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

Leatherhead      1       Ashford Town   1

from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent

This was a hugely important performance from Ashford Town. I wasn’t at The Homelands on Tuesday for the 0-3 defeat against Cray Wanderers, but I’ve seen and heard the performance variously described as “dreadful” and “abysmal” – but it was the phrase “think of Croydon away last season” which told me the most vivid story !  (Don’t be fooled by the fact that the score-line was “only” 0-3, as Dave Wietecha was almost single-handedly responsible for keeping the total down in single figures, reportedly saving somewhere between 20 and 30 shots on target !). Tuesday’s defeat made it five losses in a row, and seven in the last nine, with only four goals being scored in those nine games. Worse, though, was the manner of the beating, with long-suffering, die-hard fans being shocked and disappointed at the lack of application and effort from the players. With rumours (denied by The Management) of cliques and divisions within the dressing room, the writing appeared to be on the wall on Wednesday morning.

Whilst there’s no denying that things have been spiraling downwards for the Club of late, with successive new lows being reached in terms of performances, attendances and league position, what we cling to, as fans, is that there will be a point at which things cannot get any worse, so that the upward climb can begin. Maybe Tuesday’s game against Cray, in front of only 105 spectators, was that nadir.

After all, “the night is always darkest just before the dawn”. There’s also the feeling that things might have to get worse before they get better, since, having acknowledged that the current squad of players does not have the experience or resilience (that word again !) to compete at this level, The Management has been busy drafting new players into the squad; not only will this be unsettling for some of the current players, but there will also be a bedding-in period whilst the new boys gel with the rest of the team.

Today’s game, away to Leatherhead, wasn’t ideal for a side lacking in confidence. Whilst The Tanners were in the bottom half of the table until the 22^nd of October, they’ve had a tremendous unbeaten run of eight wins and three draws in their last eleven matches, which has elevated them to a season’s-high position of fifth in Ryman Division One. It’s very much to the lads’ credit, then, that there was barely a hint that there were 15 places between the clubs at the start of play, and they were full value for the draw this afternoon.

Maybe the turning point came on Thursday night, when the squad had a bit of a heart-to-heart, and thrashed out a few things. The result was certainly a cohesive and spirited performance, with great togetherness being shown during play, and also both during the minute’s silence held before the match in honour of the late George Best, and in the bar afterwards, when the whole squad sat together in a close group.

Ironically, five of the newest recruits were missing today, for various reasons. The very promising Andy Burke has apparently gone A.W.O.L., having also missed training on Thursday, and I’m unable to explain the absence of Chris Wright, the new arrival from Dover. It sounds like Matty Bower might have decided to hang up his boots, but the reason for Dave Wietecha not playing is that he had work commitments. Nathan Thomas was also not in the squad, but I think he was there today as a spectator.

There were, however, two other new faces on parade, and I’m pleased to report that I was impressed by both of them. One of these was Jamie Smith, a right-back who looks a good footballer, and who had an excellent game today. The other was Emmanuel Sackey, another graduate of the Gravesend & Northfleet PACE Academy, who played on the right side of midfield, having come on as sub against Cray. “Manny” also looked the part – strong and determined, and he looked comfortable enough on the ball.

The introduction of Smith meant that Tommy Adlington switched to left-back, with Rossi being demoted to the bench – Tommy was skipper today. Lynval Duncan and Mark Banks continued their partnership in central defence – Gary Croxton was at Homelands with the Reserves – and, with Big Dave at work, Sean Glover got his place back in goal. In the centre of midfield we had the young combo of RJ Boorman and Gary Clarke – the classic pairing of the artist and the destroyer, (and if you don’t know which is which, then you really haven’t been paying attention). Gary, Man of the Match against Fleet last Saturday, seems to have supplanted Terry McCann as the first-choice tackler and ball-winner, and Terry had to be content with freezing on the bench today. With Sackey on the right, Sol Henry found himself on the left side of midfield again. (The idea of taking on Andrew Burke was partly to enable Solly to play in his preferred role, on the right). Up front we had the Old Firm of Joby Thorogood and Shaun Bradshaw. (I’m no anorak, but I can tell you that they’ve been Ashford’s most-used strikers so far this season, having got through 1,516 minutes and 1,523 minutes (at the start of play), respectively).

Joining Rossi and Terry on the bench today were Anthony Pace (the eternal sub), Kenny Jarrett-Elliott and (returning from injury) Denver Birmingham.

Although there was a downpour about ten minutes before the start, the game was played in dry, but very cold conditions. (The display on my car dashboard registered a temperature as high as 6˚C – I really must get that fixed !). There was almost a very dramatic opening, when, almost from the kick-off, Shaun Bradshaw skipped past big No.5 Mark Harper, and found himself through on goal. Like an escapee from Stalag 39, he made it as far as the penalty area, but then lost control of the ball and the chance was lost. (“Last veek I saw your vife and cheeldren …….. shot”).

The first real threat on the Ashford goal came after about four minutes. Leatherhead had a free-kick on the edge of the area, near the by-line (which must have been perilously close to being a penalty). This was chipped into the area, but easily cleared. Three minutes later, Tom Adlington seemed to be in position to clear a cross, which came in from the left flank, but Marc Charles-Smith somehow got a toe to the ball first. Fortunately for our heroes, he could do no more than divert the ball well wide of the post.

It was Charles-Smith who scored Leatherhead’s goal in their 1-0 victory in the corresponding fixture last season; this match was notable for being the first of Tony Reynolds’s few games in charge, with Tim Thorogood having stepped down after only three games. Not unusually, there were few survivors among Ashford’s starting line-up from this game: only Tom Adlington and Joby Thorogood. It was also the game that marked the first appearance of Ashford Town’s away strip, and, with the home side in green & white, the canary yellow was again in evidence today.

In the ninth minute, Shaun Bradshaw, who played well today, pressurised Mark Harper into conceding a corner. Whilst the resulting cross from RJ Boorman failed to find an Ashford head, it was an encouraging start from the visitors. Trying to play good football, with quick passing to feet, Ashford’s main obstacle to success was the number of times the Lino’s flag went up for off-side. Joby Thorogood was by far the worst culprit, being seemingly addicted to being caught off-side. What is particularly frustrating is that Joby has so much pace that he could probably start his run from a position of being a yard on-side, and still skin most defenders at this level.

On the subject of Thorogoods, Father Tim received his first public warning for verbal abuse from Referee Grant Smith as early as the twelfth minute. (I should add that the Ref had a pretty good game, and appeared to be in control throughout).

Most chances in the first half came from free-kicks and corners. In the 15^th minute, a safety-first header into touch by Mark Banks gave The Tanners a corner, but this was palmed away by Sean Glover for a second corner. This time, the resulting cross was headed, from about knee height, by home skipper Iain Hendry, but his effort went just over the bar. This was Hendry’s 250^th appearance for Leatherhead, and the occasion was marked by a short, pitch-side presentation before the match.

In the 19^th minute, a foul by new boy Jamie Smith conceded a free-kick wide on the left; this was taken by Steve Sargent, but his cross was headed clear. A minute later, a foul on Manny Sackey gave Ashford a free-kick, almost dead in the centre of the Leatherhead half. RJ Boorman stepped up to take the kick, but this was a poor effort – RJ went for power, and the ball was always sailing way over the bar.

The boys made a slightly better fist of a free-kick in the 23^rd minute. This came as a result of a promising move involving Joby Thorogood and Sackey being snuffed out with a foul. With goalkeeper Tommy Dunn calling for three men in the wall, and Joby Thorogood, RJ Boorman and Gary Clarke standing over the ball, RJ toe-poked the ball side-ways, eluding the on-rushing defender, to give Joby a clear shot at goal, but the Club’s leading scorer, with five goals, sliced his shot high and wide.

After 26 minutes, Charles-Smith did well to turn Mark Banks (who turned in another near-MoM performance), and spread the ball wide to Warren Waugh; the Leatherhead No.11 cut inside, but his left-footed shot was blocked, for a corner. With the resulting cross coming to nothing, Ashford had an opportunity to break, and Joby Thorogood and Shaun Bradshaw were both involved in a flowing move that swept the ball out to Sol Henry, on the left. As often happens with Solly, though, for all his skill on the ball, he was unable to produce that telling through-ball or cross or shot on target, and the attack was snuffed out.

For the first half an hour, then, the match was very even – a good game to watch, but with neither goalie called upon to make a save.

There was almost a chance for the home side in the 33^rd minute, though, when Tommy Adlington had another “senior moment”, and was slow in clearing the ball from his own area. This enabled Marc Charles-Smith to rob him of the ball, but Mark Banks was there to help his captain out, and effected the clearance. The 23 year-old was again seen to good effect, three minutes later, when a good, flowing move from Leatherhead, down the left, ended with Scott Bennetts running onto a chip over the top of the Ashford back line – Banksy was there with the covering challenge.

Mark’s defensive partner, Lynval Duncan, wasn’t so clever in the 37^th minute, when he conceded a free-kick right on the edge of the area, with a rash tackle. This resulted in an excellent, goal-bound effort from Steve Sargent, which needed Sean Glover to do just as well in tipping the ball over the bar. As the resulting corner was swung into a crowded penalty-area, Shaggy rather flapped at the ball, but got away with it.

With the home side finishing the half the stronger, and starting to exert some sustained pressure, there was an almighty scramble in the Ashford penalty-area, which was sorted out when Tom Adlington hooked the ball clear. This again gave the visitors the opportunity to break, but, as Sol Henry slid the ball through for Joby to run on to, the flag went up yet again for off-side. A minute later, Leatherhead had another corner, as a result of a Tommy Ad clearance. As Steve Sargent’s cross came in, the height advantage that the home attack had over the Ashford defence was very noticeable, but Sean Glover was there with a clean catch.

In the 44^th minute, the Ashford defence faced up to another free-kick in a dangerous position, and this time it was Lynval Duncan there with the headed clearance. This again gave us the chance of a quick counter-attack. RJ Boorman was alive to the situation, and immediately launched a first-time long ball, looking for Shaun Bradshaw. On this occasion, Bradders’ first touch was a good one, but he was forced out wide, to the right, by the Leatherhead defence. Nevertheless, he managed to get a cross in, which broke to Gary Clarke, just inside the area. Gary rather snatched at the chance, and blasted the ball over the bar. This was certainly the best chance to fall to either side, in a half that ended all square, at 0-0.

Leatherhead made one substitution during half time – Lee Doherty replaced big No.5 Mark Harper, presumably because of injury. The Ashford players were in the wars early on in the second half as well; Shaun Bradshaw was down for quite a long time, shortly after the restart, and then, in the 49^th minute, Tom Adlington took a nasty knock after going in for a 50/50 challenge with Warren Waugh.

As play settled down again, Ashford soon came under pressure from the home side, having to defend corners in the 51^st and 56^th minutes. For the last of these, Tom Adlington had tried to shield the ball out for a goal-kick, in the time-honoured fashion, but was barged over by Warren Waugh; instead of the free-kick to Tommy, the Ref awarded the corner. This was again headed clear by our vertically-challenged defence, and, for once, it was the Leatherhead strikers who were caught off-side as the ball was chipped back into the area.

After 59 minutes, it seemed that, not to be outdone, Joby was showing everyone that he was the man when it comes to being caught off-side, when he burst onto a through-ball. But wait !  As we sighed and looked across to the Linesman on the far side, we could see that the flag had stayed down. He was on-side !  Like a little yellow sardine, who had wriggled through the trawler’s nets, he was free, and swimming out to the open sea. This was a genuine one-on-one with Tommy Dunn in the Leatherhead goal. Unfortunately, Joby side-footed the ball just wide of the post as the ‘keeper advanced.

Two minutes later, the home side had a chance that was every bit as clear-cut. This all stemmed from a free-kick to Ashford, deep in the Leatherhead half, awarded for a foul on Gary Clarke. This was an opportunity for RJ to put a good cross into the danger area, but the result was that The Tanners were able to mount a quick break. Initially caught short-handed, the Ashford defence was able to regroup, and managed to force Marc Charles-Smith, the man in possession, wide. Nevertheless, Marc Three Names was able to get his cross in, and the ball broke to Warren Waugh, on his own in the six-yard box. Sean Glover stood tall, and striker and goalkeeper must have stared into each other’s eyes for a split second. Waugh then shot, but the ball cannoned off Shaggy’s chest, and was cleared. Two minutes later, Waugh was replaced by the much shorter, and stockier, Julian Thompson.

So a let-off for both teams, and the score remained 0-0. By now, though, the pace of the game had moved up half a gear, and there was slightly more of a competitive edge out there, but there was never a hint of any nastiness.

In the 69^th minute, Ashford put together a flowing, cross-field move. Sol Henry squared the ball inside to RJ Boorman. RJ, typically, sprayed the ball wide to Manny Sackey. Manny’s cross found Joby Thorogood, who was attacking the near post. Whilst Joby didn’t make a particularly clean contact, his shot was on target, and was parried by Dunn. Joby then made a second attempt from the rebound, whilst lying on the ground, which hit the post, then hit the goalkeeper and went in. It was, I’m afraid, an “o.g.”, but it was Thorogood jnr who deserved all the credit for the goal, and the way he was mobbed by all of his out-field team-mates once again spoke volumes for the new-found togetherness there is in the squad. It also said something about the joy and relief that was felt in actually taking the lead, in what was always expected to be a very difficult game.

Of course, having worked so hard to climb to fifth place in the league, Leatherhead weren’t going to lie down, and the lads had to defend very hard for the next 28 minutes. (Yes, this was a 97-minute game, which seemed to go on interminably !).

In the 71^st minute, the defensive effort caused RJ to commit a foul in a central position, just outside the penalty area. As the defensive wall was being organised, the kick was quickly taken, and was deflected for a corner. From the resulting cross, skipper Iain Hendry, who had been a very fine film actor in the 1970s, came rushing in with the header, but put the ball just wide. In the 74^th minute, Leatherhead had another free-kick, after a late tackle from Lynval Duncan – this earned him a yellow card. The kick was curled in, but Sean Glover relieved some of the pressure with a clean catch.

It was by no means one-way traffic in the final quarter of the game, and there were opportunities at both ends. In the 76^th minute, Tommy Adlington, well forward, was fouled in the corner. RJ curled the free-kick long, to the far post, but the ball went behind for a goal-kick. At the other end, in the 81^st minute, Sean Glover punched the ball behind, for a corner. The resulting cross went all the way through the area, and the danger passed.

A minute later, Ashford’s resistance was broken, as the home side equalised. As a cross came in from the left, Sean Glover rose above four players and attempted to punch clear; he failed to get the required distance, and the ball fell to Steve Sargent, who was just inside the area. With Shaggy now out of his goal, Sargent, who was later presented with some bubbly stuff as Man-of-the-Match, blasted the ball home, and it was 1-1.

It was then a case of whether Ashford could hang on to a well-deserved point, and, for those of us who have seen the boys turn a number of one- or two-goal leads into defeats in the recent past, the final whistle couldn’t come soon enough. That’s not to say that it was all Leatherhead pressure in the closing minutes, and, looking at it objectively, there were chances for both sides to take the three points. Ashford’s best chance in this period came in the 85^th minute. Tom Adlington played a high through-ball, aiming for Shaun Bradshaw, and Bradders again showed good control to take the ball and hold it up, waiting for reinforcements. He pulled the ball back to Sackey, whose cross found Sol Henry at the far post, but the ball just wouldn’t sit for him to get a shot in.

With 91 minutes gone, on my watch, Sargent, the Leatherhead goal scorer, had the ball on the edge of the Ashford area; he twisted and turned in an attempt to get a shot on goal, and eventually fired the ball just wide.

A strange feature of the game was that Tim Thorogood declined to make any substitutions in this game – and that was in spite of Tommy Adlington looking half dead at left back, having given his all and taken several knocks. It’s understandable that The Management didn’t want to break up the unit that was playing so well, but a substitution to slow things down a bit could have given some much-needed respite during this extended injury time.

The boys did manage to relieve some pressure themselves, by getting the ball upfield in the 93^rd minute. Shaun Bradshaw won a corner. This was taken by RJ Boorman, whose cross to the far post was put behind for another corner. The resulting cross was headed clear.

As time dragged on, it looked like things might go pear-shaped as late as the 96^th minute. Lynval Duncan fell over as he tried to clear a through-ball, and the ball broke to Marc Charles-Smith. It would have been a cruel blow for our boys if he had scored at this late stage, but he sliced his shot into the side-netting.

Because of results elsewhere, the draw meant that Leatherhead actually went up one place, to fourth, with Ashford going down to 21^st, with just Corinthians and Burgess Hill Town below us. The important thing, though, is that Ashford looked like a team again. The consensus afterwards among both players and Management was that, whilst things were absolutely dire on Tuesday night, Thursday’s open discussion had been very constructive, and that today’s good performance was something that the whole squad could build upon.

There’s no game at Kingstonian on Monday night, as our opponents have an FA Trophy replay in mid-week, so the good things that came out of today’s game must be taken forward to next Saturday’s six-pointer at home to Banstead. It would be nice if some of the fans who have cried “enough” in recent weeks could be there to give the boys some encouragement.