Whyteleafe 1 Ashford Town 1
from Your Milton Keynes
Correspondent
Boxing Day 2006. This was another first for
us, going to a footy match on Boxing Day, as we’ve previously always spent the
day with the in-laws, as a sort of return leg from Christmas Day. It’s also a
day when, traditionally, the fixtures compilers arrange some local derbies for
clubs, to both minimise travelling for players and supporters, and to maximize
gate receipts for those clubs scheduled to play at home. It was a bit galling
for both Whyteleafe and Ashford Town, therefore, that, on a day when the
fixture lists included Ramsgate v Margate, Sittingbourne v Maidstone, Chatham v
Dartford and Erith & Belvedere v Erith Town, the two teams should be down
to play each other. Unsurprisingly, the match attracted a crowd of only 129.
This was also the fourth match of John
Cumberbatch’s reign as sole Manager, and it must be said that we approached the
game with a rare sense of hope, after John had got off the mark with a deserved
victory against a decidedly useful side in top-of-the-table Dulwich Hamlet on
Saturday. According to eye-witnesses from both sides, Ashford looked both
useful and committed. The victory was also founded upon a seemingly bizarre
team selection, with Anthony Allman and Simon Glover, our two “class acts” in
the centre of midfield for much of this season, being deployed at right- and
left-back, respectively, and with vertically-challenged Tom Adlington played in
central defence. Well, whether or not this was a stroke of genius from John, it
certainly seemed to do the trick. And, as if to make the point that this team
selection was not merely an aberration, the same starting line-up turned out
for this noon kick-off, in spite of centre-half Nick Fenwick being fit enough
to occupy a place on the bench - and all three of these lads had an excellent
game in defence today.
Before describing the day’s events, I feel I
should acknowledge a little debt of gratitude that we owe Whyteleafe FC, for
saving us from relegation at the end of the 2004-5 season. Travelling to
Horsham for the final game of that season, Ashford knew that they needed a
victory to ensure safety from making the drop down to the Kent League –
unfortunately, we got hammered 5-0, and it was only Whyteleafe’s 3-1 win over
Dorking, here at Church Road
That 2004-5 season was three relegation
scraps ago now, as we again find ourselves just three places from the bottom of
the table, with today’s opponents just one place below us, level on points, but
having played three games more. The game was therefore very much a six-pointer,
with our hosts arguably in even greater need of the points than ourselves –
they had also failed to register a single home win in the league this season,
(with their last such victory at home, I’m told, being back in February).
So the team news was that Ashford were
unchanged from the side that beat Dulwich Hamlet, with the only change to the
team sheet being the addition of Nick Fenwick to the subs bench; the team was
therefore, (from right to left, and in 4-4-2 formation): Jake Whincup, Anthony
Allman, Marc Cumberbatch, Tommy Adlington, Simon Glover, Drew Watkins, Kevin
Lott, Matt Carruthers, Kenny Jarrett-Elliott, Walid Matata and George Fenwick.
The full list of subs was Ian Ross, Luke Coleman, Jamie Leggett, Nick F and Joe
Hitchings (whose appearance from the bench on Saturday brought his total time
spent on the pitch this season up to 78 minutes).
In the first half, Ashford played up the
slope of a pitch that was both bumpy and undulating, and that had several bare,
muddy patches. The home side, playing in green shirts, with white shorts and
sockies, having forsaken their more familiar Celtic-style strip of green and
white hoops, did most of the early pressing, and, with the exception of an
off-target, long-range effort from Anthony Allman, Ashford found it hard to get
out of their own half in the opening ten minutes. The first real chance that
our boys, playing in an all-yellow strip, managed to create came in the twelfth
minute. This came about as a result of a foul on Kevin Lott. The free-kick was
taken by Anthony Allman, who today shared the dead-ball duties with Kenny
Jarrett-Elliott; Anthony chipped the ball into the centre of the penalty area,
where Marc Cumberbatch rose to meet it, only to see Danny Coote, in the
Whyteleafe goal, make a comfortable catch.
Whyteleafe themselves had a free-kick in a
dangerous position, in the 15th minute, after Tommy Adlington had
tapped the heels of Danny Plâtel, from behind. This was taken by Jo Clarke –
the only man on the pitch with more grey hair than your correspondent. His
cross into the area was a good one, but Daniel Hornsby’s push on Tom Adlington
was as obvious as they come, and he didn’t get away with it.
In the 17th minute, Ashford had a
free-kick, near the right touchline, which was awarded for hand-ball. Kenny
Three Names whipped this in, with pace, attacking the near post – two yellow
shirts also attacked the near post, in what was obviously a pre-planned ploy,
but Danny Coote (who wasn’t actually bald) held onto the ball well. Within
seconds, Whyteleafe took the lead – and it was Ashford’s new ‘keeper, Jake
Whincup, who didn’t exactly cover himself in glory with this one. An up &
under into the Ashford penalty area appeared to be bouncing harmlessly out
towards the corner flag, but this was hoiked back in, hoisted high once again,
by Daniel Hornsby. This was always going to be a tricky one to deal with, as it
was on course to drop into the Ashford goal, but it was in the air for a long
time, and Jake really should have done something decisive with it. Instead, it
was allowed to bounce off either Danny Plâtel or Marc Cumberbatch, and plop
over the line. There was some suggestion that it might have been a Cumberbatch
own goal, but it was confirmed at half time that the goal was awarded to
Plâtel, the man with a circumflex – and I bet you didn’t even know he was
Jewish !
To give credit to the home side, they fought hard
to protect their lead, snapping in tackles, and chances were hard to come by
for Ashford, but Walid Matata had a chance to score his first goal for the
club, in the 21st minute. Kevin Lott released him through on goal,
with a visionary pass from inside the centre circle, but Walid scuffed his
first-time shot wide of the goal. In the 28th minute, he showed a
touch of class, as he expertly turned Kris Barry, rounded another Whyteleafe
defender, and then put in a low centre, looking for George Fenwick. George
flicked the ball back with the outside of his boot, to set Matt Carruthers up
with a great chance to score, but, disappointingly, Matt skied a left-footed
shot well over the bar. A minute later, we had another opportunity, when
Anthony Allman took a free-kick near the left touchline. He sent in a useful,
curling cross into the penalty area, and Simon Glover’s flicked back-header
went just over the bar.
At the other end, in the 31st
minute, Daniel Hornsby lobbed another high, speculative cross into the Ashford
goalmouth. Again, Jake failed to come for the ball, so that Anthony Allman, who
had no Whyteleafe player near him, but no direction from his ‘keeper either,
had no choice but to nod the ball behind for a corner. On this occasion, the
set piece came to nothing. Three minutes later, George Fenwick’s persistence
persuaded Oliver Barrett to concede a corner, on the right. This was taken by
Kenny Jarrett-Elliott, again attacking the near post, but this was headed
behind by Luke Basford, the man on the post, for another corner. Whilst the
follow-up kick also failed to produce a clear-cut chance, Ashford managed to
keep the pressure on the home defence, and, soon after, Matt Carruthers was
tripped as he careered through central midfield, towards the Whyteleafe area.
This provided Ashford with a free-kick in a position that really did have
possibilities, and Anthony Allman was the first among our free-kick specialists
to have a crack (as each of them did in turn throughout the match – all failing
to deliver). Anthony’s method was to go for the direct power shot – as he did,
successfully, against Folkestone in the Kent Senior Cup victory earlier on in
the season – but this time his effort was always going wide.
In the 39th minute, Marc
Cumberbatch and Tommy Adlington had an awkward, bouncing ball to deal with,
running back towards their own goal; the ball broke to Danny Plâtel, who struck
his shot firmly, and on target, but Jake Whincup this time made an excellent
save. The resulting corner, from the left, was crossed long, beyond the far
post, where Daniel Hornsby headed wide.
It was in the 42nd minute that
Walid Matata gave a glimpse of what he is capable of. A long clearance from the
Ashford defence went beyond the Whyteleafe defensive line; Walid gave his man a
start of at least five yards, but, with a lightning burst of speed, got to the
ball easily, and was set for a one-on-one with the goalkeeper. The chance was snuffed
out when the defender cynically hauled Walid down, in what looked to be a clear
example of a red-card offence. Unsurprisingly, Referee Bentley (who had a big
nose) seemed to chicken out, and settled for showing a yellow card. This time
it was Drew Watkins’s turn to try to make something of the free-kick. Now, we
know that Drew is capable of “bending it like Rossi” – David Beckham has also
scored the odd goal in this manner – as he hit the bar, from a free-kick in a
similar position, at Tooting & Mitcham. On this occasion, Drew managed to
curl the ball over and around the defensive wall, but also wide of the goal.
Matata had another chance to score, shortly
before half time, when George Fenwick flicked on another long clearance. Walid
got to the ball at about the same time as ‘keeper Danny Coote, and managed to
kick it through his hands, but there was a defender on hand to hoof the ball
off the line. So 1-0 it was to the green & whites (nice strip !) at the
interval, but I still felt that we were bound to score against this lot, and
were still probably capable of forcing a win.
This impression was very nearly confirmed in
the first minute of the second half, when Walid Matata burst onto a
through-ball. I was still ambling back to my position on the halfway line, with
my cup of Bovril, and I should emphasise that the job of linesman is not an
easy one, but I found Mr Phillips’s decision to raise his flag for offside to
be totally inexplicable. Nevertheless, the flag went up, and that was that. In
the 48th minute, a good Ashford move down the right, involving Drew
Watkins, Anthony Allman and Matt Carruthers, ended with a goal-mouth scramble,
but the Whyteleafe defence managed to force the ball behind for a corner. This
was taken by Kenny Jarrett-Elliott, on the right, and his deep cross was headed
against the far post by Matt Carruthers.
In the 50th minute, good defending
by Simon Glover conceded a corner at the other end, on the Whyteleafe right. This
produced a rare scare in the second half for the Ashford defence, as ‘Leafe
skipper Danny Arkwright, who looked to be about seven feet tall, rose to meet
the cross with a good, on-target header, but Tommy Adlington was there to clear
the ball off the line.
Generally, though, Ashford always looked to
be the side most likely to score – even through my biased eyes – and we had
another free-kick opportunity in the 53rd minute. This came about as
a result of a trip by Jo Clarke on Walid Matata, for which the Whyteleafe No.8
got booked. This time, it was Matt Carruthers’s turn to go for goal; with the
‘Leafe defensive wall lined up on the edge of the penalty area, Matt’s curling
shot went just past the angle of post and bar. The home side did, though, have
a free-kick in a dangerous position a couple of minutes later – this was for a
push by Marc Cumberbatch on Daniel Hornsby. Jo Clarke took the kick, from just
outside the area, bending the ball around the wall, and it needed a very good
diving save from Jake Whincup to keep it out. He managed to push Clarke’s
effort around the post, for a corner, and then came out to collect the
resulting cross with an acrobatic leap and a catch that was so impressive that
it drew chuckles of appreciation from his team-mates on the bench.
In the 62nd minute, Whyteleafe
made their first substitution, with Calvin MacLean replacing Leon McDowell;
Luke Coleman got the call to get ready from John Cumberbatch at about the same
time, and eventually went on for Drew Watkins in the 64th minute.
In the 68th minute, George Fenwick
and Walid Matata again combined well, when George put Walid through with a
one-on-one with the goalkeeper, only for Coote to make a good save at his feet
– the ball broke to George, and it looked like he only had to knock it into an
empty net, but the ball was deflected for a corner. Kenny Three Names took the
kick, on the right, and the ball was soon returned to him; he crossed the ball
again, and, this time, he found Simon Glover, arriving at the far post, who
nodded the ball down into the far corner of the net. This was Glovesie’s first
goal for Ashford in his current spell at the Club, and it’s a little ironic
that he has broken what was becoming quite a worrying duck when being switched
to the back four ! (For you anoraks out
there, Gloves has, at the time of writing, played exactly 2,000 minutes of
football this season for that one goal).
With Whyteleafe reacting by immediately
replacing Kris Barry with Tony Martin, Ashford then started to show what they
were capable of, as, for a short spell after that equaliser, they visibly
increased the tempo of their play. In the 73rd minute, a cross from the
left from Simon Glover was headed clear by the Whyteleafe defence, but only as
far as Kenny, on the edge of the area, who attempted an ambitious, long-range
header that went just wide. A minute later, Gloves sent in another cross from
the left, after some good hold-up work from Walid Matata, but Luke Coleman
headed wide at the far post.
In the 78th minute, Whyteleafe
broke out of defence with a move that took them all the way to the corner flag,
on the right, but good defending by Tom Adlington conceded a corner. There was
a delay as, first the referee took time out to yellow-card Danny Plâtel, for an
earlier incident, and then play was suspended for treatment to a Whyteleafe
player. When Jo Clarke eventually took the kick, Marc Cumberbatch did well to
head the ball clear, in spite of being challenged by ‘Leafe’s giant centre-half
Danny Arkwright – later, Arkwright was to be named as the home team’s
Man-of-the-Match, according to a supporters’ poll, whilst Cumber was named as
the MK Man-of-the-Match, after another solid and polished performance at the
back.
By the time that Matt Kember was replaced by
Scott Marshall, in the 81st minute, Whyteleafe appeared to have
weathered the brief onslaught, and the draw began to look the most likely
result. They did have a free-kick in a dangerous position, in the 82nd
minute, which Jo Clarke curled straight at Jake Whincup, and substitute Tony
Martin had a long-range shot which curled wide of the post, on the 90-minute
mark, but there would be no addition to the score. The last act of note came in
the 92nd minute, when George Fenwick got himself booked, (in spite
of trying to persuade Mr Bentley that it was now hardly worth bothering with –
“Yes, I think we need a good send-off”, was the ref’s banter, in response !).
In terms of the league positions at the
bottom of Ryman Division 1 South, there was no change – with Walton Casuals
also picking up a Boxing Day point, they remain on the same number of points as
the two teams in action today – but Ashford will have been more content with
the draw, given that they have three games in hand of today’s hosts. There was,
however, a very strong consensus among the lads afterwards that this was a
couple of points dropped, as we had enough of the game, and demonstrated enough
superiority, to feel that we could, and should, have taken all three.
Never mind; let’s not be too greedy. At least
the lads are beginning to play well, and there is evidence that a good squad of
players is rapidly gelling together. On Saturday, there is a far sterner test –
at home to Hastings United, in a proper holiday-period derby. We beat Hastings 0-1 at The Pilot Field earlier on in the season,
but they’re a much better side now, and proved that with a 1-1 draw at home to Dover
Man of the Match
(to go towards
the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Marc Cumberbatch
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