ARCHIVE: Kingstonian v Ashford Town. Ryman League Division 1 South. 2005-6 season.

Kingstonian      2       Ashford Town   4

A Short(er) Report from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent

When we set out for Banstead on Saturday morning, Ashford Town had won one game away, in all competitions, in the previous 22 months. It is now early on a Tuesday morning, and we’ve won two away matches in the three days. What’s going on ?!

Two wins in three days, and the only thing that the two performances had in common was the fact that we got three points for each. Against Banstead, Ashford grafted away in a tight game of few chances, and looked to have quarried out a deserved point when we hit the jackpot in the 93^rd minute. Last night, against Kingstonian, the boys were brilliant. As in the first half against Dover, in January, they were all over the opposition, like a cheap suit, from the start. This was a committed, disciplined, high-tempo performance. What killed the K’s, however, was pace – the pace of both Joby and Joffy Thorogood, and J-P Collier. Joby was absolutely brilliant last night. He was a real handful for the home defence, at least for an hour, after which he (understandably) got tired, and took his chances like a class striker. J-P was a revelation. This was by far the best performance we’ve seen from him, and he scored two solo goals which were as good as you’ll see at this level.

Although the 3-2 win over Dover actually won Ashford the Ryman League Team Performance of the Month Award for January, last night’s effort was better – and I’ll tell you why. I think it’s fair to say that Dover were never at the races in that first half, and, to some extent, their arrogance contributed to their downfall, allowing themselves to be mugged by a team that wanted it more. Last night Kingstonian actually played very well, and things might have turned out very differently if Ashford Town had put in anything other than a thoroughly solid team performance. The K’s are a big, strong, athletic side, and our defence was put under pressure for long periods. Not wishing to blind us with too much science, the home side subjected the back four – the young and rapidly improving Mark Banks, and three “thirty-somethings” (that’ll upset somebody !), Tom Adlington, Peter Mortley and Ian Ross – to a barrage of long throws. These were quality deliveries, which were whipped in, low and fast, but Mortley, in particular, was a giant in defence, and Rossi (who’s really a midfielder, don’t forget) was up there winning headers like John Terry. But still Kingstonian had the quality to create a number of clear-cut chances, and Big Dave Wietecha put in what was probably a Man of the Match performance, with a succession of brilliant saves. Without Big David it could’ve been 7-4 or 8-4 – it could’ve been Tooting & Mitcham all over again !

We should also give The Management a pat on the back – they had the foresight, in a master-stroke of tactical acumen, to drop Saturday’s heroes, Sol Henry and Denver Birmingham, to the bench (!!), going with a central midfield of Gary Clarke and RJ Boorman, with the pace of J-P and Joffy out wide, and with Marc Cumberbatch continuing as a makeshift centre-forward, alongside Joby.

As at Banstead, it’s fair to say that Marc Cumber played a fairly minor role as an attacking force, but he did some important defensive work last night, generally laying off just in front of the midfield four, and coming back for all corners and free-kicks. Who knows how important his intervention in the fifth minute was, when he headed off the line, at a corner ? 

Kingstonian also had a good shout for a penalty, in the eighth minute, for hand-ball, but Ashford took a lead they were never going to relinquish when Joby Thorogood marked his return from a four-game suspension with the opening goal. This might have been as a result of a slightly miss-hit shot, which went in off the post, but Joby showed the striker’s instinct of being in the right place at the right time, and he found a way to get the ball past the ‘keeper.

The first of Dave Wietecha’s outstanding saves – the sort that makes opposition fans applaud - came in the 16^th minute. Then, in the 21^st minute, Joby Thorogood almost made it 2-0, with a turn and a well-hit shot that went just over the crossbar. Thorogood really did make it two after 34 minutes. J-P Collier supplied the through-ball which set him well clear of the K’s defence, with a one-on-one with Jonty Venter, Kingstonian’s new ‘keeper. Joby coolly slotted the ball into the net.

The momentum of the game looked like it might have swung back the other way when Ashford conceded an own goal just before half-time. This really could have knocked the stuffing out of the lads, coming when it did, and in the manner in which it did. Having made another great save in the 38^th minute, Wietecha could do nothing three minutes later when, at a corner, a defender’s toe looped the ball over his head, into the corner of the net. It would be a crime to identify the unlucky defender, after what was a good team performance on the night. (It was Rossi).

Given how delicate the psychological balance was at this point, I would say that Ashford’s third goal, which came just two minutes later, was the most important of the night. It was also a goal of the highest quality. J-P Collier picked the ball up just about in the centre of the Kingstonian half; he ran at the defence, ghosted past two players, transferred the ball onto his right foot and slotted it into the corner of the net. Think of the young Michael Owen’s goal in the World Cup against Argentina !

So it was 1-3 at half-time, after a brilliant first-half display from the lads, and most of us had the same feeling that we had at half-way during that Dover game – not least because of the expectation that the opposition would come at us hard after the interval. This very much turned out to be the case, as Kingstonian mounted something of a siege for the next 40 minutes. Dave Wietecha and the defence then came to the fore. One of Dave’s best saves of the night came in the 57^th minute; from one of the countless long-throw situations, he went down on his line to save a downward header. A good, flowing move from K’s only failed to get the reward it deserved by another brilliant save in the 64^th minute, and after 70 minutes he pulled off a blinder from a point-blank header. (No wonder a Kingstonian fan, on their Forum afterwards, described him as being the best player on the pitch).

By this time, Joffy Thorogood had already been replaced by Sol Henry, in the 63^rd minute – this was because Joff had run his heart out, and had nothing to do with the knee injury that he is bravely playing through – and Sol had Ashford’s best chance for some time when he headed an RJ corner just over the bar, in the 65^th minute. RJ had to come off, in the 71^st minute, having sustained a knock, and was replaced by the experienced Denver Birmingham.

It was shortly after this that Kingstonian finally made the break-through, in the 73^rd minute, and it took an absolute corker to beat Dave Wietecha. This was an unstoppable, swerving, dipping free-kick, which flew into the roof of the Ashford net.

The goal came about as a result of a foul by Peter Mortley, which earnt him a long lecture from the referee, and then a yellow card, in the 79^th minute, for his next offence. Referee Steve Chittenden (a good Ashford name that, by the way) gave us absolutely nothing last night, but still managed to incur the wrath of the home fans – funny that !

Given the amount of defending that Ashford had to do in the second half, it was probably a surprise that Mortley’s was our only caution, but the pressure was relieved in the 84^th minute, after another wonder goal from J-P Collier. This was another solo effort, very much like his first, but this time he picked the ball up just inside the Kingstonian half. With the home side pushing forward, there was space to run into, and J-P needed no second invitation. With a diagonal run from the right-hand side of the pitch, it was Michael Owen / Argentina Time again, but the finish, from outside the penalty area, and with his left foot, was more akin to Geoff Hurst’s third in 1966. (“They think it’s all over”, an’ all that). There was also something about 1966 in the celebration that involved the whole Ashford squad and management team after the goal. Mrs Milton Keynes Correspondent almost wet her knickers when the ball hit the back of the net. It’s moments like these that make it worth traipsing out to God-forsaken corners of the country like Banstead and Croydon !

Ashford made one more substitution, as late as the 93^rd minute, when Shaun Bradshaw replaced Joby Thorogood, but this merely served to allow Joby to get a well-deserved ovation from the tiny, but (by now) noisy knot of Ashford supporters. Let’s hope that the team is rather better supported, after this performance, on Saturday, when we’ve another difficult game, at home to Leatherhead. It’s inconceivable that Leatherhead wouldn’t have had someone at this game, watching, so it would be interesting to know what they made of Ashford’s performance. You can probably bet that they’ll be giving J-P Collier no space at all, and they’ll keep close tabs on Joby, so it won’t be easy. The lads will need to dig in, and go again on Saturday – let’s hope that this performance can really give them some belief.