ARCHIVE: King's Lynn v Ashford Town. Doc Martens League Division 1 East. 2002-3 season.

King's Lynn    1       Ashford Town      0

From Your Milton Keynes Correspondent

One of the most reliable rules of thumb in life is that “there’s always one” – this normally refers to the fact that there’s one pratt or one idiot in the bunch. Last season, “the one” was Grantham Town. Whilst our Message Board sees good-natured banter from the likes of Folkestone, and messages of fellowship from Brickies fans, you could guarantee that the run-up to a game against Grantham would be preceded by messages of “You’re gonna get thrashed”, “we’re good, and you’re rubbish” etc. etc..

There was a message posted on our site earlier in the week – I won’t dignify the act by mentioning the pillock’s nom de plume, or by repeating what he wrote – that made me think that maybe newly-relegated King’s Lynn might be “the one” for this season. I’m happy to report, however, that proper Linnets fans were quick to pounce on him and condemn his slightly menacing message. (Thanks for taking the trouble to post messages, folks). Every reason to look forward to a friendly welcome from what seemed a nice bunch of people, then, and every prospect of a decent-sized crowd, for once. King’s Lynn is actually comfortably the best-supported team in the division, with a whopping average home crowd of 588 (!). - must be every chance of the crowd hitting the 600 mark. Makes a change from the graveyard shifts : Burnham, Corby etc..

Another reason for looking forward to the match is that this will be our first, and almost certainly our last, trip to King’s Lynn. This is because, as our local rag reports, the Ryman and Doc Martens League people have already taken the decision to reorganise the current structure into a ‘Midlands West’ and ‘South East’ format in time for next year, instead of waiting for the 2004-5 season. This is to further stimey the Conference clubs’ plans to set up two feeder leagues to the Conference, to replace the current Doc Martens, Ryman and Unibond Premier Divisions. Nothing is signed and sealed, but I can’t imagine the Ryman / Doc Martens proposals not getting FA approval – there’s no merit in the current illogical structure, and it was the FA that encouraged the two leagues to take a look at the geographical boundaries in the first place.

Without boring you with all the details of who is likely to play in which league, the upshot is that Ashford Town almost certainly won’t be playing North of the Thames next year, in what will most likely be called the ‘Ryman Eastern Division’, feeding into the ‘Ryman South East Premier’. If we happen to get promoted to that league, then the catchment area will spread as far North as Essex, plus Cambridge City – we won’t meet the likes of King’s Lynn again in a league match unless (or until) we both make it to the Conference. Sadly, that means that all of the away venues that I currently manage to go to – from Banbury and Burnham, to Spalding and, well, King’s Lynn – will be off the roster.

From Ashford Town’s point of view (far be it for me to wallow in personal misery), it has to be a good thing, for a number of reasons : 1. the Club’s travel bill will be drastically cut, 2. it seems that next year’s opposition will generally be weaker than it currently is, so giving us a better chance of promotion (only two of the nine teams above us at the moment will be in the South East League, and the Doc Martens is generally considered to be stronger than the Ryman), 3. none of us will have to go to Corby ever again, and 4. the alternative of the Conference Chairmen to replace three divisions above us with just two would do us damage by generally pushing us down the pyramid.

The one drawback is that the average home gate of current Doc Martens Premier Division teams is almost twice that of their Ryman counterparts (about 650, as compared with about 350) – this means that we might miss the likes of Salisbury, Dorchester, Grantham etc. bringing a few fans to The Homelands. (As for me, I’ll redraw my boundaries to include places like Erith, Dartford and Chatham etc.).

Back to the present, and there were plenty of reasons to look forward to the match in its own right – undoubtedly the Match of the Day in the Eastern Division, being the only game involving two of the top ten teams, and both teams in form and with a squeak of promotion.

I make no apologies for suggesting that promotion is still a possibility for us. Whilst not getting too carried away with our seven-game unbeaten run – six of those matches have been at home, and all have been against sides below us in the league – the fact is that we’re ten points off a promotion place, and with nine of our last 15 matches being against teams in the leading group (including both Salisbury and Bashley home and away). Now there are two ways of looking at that sort of a run-in. The pessimistic view is that, because we’ve tough opposition to face up to the end of the season, we’ll not pick up that many points, so we’re likely to finish 9^th or 10^th. An optimist would say that, provided we’re good enough, we’ve every chance of taking points from all of our rivals, so should be in the shake-up.

My personal instinct is to err on the side of pessimism, since we’ve been comfortably beaten earlier in the season when visiting the likes of Banbury, Dorchester and Eastbourne, and I think the boys have a bit to prove yet at the top end of the table. Nevertheless, the match would be a real test, and would show us how much the team has improved since the first half of the season. King’s Lynn are certainly an in-form side, having won seven and drawn one of their last eight matches (Ashford having won five and drawn two of their last seven), including 5-0 and 4-2 in their last two, both away - they’re also currently in the semi-finals of the Doc Martens League Cup.

One blow to our hosts, however, is that they’re now going to be without Lee Stephenson, their top-scorer with 19 goals, for the rest of the season.

A little creativity was required in planning the route on this occasion. The most obvious thing was to go straight up the A1, and then turn right at Huntingdon. However, I was a bit worried about there being queues of cars going into Huntingdon Races, so in the end we went across on the A45 as far as Cambridge, and then up the A10. By the time we passed the Histon turning, the freezing fog of the morning had given way to a bright, sunny day, and we arrived in King’s Lynn at about 2.15pm, the whole journey taking an hour and 45 minutes – (which is about how long it takes me to drive to work in the morning, so I’m sure that driving to North Kent on the odd Saturday next year shouldn’t be beyond me !).

I always feel that I go through a time-warp when I travel to East Anglia – the population is concentrated in market towns, seemingly built around Woolworths, which haven’t changed much in the last 30 years or so, and the people are always friendly. “The Walks” (the club’s ground) certainly has a very old-fashioned feel about it – and I don’t mean that in any disparaging way at all. The ground is virtually in the middle of the town, overlooked on one side by mock tudor residences.

The advantage of its central location is obvious as soon as you enter the ground, since there is a wide cross-section of the town’s people inside – old people, disabled people, middle-aged people, scores of kids, a family with a couple of little girls. It’s a mix that is very difficult to achieve with an out-of-town ground, as, once the football club moves away from the Community that it belongs to, then what remains is those who have the time, the money and the transport resources to make the trip every other Saturday. I’m not talking about sheer numbers here – I’m making reference to the mix of the crowd, but eventually it amounts to one of the same thing. This is in no way a swipe at Ashford’s current location, as I understand that the Club had no choice but to leave Essella Park, and that there’s no going back. It’s merely an observation on the basis of visits to the likes of Corby, Witney, Burnham etc.. All grounds in peripheral locations, populated by a few dozen middle-aged blokes, a few OAPs and a handful of young boys who were lucky in that they were able to come with their Dad. (Witney Town, of course, has since been wound up).

The Walks is certainly one of the bigger grounds at this level, with a capacity of 8,200 !  The main stand is BIG and blue, with a grey corrugated roof. There is terracing all the way round, with the standing area opposite the main stand covered from corner flag to corner flag – covered accommodation for 5,000 altogether. It would be an exaggeration to say that we entered the stadium blinking like wide-eyed hobbits, but it is nice to go to a proper football ground occasionally. (The tea, mind you, was undrinkable, probably among the worst examples of tea-making ever witnessed – thought I’d throw that in, in the interests of balance !).

The pitch was flat – as you’d expect in The Fens – but very bumpy, and the bobbley nature of the surface was to make good football very difficult all afternoon.

The Linnets turned out in yellow shirts, with royal blue shorts and socks. The visitors…………… well, I’m not going to go on about the team’s colours any more; enough’s been said on that score already.

Ian Gibbs was team captain for the day, the luckless Matt Bower having been stretchered off against Rothwell, and, after a brief photo-call with the day’s mascots, the boys in the Snot Green shirts kicked off.

After two seconds – yes, seconds ! – of the kick-off, Simon Elliott was caught very late, and needed immediate attention from the physio. Maybe it was just a case of one team’s Hard Man introducing himself straight away to his opposite number, but the referee – who was an absolute dead ringer for Uriah Rennie – was not impressed, and waved the yellow card immediately. An example of strong refereeing, which I was actually quite impressed with.

On this occasion, Simon Elliott lined up on the left side of midfield, instead of on his customary right side – this position was taken up by 16 year-old Barry Gardiner, with Sam Saunders running the show from the centre. There was also a slight reshuffle in defence, to accommodate the Comeback Kid, Paul O’Brien, at left back; Aaron O’Leary moved across to central defence, alongside Gibbs, with Martin Anderson now the familiar figure at right back. This has been the format in defence for the last few games, and it seems to have worked OK so far. Once again, Tim played all three of the regular strikers – Hassett, Stone and McRobert - but with Lee Mac dropping off just behind the front two.

Ashford’s game-plan was apparent from very early on, with early balls being played over the top from midfield, looking to exploit Dave Hassett’s pace. This met with zero success, as all attempts were either over-hit or intercepted, and former Norwich City player Peter Morris has a well-drilled defence at his disposal, judging by the number of times the home defenders stepped up to catch our lads offside.

There were no alarms at the other end, though, and it was Ashford that had the first recognisable half-chance of the game. This fell to Sam Saunders, after 13 minutes, and was a snap-shot that went just wide of the post, after the ball broke to him, having been bouncing around on the edge of the King’s Lynn box.

The first 20 minutes were tight and competitive, and neither side managed to create anything worthwhile, but it was at this point that we had our first scare. John Whitehouse (the one I always forget to mention when I describe the team line-up) came out to collect a seemingly harmless through ball. I reckon that the home forward just got enough of a boot to the ball to cause John to fumble – in any case, the Linnets’ striker found himself in the area with the ball at his feet, and the goal empty. His shot was blocked, and Whitehouse managed to get himself back between the sticks in time to help scramble away the second and third attempts.

After 22 minutes, the earlier assault on Simon Elliott finally took its toll, and he had to be replaced by the diminutive Kevin Skinner. (Actually, he’s not diminutive – he’s tiny. Five foot nothing, if he’s an inch !). Anyway, it appeared that poor Simon wasn’t too impressed with his afternoon out !

King’s Lynn’s next opportunity of note came after 28 minutes – Aaron O’Leary expertly shielded the ball and let it go behind for a goal-kick, only for the referee to award a corner !  The resulting kick was cleared at the near post, but was immediately headed back into the danger area. Linnets’ skipper and centre-half Glen Fuff, who had gone up for the corner, headed just over from close range.

After half an hour, Dave Hassett was at last able to latch onto a through ball, this time from Lee McRobert, and actually got a yard on the defence. He managed to get his shot in, but this was a fairly weak effort, and went straight to Steve Wilson in the Lynn goal. Almost immediately, the home side counter-attacked from deep in their own half, a simple pass forward putting Nicky Blake in behind the Ashford defence. His run took him all the way to the edge of our area, but Martin Anderson did well to stay with him and force the ball behind for a corner. Thankfully, the resulting corner was about the worst I’ve seen all season.

This awful corner was the cue for the home fans to start getting a little restless, as the visitors had held their team well during the first half. We looked particularly composed at the back, with the defence often coolly passing their way out of situations. It’s true that we never really looked like scoring – Adrian Stone robbed a defender after 33 minutes, only to shoot wide, this being our only other chance of the half – but I’m sure that Tim Thorogood was very happy with the 0-0 scoreline at half time. After all, it’s not the away side’s problem if the home fans are bored !  ……….. which is a good cue for announcing the day’s attendance : 757, King’s Lynn’s biggest league gate of the season, and probably one of the biggest in our division as well.

The one small disappointment in the half was that young Barry Gardiner managed to get himself needlessly booked, for kicking the ball away, with about 20 seconds to go before half time. It was a shame, as he looked a thoroughly accomplished player - certainly very strong for his age.

Both sides started the second half with a little more purpose, the sparring of the first half now over with, and King’s Lynn managed to carve out an opportunity in the 51^st minute. Carl Holmes and tall No.10 Jordan Blyth combined in a neat 1-2 on the edge of the area, ending with a powerful shot just over the bar. It was a powerful strike, and I don’t think that John Whitehouse would have stopped it if it had been a little lower.

A minute later, a proposal of marriage was relayed over the PA system, to a girl whose name I didn’t catch. This caused a small stir among the crowd, after which the knot of supporters behind the goal gave us a few choruses of,

“You don’t know what you’re doing,

You don’t know what you’re doing”

Just to show that they were still awake.

With 56 minutes on the clock, Ashford had a chance at the other end. Lee McRobert – who always looks composed and skillful, but never seems to really impose himself on a game – was holding the ball up well, when a free-kick was awarded for some holding by the defender. Sam Saunders went for goal with the free-kick, but his right-foot shot curled just wide of the near post.

A minute later, Peter Morris made a substitution – Paul Watts on for Chris Bacon (I had one of his sandwiches before the match, and it wasn’t bad) – and it almost paid an immediate dividend. Watts chased a through ball all the way to the by-line, but his control let him down, and he let the ball slip behind for a goal-kick.

On 59 minutes, Sam Saunders, who put in another non-stop, whole-hearted display, conceded a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area. This was floated deep into the area, and cleared by the Ashford defence, but Ian Gibbs went down in the melée, reportedly for a kick behind the knee. Well, the linesman saw it (although he managed to miss a couple of blindingly obvious hand-balls during the game), and this resulted in KL skipper Glen Fuff getting a stern talking-to from the ref. (I’m sure that there’s a silly joke that I can make about their skipper’s name – give me time !).

Straight from the Ashford clearance the ball came back again, and it was Watts once again who was through on goal, but his shot was wide.

On 62 minutes, Sam Saunders took a corner on the left – ‘keeper Wilson came to punch the ball clear at the near post, but succeeded only in thumping the ball into the back of a defender’s neck. He was a little fortunate that the ball fell at his feet, and he was able to gather. A minute later, Adrianho did well to put Dave Hassett through in the inside-left channel – the Duracell ducked inside, to put the ball onto his right foot, but his shot ballooned away, high and wide. Almost certainly the victim of another bobble.

Both teams were now at last beginning to warm to their task, and the stalemate that looked so solid in the first half was now looking unlikely. It certainly looked like the deadlock was about to be broken, on 65 minutes, when a Paul O’Brien tackle put the ball out for a corner. John Whitehouse came for the cross, and lost it, but it seemed that Barry Gardiner had calmly played the ball out of danger, but his attempted clearance from near his own goal-line was deflected up in the air, into the middle of the penalty box. Chaos ensued, and eventually a shot from the home side was stopped on the line by Aaron O’Leary. There were shouts from the home supporters – cheers, rather than appeals – which suggested that the ball was either over the line or was handled – but nothing was given, and the ball was cleared. The boys survived, but John Whitehouse was looking uncharacteristically shakey.

After 67 minutes, Sammy Saunders got himself booked. It was a silly booking, particularly for a player who had been sent off in the previous match. It was a late tackle, but with no malice in it – Sam gently slid under his man, and it was a bit of a “gimme” for the ref. It was almost on the half-way line, so there was no conceivable danger at all. More of a tired tackle than anything else.

Ashford did mount their share of attacks during this period. Good work in the corner by Dave Hassett, after 70 minutes, won a corner. This was taken, left-footed and on the right, by Aaron O’Leary. Adrian got his head to the ball on the near post, but it fell comfortably, first bounce, to the ‘keeper. On 74 minutes, Kevin Skinner had his first opportunity to make a run down the left, and fed the ball forward to Lee McRobert. Macca checked inside, and laid the ball square to Sam Saunders. Sammy curled the ball in towards the far post, where Adrianho managed to connect with a diving header, but it was a bit weak, and passed wide of the post.

The cross was Sam’s last contribution in the match. In spite of being Ashford’s best player – always at the centre of things, driving the team on – he was replaced by his lookalike, Paul Hallett, in the 76^th minute. This was an entirely sensible move, as Sam was looking tired, having given his all, and a second yellow card would’ve been very careless, following on from the red card he got last week against Rothwell.

Paul Hallett had barely had time to take up his position when disaster struck. Aaron O’Leary intercepted a fairly routine through ball from the King’s Lynn midfield, but on this occasion his header back to John Whitehouse was far too short. Carl Holmes nipped in between them to stab the ball firmly into the Ashford net. Holmes is now The Linnets’ leading scorer, in the absence of Lee Stephenson, with 17 goals. It was a shame that the defensive error had to come from Aaron, as he’d looked good in his less familiar role in the centre. What was worse was that it had looked, for a long time, as if one goal would settle this game – Aaron seemed to know it, as he stood for a long time with his hands on his head. This was probably confirmed by the reaction of the King’s Lynn players and supporters, who reacted with what seemed to be a fair amount of relief !

There was to be no immediate backlash from Ashford, as it was now all King’s Lynn for a brief period, with the Kermit Greens pinned back in their own half.

On 79 minutes, Tim Thorogood made his third, and final, substitution – a like-for-like left-back swap, with Dean Hill’s young legs replacing those of Paul O’Brien. At the same time, King’s Lynn’s Pablo Ortega replaced Jordan Blyth.

I was just reflecting on how good Ashford’s youngsters had looked – Kevin Skinner had a very solid game in midfield, Barry Gardiner looked remarkably mature, Martin Anderson’s improving all the time and we’ve probably stopped considering Aaron O’Leary to be a youngster – when Paul Hallett did show a bit of inexperience. He was caught in possession, dwelling too long on the ball, by Carl Holmes. In fairness, Paul did battle back, and got himself goal-side, but Holmes immediately bundled him over. Ian Gibbs took great exception to this, and there was a brief squaring up, with “hand bags”. Both were given a lengthy ticking off by “Uriah”, but no cards were shown. Not until three minutes later, that is, when Holmes again rather dismissively bundled Paul Hallett to the ground. Although the incident appeared to be less serious than the first, the ref decided this time to show the King’s Lynn goal scorer the yellow card, probably for ignoring his earlier lecture.

By now, normal time was nearly up, and Ashford looked no more likely to score now than they had before they went behind. In a game where neither goal-keeper made a proper save, it looked as if that one defensive error was going to decide the match. The lads kept trying ‘til the end, and the six minutes of injury time were a nervous time for the home fans, who constantly asked the ref where he was finding all the time from. Our best chance during this time was when Lee Mac and Adrian Stone combined down the left, with Adrian winning a corner almost exactly on the 90 minute mark. Paul Hallett took the corner on the left, but the ‘keeper took it, unchallenged, chest-high. After 91 minutes, a push on Lee McRobert on the edge of the area gave Ashford a free-kick. After a childish little spat between Paul Hallett and Kevin Skinner over who was going to take the kick, Hallett got his own way and promptly hammered the ball straight at the wall. (Another example, perhaps, of where Lee might have shown a bit of initiative, with all his experience, and taken the kick himself !).

It was with 93 minutes on the watch that the King’s Lynn fans managed their first piece of singing – “We shall not, we shall not be moved,” followed by something about getting promotion – which was pathetic, given its lateness, after a game in which their team could have done with a bit of inspiration.

The final whistle was greeted with relieved cheers from the home fans, and with a few arms raised aloft by the King’s Lynn players – I think that reaction confirmed both the importance of the three points to their promotion drive, and the fact that they knew that they were just a shade fortunate to come away with a maximum. King’s Lynn probably created the better chances in the game, although there weren’t many of them, but a 0-0 draw would have been more just to our lads, after a pretty solid performance against very good opposition.