Metropolitan Police 2 Ashford Town 1
from Your Milton Keynes
Correspondent
After
the heroics in the Kent Senior Cup on Monday, when a depleted Ashford side beat
a full-strength Folkestone Invicta side 2-4, we were looking for the boys to
build on that success, and try to put some sort of a sequence together. One
encouraging sign was that we had much more strength in numbers this afternoon,
with a few players back from injury, so that there was a full complement of
subs on the bench. The only addition to the starting Eleven, however, was the
fit-again Ian Ross; he returned to his left-back position, with Kenny
Jarrett-Elliott, who did a good job in that position when taking control of
Paul Jones on Monday, returning to the left side of midfield. Adam O’Neill also
moved forward a place, to play alongside George Fenwick in attack. That meant
that the man to make way from Monday’s team was Luke Coleman, who started on
the bench today.
The
team, therefore, in 4-4-2 formation, was Overland
Would
things go better with Shell ? Well, it
was always going to be difficult this afternoon, against a strong team. I
thought, pre-season, that the Metropolitan Police would be up there challenging
in the top five or six this year, given their consistent performances in the
past couple of seasons, and the signings that they’d made over the Summer; (and
nothing I saw this afternoon has made me change my mind !). I was therefore
amazed to see The Met languishing in second-bottom place in the division on the
morning of the game – even allowing for the fact that they had one or two games
in hand of the teams around them. At the start of the game, they had drawn five
of their nine league matches, with their only league win being at home to Godalming Town
The
word at Imber Court
The
afternoon had actually begun quite promisingly, as we managed to find a really
decent pub beforehand, right on the South bank of the Thames ,
and had a very good scran there. “The Weir” is, quite literally, a stone’s
throw from Walton Casuals’ ground – where The Casuals were playing Godalming
Town, in an early relegation scrap, this afternoon – and, if we’d known that
this pub had been hidden away at the end of that poxy little lane when we
played here two weeks ago, than we certainly wouldn’t have settled for fish
& chips in the car on Walton High Street !
In
terms of the match, hope was kindled as early as the fourth minute, when a push
on Simon Glover gave Ashford a free-kick, in a central position, about 25 yards
from goal. Anthony Allman lined up to have a crack, and, after seeing his shot
scream in from about that distance on Monday night, it was only human nature to
have visions of the same thing happening – yes, you’ve guessed it, he hammered
the ball into the foot of a four-man wall, and the fleeting pipe-dream was
over.
Tony
Finn, on the left wing, was brilliant all afternoon, and made Tommy Adlington’s
life a misery, especially in the first half. Time after time, our best defender
was pulled this way and that; Tommy did the right thing by standing his ground,
and not diving in or (more likely) up-ending his tormentor, but, in spite of
some defensive help from Joby Thorogood, Finn could not be contained. (Of
course, Peter Sillett would have put his foot on the ball, given the lad a slap
and said “Come back when you’re old enough, Sonny”, and then played the ball to
a striker’s feet – but, then again, he was an ex-England international, and
things always seem much rosier in nostalgic hind-sight). It was no surprise,
then, that The Met’s opening goal, in the fifth minute, originated from the
left-hand side. With the ball at Finn’s feet, and Tommy and Joby wondering
which way he was going to go, left-back Ryan Gray, totally unmarked, made a
diagonal run, inside the right-back. (Now I don’t have any coaching badges to
entitle me to comment on such issues, but the fact that nobody went with him,
or looked remotely like doing so, was quite conspicuous, and I suspect that
this was a run that should have been covered by somebody). Anyway, the
left-winger slipped the ball down the line to him, Gray put in a cross, and Ben
Abbey deflected the ball just inside the far post, with a deft touch with the
outside of his boot. The diving Simon Overland had no chance, and it was the
first of many signs of Abbey’s class, as his movement off the ball, and the
timing of his runs, was a lesson for any young striker this afternoon.
In
the ninth minute, The Boys in Blue, playing, funnily enough, in all blue, made
it 2-0. A corner on the left was played short, by Tony Finn, to James Evans.
Evans returned the ball to Finn, whose shot at goal was blocked by Kenny J-E,
and deflected behind for another corner. This time, the corner was played short
to Ryan Gray, who was again unmarked; his cross found Ben Abbey, in total
isolation, in the middle of the penalty area, and he had all the time he needed
to nod the ball past Simon Overland, and into the net. Again, my name’s not
BrianClough (!), but even I could see that this was an appalling goal to give
away.
Ben
Abbey very nearly made it 3-0, with what would have been a very rapid
hat-trick, two minutes later. A free-kick, from near the corner flag, on the
right, was crossed deep, to the far post; this was headed back across goal by
Dave Newman, finding Abbey almost on the line, at the other post, but the No.9
was too far underneath it, and merely popped the ball over the bar. A minute
later, the ball was with Tony Finn again, on the left, and this time he managed
to beat both Tommy and Joby, and get to the by-line. He pulled the ball back
for James Evans, who squandered a good scoring chance by blasting his shot over
the bar.
Ashford,
playing, for only the second time, in their new away kit of yellow shirts,
black shorts and black sockies, just could not get a foot-hold in this game.
Our cause wasn’t helped by many mis-placed passes and, when we did go forward,
a number of off-sides. The Police also had quality at the back, particularly in
the shape of centre-half Carl Hutchings. Whilst I wasn’t aware that dreadlocks
and braids were part of the uniform for the Metropolitan Police, (although
there might be a dumbing-down policy that hasn’t received much publicity), this
lad looked a class act. He had George Fenwick, who’s becoming a very important
player for Ashford, in his pocket for most of the match. When he wasn’t beating
George in the air, (skillfully getting away with plenty of holding), he was
reading his flicks and lay-offs, and there was little for Adam O’Neill to feed
off.
But
it was at the other end that most of Ashford’s problems were occurring. In the
16th minute, Tommy Ad was again having to try to cope with Tony
Finn. Once again, Tommy stood his ground, but this time it was James Evans who
made the unchecked run inside the full-back. Ian Ross was there to head the
resulting cross clear. Seconds later, Ben Abbey played a neat one-two to put
himself inside the area, with another great chance to score, but Simon Overland
came out well to save at his feet. Three minutes later, Evans put another
through-ball into the Ashford area, for Abbey to run onto, and Simon once again
did well, with a similar save.
With
the home side well on top, our boys showed the first signs of crawling out from
underneath in the 20th minute, when Joby Thorogood, who put in his
usual whole-hearted 90 minutes, did well to win the ball, inches from the
corner flag. He found George Fenwick, in the penalty area; George put his foot
on the ball, and laid the ball off to Simon Glover, but Gloves’ weak shot, with
his “wrong” foot, went straight at the under-employed Will Packham, in The
Blues’ goal.
After
this brief respite, the ball was in the Ashford net again, in the 22nd
minute. Rossi was shielding the ball, trying to let it run out for a goal-kick,
but Ben Abbey was able to steal it away, and run in on goal, from an acute
angle. Somehow, he managed to side-foot the ball past Simon Overland, and into
the net, for what he thought was his hat-trick, but the lino on the far side
was flagging, indicating that the ball had gone out after all. (Judging by the
reaction of the players, there might have been some doubt about this, but,
nevertheless, the score remained at 2-0).
In
the 24th minute, Nick Fenwick managed to cut out a cross, putting
the ball behind for a corner. Simon Overland came for the resulting cross, at the
near post, and never looked like being favourite to get there; he and the other
players challenging in the air all missed it, and the ball was allowed to go
all the way through to the far post, where a Met player just failed to get his
foot around it, putting the ball into the side-netting.
The
half-hour mark came with Ashford still unable to put together any controlled
and worthwhile move, but it was about at this time that we managed a break from
defence, led by Adam O’Neill. The ball was spread wide, via Simon Glover, to
Kenny Three Names, the extra man on the left, but Ken’s shot went well over the
bar.
Two
minutes later, there was more danger at the other end, but this time it was
entirely self-inflicted – it was either Gloves or Anthony Allman who had a
complete aberration, and gave the ball straight to Ben Abbey (not a great
idea), presenting him with a one-on-one with Simon Overland. Fortunately, Simon
made another good save, forcing the ball out for a corner, on the right. The
resulting cross was met by Jon Daly, with a twisting header, but his effort
went just wide of the post.
So,
having been mugged by The Police for over half an hour – and you can never find
a copper when you need one ! - could things get any harder for our heroes
? Well, in the 35th minute,
it looked like things might, when Simon Overland, with no other ‘keeper in the
first-team squad, let alone on the bench, went down with a leg injury. Vince
managed to do the necessary with the magic sponge, or the spray, and Simon was
able to struggle on with the injury for the rest of the game.
Fortunately,
with Simon limping around his penalty area, Ashford, possibly glad of the
breather during the stoppage, at last began to creep into the game. It was in
the 40th minute that Kenny tried to get under an up & under in
the Police Box; the ball broke to Simon Glover, but his shot, which was rather
better than his earlier effort, was this time well saved by Packham. A minute
later, if we needed a sign that a recovery might be on its way, we got it in
the sight of Tommy Adlington having the luxury of getting forward on the
overlap. Tommy’s cross wasn’t the greatest, but it did briefly threaten to
creep under the bar, before going out for a goal-kick. In the 44th
minute, we had a throw-in, well inside the Police half; Rossi launched this
long, into the penalty area. George Fenwick chested the ball down, looking for
a team-mate, but Mr Briffitt, the referee, got in the way, and deflected the
ball into the path of James Evans. Suddenly, Evans was off on a Rugby League-style break, with little more than the green
acres of Imber Court
This
wasn’t the end of the danger before half-time, though, as another lapse in
defence, in the 47th minute, almost presented the home side with a
third goal, which would have been rather more deserved. With The Police
breaking down the right, the central defence seemed once again to have gone
AWOL, as the resulting cross found Jon Daly completely on his own in the
Ashford penalty area. Fortunately for The Boys in Yellow, Daly was one man in a
blue shirt who didn’t have a great day, and his header was so wide that it only
missed the corner flag by a couple of yards.
Seconds
later, with The Met on the attack again, a clearly incapacitated Simon Overland
struggled to get into position to deal with a cross, which was going just under
his cross-bar, but he just managed to tip it away. The ball fell to Tony Finn,
just a few yards out, but his shot was well saved by Simon.
All
things considered, the boys were very fortunate to go in at half time just two
goals down – they were also very fortunate to not have the Thorogood hair dryer
waiting for them in the dressing-room, as Tim was serving another game in his
touch-line ban.
During
the half-time interval, there came news of Leatherhead, with Lynval Duncan
continuing to hold down a first-team place in their defence, being 0-1 up away
to Torquay, in the First Round of the FA Cup. Whilst this game did not affect
us materially, let’s not forget that, as Step 4’s sole survivor in the
competition, Leatherhead were living out the dream for us all this afternoon.
This time next year, Rodders, it could be us !
It was also nice to bump into another ex-player, Terry McCann, at half
time. Terry seems to be loving his life in the Kent Police, and is hoping to
transfer to The Met, both professionally and as a player, in the near future.
He’s been playing for Rye United, in the Sussex League, so far this season,
where it looks like Mike Robbins is starting to get things together.
I
don’t know what John Cumberbatch said to the players, in his gentler, more
cerebral, style, but it’s a pretty safe bet that less crockery would have been
broken than if Tim had been there. Whatever the detail of the team talk,
Ashford’s performance was certainly much improved in the second half. It was
also noticeable that the central defensive partnership of Fenwick &
Cumberbatch – that’s Nick & Marc, not Terry & John – played really well
for the remainder of the match (although I’ve no idea where they went in the
first half).
In
spite of the overall improvement, the change wasn’t immediate, as there was
some sloppy marking when defending a free-kick, in the 48th minute.
A short chip into the area, by James Evans, found an unmarked Ben Abbey; he
laid the ball back to Evans, whose cross was met by an off-target header.
Ashford
had some promising situations early in the second half, as they came forward in
search of a goal. There was an Ian Ross free-kick, in the 50th
minute, (after Paul Barrowcliff, a half-time substitution for Ryan Gray, had
got away with just a stern lecture from the ref, having been very late on Joby
Thorogood), and there was an Anthony Allman corner, in the 51st
minute, but both of these were dealt with by the home defence. In the 53rd
minute, Simon Glover hit a well-struck shot from outside the area; this was on
target, but Will Packham saw it all the way, and had no trouble in making the
catch. A couple of minutes prior to this, Gloves had almost made a Mary of
things, when his attempted header back towards his own ‘keeper fell right in
the path of Ben Abbey. Gloves’ blushes were spared when Simon Overland made
another excellent save.
In
spite of this scare, most of the chances were created at the other end. In the
55th minute, Carl Hutchings’ late tackle on Adam O’Neill gave
Anthony Allman the opportunity to float a free-kick into the area, but this was
headed clear. Two minutes later, Joby Thorogood attempted a shot, from outside
the area, but there was still no sign of Joby’s shooting ability returning, as
he sliced his attempt well wide.
Tommy’s
bane, Tony Finn, had, for some reason, switched to the other side for the
second half – probably to spread some misery to Ian Ross. In the 69th
minute, Rossi did what Tommy had resisted during the first half, and got
himself a yellow card. He was correct in stating that “I got the ball,
Officer”, but he clattered through both of Tony Finn’s legs in order to get
there, and it was an easy decision for Mr Briffitt. The resulting free-kick,
taken by James Evans, from near the touch-line, was headed clear by Marc
Cumberbatch.
In
the 63rd minute, Ashford went forward again, with a long ball being
knocked down by George Fenwick, to Simon Glover. Gloves’ shot, from outside the
area, took a slight deflection, but Packham was right behind it. A minute
later, Ian Ross made way for Matt Carruthers, who took up a position on the
left side of midfield, which is where he played against Walton Casuals; Kenny
Jarrett-Elliott again dropped back to left-back.
The
only glimmer of a chance for our heroes, before Luke Coleman was sent on to
replace Adam O’Neill, in the 74th minute (when the home side also
replaced Jon Daly with Ian Batten), was when a looping Joby Thorogood cross,
which looked like it was going behind for a goal-kick, actually found Marc
Cumberbatch beyond the far post, but Marc’s header went harmlessly across the
face of goal.
The
next chance for Ashford came in the 79th minute, when Simon Glover
spread a good ball wide to Matt Carruthers, on the left. Matt dribbled the ball
inside, and found Tommy Adlington on the right, but Tommy’s hopeful, long-range
shot went well wide of the target.
The
Police made their third and final substitution in the 80th minute,
with Barry Stevens replacing Ben Abbey – which was the best news our boys had
had all afternoon ….. and still our boys strived hard to get a goal back. In
the 85th minute, a Luke Coleman cross found George Fenwick, in the
area, and George laid the ball back to Matt Carruthers. Matt struck the ball
well, and his shot wasn’t too far off target, but it was always going just
over.
When
the Police line was eventually breached, in the 90th minute, it was
little more than a consolation goal. Matt Carruthers, who had made a tremendous
difference since coming on, put in a cross, from near the right corner flag;
Luke Coleman flicked the ball on, and George Fenwick, who had little time to
get himself in the right position, actually did well to nod the ball into the
net. That’s now 11 goals in the equivalent of 15 games for George, which is an
excellent strike-rate, in the context of a side struggling for consistency.
For
the record, I reckon that we might have burgled a point, if there had been
another ten minutes to go, but that would have been a gross injustice, given
the overall balance of the game. Matt Carruthers did use his experience to draw
a foul by James Evans, and get him booked, in the 92nd minute, but,
for the third year in succession, we left Imber Court
Matt
was the only serious challenger to Simon Overland for the Man of the Match
award, but he would have had to do something really special to be named, having
played for only 26 minutes. So, after presenting Simon Glover with his medal
for being the MK Man of the Match against Folkestone, Mrs Milton Keynes
Correspondent got on a step-ladder to present the ‘keeper with his. All this
took place in a very crowded bar after the game – although today’s attendance
was only 114, there seemed to be twice that number in the bar to watch thirty
ugly hooligans having a game of Catch. (Answers on a postcard …..).
News
from elsewhere was that, due to Godalming
Town Dover
Man of the Match
(to go towards
the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Simon Overland
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