defenders, but ultimately ended with him losing possession, Ashford won a corner, on the right, after Tommy Adlington’s attempted cross was charged down. With Rossi down under, it was Kenny Jarrett-Elliott who took responsibility for curling an in-swinger into the area – his cross was a good one, beyond the far post, but there was nobody at the back in a green shirt to take advantage.

In the 43^rd minute, Dover broke out of defence, and the ball was spread wide, to Jimmy Dryden, on the right. Dryden, who recently suffered quite a serious knee injury, checked inside, onto his left foot, but his curling shot was well saved by Simon Overland, going down to his right.

With several minutes of first-half injury time being played, and with 47 minutes up, on my watch, Simon Glover won a free-kick, when being sandwiched by two defenders. (A bit strange to be a victim of a Sandwich in Dover !). The resulting cross, by Anthony Allman, was long, to Marc Comberbatch, who this time did take up a position beyond the far post; Marc nodded the ball back across goal, but the home defence cleared the danger. There was time for one more Ashford corner, in the 48^th minute, but we went in at half time 2-0 down, having not managed a shot on target during the opening period. I was impressed with Dover ‘keeper Darren Smith. He had enjoyed a nice cup of tea during the first half, and had been smoking a café crème cigar, and he took his cup & saucer and butt-end off with him at half-time.

There was a change in the weather for the second half, with a steady shower of rain spoiling what had been a sunny, but fresh, afternoon. Otherwise, the match continued as it had ended in the first half, with Ashford enjoying a period of possession but posing little threat to The Whites’ goal. Again, there was an early Anthony Allman free-kick, in the second minute of the half, but this was headed clear.

Two minutes later, Nick Fenwick flirted with a booking when he was late with a tackle on Byron Walker – this at least woke the choir up again, as it called for another few choruses of the Biscuit Tin Song. Skipper Lee Spiller chipped the free-kick to the unmarked Craig Wilkins, on the left-hand side of the area. Wilko headed the ball back across goal, and Craig Cloke then headed wide.

Apart from that chance, the home side had done very little in the second period, but burst into life when Byron Walker went on a cross-field run, in the 54^th minute, which ended with a low shot that looked innocuous enough, but which Simon Overland had to turn around the post, diving to his left. The corner was crossed long, to the unmarked Tommy Tyne, who hit a sweet volley that dipped under the Ashford bar, from just outside the penalty area. This was a well-taken goal, Tyne’s second, but he was left in plenty of space, and he really should have been picked up.

In the 58^th minute, Dover had their first set-back of the afternoon, when Byron Walker went down, and had to have some lengthy treatment. Eventually, some paramedics, in Ashford Town colours, came on and carted him off on a stretcher, which is never a welcome sight on a football pitch. He was replaced by Chris Chase. I’ve no information on the extent, or cause, of Walker’s injury, but somebody said that they saw him hobbling around on crutches at the ground, after the game.

Ashford did produce an attacking movement worthy of mention, in the 64^th minute, and this had Anthony Allman as the pivot; he played a good one-two with Kenny, and, moving through the centre of midfield, fed the ball forward to Adam O’Neill, but Adam was eventually worried out of it near the left corner flag.

In the 66^th minute, Joby Thorogood received a very harsh yellow card, after not being ten yards away from Lee Spiller’s free-kick; (the fact that he was all of ten yards away from where the kick should have been taken was lost on the ref). I can’t tell you what happened to the ball after Spiller crossed the retaken kick into the area, as all the action took place behind a pillar. Ashford at last had a break from Mr Venamore when he awarded us a free-kick, in the 70^th minute, for a Whites defender climbing on George Fenwick’s back, but Anthony Allman hit this straight into a three-man wall. There was a three-man wall of green shirts, two minutes later, after Joby Thorogood was penalised for a foul, but John Wallis lofted his effort tamely over the bar.

This was just about Joby’s final involvement in the game, as he was substituted for Luke Coleman in the 74^th minute, as Ashford at least made a gesture at chasing the game, with three up front. It was also noticeable that Kenny was pushed much further forward as the half wore on, sometimes playing ahead of Matt Carruthers, on the left. There was no change in the direction of the play, however, as Dover were soon on the attack again, with Craig Wilkins moving down the left channel. His cross found Jimmy Dryden, in the centre, but Dryden, who’s hit the target eight times this season, in spite of starting most games from the bench, sliced a shot that actually went out for a throw-in.

There was little doubt that the match was long over, as a contest, but we all thought that the announcement that Tommy Tyne was Man of the Match, in the 77^th minute, was a little premature !  Nevertheless, Clive Walker obviously felt that he could now rest his key players, ahead of Tuesday’s league match away to Croydon Athletic, and he took off Dryden, for Bradley Spice, in the 80^th minute, and Tony Browne (who it was rumoured might be joining Ashford Town a couple of seasons ago), for Nick Humphrey, in the 82^nd minute.

These substitutions didn’t temper the home side’s appetite for going forward, and they made the score 4-0 in the 83^rd minute. The fourth goal came as a result of a long throw, into the area. The Ashford defence momentarily downed tools, to appeal for a hand-ball against a Dover player, and John Wallis responded by smashing the ball into the corner of the net.

John Cumberbatch’s response was to replace Kenny with Dan Tanner. There was also an unexpected introduction to the game for Dover ‘keeper Darren Smith, in the 85^th minute, when Matt Carruthers sent in a long-range shot. Smith had been having a relaxing aromatherapy massage during the second half, but had to leap off the table to make the save – he managed to get right behind the ball, but had to be alert, as the ball took a late swerve.

In the 87^th minute, Nick Fenwick conceded a corner, near the corner flag. With the tuneless refrain calling for a fifth goal, Craig Wilkins got up above the rest to head the ball across the face of goal; with the ball bouncing around in the area, Craig Cloke appeared to want it most, but could only head it against the post.

With a minute to go of scheduled time, a neat back-heel by George Fenwick set Simon Glover off on another run through the centre of midfield; he spread the ball wide to Adam O’Neill, but Adam’s attempted right-foot curler went straight at the goalkeeper, who nevertheless had to put his newspaper down and collect the ball. Glovesie’s unhappy return to The Crabble almost got unnecessarily worse, in the 92^nd minute, when he really should have been yellow-carded for a late tackle on Craig Cloke. The ref instead made a big thing of demonstrating that Simon was on his final warning, but, as it was nearly five o’clock, it was never likely that he was going to re-offend.

The biggest problem was to nominate a Man of the Match for Ashford, as there was, unsurprisingly, no outstanding candidate. Both Simon Glover and Anthony Allman saw plenty of possession, and always look quite classy with the ball at their feet, but the conclusion has to be that neither of them delivered, in what it is crucial role, in central midfield. I also thought that both Nick Fenwick and Marc Cumberbatch looked good for much of the game, but it’s difficult to see past a 4-0 scoreline – in fact, it was difficult to give the award to a defender, but, in the end, we came down on the side of Tommy Adlington, who at least dragged himself off his sick-bed for the cause. Furthermore, I can’t remember him putting a foot wrong, so he was as deserving as anyone. (Nevertheless, it wasn’t the occasion for any Ashford player to be seen parading around with a medal around his neck, so he was discretely given his medal, by Mrs MKC, in its little velvet box).

It turned out to be a very good day for our hosts, as two of their main rivals for promotion this season, Dartford and Leatherhead, both suffered a heavy defeat; on the other hand, Fleet Town won again, so, with just two promotion places up for grabs this time, The Whites certainly can’t afford to relax. At the other end of the table, (which is where we are, in case someone’s not been paying attention), there were defeats for both Walton Casuals and Corinthian-Casuals, so Ashford remain third-bottom. Our next game, in three days’ time, is in fact away to Corinthian-Casuals, so that is now very much a must-win game.

Man of the Match

(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)

Tommy Adlington