Molesey 1 Ashford Town 2
from Your Milton Keynes
Correspondent
It
would appear that the long, cold winter is over. Gone are the days of woolly
hats, scarves and thermal underwear. Today was a beautiful, sunny day; in fact,
I had to remove my thin sweater at half time, such was the sweltering nature of
the weather in South West London.
Of
course, I’m providing this meteorological report in an attempt to suggest
analogies with Ashford
Town
Before
the detailed account, here’s an Anorak’s Corner – feel free to skip it, if you
really can’t face it.
** Anorak’s Corner **
Attendances: To coin a phrase that’s oft uttered in
the MKC household at meal times, “have we at last reached the bottom of the
trough ?”. It would certainly seem that the steady decline in home league
attendances, which has been in evidence since the 2003-4 season, is finally
about to come to an end. The average attendance for this season currently
stands at 205, but, with a good crowd expected for the visit of Maidstone
United, and decent ones anticipated for the Easter Monday fixture against
Whyteleafe and the final game, against Tooting & Mitcham, there is reason
to hope that the eventual mean figure will exceed last season’s all-time low of
208. What’s more, the median figure, which tells the truest story of underlying
trends, currently stands at 190, compared with last season’s 174.
Of course, the situation would be a whole lot healthier
if we’d had our fair crack of the whip with local derbies this year. It would
have been nice to have played, say, Maidstone, or Dover ,
or maybe Dartford on Easter Monday, as the
Club had requested – instead, the Ryman League has given us Whyteleafe. To rub
salt in, The ‘Leafe actually played Maidstone
today (Good Friday), and got a crowd of 561, over 400 of whom will probably
have been Stones supporters. We can merely speculate as to what crowd we might
have had for Maidstone at home for an Easter fixture,
with our opponents closing in on promotion at the top of the league, and with
genuine optimism returning once again to The Homelands.
One rather surreal (for us) fact is that we approach
the Easter programme still being alive in a cup competition, so the current
aggregate attendance for cup games is not yet the final figure. This aggregate
stands at 844 – already the best total since that 2003-4 season – and I think
it’s safe to expect that the forthcoming Kent Senior Cup Semi-final against Bromley
will push the total into four figures.
Strikers: With three goals in the last three games,
Walid Matata has, for the first time, edged ahead of George Fenwick in terms of
strike-rate. Walid has now scored his eight goals at a rate of one every 169
minutes, whilst top-scorer George has scored his 17 at one every 176 minutes. Although
these are two completely different players – Walid is a proven goal-scorer at a
higher grade than Ryman Division One, whilst George is still trying to
establish himself, in his first season at this level – they both deserve credit
for their performances this season. Coming to us in the close season from Dover
Athletic’s Reserves squad, young George’s ability to regularly hit the net has
been a major bonus, whilst Walid has given the Club excellent Value for Money
with his effort and all-round contribution.
To put the two lads’ strike-rates into perspective,
Walid and George would be scoring 22 and 21 goals, respectively, if they were
to play in every minute of every game in a 42-match season. In order to achieve
30 goals a season, a player needs to score at a rate of a goal every 126
minutes; (to achieve a goal every 30 seasons, a player needs to be Tommy
Adlington). Adrian Stone scored three goals at a rate of 112 minutes apiece
during a very brief loan spell last season, but no others have really got
close.
It will be interesting to see how Birmingham City
Goalkeepers: I’m rapidly losing faith in the ability
of this statistic to be used as a measurement of the merit of goalkeepers, but,
for the record, Jake has let in a goal every 58 minutes, compared with Simon
Overland’s record of one every 54 minutes, (which was identical to Jani
Seitsonen’s “strike-rate”, which made him, statistically, the best ‘keeper we
had last season).
The Milton Keynes
Bowl: It’s getting tight now, with Marc Cumberbatch still leading with four
away match MoM awards, and Gary Clarke just behind him with three – Tommy
Adlington, with two, is the only other current player to have received more
than one medal this season. In case anyone’s wondering, there’s no prospect of
the Bowl being shared, since, in the event of a tie, the winner will be the
player who has clocked up the most minutes on the pitch during the season.
* * * *
Whilst
we fans basked in the sun in Molesey, (as well as in Malaysia and Cuba and one
or two other places), the season’s top goal-scorer, George Fenwick, was doing
something very similar in the Caribbean – this meant that Steve Sodje, who has
been used mostly as a substitute so far by John Cumberbatch, had to step up to
the plate to start the game in attack alongside Walid Matata. Behind them were
two young Ashford boys in the centre of midfield – Joe Hitchings and Gary
Clarke – with Tom McGowen on the left of midfield, and Nick Wright
(appropriately) on the right, which is the position from where he scored that
excellent goal against Croydon Athletic on Tuesday. Nick’s Birmingham City
It
would be fair to say that Sodj didn’t let anyone down – that might seem like
quite a trite statement, considering that he scored both goals in a 1-2 win,
but he really put himself about this afternoon, and generally had a very good
game. He set the tone in the opening minute, when he went in hard with a
header, and nearly cut Molesey’s Des Vertannes in half in the process – to add
insult to the Moles’ No.3, the free-kick went (quite rightly) Sodje’s way.
Ashford
played in their usual 4-4-2 formation, but, with Wright and McGowen pushing
forward at every opportunity, we had three strikers up front more often than
not. Nick combined well with Walid Matata, in the third minute, down the right.
This ended with Walid’s cross being charged down by James Rose, but the Lino
flagged for hand-ball. This appeared to be a slightly harsh decision, but Tom McGowen’s
resulting cross came to nothing, as it was headed clear by the Molesey defence.
Molesey’s
favourite mode of attack was the long throw into the penalty area. This was
attempted by Wayne Noad, in the sixth minute, but the referee whistled for a push
on Tom Adlington as the ball came sailing in. The salient result of the
incident, however, was that Molesey’s James Rose was left on the floor,
clutching his arm, in obvious pain. It soon became clear that James had
dislocated his shoulder, so the home side had no choice but to make an early,
and unscheduled, substitution, replacing him with Richard Thompson.
This
was an unfortunate start for The Moles, and things soon got worse for them, in
the tenth minute, when Ashford took the lead. The opening goal actually
originated from a Molesey attack, which broke down and then presented the
visitors with a two-against-two situation, once the clearance had been made.
Walid Matata must have got a shout from Steve Sodje, as he nodded the ball into
his strike-partner’s path. With only Pete Ruggles, in the Molesey goal, to
beat, Sodje coolly slotted the ball into the corner of the net, for his first
league goal for Ashford.
When
they were not throwing long balls into the box, Molesey’s main threat came from
precise balls through or over the Ashford defence, usually trying to exploit
the pace of Jay Richardson. In the 15th minute, it was the other
Richardson, Lee, who nodded the ball on to put skipper Aaron Nowacki (a great
name for a defender !) through on goal. He was goal-side of Simon Glover, but a
Gloves shove foiled the attack, at the expense of a free-kick on the very edge
of the penalty area. It was Jay Richardson who smashed the free-kick straight
into the defensive wall, and did something similar with a follow-up attempt
from the rebound.
Two
minutes later, the play was at the other end, with Tom McGowen, on the left.
Tom sent in a high, hanging cross, which I think was actually a miss-hit, beyond
the far post, and this was headed behind for a corner. Tom came across to the
right to take this himself, left-footed and in-swinging, but the cross eluded
everyone, and went out for a goal-kick.
I
have to report that, throughout the game, Jake Whincup was pretty decisive in
coming out to intercept through-balls and crosses, and generally gave a more
confident and commanding display than he has of late. He communicated well with
his defenders, and was fairly vocal this afternoon. One nearly got away,
however, in the 20th minute, when, just as Jake was imploring his
defensive line to push out, Lee Richardson latched onto a headed through-ball –
although Richardson got his shaven head to the ball before the ‘keeper, his
effort went just over.
Generally,
I think Ashford shaded it during the first half-hour, and had a number of
corners. The most promising situations appeared to be from corners on the
right, which were curled in dangerously by Tom McGowen. One of these, in the 22nd
minute, was delivered almost under the Molesey crossbar, and almost found its
way to Marc Cumberbatch, at the far post, but a white-shirted defender just got
there first, to head clear.
In
the 25th minute, Moles’ captain Aaron Nowacki abandoned his
defensive post in order to add an aerial threat to a long-throw situation;
unfortunately for him, possession was soon lost, and, with Nick Wright rushing
forward to join the attack, Ashford had a three-against-three situation. Steve
Sodje lobbed the ball forward for Walid Matata to chase, and, although Walid
always looked to be the firm second-favourite, he managed to get his foot to
the ball, in between the ‘keeper and a defender, only to see the ball trickle
just wide of the post.
On
the half-hour mark, Molesey’s ploy of playing to the speed of Jay Richardson
again looked to pay off, when he outpaced the Ashford defence, chasing a
through-ball from the half-way line, and looked to be set up for a one-on-one
with Jake Whincup. Richardson
In
the 33rd minute, Tommy Adlington fed the ball forward to Nick Wright,
on the right, and an eye-witness who had been at Croydon Athletic on Tuesday
stated that Nick’s attempt on goal was similar to the goal he scored that night
– except that he failed to score on this occasion. He initially beat his man in
midfield, carried the ball almost to the edge of the Moles’ penalty area, but
then pulled his shot wide. Three minutes later, Nick was again involved in a
promising move down the right flank, this time combining in a “one-two” with
Walid Matata. There was plenty of time and space in which Walid could measure
his cross, but Steve Sodje was the only yellow shirt in the penalty area.
Walid’s cross went over Sodj’s head, and was met by Tom McGowen, arriving late,
whose firmly-struck left-foot volley was blocked, at the expense of a corner.
It was Nick Wright who took responsibility for the corners on the left, but on
this occasion his cross was headed clear.
In
the 39th minute, Jay Richardson again had a clear sight of goal,
when a through-ball sent him clear of Ashford’s defensive line. Asa Hall looked
to have redeemed the situation with a saving tackle, but Richardson
Molesey’s
penalties are usually taken by their regular ‘keeper, Chuck Martini, who sounds
like a stage direction in a Leonard Rossiter commercial, but who has actually
been very successful this season, having scored on no fewer than ten occasions.
As the Martini had run dry, Jay Richardson stepped forward to take the kick
himself. He seemed to take an eternity to place the ball on the spot, in what
was undoubtedly a cunning plan to try to psyche out Jake Whincup. Quite
honestly, there was nothing wrong with the penalty kick, as it was bound for
the corner of the net, but Jake made a quite brilliant save, diving to his
left. The penalty save at Leatherhead, a couple of weeks ago, was a good one,
but it was also a pretty weak penalty – this one was just a good save, and Jake
received a great ovation from the seven or eight Ashford fans that were
gathered behind the goal at the opposite end.
It
is also true to say that the penalty was the first save that Jake had to make
in the first half, so it would have been a fairly undeserved equaliser for the
home side if it had gone in. In fact, if Walid Matata had not made a Mary of a
clear-cut chance in the 43rd minute, Ashford wouldn’t have been
embarrassed to have gone in at the interval two up. A long through-ball from
Joe Hitchings looked to be aimed at Steve Sodje, who was clearly off-side, but
it was Matata who ran onto the ball from an on-side position. With only Pete
Ruggles in the Molesey goal to beat, Walid attempted a delicate chip, but
didn’t come close to connecting properly, and put the ball straight into the
‘keeper’s hands.
The
big news at the start of the second half was that Lee Richardson came out
wearing the captain’s arm band – this told us that skipper Aaron Nowacki
wouldn’t be whacking anyone else today, so we can only assume that he must have
picked up a knock in the first half. He was replaced by James Farrow, (who I
cursed for having gathered up all the best peas !).
Walid
Matata appears to be going through one of those spells, (a short one, I hope),
of missing loads of chances – which all strikers go through. Well, I hadn’t
seen him in his previous three games, but I’m sure that his miss in the third
minute of the second half here must be his worst moment. After being fouled by
Des Vertannes, Nick Wright took the free-kick himself, launching the ball long,
into the penalty area. This effort failed to find a yellow shirt, but bounced
off a defender, and dropped into Walid’s path, about five yards out.
Inexplicably, he dinked the ball over the bar, when any miss-hit would have
beaten the goalkeeper !
I
can quite understand how Ashford have been failing to hold onto leads, having
to settle for draws when victories have seemed there for the taking. They’ve
been accused of “sitting back” when in front, and there was certainly evidence
of this early in the second half. Quite simply, they seemed to doss off, and
the loss of that competitive edge invited pressure from the home side. In the
56th minute, this led to The Moles’ equaliser – although the goal
itself can be put fairly and squarely down to an individual error by Asa Hall. Molesey
methodically worked their way down the right flank, and Asa appeared to have
the situation well under control, when, just inside the penalty area, he rather
stepped over the ball, instead of clearing it. This put Phil Ruggles through on
goal, and, although he approached Jake Whincup from an acute angle, smashed the
ball just inside the far post, giving the ‘keeper no chance.
There
is a happy ending to this story, merely because Ashford responded by moving up
a gear, and we regained the lead just four minutes later. The chance originated
from another Nick Wright free-kick from a deep position. Although Steve Sodje
missed with a header, the ball pin-balled around on the edge of the Molesey
box, before Marc Cumberbatch unleashed a cracking shot, which any striker would
have been proud of. Pete Ruggles actually made an excellent reflex save,
parrying the ball out with both hands. Simon Glover picked the ball up on the
right side of the area, chipped the ball into the centre and this time Steve
Sodje got up well to nod the ball into the net.
From
this point on, Ashford were pretty much in control, but our failure to score a
third goal meant that there was always the possibility that Molesey might steal
a point – especially in view of our recent record of having drawn seven of the
previous eleven league matches. Walid Matata had a golden opportunity to give
us a much-needed two-goal cushion, in the 65th minute, when an
audacious flick with the back of Steve Sodje’s heel sent him clean through on
goal. (It sounds ridiculous, I know, but Sodj must have been as high as a kite
with confidence, after scoring twice, and it might have been Cristiano Ronaldo
playing that ball through !). Again, Walid failed to convert the chance, but
this time we should give ‘keeper Pete Ruggles credit for making a good save.
It
was at about this time that Sodje turned his ankle, and this would eventually
lead to him having to be substituted. He still had time, though, for an
ambitious bid for hat-trick glory, when the ball fell to him about 20 yards
out, in the 73rd minute – he blasted the ball well wide, but you
can’t blame him for trying ! Sodj was
replaced by Jason Stuart, in the 77th minute, after Ian Ross had
replaced Tom McGowen in the 71st minute, and Youssef Metwali had
come on for Des Vertannes, in the 73rd minute, to complete the home
side’s substitutions.
In
between these substitutions, Simon Glover afforded himself the luxury of going
on a run, down the left, beating two players before being fouled. Nick Wright
floated the ball deep, to the far post, where it was headed behind, for a
corner, on the right. This time it was Rossi’s job to bend the ball in,
left-footed, but Ruggles did well to punch clear.
In
coming on for his debut, Jason Stuart became the 40th player to be
used in Ashford’s first team this season – the number of men used last season
was 48 – and he looked strong and competent during his short spell on the
pitch. Jason was involved almost immediately, linking up well with Gary Clarke
and Walid Matata in a good move down the left side. He managed to work his way
into the penalty area, but the ball was nicked behind, for a corner. The two
boys from St Andrews then very nearly combined
with a goal. Nick Wright took the corner, on the left, and Asa Hall came with a
speedy, and perfectly-timed run, which no defence at this level would have an
answer to – but his glancing header went just over the bar.
Apart
from a speculative turn & shot by Phil Ruggles, from just outside the area,
in the 81st minute, most of the remaining goal-scoring chances were
created by the visitors. In the 80th minute, Walid Matata put the ball
behind the Moles’ defence, for Nick Wright to run on to, but Nick completely
fluffed his attempt at a chip into the middle. He delivered a much better
cross, from a free-kick awarded for an obvious push on Jason Stuart, in the 81st
minute, but this was headed behind for a corner by John Murphy. In the 83rd
minute, Jason again showed that he might be a useful late addition to the
squad, when he latched onto a through-ball and touched it past a defender, but
Wayne Noad came across with a good covering tackle.
Joe
Hitchings, our intrepid 16 year-old, did, unsurprisingly, start to tire towards
the end of the match, but he did feed a good ball forward to Jason in the 84th
minute, which drew a free-kick right on the edge of the penalty area. Ian Ross
and Nick Wright stood over the ball, and Rossi’s presence brought back memories
of his brilliant free-kick against Molesey in the final game of last season –
which is one of my all-time favourite Ashford Town
Inevitably,
things got a little nervy as full time approached, with Ashford failing to
extend the one-goal lead – this is a team that is unused to winning, and we’d
witnessed enough late, late disappointments in recent seasons to not take the
three points for granted. It was in the 87th minute that things
started to get just a bit wobbly, with Jake Whincup having to come out and save
at the feet of substitute Youssef Metwali. Seconds later, Simon Glover conceded
a corner, when attempting to shepherd the ball out for a goal-kick. The
resulting cross looked like it had almost gone out of play as it was delivered
to the far post, and there was a breathless silence as the small crowd of 77
witnessed a short game of footy pin-ball, before Gary Clarke nodded the ball
behind for another corner. This time the cross was low, and aimed at Jay
Richardson, in the “D”, but his attempt at a spectacular, volleyed equaliser
went miles over the bar. In spite of his much improved performance this
afternoon, Jake still managed to alarm the travelling Ashford fans when he
fluffed the resulting goal-kick straight to Richard Thompson. I have to report,
second-hand, that the defence soon got back to snuff out the half-chance – my
hands were covering my eyes at the time !
It
was a close-run thing for Man of the Match. Gary Clarke once again had a really
good game, as did Marc Cumberbatch, and Steve Sodje had very solid claims,
having had a good, all-round game, as well as scoring two well-taken goals. Asa
Hall was also considered, as, apart from his rick that led to Molesey’s goal
and the tackle that led to the penalty, he played extremely well. Tommy
Adlington had less to do, but I didn’t see him put a foot wrong. In the end,
Jake just shaded it, for the penalty save and for a performance that gave
plenty of confidence to the defence.
This
win eases Ashford out of the bottom two once again, and with Godalming Town
losing a huge six-pointer away at Chatham
In
spite of the lift that the three points will give to the squad, and to everyone
concerned with the Club, these are still very challenging times, as we have
Whyteleafe, at home, on Easter Monday, before the Cray Wanderers match becomes
the third game in five days.
Man of the Match
(to go towards
the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Jake Whincup
(Answer to the Anorak’s Corner Quiz: Marc Cumberbatch,
Kenny Jarrett-Elliott, Stuart Playford, Ian Ross, Richard Sinden and Joby
Thorogood).
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