ARCHIVE: Tooting & Mitcham United v Ashford Town. Ryman League Division 1 South. 2005-6 season.

Tooting & Mitcham United   2                 Ashford Town   2

from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent

This has to go down as another entry in the “Ashford Town Book of Absolute Sickeners”. As the watch approached the 90 minute mark, we were deservedly 1-2 up, against a very good Tooting & Mitcham side, and the most recent information from the Isle of Wight had told us that Newport were 0-1 down to our mates at Dover. Tooting were, by this time, down to ten men, so it seemed that we were witnessing a pivotal afternoon in our wretched season. Four points clear of Newport, with a game in hand ?  Unfortunately, no. A few minutes later, we were reflecting on two absolutely priceless points thrown away with an embarrassing 91^st-minute defensive mix-up, and were digesting the news that Newport had also somehow managed a late equaliser against Dover.

The fact that Ashford’s players and supporters left Tooting’s impressive Imperial Fields ground disappointed and deflated after a 2-2 draw is a measure of how well the boys played today, and of the fact that they deserved more than just the point.

Approaching this afternoon’s visit to South London, most of us would have mugged an old lady for a point away to Tooting, who began the day in 4^th place. (If only it were that simple !). Feelings of apprehension were heightened by the fact that we knew that we would be without two key, experienced defenders: Tommy Adlington and Peter Mortley. Tommy sustained a nasty gash on his right ankle in the final minutes of the friendly against Folkestone on Monday – we lost the previous two games that Tommy missed 5-0 and 0-5, and our last visit to Imperial Fields ended with an 8-3 shellacking. Morts did a groin against Fleet last Saturday, the same game in which Ian Ross tweaked a hamstring, but, fortunately, Rossi was fit enough to lead the team out this afternoon (albeit with his right thigh strapped up). This was good news from the point of view of the defence, and Rossi’s quality crosses and long balls from deep were once again just about Ashford’s best chance of creating a goal-scoring chance.

There were a few important changes in personnel to the Ashford team, and most of these involved opportunities for members of the Reserves squad. One of two Ressies to play all 90 minutes of the game was Scotsman Barry Crawford, who partnered Marc Cumberbatch in a new central defensive pairing. This meant that Mark Banks, who’s had a very good season at the back, was desperately unlucky to be relegated to the bench. Nevertheless, it was immediately obvious why The Management had made this change – whilst Banksy has a huge heart, he’s fairly slightly built for a centre-half, and Crawford gave us much more strength and presence in the middle. In fact, he had an outstanding game, and the probability is that the Ressies won’t be seeing much of him for the remainder of this season.

The other lad who stepped up from the Reserves was striker Noddy Penfold, who looked OK when he came on for about twenty minutes against Fleet last Saturday, and reportedly did well in Monday’s friendly. He partnered Joby Thorogood up front, in Ashford’s usual 4-4-2 formation. Neither he nor Joby had a clear sight of goal today – so creating chances is still a problem, in spite of the good, all-round team performance – but Noddy did enough to suggest that he is a better option as Joby’s striking partner than either Marc Cumberbatch or Shaun Bradshaw. He showed himself to be strong, both in the air and on the ground, and we saw some good touches and intelligent flicks and through-balls from him. It might take a game or two for him to develop an understanding with Joby, but he looks and behaves like a striker, so this will surely come. It might also be interesting to see, at some stage, how he plays with Aiden Purseglove, his regular partner in the Reserves. (Aiden scored twice today for the Ressies in a 4-3 victory over Erith Town Reserves).

The back five was completed by Jamie Smith, at right-back, and Dave Wietecha, in goal. The midfield quartet, from right to left, was made up of Joffy Thorogood, RJ Boorman, Gary Clarke and the improving Kenny Jarrett-Elliott, whose fragile confidence should have been boosted by another good performance. Kenny is looking stronger with every appearance – he won a few balls in the air this afternoon – and this is probably as much to do with his increasing self-belief, as physical strength or fitness.

On the bench with Mark Banks we had Shaun Bradshaw, Danny Jones (another of the Reserves squad) and Dan Tanner (signed from Folkestone Invicta, but latterly having been on loan to Sittingbourne).

One certainty about today was that it was going to be bloody freezing. Therefore, I came equipped with my thermals and two pairs of socks, and Mrs Milton Keynes Correspondent came dressed in about a dozen layers of clothing. In a week in which the hot favourites dropped like flies at Cheltenham, it probably wasn’t surprising that the temperature expectation also failed to materialise. In fact, in spite of an official temperature of 6˚C, it felt positively balmy. This had much to do with the fact that the large, imposing stand here provided excellent shelter from the cuttingly cold wind.

I must say that most things about Imperial Fields are impressive. The main stand is part of a rather plush health, fitness and leisure centre, which includes a café bar in which we had an excellent lunch. (A far cry from the cheese roll wrapped in cling-film that you might be lucky to get at the likes of Molesey and Banstead !). There is plenty of seating in the main stand, where the black & white seats spell “TMFC” – (I always think that looks good). There is also loads of standing room; this is certainly the only ground in our division where the terracing behind each goal extends to a height above the crossbar of the goal. Given the capacity of the ground, today’s crowd of 233 must’ve been a bit disappointing for our hosts.

Missing from the scene today was a sloping pitch, although the playing surface was quirky in the sense that it was very dry and bumpy – I had to do a double-take when I saw clouds of dust being kicked up, with so many matches in our division having been postponed recently due to waterlogging. The environmental condition of significance today was the strong breeze, and Ashford, in their all-yellow strip, kicked into this breeze in the first half.

Tooting, in their black & white striped shirts (à la Newcastle United, Dorchester, Bromley, Grantham, Juventus etc), black shorts and black socks, exerted the early pressure, attempting to stretch the Ashford defence with long balls into the corners, but passes somehow went astray, and they were unable to convert possession into worthwhile chances. Then Ashford took the lead, in the 16^th minute, with what was really our first attack. A fairly innocuous long ball from the Ashford defence should have been dealt with comfortably by Paul Borg, in the home goal, but his attempt to hoof clear was horribly sliced, and the ball spiralled out for a corner. RJ Boorman took the kick, on the left, and sent over a deep cross, beyond the far post. Marc Cumberbatch, up for the corner, timed his leap to perfection, and headed into the far corner of the net.

This was an unexpected setback for our hosts, who are currently looking good for a place in the promotion play-offs, and they attacked down the left flank, with Amadou Kouman, in the 18^th minute. Kouman’s cross went all along the edge of the Ashford 18-yard box, before reaching Denva McKenzie, who turned and shot well over the bar. (Incidentally, our own Denver wasn’t in attendance today – but I can’t shed any light as to the reason for his absence).

In the 20^th minute, Ashford had a second corner, after Aaron Day put the ball behind when he really should have fed the ball back to his ‘keeper. With the corner being on the right, the kick was taken by Ian Ross. This time it was Barry Crawford who was the target, but, although Barry got to the ball first, he could do no more than knock the ball behind for a goal-kick.

At the other end, Tooting had a free-kick, in the 22^nd minute, when Jamie Smith fouled his man whilst challenging for the ball in the air. Whilst the free-kick was curled over the three-man wall, it went all the way through the box, for a goal-kick. A minute later, there was disruption to the Tooting & Mitcham game plan, when one of their full-backs had to be substituted with Ryan Adams, almost certainly due to injury.

In the 25^th minute, RJ Boorman tried a long-range shot from about the centre of the Tooting half – this effort was sliced harmlessly wide, but a shot on goal from an Ashford midfield player is always worthy of note, due to its sheer rarity value !  Something else to note is that the visitors had the rub of the green with some strange refereeing decisions from Mr Downey, in the first half, much to the annoyance and frustration of the home bench and supporters. (Their moans were music to our ears – like a symphony orchestra).

There was no help required from the officials, however, in the 32^nd minute, when Ashford put together their best move of the match – and this was very nearly a triumph for the Thorogood family. Joby did brilliantly to rob one of the Tooting back four, break through a tackle from another and then set off down the left wing. Joby sent in a great cross to his brother, Joffy, whose diving header went over the bar. Two minutes later, Noddy Penfold did some quality work when holding the ball up well, before turning and sliding an intelligent ball through for Joby, but Paul Borg was alert enough to come out and save at his feet.

Tooting’s first equaliser came in the 39^th minute, at a time when Ashford looked comfortable with the lead; what was more galling was the fact that it was a pretty soft goal to give away. There appeared to be no danger as Dave Wietecha was about to claim a tame cross, which was coming to him all along the ground; he called for the ball at just about the same time that Marc Cumberbatch virtually kicked the ball out of his hands. The clearance went straight to Jamie Findlay, on the right. Findlay’s cross was headed goalwards by Scott Kinch, and Big Dave appeared to have made a great save, palming the ball over the bar, but the ball looped up and plopped just over the line. The referee, who was 25 yards away, had no hesitation in judging that the ball was over the line, which was a little surprising, in view of some of the rather more obvious things that he missed, but I’m pretty sure that it was the correct decision.

On the stroke of half-time, however, the ref was back in strange decisions mode. Ashford were awarded a hotly disputed free-kick, near the right-hand touch-line, after an incident during which Tooting’s Scott Kinch went down in a heap. After quite a lengthy break for treatment, the referee added insult to injury by showing Kinch a yellow card. On the restart, Noddy Penfold got up well to meet Ian Ross’s free-kick with his head, but was unable to direct his effort towards goal.

So a little disappointing to only be all-square at the break, especially as the news from the island was that Newport were holding Dover, 0-0.

In the opening seconds of the second half, Tooting had a free-kick, just outside the Ashford area, after Jamie Smith had carelessly fouled his man – he also protested by knocking the ball away, so picked up an even more careless yellow card. Again, Ashford faced the danger with a three-man wall. John Shirley curled a cross over this wall, but Dave Wietecha punched clear.

In the 49^th minute, Jamie did some good work down the right side of the pitch, which ended with him threading the ball through to Joby Thorogood, in the area. Joby headed for the by-line, but went down under a challenge in the penalty area. Whilst there were differing views as to whether a penalty should have been given, I reckon that we were unlucky, as the contact was made with Joby at hip level, and the ball was long gone. Unfortunately, the referee waved away the penalty appeals, thus cancelling out all the little decisions that went our way in the first half !

After 52 minutes, Noddy Penfold rather blotted his copybook, when he showed a flash of temperament that the first team squad really doesn’t need. (There are more than enough short fuses on the pitch and on the bench as it is !). Noddy got involved with Tooting’s Scott Kinch, and kicked out at him several times. The referee was right on the spot, and there was every chance that he was going to produce a straight red card. Surprisingly, though, the result was a yellow card for the home side’s No.3, Craig Tanner, in what appeared to be a simple case of mistaken identity, (although I suppose it would be wrong to assume that the man’s an idiot, just because I don’t know why he took this action).

As the half wore on, Tooting looked increasingly dangerous, and started to make raids into the Ashford area. On the hour mark, Marc Cumberbatch, having done well to head a corner clear (in spite of being fouled) a few minutes earlier, had to come across with a good saving tackle to thwart Amadou Kouman, and the resulting corner was headed clear by Barry Crawford. Two minutes later, Kouman made another run into the box, and went down under pressure from two Ashford defenders. There was a view that the referee’s refusal to award a penalty evened up the decision involving Joby Thorogood, just 13 minutes earlier, but I thought that a penalty would have been harsh on this occasion. The resulting corner was curled low, towards the near post, and was put behind again, by Gary Clarke. The follow-up corner was floated long, to the far post, and was punched clear by Dave Wietecha.

There then followed a period of ten to 15 minutes during which there was almost no football, but plenty of messing about with substitutuions, treatment to players and different coloured cards being waved around. The first of the substitutions during this time saw Mikael Munday come on as Tooting’s second sub, with Tyran James replacing John Shirley a few minutes later. Joffy Thorogood picked up his customary yellow card – this time for something he said to the referee – in the 69^th minute. Then Scott Kinch was sent off, in one of the strangest dismissals I’ve seen. The linesman called the referee over, to report something that he had seen, and the result was a second yellow card for the amazed Kinch. One theory bandied about after the game was that Kinch had taken a drink during Tooting’s third substitution, in spite of the Lino telling him not to, and that this was enough to earn him his second yellow – but who knows ?!

Back to the football, and, after 74 minutes, Joby Thorogood sent in what looked to be a fairly harmless cross, from the left, but this effort only just went over the bar, landing on the roof of the net. Then in the 77^th minute, shortly after the news came in that Dover had taken the lead against Newport, Joby won the ball near the left corner flag, after chasing what looked to be a lost cause – he drew the foul, so giving RJ Boorman the chance to curl the ball into the Tooting area. This he did, but Tyran James headed the ball behind for a corner, on the right. Skipper Ian Ross floated the kick long, beyond the far post, where Marc Cumberbatch was left unmarked, as the last man. Marc headed the ball downwards, and, although there might have been a touch from the goalkeeper, or Joby Thorogood, or both, on the line, it was certainly Cumber’s goal. It’s quite ironic really – Marc had been playing as a striker for several weeks previously, and barely got close enough to see the goal posts; he reverts to being a defender, and then scores two goals ! 

The important thing, of course, was that we were 1-2 up, against ten men, with just 13 minutes left of normal time, and Newport were losing. (Happy days !).

In the 82^nd minute, Jamie Smith was a little harshly penalised for having his foot high, (and also in Amodou Kouman’s face). This was purely accidental, but referees obviously watch plenty of Champions League footy on the telly these days, so a free-kick was given. Before the kick was taken, The Management took the opportunity to make their first substitution; Kenny Three Names played well today, but he was showing distinct signs of flagging, and Danny Jones went on for his first team début. Danny’s first touch was a good one, heading Ryan Adams’s disappointing free-kick clear, from the edge of the Ashford area.

With three minutes of normal time left, Ashford could have wrapped up the points, when Joffy Thorogood broke down the left. He had RJ Boorman and Joby to choose from as runners through the middle, but rather delayed his pass to RJ too long. RJ checked, and eventually shot, but his effort was well saved by Paul Borg. There was another opportunity two minutes later, when Ashford once again broke from defence. A clearance from Ian Ross presented Joby Thorogood and Noddy Penfold with a two-on-two situation, but the killer blow remained elusive, and we got no more than a throw-in, near the corner flag, on the left.

It was at this time that The Management made what turned out to be an ill-starred substitution. Dan Tanner (no relation to Tooting’s Craig) went on for a brief début, replacing Jamie Smith – this was less a tactical move, and more due to the fact that Smudger’s short fuse was coming dangerously close to smouldering to nothing, (and his Dad had gone over to the bench to advise Tim Thorogood of as much). Whatever the reason, this decision was to be a major contributory factor in Tooting & Mitcham’s equaliser. With Dan Tanner taking his place in the centre of defence, and Marc Cumberbatch reverting to right-back, there was a major mix-up between Dave Wietecha and the debutant, as late as the 91^st minute. There seemed to be no danger as a long, hopeful ball into the Ashford area fell between Tanner and the ‘keeper (who had probably hardly been introduced). Whilst they debated whether Dave should come for the ball, Denva McKenzie nipped in and slid the ball into the net. Two communication break-downs, two equalisers for the home side.

So another sickener to add to the list, in the tortured history of Ashford Town Football Club. As has already been mentioned, news of Newport’s equaliser then rubbed salt into the wound.

It shouldn’t be forgotten, of course, that this was still an excellent point – certainly more than most of us expected us to get at the start of play. We also ended the day in the same position in which we started it: a point ahead of Newport, with a game in hand. More importantly, the performance was a good one, which gives us hope for the future. I’d stick my neck out and say that, if we had half of the season remaining, I’d have no fears of relegation at all with this squad of players. Unfortunately, we only have eight games remaining, so the margin for error is small.

Work continues to be done to further strengthen the squad. Even during Saturday, talks were being held to bring a proven striker to The Homelands. (I don’t know who this is, but if it’s who I think it is, then he’s someone who’s already been scoring goals this season for a team pushing for promotion at the top of Ryman Division One, and who averaged more than a goal a game at a lower level three seasons ago). I have heard that we’ve already signed an experienced centre-half – that you’ve all probably heard of. This isn’t the place to reveal his identity, but I’m sure that there will be an announcement soon. That means that we have plenty of cover in central defence: Cumberbatch, Mortley, Banks, Crawford, Tanner and this new bloke – quite apart from Tommy Adlington being able to fill in there.

Plenty of competition for places, then. There was also plenty of compo for Man of the Match this afternoon. The main candidates were the two centre-halves, Crawford and Cumberbatch, and RJ Boorman, who looks like he’s recapturing the form he showed at the start of the season – he looked good in possession, and was the one who put his foot on the ball, and changed the direction of attacks. We thought that Cumber just shaded it, and not just because he got the goals. Gary Clarke and Jamie Smith also deserve to be mentioned in dispatches, but everyone did a good job today.

Man of the Match

(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)

Marc Cumberbatch