ARCHIVE: Leatherhead v Ashford Town. Ryman League Division 1 South. 17th of March 2007.

Leatherhead      3       Ashford Town   3

from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent

Amazingly, this was our first sight of the lads for a month and a half. Here we were, on St Patrick’s Day, in the middle of March, with our previous match having been the bitterly disappointing defeat at Chatham, on the 30^th of January, (which was actually Ashford’s last away game). God knows, I almost went to see Milton Keynes Dons !!

So what’s been happening, in our absence ?  Oh yes, there has been a regime change at Ashford, with big-money investors Tony Betteridge and Don Crosbie taking over the Club, and bringing in ex-Greenwich Borough striker, and white-teethed celebrity, Ian Wright as Director of Football Strategy – but his real portfolio will be as Minister for Enthusiasm & Boundless Optimism. This change of ownership has, understandably, given rise to a significant wave of optimism in and around The Homelands. And why not ?  The seemingly limitless potential that Ashford has for expansion, in the world of football, is so obvious that it’s almost trite to mention it, so it’s not surprising that the arrival of the Three Amigos has been hailed as the Second Coming in some quarters.

Sensibly, Betteridge and Crosbie have slipped into the cockpit without claiming that they’re going to fart wonders and s*%£ miracles, (as my mother-in-law would say), and without a tremendous hoo-hah and fanfare – which is Wrighty’s job. They’ve avoided the pit-fall of immediately raising unrealistic expectations among the fans, (but, let’s face it, we’re perfectly capable of doing that ourselves !). I can, though, tell our new friends something for nothing straight away – that is that two common elements on every Ashford Town fan’s wish-list will be the avoidance of a fourth successive relegation fight next season, and a reversion to the traditional colours of green and white !  If they can merely deliver these two modest gifts, then they will be guaranteed to have won over the faithful. (But all the signs are that their own ambitions are considerably more lofty that that !).

By far the most pleasing thing for me in this whole affair has been the canonisation of Tim Thorogood. People have now stopped calling him a %!*^, and are now calling him a hero, rightly acknowledging his contribution to our beloved Club – having saved the Club from extinction, and having thanklessly poured in thousands of pounds of his own cash in order to sustain it, Tim has now passed the old girl onto a new benefactor for a sum reported to be in the region of £1. When Saint Timothy eventually passes through the pearly turnstiles, he’ll find himself rubbing shoulders with many saints who were crucified less often than he was, and with considerably less abuse. Personally, I’m delighted that Tim is staying on as one of the Club’s Directors.

In contrast, there has been little doubt about Mark Jenner’s right to retire to a cloud and play a harp – Mark has been Ashford Town’s Chief Guardian Angel for a long time now. His title has changed from Chief Executive Officer to Chairman, and he is, and will continue to be, a hugely important figure in the Boardroom.

So plenty of water has flowed under the bridge since the Chatham game – with much of it lying on the surface of a waterlogged pitch, as we’ve suffered what has probably been an unprecedented rash of postponements and abandonments. The team hasn’t been completely idle, of course, having played no fewer than six consecutive home games since the last away-day. Those matches produced a haul of six points, which just about matches Ashford’s overall league record this season of roughly a point per game. That strike-rate should be enough to see us avoid relegation again, by the now-traditional thickness of the enamel of our teeth, especially with the very strong likelihood of there being only one team relegated from the division this year. Corinthian-Casuals started the day in pole position for the drop, being five points behind us, and having played three games more; second-bottom are Godalming Town, level with us on points, but having also played three games more. Chatham are also far from safe, being just a point ahead of Ashford and Godalming, and having played FIVE games more !  (However, looking at the fixtures to come, and guessing future results, I reckon that Walton Casuals might be the favourites to finish bottom – remember that you saw it here first !).

It was quite appropriate that Ashford’s first away trip for several weeks should be to Leatherhead. It was fitting for two teams traditionally associated with playing in green to meet on St Patrick’s day, but it also reminded me of the corresponding match at Fetcham Grove Stadium two seasons ago – this was on a Tuesday night, and Tim Thorogood had reluctantly stepped down as Manager on the previous Saturday, (a move which soon led to the arrival of Terry Fenwick as Boss). Tim looked a very miserable and forlorn figure in the stands that evening, so it’s nice to report that he’s a much more happy and relaxed bunny now.

There have also been a couple of transfers since that Chatham game. Tom McGowen, a left-back, had played in the previous two games, against Hastings and Godalming, and started in that position today – with a shock of long, dark hair, he is known in the dressing-room as “Tarzan”. Ambrose Kamara, who is billed as a utility player, arrived a game before McGowen, from Corinthian-Casuals, and played in central midfield this afternoon. Both looked good acquisitions. Kamara certainly added a bit of height in the middle of the park, which gave us a fighting chance in the head-tennis stakes.

Another recent innovation has been the conversion of Simon Glover to a central defender; whilst this appears to have been an emergency measure initially, all reports suggest that he’s looked a natural in that position. That means that Gloves has played in just about every position for Ashford this season, except wicket-keeper, and he’s done well in all of them. Today, however, he was in his more familiar position of left-sided midfielder, with Anthony Allman out wide on the right, having previously also been switched to defence. In the centre of midfield, we had the little & large combination of Gary Clarke and Ambrose Kamara, with George Fenwick and Walid Matata up front. In front of Jake Whincup in defence were, from left to right, Tom McGowen, Graham Porter, Marc Cumberbatch and Jamie Smith.

Sensibly, Joe Hitchings was given a rest today, and was on the bench. Although Joe has been consistently impressive since making his first-team debut this season, he is still only 16, so John Cumberbatch is rightly trying to conserve him a bit. Steve Sodje and Kenny Jarrett-Elliott were also named as subs, as were Ant & Dec (a.k.a. Tommy Adlington and Ian Ross), who were both nursing injuries. There was no sign of either Kevin Lott or Matt Carruthers – arguably our two best midfielders – presumably due to injury, and, whilst Joby Thorogood was hobbling around Fetcham Grove this afternoon, the bad news is that his knee injury will keep him out for the rest of the season.

Although Mssrs Betteridge, Crosbie and Wright have been consistent visitors to The Homelands in recent weeks, they were not present at Leatherhead this afternoon – which was probably just as well, as Ashford’s first-half performance was the worst I’ve seen from them this season. Leatherhead were only marginally better, and, with elementary errors from both sides, the first 45 minutes were a bit of a comedy show. This was a shame, as the game was played on a lovely spring afternoon, in bright sunshine, albeit on a bumpy pitch, and with a blustery breeze.

The visitors’ cause wasn’t helped when they gifted Leatherhead a lead as early as the third minute – and I’m afraid to say that this was once again a fairly basic goalkeeping error. From a free-kick near the left touchline, the ball was crossed into the Ashford penalty area, towards the far post; it was in the air for a very long time, and should have been an easy take for Jake. Instead, he hesitated and stayed on his line; this enabled big Joe Sheerin to nod the ball, unchallenged, back into the six-yard box, and Iain Hendry had the simple task of heading home from about three yards.

It wasn’t until about the 40^th minute that Ashford finally got the ball down and started to play football, and the defence seemed all over the place, with the home strikers seemingly breaking through at will. The Tanners might have had an early set-back, when centre-forward Julien Thompson had to be substituted in the seventh minute, but this merely brought the excellent Marc Charles-Smith into the fray, who almost always scores against us. MC-S is quick and skilful, but, in the twelfth minute, even the portly and lumbering Joe Sheerin was able to burst through on goal, totally unmarked, in the inside-right channel, following a long ball out of defence. Fortunately for Ashford, playing in yellow shirts, and black shorts and sockies, Sheerin pulled his shot wide of goal.

Although Ashford never threatened to create a chance from open play early on, there were some clear-cut chances from set-pieces. One of these came in the 13^th minute, when Tom McGowen swung a left-footed corner in from the right. Ambrose Kamara got up well, with what was almost a free header, but glanced the ball wide from about six yards out.

In the 16^th minute, The Tanners took a 2-0 lead. I must confess to not being able to identify all of the Leatherhead players involved in the move, but the ball was crossed to the right-hand edge of the Ashford penalty area, headed back into the six-yard box, pulled back from the by-line and side-footed in from close range. I was, however, able to identify the goal scorer, as I’m getting used to seeing Marc Charles-Smith put the ball in Ashford’s net, and this was another one for him – his 13^th of the season.

Two minutes later, Ashford had a free-kick, after a shove on Gary Clarke. Again, it was Tarzan swinging the ball into the penalty area, and this time it was skipper Simon Glover getting up to head the ball, but he failed to get his effort on target, in almost the same way that Ambrose Kamara had done five minutes earlier.

In the 20^th minute, a simple ball over the top of the Ashford defence set Joe Sheerin plodding through on goal, but the visitors were saved by the off-side flag. Within a few seconds, though, Ashford carved out their first chance in open play, when George Fenwick ran onto a diagonal through-ball. Although the Ginger Ninja managed to lift the ball over goalkeeper Paul Borg, he also lifted it over the bar, leaving Manager John Cumberbatch to bemoan the missed chances.

Ashford were thrown a life-line, in the 24^th minute, when more comedy capers – this time from The Tanners’ ‘keeper – presented George Fenwick with a simple chance. A free-kick in the centre of the Leatherhead half was floated into the penalty area, and was completely fluffed by Paul Borg, the ball simply slipping through his hands. George only had to knock the ball into the empty net, and made no mistake, for his 16^th goal of the season.

Unfortunately, it took Leatherhead only three minutes to restore their two-goal advantage, and their third goal also came from a free-kick, after a late challenge from Gary Clarke. Whilst the initial effort was hit tamely into a three-man wall, the rebound was immediately fed through to Iain Hendry, who easily turned the ball past Jake Whincup, and into the net.

On the half-hour mark, Jamie Smith was deservedly booked for twice trying to halt a Leatherhead break by upending the man – shades of Chopper Harris, there. Although he failed with both attempts, enabling Referee Chris Salt to play a good advantage, the yellow card was produced as soon as the ball went out of play.

Shortly after, Walid Matata began the process of changing his boots, from the red pair to the white pair, (which he often does during a game). This change-over took between five and ten minutes to perform, with Walid having to play some of the game with one red, and one white, boot. It was whilst this side-show was going on, however, that Anthony Allman lit up 45 minutes of poor football with what was actually a very good goal. Ambrose Kamara put Anthony in on goal, with a very simple, but effective, through-ball, in the 33^rd minute, and the ex-Tonbridge Angel easily steered the ball past the on-coming Paul Borg. Incredibly, it was now 3-2, with 12 minutes plus injury time still to go in the first half, and the boys were still very much in the game, in spite of the quality of the performance.

That said, as half-time approached, Ashford did finally get the ball onto the grass and start playing the type of football that John Cumberbatch is trying to encourage. In terms of end-product, this produced no more than a couple of corners, in the 43^rd and 45^th minutes, but these were, at least, promising signs.

Nevertheless, it looked like disaster had struck again, as late as the 2nd minute of stoppage time. Leatherhead were probing on the edge of the Ashford penalty area, knocking the ball around on the 18-yard line, before a short through-ball was intercepted by the outstretched arm of Graham Porter, just inside the box. It was an obvious hand-ball and penalty, and it was probably a little surprising that the colour of the card shown to Ports was only yellow – but, more importantly, it gave the home side the opportunity to regain the two-goal lead. There was to be a wholly unexpected twist to the half, however – Steve Sargent stepped up to the ball, side-footed it low to Jake’s left and Jake duly got down and made the save. It probably wasn’t the greatest penalty that has ever been taken, but the young ‘keeper deserves great credit for saving it. On balance, though, it was a moment of brilliance in what was otherwise another goalkeeping performance full of errors, misjudgement and hesitancy.

The clearance from the rebound was actually the last kick of the first half, and it must be assumed that both Managers had a few strong words for their team during the interval. Whether or not this was the case, both sides played much better in the second half – both looked more solid and compact, and there were fewer unforced errors, which naturally led to fewer chances being created at both ends.

The first opportunity of the second half fell to Simon Glover; Jamie Beer hit an attempted clearance straight to him, in the 47^th minute, but Gloves’s shot-cum-cross went harmlessly across the face of the Leatherhead goal. Then, after ten evenly-contested minutes of the half, Tanners Manager David Harlow replaced Joe Sheerin with Dave Stevens, which rather confirmed the earlier suspicion that Sheerin wasn’t 100% fit !

The first alarm for the visitors came in the 57^th minute, after the ball had rebounded off Marc Cumberbatch, for a corner, on the left. This was taken short, by Jamie Beer, to Marc Charles-Smith, who returned the ball immediately. Beer’s subsequent curling cross was partially caught by Jake Whincup, before he dropped the ball into the net, but on this occasion Jake was clearly fouled. Whilst this was a good decision by the referee, I reckon that Ashford were a little lucky with an official’s decision, on the hour mark, when Charles-Smith was flagged for off-side after being put clean through on goal by a Scott Bennetts through-ball. There were few complaints from the home side, but he looked on-side from where I was standing.

Graham Porter looked like he was struggling throughout the game – which would seem to be purely a question of fitness – and John Cumberbatch made the obvious decision to replace him, in the 66^th minute. This was part of a double-substitution, which saw Tom McGowen also come off, with Steve Sodje and Kenny Jarrett-Elliott being the replacements. This caused a bit of a reshuffle, with Simon Glover reverting to centre-half, Steve Sodj replacing him on the left side of midfield and Kenny slotting in at left-back. (Once again, Gloves immediately looked at home in this central defensive role, and, ironically, actually looked more likely to create a chance from this position than he had done in midfield).

One thing which can be said about the balance of play is that, whilst it looked, early on in the second half, as if the home side might keep things tight and strangle a 3-2 victory, it was Ashford who did most pressing forward, and showed most endeavour, in the final quarter of the game. This meant that The Tanners had some defending to do, and it was probably no surprise when Iain Hendry was forced to halt Steve Sodje with a cynical body-check, which earnt him a yellow card, in the 81^st minute. Unfortunately, Anthony Allman’s floated free-kick into the area was wasted when the Ashford front line carelessly got caught off-side.

A foul on Ambrose Kamara, in the 83^rd minute, gave Simon Glover the opportunity to launch the ball into the Leatherhead box, from just inside his own half. The ball broke to Kenny Jarrett-Elliott, on the left edge of the penalty area, who tried a shot across the face of goal, which was palmed away by Paul Borg. In the 86^th minute, an Ashford throw-in found Steve Sodje with his back to goal. Sodj swivelled, and hoiked the ball forward to the edge of the Leatherhead area; this was flicked on by the head of George Fenwick, to Walid Matata, who let the ball bounce once, and then steered it into the corner of the net, with a spectacular overhead kick. So Ashford were level again, for the first time since tamely granting Leatherhead the lead, in the third minute. On balance, the lads deserved the equaliser, as they had for some time, of the two sides, shown the greater ambition.

There was more drama to come, however, and Leatherhead looked like they were going to restore their lead in the 90^th minute. Steve Sergent, probably The Tanners’ most dangerous and influential player, bore down on the Ashford defence, from the right, and managed to get a cross in, from the by-line. Jake intercepted the cross with his right palm, but the ball could have gone anywhere – as it happened, the ball broke to a Leatherhead player in the vicinity of the penalty spot, but, shooting on the turn, he hurriedly sliced his effort wide. If Ashford were inclined to settle for a point after their late equaliser, then they were even more inclined after this let-off !

Four minutes into added time, however, it looked like Ashford had snatched all three points, when the ball was spread wide to Anthony Allman, who had looked the most likely source for creating chances for the visitors throughout the second half. Anthony’s cross found George Fenwick, deep in the Leatherhead area, and George’s header looped into the far corner of the net. There were scenes of wild celebration, as George wheeled away, pursued by his team-mates. It was actually several seconds before the team and the bench realised that the linesman had been flagging for off-side.

John Cumberbatch was left in a state of utter disbelief, after Referee Salt had blown up for full-time, just a few seconds later. Having witnessed about half of Ashford’s games this season, I can empathise with John, as it would make a pleasant change for a little break like that to go our way, for a change, but the draw was probably a fair result overall. Although we might have been unlucky that the late “winner” did not stand, it is also possible to argue that, on another day, we might have been buried as a result of that first-half performance. Still, this was definitely a point gained, and, with only Chatham, of the teams around us, not losing (The Chats won today), it’s another small step away from the bottom of the table.

Man of the Match

(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)

Anthony Allman