Lymington & New Milton
from Your Milton Keynes
Correspondent
This was a typical Ashford Town
And it all began very well. It was a bright, sunny day
in Milton Keynes . The long journey down was,
compared with the grind through South London to
Croydon Athletic FC a fortnight ago, an absolute joy. Straight down the
motorways, through the delightful Black Forest
on the A337 and Fawcett’s Field is right there on the main road, on the right.
Total journey time 2 hours and 20 minutes, which gave us plenty of time to have
lunch in the pub opposite the ground – the House
Martin, which is an excellent place. It serves a proper Southern pint, with
a soapy head – none of your fizzy Northern rubbish that I sometimes have to put
up with during my lunch hour at work.
Not only did we make our customary bright and composed
start, but Lymington & New Milton looked tentative and devoid of
confidence. This was not surprising, given that, in spite of starting the match
a place and a point ahead of Ashford, they had lost eight and drawn two of
their previous ten games; last Saturday, they got hammered 1-5 by Dover
They looked there for the taking – never more so than
when we took the lead with what is surely the Goal of the Season so far, as
early as the seventh minute. New boy Nathan Thomas, starting his first game for
Ashford, having made a substitute appearance at Dulwich Hamlet on Tuesday,
swept the ball wide to Sol Henry. Sol, on the right, squared a return pass back
to Thomas, who was running on into the area, but his shot was blocked, and went
behind for a corner. Ian Ross came across to the right to take the kick, as
usual. In what appeared to be a rehearsed move, Rossi sent the ball in low to
the near post; Shaun Bradshaw rather fumbled a flick-on, but the ball broke to
(I think) Nathan Thomas, whose effort from inside the area hit the top of the
crossbar. The ball then bounced once in the area, before Joby Thorogood thumped
the ball into the back of the net with a spectacular over-head kick. 1-0 to the
boys, and surely we were going to go on and beat this lot !
With Steve Humphrey unavailable today, Joby was
renewing his strike partnership with Shaun Bradshaw. In defence, we had what I
think is our best back five, of Glover, Adlington, Cumberbatch, Duncan and
Ross. The midfield, which was robbed of RJ Boorman, Terry McCann and Sol Henry
(for various reasons) against Dulwich, was still a little threadbare. Whilst
the improving Sol was back, on the right, the guts of the midfield was still
missing, and today we had the new central midfield pairing of Gary Clarke and
Nathan Thomas. This new bloke looks good. Whilst still reportedly not quite
match-fit, he appears to be comfortable on the ball, and today played the RJ
Boorman role of spraying the passes around from a central position. RJ himself
started on the bench, having missed Dulwich due to an injury to his arm. The
much-maligned Kennickson Jarrett-Elliott once again took his place on the left
side of midfield, meaning that Eddie Achoko, who played on Tuesday, was one of
the subs, along with Jazhel Bonaparte, Mark Banks and Goalkeeping Coach Ray
Riseley.
There was no doubt as to the home side’s best player.
Red-haired Peter Smith was like a long streak of bat’s piss – (he shone like a
shaft of gold, whilst all around was darkness). Playing wide on the left, Smith
was quick and skilful, and was a handful every time he touched the ball. He was
certainly too slippery for our midfield, and both Sol Henry and Nathan Thomas
had to stop him with blatant trips. Then in the 15th minute, Tom
Adlington and Sol Henry made a meal of clearing the ball from the right-back
position – Sol left Tommy a little short with a pass, and Smith was in like a
ferret. Tommy instinctively lunged in with what was intended to be a recovery
tackle, but the ball was long gone, and the challenge earnt Mr Adlington yet
another yellow card. Tommy has quite a collection of cards this season, (for
someone who isn’t a particularly dirty player), but on this occasion he was
probably paying for the fouls committed on Smith by others earlier on.
A minute later, Smith again beat Sol Henry all ends up
(whatever that means), this time with a neat back-heel and turn. He cut inside,
but his firm, left-foot shot was always going wide.
The best chance in the first twenty minutes for the
home side, playing in unusual colours of royal blue and maroon striped shirts,
blue shorts and maroon socks, came as a result of a long ball out of defence by
Steve Gilbert. This was not a long, hopeful lob; this was a measured pass, all
along the ground, from the back four to the front man, and it put Lee Chudy
through with a sight of goal. Chudy’s firm shot went just over the bar.
Kenny Watch: In the 21st minute, Kennickson
Jarrett-Elliott, who’d been very quiet up to now, picked the ball up on the
left, well inside The Linnets’ half; he carried the ball for a few yards, cut
inside and then unleashed a decent right-foot shot, but one that went straight
at goalkeeper Mark Watson.
As mentioned earlier, the match turned in the 23rd
minute – and what is worse is that it turned as a result of the softest of gift
goals. With the ball safely in the arms of Sean Glover, I was convinced enough
that there was no danger to be able to scribble some banal comment in my
note-book. I was awoken by a loud groan from De Sade, behind me in the stand. I
looked up to see Lymington’s Kevin James bearing down on goal, from the
left-back position. He slid the ball under Sean Glover, from an acute angle,
and that was how we threw away a lead this week ! From the evidence that I can piece together
from eye-witness accounts, Rossi has to hold his hand up for this one – messing
around passing the ball square across the back four, when he should have
cleared it up the left flank.
Whilst it was pretty much downhill from this point,
that’s not to say that the boys didn’t continue to give it a go, and there were
certainly chances to regain the lead in the first half. Two minutes after The
Linnets’ equaliser, we had another of several corners that we had during the
course of the match. This was taken by Sol Henry, who found Marc Cumberbatch in
the penalty area, but the skipper’s shot was blocked. A minute later, Marc was
again involved, with a good through-ball for Joby, in the area, but the shot
was once again blocked, this time for a corner. Rossi came across to take this
one, on the right, and he tried the same near post routine that had led to our
goal, but on this occasion it was cleared by the Lymington defence.
(Interestingly, Lymington & New Milton FC play in neither Lymington nor New
Milton, since Fawcett’s Field is a green-field sports complex that is actually
nearer Barton-on-Sea).
Kenny Watch: In the 29th minute, Lymington
right-back James Wilson showed a lack of control, on the far side – it reminded
me of George Best’s description of Vinny Jones, when he said: “He can trap a
ball just about as far as I can kick it” – and Kenny J-E tried to pounce on the
loose ball. Unfortunately, he got there second (although he got there as soon
as he could), and became the second Ashford player to collect a yellow card.
There was a good Ashford move in the 31st
minute. Sol Henry, who was one of our best players today, did some good work on
the right side of midfield, and there was Tommy Adlington, overlapping on his
outside. (Actually, I can’t remember the last time I saw one of our full-backs
on the overlap !). Tommy managed to get a decent cross in, looking for the head
of Joby – although The Halfling, as I / we never tire of pointing out, was
competing in the air with a defender who had a big height advantage over him,
Joby got at least three-quarters of the ball, which looped up and landed on the
top of the cross-bar.
Two minutes later, there was an even better chance for
Thorogood Jnr. Nathan Thomas again opened play up, by spreading the ball wide
to Tommy Ad, on the right. Tommy’s cross found Joby unmarked in the centre, but
his shot, from close range, was superbly saved by ex-Colchester United
goalkeeper Mark Watson. There was little more that Joby could have done, as he
hit the ball sweetly and hit the target, so you have to give the 37 year-old
‘keeper credit for the save.
Peter Smith was making a nuisance of himself again, in
the 35th minute. After another Ashford attack had broken down,
Watson found Smith with a quick throw. The Ginger Ninja ran almost the length
of the pitch – largely unchallenged, with our midfield a little out of position
– and reached the edge of the Ashford penalty area before once again pulling a
long-range shot wide of goal. Two minutes later, Lymington staged a more
sustained attack, which moved the ball across the edge of the Ashford area, eventually
finding Smith on the left. This time his firm shot was on target, and it needed
a good save from “Shaggy” in the Ashford goal, at the expense of a corner. This
was crossed long, towards the far post, and was very nearly blown into the net
by the swirling wind, but Rossi headed clear.
Whilst it never really spoilt the game, the wind was a
constant factor in the match. Fawcett’s Field is completely open on three
sides, with the one stand being the only source of seated accommodation, and,
being so near the sea, it must get pretty breezy at times. It certainly got a
bit parky in the second half.
Lymington & New Milton’s second goal came in the
38th minute, and it was another one which, whilst well-taken, would
have been considered by our Management to have been a soft goal to give away.
It came about as another Ashford attack broke down. A long, lobbed ball from
defence sent James Stokoe clear of the Ashford defence, who were hoping for the
lino’s flag to come to the rescue. The flag stayed down – and there were no
complaints from anyone about it being the wrong decision – and Stokoe easily
lobbed the advancing Sean Glover, for his fourth goal of the season, and his
third in the last four games.
Ashford ended the half going forward, pressing for an equaliser
before the break. In the 45th minute, the home defence carelessly
gave the ball away, to Sol Henry, who took the ball wide of left-back Adam
Lang. His cross again looked for Joby Thorogood, but was put behind for a
corner. Rossi again tried the low-to-the-near-post routine, but without
success.
Kenny Watch: Two minutes into injury time in the first
half, Kenny picked the ball up, wide on the left. He showed some good footwork
to beat two defenders and get to the by-line, but his cross failed to find an
Ashford forward. I came to the very firm conclusion during the course of this
match that Kenny is a winger. That might mean that he’s a luxury, in the
context of a game in which our midfield was fairly anonymous, but he’s
definitely a WINGER.
[ By the way, I am well aware that today’s game was
played on the 5th of November, but I refuse to include any naff
references to fireworks, or sparklers, or bonfires – you suffer enough as it is
! ]
Lymington started the second half in more confident
mood, as you might expect, but failed to create an early chance. For Ashford,
Nathan Thomas twice tried to put Joby in on goal with through-balls, but on
both occasions the passes were just too long, and the ‘keeper got there first.
In the 51st minute, Shaun Bradshaw threaded
the ball through for Joby, in the penalty area. Watson should have had the ball
once again, but our little hero got a toe in just before him. The ‘keeper
flicked an arm at Joby’s leg, and the striker went down. Whether there was any
contact at all is impossible to tell from the half-way line, but that was
irrelevant, as Joby got up, turned and shot, straight at the goalkeeper.
In the 58th minute, a long throw from Sean
Glover found Shaun Bradshaw, who laid the ball back to Nathan Thomas. Joby
Thorogood was this time able to latch on to Thomas’s through-ball, but his firm
shot, from a fair way out, went straight at Watson, who made an elementary
save. A minute later, with Ashford now exerting good pressure, the ball was in
The Linnets’ penalty area, with a number of players trying to make room for a
shot; eventually, the ball was squared to Lynval Duncan, whose snap-shot from
close range was again straight at the ‘keeper.
As the half wore on, frustration began to grow among
the Ashford team, and discipline was cast to the wind. Nathan Thomas was lucky
to escape a caution for a fairly harmless, but stupidly obvious, trip, in the
62nd minute. The Referee, Mr Lymer, was to dish out plenty of cards,
but he also gave a fair number of lectures – as he did on this occasion – so
the players can’t complain that they weren’t warned.
Tim Thorogood and John Cumberbatch made their first
substitution in the 64th minute; RJ Boorman’s long-awaited
appearance coming at the expense of Gary Clarke. RJ was in action almost
immediately, his long ball, in the 66th minute, looking for Shaun
Bradshaw, but he was beaten to the ball by the ‘keeper. It was Bradders who was
fouled near the corner flag, on the right, in the 69th minute. The
free-kick was curled in to the danger area, by the left foot of Ian Ross, but
refused to settle for an Ashford player; eventually, it broke to Nathan Thomas,
whose sliced shot, from well outside the area, had a hint of desperation about
it, and nearly hit the corner flag.
From the 72nd minute, with desperate times
calling for desperate measures, Ashford switched to the 3-4-3 formation that
enabled them to make that comeback from 1-3 down to 3-3 away at Horsham earlier
in the season. This time it was skipper Marc Cumberbatch who was pushed
forward, to play the remainder of the game as a centre-forward. Whilst this was
an entirely sensible move, it failed to do the trick, and whereas there was
hope, at the time, that the Horsham comeback would be the start of a new-found
sense of self-belief for the lads, it now seems to have been no more than a
one-off occurrence, as we’ve invariably failed to come back from being behind
ever since.
In fact, the next chance in the game, in the 75th
minute, fell to the home side. Some more magic from Peter Smith enabled him to
wriggle past both Tom Adlington and Sol Henry, leaving them both looking
bewildered in the far corner, but he failed to find a man in a blue and maroon
shirt with his pull-back from the by-line. Sol had some respite from his
torment in the 78th minute, when he was replaced by Jazzy Bonaparte,
in what was another attacking move from The Management.
In spite of the positive intentions, the remainder of
the game became very “stop-start”, which thwarted any Ashford attempts at
fluency. In part, this was due to a deliberate ploy by the home side to run
down the clock, desperate as they were to get their first win for ten games.
However, our lads didn’t help themselves, as many fouls were committed as
frustration grew, (although this was probably understandable, with Lymington
kicking or dribbling the ball into the corners at every opportunity). One man
to succumb to this frustration was Ian Ross, who got himself booked for a late
tackle, in the 79th minute.
As is usual when one team goes all out for an
equaliser at the end of a game, there were opportunities at the other end for
the lead to be extended. This almost happened in the 83rd minute.
Substitute John Mulhern, who had come on as part of a double substitution, as
early as the 54th minute, found himself free down the right, having
once again beaten the Ashford off-side trap. His shot was blocked for a corner.
It might be a measure of the extent to which Ashford were gambling, in search
of an equaliser, but Marc Cumberbatch didn’t take his place in the penalty area
to defend this corner. Instead it was Joby Thorogood in the centre of defence,
leaping like a salmon to try to head the corner clear – unfortunately, it went
over his head (sigh !), and went
through to Steve Gilbert, at the far post. Gilbert really should have made the
points safe for the home side, but flicked the ball wide, with the outside of
his boot.
Cumberbatch’s best chance for grabbing a late
equaliser came in the 86th minute, and he wasn’t far away. Nathan
Thomas once again spread the ball wide to Bonaparte on the right wing. Jazzy
did well to get a good cross into the area, where the skipper was converging on
the near post, but a defender got there first with what was possibly a
goal-saving tackle.
The day was summed up for Ashford in the 89th
minute – and the incident probably summed up a miserable week for 18 year-old
Richard Boorman. With the home side going through the negative routine of
holding the ball up near the corner flag, inviting fouls, RJ duly obliged, conceding
a free-kick. Referee Lymer decided to book him, apparently more for an
accumulation of fouls than for this foul being particularly nasty. A fairly
long conversation ensued between player and referee, and I think that we can
safely assume that there was some disagreement with the original decision, as
RJ managed to get two yellow cards at once (the second one for dissent), and
had to go off for an early bath (as Eddie Waring used to say). The ball was still
in the same corner of the pitch when Tommy Adlington, who had earlier been the
first Ashford player to receive a caution, aimed a kick at an opponent, right
under the referee’s nose. Mr Limey blew for a free-kick, and, as he motioned
towards Tommy, apparently to take some action, Marc Cumberbatch seemed to grab
the referee’s arm, and got a yellow card for himself. In the dying moments of
the game, Lymington’s Danny Woods was shown a yellow card, for a late tackle on
Jazzy, to show that the ref wasn’t only looking at one team.
The final whistle was greeted by the home side with
clenched fists and visible relief. Normally, a 2-1 defeat away from home
wouldn’t be seen as a great disaster - although it must be said that this was a
wasted opportunity for some points – but I’m now starting to get a little
worried. The body language of both Joint Managers is beginning to suggest
despondency, which in turn suggests that they might be starting to lose faith
in the ability of this squad of players to make the grade at this level. (We’re
all used to seeing Tim angry, but it concerns me to see him look drained and
resigned). The players’ collective inability to come back at teams when they
fall behind is now an established trait, and they wouldn’t be human if they
themselves hadn’t also started to lose their self-belief. What is worse is that
there are whispers of cliques and divisions forming in the dressing-room, and
we’ll ultimately have no chance if that starts to happen. We have a free week
next Saturday, so let’s hope that all concerned can regroup, and be ready for
the next league game, which is at home to a much-improved Fleet Town
Many years ago I had one of those calendars which have
a proverb or saying for every day of the year. One of the pearls of wisdom that
sticks in my mind is: “Attention to petty detail is a wonderful source of
cheerfulness” – so let’s have a look at some petty statistics.
*
* *
ANORAK’S CORNER. Striker statistics: Steve
Humphrey, who was greatly missed today, still has far and away the best
strike-rate, with a goal every 161 minutes. Joby, the top scorer, with five
goals, has now scored one every 249 minutes (one in almost three games), whilst
Shaun Bradshaw is struggling with a goal every 366 minutes (about one in four
games).
Goalkeeping statistics: Not much to choose between
this season’s ‘keepers, with Shaggy letting a goal in every 51 minutes,
compared to Jani Seitsonen’s one goal in every 54 minutes. (I would think that
the excellent John Whitehouse’s record wasn’t very different).
Attendances: Now this is really worrying. With
last year’s average attendance down to 243, from the previous season’s 284, it
seems that the decline is continuing – the average for home league matches so
far is 178, so it makes you wonder how far attendances can fall before they
bottom out. (As recently as the 1999–2000 season the average attendance was 381
!).
*
* *
Are we all more cheerful now ?
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