ARCHIVE: Stamford v Ashford Town. Doc Martens League Division 1 East. 2000-1 season.

Stamford AFC       1       Ashford Town      2

From Your Milton Keynes Correspondent

As an occasional spectator at Ashford’s (mainly away) games, from our home near MK, this was to be our first look at Sven-Goran Sampson’s new squad. In fact, the last time we saw the team play had been in the corresponding match last season, almost exactly a year ago. Things were very different then. Ashford Town were joint-top of the league (with Folkestone !) and Lee McRobert was on a run of having scored in (what was it ?  thirteen ?  fourteen ?) consecutive matches. A very young Stamford side was no match, and we won 1-0, with a Scott McRobert goal.

It was going to be much tougher this time. Stamford going well in fourth place in the league, and Ashford under new management, and with an almost entirely different team (I expected Tony Eeles to be the only survivor from last year’s game). My confident prediction to my wife, as we drove up the A1, was 4-2 to the home side (and this is before I had any inkling of Tommy’s appalling injury crisis, with eight first-teamers unavailable). This was on the grounds that, whilst the boys have shown themselves capable of scoring against anyone at this level, we’ve consistently come up short against the stronger teams in the division, losing at home to the likes of Grantham and Rothwell, and getting a good shellacking at Tonbridge – and, of course, we’ve had as many clean sheets this year as a Romanian orphanage !

For non-travellers, Stamford’s is a cosy, compact little ground, with seats in a small main stand on one side, and a long, covered standing area on the other. The ground is virtually invisible from the road – with Stamford being such a pretty, picturesque place, that’s probably how the local council likes it !  One of the best features of the ground is that there’s a little hatch on the far side where you can get hot tea or bovril –in a proper mug ! – at any time during the match. That’s one of the beauties of non-league footy. Who needs prawn sandwiches ?

So the match began with two mugs of bovril (I don’t understand how those Railway Boys can drink beer during the day !), and with Ashford Town kicking off, playing into a stiffish breeze in the first half. (I’ve always thought that the direction of the wind doesn’t make a blind bit of difference to the game, but all match reports seem to mention it, so there you are).

The first shock, of course, was that Eelesy wasn’t playing. This was a blow. In my view, he’s been consistently our class act over the past few years. Also missing was the very experienced Jason Ash, Ashford’s ex-Conference defender, so these were two key positions that had to be filled.

The first 10 minutes passed with little incident – the home side had most possession, but managed only three wasted corners, and two soft shots that amounted to little more than back-passes for Craig Tucker in goal.

After 12 minutes, Ashford launched their first attack. Steve Marshall picked the ball up in the Stamford half, carried the ball across field and found left-back Bradley Hobbs unmarked on the left. Bradley’s curling shot was accurate, and ended up in the corner of the Stamford net. (It seemed to happen in slow-motion, but maybe that’s because I’ve been watching too much “proper footy” on Sky). Anyway, 1-0 to the lads, with their first attack.

Three minutes later, the Daniels (yes, that’s Stamford’s nick-name – must be a candidate for the most stupid team nick-name of all time !) counter-attacked. A cross came over from the right, but the red-shirted striker side-footed over the bar, with what was obviously his weaker foot.

The constant cry from Tucker in the Ashford goal was “Shape !  Shape !” (must’ve been craving for yoghurt) at the team in front of him, and the shape of the team did look good, and was evident throughout the match. Three centre-backs (the versatile Jon Warden, Skipper Steve Robinson and one of the young draft, Darren Hover), two wide backs, playing a shade ahead of the back three, and Adrian Webster and Aaron O’Leary in central midfield; 40 year-old coach Steve Lovell played up front, well apart from his striking partner, Steve Marshall, with Paul Ribbens playing fairly deep in left midfield. The two lads in the middle did well – young Adrian Webster showed great skill on occasions, and O’Leary looked every inch a senior player, as if he’d been playing in the first team all his life.

The first quarter of the game saw mainly Stamford possession, but they made little impression on the Ashford defence. Then, after 27 minutes, Aaron O’Leary took a corner on the Ashford right, which Steve Robinson headed wide – but the ball was somehow kept in play, and when the ball found its way back to O’Leary, he shot wide.

On the half hour, Stamford attacked down the left and the Ashford defence failed to clear – the ball fell to a Stamford player in space in the area, whose slightly looping shot from 16 yards found its way into the corner of Craig Tucker’s net. (Again, it seemed to happen in slow motion – maybe there was something in the bovril). One all, and game on !

More danger for the Nuts & Bolts (now that’s a proper nick-name !) after 32 minutes, with Steve Robinson under pressure, facing his own goal; his back-pass to the ‘keeper was well short, but Tucker’s clearance cannoned off the legs of the advancing home striker, and went out for a throw-in.

A minute later, and the first moment of real quality in the match. Stamford centre-forward Dennis Rhule – easily the home side’s most dangerous striker – collected the ball from another throw-in, swivelled and shot in one movement, and brought out a full-length diving save from Tucker at the foot of his right-hand post. The header from the resulting corner was straight at the ‘keeper. Danger over.

After 39 minutes, with the ship steadied, Ashford launched an attack, which culminated in a shot from young right-back Steve Taylor. This was a typical full-back’s effort. Those of you who’ve been watching footy for few years will understand perfectly what I mean by this – the ball sliced off his left foot and ended up …… well, not where he was looking. (I should say, though, in fairness to the lad, that he had a pretty solid game in defence throughout).

Forty minutes gone, with the green shirts on the attack again. Steve Marshall picked the ball up, wriggled clear of a crowd of three or four Stamford players and went on a cross-field run that seemed like a carbon copy of the run that had led to our opening goal. This time, however, his left-foot shot was wide.

Half-time, and time for another long-standing non-league tradition – the playing of shite music over the tannoy – and Stamford Association Football Club didn’t let us down, with some old Slade. Corby Town still lead the field in recent times, though, with last year’s belting out of “Yummy, yummy, yummy, I’ve got love in my tummy” !

Back to important matters. The second half began with a bit of a scare. A long ball came across Ashford’s penalty area from the right, which Steve Taylor cleared for a corner, but it looked perilously close to an own goal, from where we were standing (although I’m sure that Steve knew what he was doing !).

After 51 minutes, that man Rhule was in possession again, with his back to goal on the edge of the Ashford area. His marker, Jon Warden, allowed him to turn, but his shot was well saved by Craig Tucker. In fairness to Warden, this was not typical, as he had Rhule pretty well under control for most of the game. In fact, despite plenty of pressure from Stamford, Ashford’s back three did well to stand firm, and looked secure. Young Darren Hover looked very much at home in his central position.

Fifty-seven minutes had elapsed when ex-Welsh international Steve Lovell rolled back the years with some ball juggling near the touch-line. Unfortunately, though, he lost the ball, but the resulting back-pass from the Stamford defender was never going to reach Corry in the home goal. Steve Marshall pounced on the ball, steadied himself and slammed the ball into the back of the net. Nothing slow-motion about that one !

Ashford visibly grew in confidence on taking the lead for a second time, and after 63 minutes the Stamford centre-half (a big bugger, that one !) gave away a needless corner, under pressure from the hard-working Lovell. The ‘keeper flapped at the resulting cross, but got away with it – the ball was cleared.

A minute later, Steve Robinson conceeded a free-kick near the corner flag on Ashford’s right. From the free-kick, Stamford looked sure to score from a header, but, somehow, Craig Tucker got down to save, in the manner of Gordon Banks’s famous save against Pelé in the Mexico World Cup, in 1970. (For the benefit of younger readers, these people were footballers). Having said that, this was 30 years ago, and I was a long way from the incident on Saturday – anyway, it was a cracking save, and the ball was scrambled clear for a corner. Again, Stamford tried the aerial route, but the header was wide.

Stamford were now applying constant pressure, in search of an equaliser, and, after 67 minutes, they had a throw-in on the right, near the corner flag. A long throw came in, the the ball was flicked on, and Rhule shot just over, from close range. Three minutes later, the same striker was pushed, and fell, in the area, by Steve Robinson, but the referee decided not to award a penalty.

After 71 minutes, Ashford at last broke free, with Paul Ribbens carrying the ball into the Stamford half, supported, unusually, by three team-mates. Unfortunately, the break ended when Steve Marshall’s right-footed cross sailed over the bar.

On 73 minutes, Tommy Sampson made Ashford’s one and only substitution, throwing on Scott Thomas, yet another of the youngsters from the reserve squad, in place of Bradley Hobbs. Scott made an immediate impact, looking lively and committed on Ashford’s left flank.

Seventy-five minutes gone, and the ref goes over to the visitors’ bench to, presumably, tell Tommy to keep his gob shut. This was a noteworthy occurrence, in as much as this was the nearest that anyone came in the match to being cautioned !

Ashford now appeared to have weathered the worst of the storm, and, around the 78 minute mark, we had a brief period of sustained pressure – the attack ended with Australian Adrian Webster, joining the attack from midfield, shooting well wide.

Eighty-two minutes, and the ball is back at the other end – another long Stamford throw-in is allowed to bounce in the penalty-area, and Darren Hover’s header back to Craig Tucker almost takes the Ashford ‘keeper by surprise, but he manages to catch the ball just below the cross-bar.

It’s now a holding job for the greens as the match enters its final stages – hoofing the ball to safety deep into the Stamford half is now very much in vogue, with Stamford’s attempts to equalise looking more and more desperate, and less and less likely to succeed. There are 89 minutes on the clock, and Stamford’s fresh sub, Malcolm Ndekwe, carries the ball with pace and purpose into the Ashford area – this is surely Stamford’s last throw of the dice, and surely the last opportunity for Ashford to actually draw a game, in this the 21^st game of the season !  But, no, his fierce right-foot shot is well off-target, to the anguish of the small gathering of home supporters (although the crowd of 144 is actually seven more than there were at last season’s game).

But, wait !  Paul Ribbens is adjudged to have fouled a Stamford player (he never touched him, ref !), deep in his own half – the cross from the resulting free-kick, however, is headed well over the bar, and this time it really is the home side’s last chance.

The game ends with Ashford keeping possession with a passing game (which I thought was illegal in the Southern League), and Steve Marshall taking the ball to the corner flag, to run down time. It’s at this point that we over-hear a Stamford supporter say : “Well, if we can’t beat a team like Ashford ….”. This was a totally unfair comment, as the boys did the job well, and deserved to walk away with the three points.

So my pre-match prediction was only half right. So what ?  I’m a poet, not a bloody tipster !

My wife reckons that Saturday’s Ashford team was far better than the one we saw win here twelve months ago – controlling the ball better, and making more intelligent use of it. Considering that last year’s side was vastly more experienced, and almost certainly far better paid, that should put a smile on Tommy’s face. (Well, where else could he have one ?).