Sittingbourne A Ashford Town
(Match abandoned after 42 minutes, due to floodlight failure, with the score 2-0 to Sittingbourne)
from Your Milton Keynes
Correspondent
This
was quite an important little milestone, this game – even though it was
destined to be abandoned before half time, due to floodlight failure. This was
our first match against one of our old rivals from North
Kent since being reunited with them, in the Ryman League, at the
start of the season. The restructuring of the non-league pyramid during the
Summer effectively saw us lose fixtures against Newport (IoW), Bashley and
Lymington & New Milton, and gain Kent Derbies against Dartford, Chatham and
tonight’s hosts, Sittingbourne.
I’m
a stranger to most grounds in Kent
– I’ve only been to Tonbridge and Chatham, outside of Ashford – so it’s not
surprising that this was my first visit to Bourne Park
Sittingbourne’s
ground is situated at the arse end of a large industrial estate that borders Milton Creek Bourne
Park
As
far as the football club is concerned, the grand stadium on the hill is a
symbol of a previous age, not too long ago actually, of big ambitions, big
ideas and big investment. I think that it’s now used exclusively for greyhound
racing, whilst the football club strives hard to build from a far more modest
facility. Liquid refreshment is available in what looks like a large Portakabin,
situated at one end, which visitors more familiar with the ground tell me is a
fairly recent addition. The only seated accommodation available is in the
fairly small, red-seated main stand, on one side of the pitch, with a couple of
fairly “Heath Robinson” canopies on the other side, behind the dug-outs. One of
these is labeled “Blakey’s Garden Shed”, which adds a nice touch of humour to
the ground. The main stand gives quite a good, elevated view of the pitch, and
also of the stacks of pallets in the factory and warehouse yards that surround
the ground – which is quite a contrast to the backdrop of rolling green hills
that we used to get at Dorking and on the Isle of Wight .
The industrial landscape is completed by the corrugated steel fence that
encloses the ground – very much like at Banstead’s former ground.
An
addition to the ground in the close season were two floodlight pylons, moved in
from the Club’s training pitch, bringing the total number of pylons up from
four to six, and adding to the floodlights that are fixed to the roof of the
stand. There had recently been a problem with these lights, as they had failed
a Ryman League inspection – this was not due to the total amount of light shone
on the pitch, but to the pattern of light, which was apparently not
distributing light in a manner that met with the League’s approval. The result
was that the lights needed to be realigned, and that the necessary work had to
be done by a given deadline – this deadline must have been met, as otherwise
tonight’s game wouldn’t have been allowed to take place here.
But
more on the floodlights later !
This
was a very important game for the Ashford players, coming after a wonderful
(and, let’s face it, recently undreamt of) run of four consecutive victories,
and then a very brave performance, in defeat, in the FA Cup on Saturday against
Tonbridge Angels, an obviously better side. Having collectively rediscovered
how to win, it was crucial for this group of players to consolidate with a
decent performance in the league. Somehow, though, I had my doubts. The recent
sequence of wins had appeared to be starting to take their toll, with several
players in the 18-man squad carrying injuries, and the lads being reported to
have looked a little tired in the second half on Saturday. I just had a feeling
that they might have been running on adrenalin and momentum recently, and was
prepared to see them look a little bit flat for this Tuesday night game.
For
once, my psychic powers were working, as the boys looked a bit jaded tonight.
I’m not saying that they didn’t give 100% effort, but they certainly lacked the
snap and intensity that they must have had during the previous five games.
Also, the growing list of niggling injuries and strains had an impact on team
selection, as Kenny Jarrett-Elliott was given time to rest his strained
hamstring on the bench, being replaced by Simon Glover, who has now served his
three-game suspension for the red card he received against Molesey. Gloves was
actually given the skipper’s armband for the game this evening.
The
remainder of the team had a fairly familiar look about it, with the two young
lads, Dan Tanner and Barry Crawford, once again in central defence, in front of
Simon Overland in goal, and with the old gits, Tom Adlington and Ian Ross,
either side of them. Anthony Allman, who’s been impressing people in recent
games, and Gary Clarke were in the centre of midfield; we had the little &
large combination of former Sittingbourne player Richard Sinden and George
Fenwick in attack, with Joby again wide on the right. We had a full quota of
subs on the bench, although I wouldn’t vouch for the fitness of many of them –
alongside Kenny were Marc Cumberbatch, Joff Thorogood, Stuart Playford and Joe
Hitchins. To complete the medical bulletin, Peter Mortley watched the game from
the stand; Morts looked pretty fit, and now just needs an opportunity to get
some playing time under his belt. Former Ashford boss George Wakeling was also
in the stand, obviously on a fact-finding mission for his current club, Tooting
& Mitcham, who play Sittingbourne on Saturday.
For
the first ten minutes of the game, George saw his former club doing most of the
pressing, but without actually managing to get a shot on target. Best chance in
this period came as a result of what was surely the pass of the match, when,
from the half-way line, George Fenwick turned and floated a cross-field ball
into space on the right, for Joby Thorogood to run onto. Joby attempted to
cross the ball, from close to the by-line, but the ball struck the
out-stretched arm of a defender. There were shouts for a penalty, but the
incident occurred just outside the penalty area, so all we got was a free-kick.
This was taken, in-swinging, by Ian Ross - the cross was too deep, but the ball
went off a defender, for another corner, on the other side. This one was taken
by Anthony Allman; Sinders got up to meet the cross, in the centre, but he just
failed to get high enough, and his attempt sailed over the bar.
Ashford,
playing in their green & navy home strip, given that the new away strip
features sockies and shorts that are of the same shade of black as
Sittingbourne’s, were the side trying to get the ball on the floor and play,
whilst The Brickies adopted a more Route One strategy. I can’t say whether the
home side always plays in this manner, but I think that it’s a fair bet that
they had our defence scouted, and realised that what we lack in the centre of
defence is pace. And what’s more, it was apparent all night (or at least during
what play we saw) that the tactic was absolutely right, as both Dan and Barry
struggled against the pace of the Sittingbourne forwards whenever the ball was
lobbed over the defensive line and they were turned. This is a little worrying,
and certainly raised one or two doubts about what has recently proved to be a
very successful pairing in central defence.
The
first dividend for Sittingbourne came in the eleventh minute, when The Brickies
took the lead. A long, high ball out of defence was allowed to bounce, and
Barry Crawford was beaten to the ball by Andy Doerr. The Number Ten’s shot was
well saved by Simon Overland, but broke to Mark Lovell, on the edge of the box,
who drilled the loose ball into the corner of the net.
In
the twelfth minute, George Fenwick and the Linesman on the stand’s side of the
ground both incurred the wrath of the home players and supporters – George for
blatantly leaving his foot in on Toby Ashmore, and the Lino for not spotting it
when it happened right under his nose. The official probably got crossed off a
few more Christmas card lists in Sittingbourne a couple of minutes later, when
Joby Thorogood was pushed to the ground on the edge of the area – although
referee Woodward saw nothing untoward, Hawk-eye did, and flagged for a
free-kick in a dangerous position. Anthony Allman lined up the kick, and his
curling shot, over the defensive wall, went just wide of the top corner of the
goal.
In
the 17th minute, the ever-improving George Fenwick did well on the
right, near the corner flag, and managed to put in a good cross; Simon Glover
got up to meet the ball with his head, but his attempt had little momentum
behind it, and went well over the bar.
In
was in the 22nd minute, at just about the time that Simon Overland
saved well, diving low to his left, to stop a shot from Mitchell Sherwood, that
the lights went out – well, it was actually the lights on one pylon that went
out; this was the new pylon at the end that Ashford were defending, in the
corner, to Simon’s left.
Initially,
though, the game continued, and the Ashford defence had two distinctly dodgy
moments before the players left the pitch in the 28th minute. Three minutes
prior to the enforced break, there was a misunderstanding between Dan Tanner
and Simon Overland. It looked like Simon was coming out to collect the ball
when Dan put what was supposed to be a back-pass past his ‘keeper, for a
corner. The resulting cross, from the left, was too deep, and the danger
passed. In the 26th minute, however, another long through-ball from
the Brickies’ defence had our defenders in trouble again – Andy Doerr beat Dan
Tanner in the chase for the bouncing ball, but his weak shot was pulled across
the face of goal.
So
Mr Woodward took the players off the field for the first time in the 28th
minute. As I understand the sequence of events, Simon Overland informed his
captain, Simon Glover, that he was having problems with picking up the flight
of the ball when it was crossed from the side of the pitch where the lights had
gone out – Gloves made a cricket-style appeal to the umpire on the grounds of
bad light, and the official upheld his appeal. I think this was absolutely the
right decision, although there were plenty of Sittingbourne fans in the stand
who didn’t realise that, just because there’s enough light in the centre circle
to read a newspaper, it doesn’t mean that the goalie doesn’t have a problem
with following the flight of the ball when it moves out of darkness into light.
So
we waited and we waited, with most people in the crowd of 169 holding out
little hope of a resumption. Many went off to the bar, whilst others waited
patiently in the stand, where they were at least cosy and sheltered from the
chilly breeze. Did the man in charge of the music being played over the tanoy
have a sense of humour when he played “Mr Blue Sky” ? We’ll never know. Anyway, a full 50 minutes
after players and officials had trooped off to the dressing-room, the lights on
the new pylon suddenly, and seemingly miraculously, were illuminated. Tony
Blackburn then announced that the match would resume after another five
minutes, the players from both sides had a brief warm-up on the pitch, and the
game duly restarted, with an Ashford goal-kick, at 9.10pm.
Within
two minutes of the restart, we had a free-kick in a promising position, after a
foul on George Fenwick. Rossi curled a cross into the penalty area, but the
ball was headed behind for a corner by Dean Stephens. Rossi again went across
to take the kick, on the right; this time the cross was punched clear by
Brickies’ ‘keeper Steve Williams, as far as Joby Thorogood, who sliced his
attempt at a long-range shot high and wide.
Ashford’s
best chance of an equaliser came and went three minutes later – if you’re
struggling to work it out, this was officially in the 33rd minute
(and definitely approaching my bed time). A neat little header from George
Fenwick put Richard Sinden clean through on goal; Sinders dribbled the ball
into the Brickies’ area, before, quite clearly I thought, being hauled down by
a chasing defender pulling on his shirt. Unfortunately, no penalty was given.
As
so often happens, the opportunity for 1-1 can soon turn into 2-0 at the other
end, and that’s precisely what happened, two minutes later. The chance for
Sittingbourne came when Mitchell Sherwood picked the ball up to the left of the
Ashford penalty area; Sherwood’s low shot was saved by Simon Overland, but Andy
Doerr was there to stick the ball in from close range.
The
second goal did nothing to improve the mood of an Ashford side that had already
shown distinct signs of being tired and tetchy, even with one another, and
Tommy Adlington temporarily blew his stack, in the 36th minute,
after being on the receiving end of an elbow, which he obviously felt that the
ref should’ve seen. I didn’t see the alleged incident, but everyone in the
ground heard Tommy’s brief, but colourful, account of what had happened. Mr
Woodward clearly didn’t appreciate the advice, so showed Tommy a yellow card.
(I’m not sure what happens with yellow cards when a game is abandoned, but I
suspect that they might be rescinded).
A
minute later, a hand-ball by Barry “fried Mars Bars” Crawford presented
Sittingbourne with a free-kick deep in the Ashford half. The kick was played
square, to Paul Ainsworth, whose low, firm shot was always going wide. Barry
was in the thick of it again in the 39th minute, after Andy Doerr
was very late with a challenge on Joby Thorogood. The Scotsman took great
exception to the challenge, and squared up to Doerr, but managed to keep his
arms by his side – nevertheless, he still got shown the yellow card by the ref.
In the 42nd minute, Simon Glover went on a
dribbling run, down the right wing, and won a corner. Rossi took the kick, but,
as the ball was sailing through the night air, the lights on the pylon in the
diagonally opposite corner of the ground went “ping”, and it didn’t take much
working out to know that that was going to be the end of the evening’s
entertainment, (in spite of a rather forlorn appeal of “Is there an electrician
in the house ?” from the man on the tanoy).
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