Witney Town 1 Ashford Town 3
from your Milton Keynes correspondent
I hate to bore
you all with this again, but that statistic is building up - 32 games without a
draw this season at the start of this match, which is quite an exceptional
stat. And so’s this one : only one clean sheet in 32 games; although I should
add that the lads have only failed to score in seven of them. And whilst I have
the attention of all you anoraks, here’s a question,
Q. : What does
Witney Town FC have in common with Real Madrid, Manchester United and Doncaster
Belles ?
A. : They’ve
NEVER beaten Ashford Town at home. (Mind you, the other three probably would if
we ever played them !).
So what could
we expect from the trip to Witney ? Not
a bad side, Witney - 11th in the table (two places above us), but, curiously,
the worst-supported side in the division, with an average home crowd of just
over a hundred (which is basically just Mums and Dads ! ). Thanks go to
Tonbridge Angels’ excellent web-site for that gem of information, by the way.
Cracking
performances away to Premier Division sides Grays, Crawley and Weymouth this
season had shown that Ashford were perfectly capable of getting a result here,
but it had all started to get a bit sloppy of late - a run of four consecutive defeats,
including three against teams in the bottom five of our division ! If it were merely a question of motivation,
then today’s match was going to be a test - out of all cup competitions, and
just the 21 league matches to complete, with a final position somewhere in
mid-table virtually guaranteed. Would the boys realise that next year’s push
for promotion - and surely that can’t be too outrageous to hope for - starts
NOW ?!
I went to the
corresponding fixture a couple of years ago - the first time I’d seen the team
play for some time. When we were 0-2 up with 20 minutes to play, I tried to
cast my mind back to the last time that I had actually seen Ashford win
(must’ve been some time before Walsall beat us 1-3 in the FA Cup at Essella
Park in the seventies !). I went up to
three old boys in green & white scarves, who were obviously regulars, and
said : “Do you realise that, if we hang on here, it’ll be the first time I’ve
seen Ashford win for 25 years ?!”. The little one in the middle (who turned out
to be Pat Earl !) said : “Well, it takes us a long time sometimes !!”. We held
on to win 0-2 !
Witney’s new
ground, Marriotts Stadium, is situated in an industrial estate just beyond the
western outskirts of the town. It’s handy to drive to - just off the A40, and
with plenty of car parking space. It took us just 1¼ hours to drive
from Milton Keynes. It’s a strange sort of a ground, dominated by a huge,
almost square, stand, which is almost as deep as it is long. It’s an impressive
building, though, and, with only about 250 seats stuck on the front of it, (and
most of those never have a bum near them), it’s obviously intended to be a
multi-function facility. As for the rest of the ground, there is a covered
standing area on the other side of the pitch, and a stand at one end -
unfortunately, the end from which the wind whistles in is open. This is the
wind that was cooling the back of Craig Tucker’s neck in the first half. Apart
from the wind, it was a fine, sunny day in Oxfordshire, (although my wife, of course,
was freezing – sometimes, it’s like being married to Alan Green !), but the
pitch looked a bit patchy even before the kick-off.
The team news
was interesting - no Steve Marshall up front, and no Steve Robinson, so Tony
Eeles captained the side in his absence. There was also a new name for me - Joe
Cornwall in defence (sorry, Joe, if I’ve got your name wrong !). With both Jon
Warden and Nicky Arundel leaving the Club in mid-week, to return to Kent League
football, there was a starting place for the promising Dave Peachey, alongside
Player-Coach Steve Lovell. The fact that Assistant Manager Peter “Ashford ‘til
I die” McRobert was also named among the three substitutes probably betrayed
the fact that Tommy Sampson was a bit light on personnel for this game - I’m
sure that the inside story will be revealed in Tommy’s column on this web-site
before long !
So it was a
4-4-2 formation for Ashford, with Paul Ribbens wide on the right and Kirk Watts
wide on the left in midfield, playing in white shirts, green shorts and white
socks. (I actually have a soft spot for this strip - it’s the combination that
we invariably wore in the early seventies, when we had what was arguably our
best ever side; the days when Peter Sillett was in charge and Alan Morton was banging
in all those goals; when Scarborough robbed us 1-0 in the semi-final of the FA
Trophy, with a very dodgy penalty !).
There was
certainly plenty of time to reminisce in the first quarter of an hour of the
match, as nothing of any note happened in this time - as the match reporters on
the radio say : “I’ve written nothing in my note book !” This was not due to any shortage of endeavour
from the players - it’s just that everything was compressed into the middle
third of the pitch. There was a strange, Sunday afternoon atmosphere about the
game - blue skies, and with both benches making marginally more noise than the
very sparse crowd.
Then, after 16
minutes, Jason Ash put the ball out for a corner to Witney. As the ball was
swung across, the referee blew up for a free-kick - it was not immediately
clear which team had been penalised. There was no reaction from the crowd -
mainly because there was no crowd - and both sets of players seemed to be
querying the decision. Dave Peachey was in the area, looking both bewildered
and disappointed, and the referee seemed to be making his way towards the
penalty spot - a penalty, maybe ? I
heard someone in the home crowd say “Oh, good”, so that confirmed it. The word
filtering back to the touchline from the players was that the penalty was for
pushing, against Dave Peachey.
There was no
doubt about the spot-kick, though - Witney’s Keith Knight planted the ball
firmly to Craig Tucker’s left, to become the home side’s top scorer this
season, with nine goals. So 1-0 to the Blanketmen. (If you know your industrial
history, you won’t need any explanation for this nickname !).
Ashford reacted
to going behind by picking up the pace, and looked slightly the better side for
most of the rest of the half, but still made little headway in terms of an
equaliser. Steve Lovell looked strong, and won plenty of balls in the air, but
seemed to miss his regular striking partner. A nod-down by Lovell, after 21
minutes, did, however, lead to Ashford’s only recognisable chance in the first
period, with midfielder Adrian Webster picking the ball up and running at the
Witney defence. The Australian transferred the ball onto his right foot, and
shot low, but just wide.
The only other
glimmer of hope for the visitors before half-time came after 43 minutes when
Lovell controlled the ball on his chest, swivelled and shot, but the effort was
a weak one, and, as the old-timers say, the goalie could have “thrown his cap
on it”. Incidentally, although it’s old news now, I feel I should say something
about Steve’s decision to stick with the job at Ashford, instead of taking the
offer of the Manager’s post at Sittingbourne. This is an important “barometer
reading”. Obviously, a bloke like him will have some long-term ambitions to go
into management, so the fact that he (and also Tommy) have pledged their
immediate future to The Homelands sends a message to players, supporters and
officials alike that there might be something worth persevering with at the
Club ! Well, Tommy, for one, is
certainly not doing it for the money !
Let’s hope that their loyalty is repaid some day.
A quiet half
ended with a scare for Ashford. A cross from the Witney right was headed
goalwards, and, with Tucker beaten, was cleared off the line by the newcomer
Cornwall. So very little to report in the “incidents” column - Webster’s shot
for Ashford, a soft penalty for Witney, and neither goalie actually making a
save.
And so to
half-time, and a pleasant surprise in the music department - rather than the
usual seventies rubbish belting out on the tanoy (the curse of the smaller
football ground), there was a first chance to hear a new release. Bruce
Grobelaar’s debut single. A catchy cover version of Bob the Builder’s Christmas
hit. Just love that chorus : -
“ Grob
the Builder,
Can he fix it ?
Grob the Builder,
YES HE CAN !! ”
(What was the number of that solicitor’s again, Steve
?!)
The second half
began much more brightly, with Ashford out of the traps pretty quickly. Our
first attack, in the first minute, ended with a foul on Dave Peachey. Tony
Eeles found Peachey’s head from the resulting free-kick, but the ball was put
behind for a corner.
Moments later,
it was the home side - playing in all-yellow, as usual - who came forward. Joe
Cornwall committed the cardinal sin for a defender - he was caught in
possession as the last man ! The Witney
player who robbed him, first half substitute Richard Bourne, bore down on the
Ashford goal, but shot straight into Craig Tucker’s arms.
Two minutes
into the second half, Ashford won a throw-in, deep in the Witney half, on the
right. Paul Ribbens threw the ball long, into the penalty area, where it fell
at the feet of Tony Eeles. The stand-in skipper seemed to have all the time in
the world, and was able to pass the ball into the far corner of the net. Yet
another goal in a prolific season for the midfield general, and “i
verdibianchi” were all square.
(Okay, so I’m
being flash coming out with the italian - but you have to admit that it adds a
touch of class to the web-site).
Tommy Sampson’s
boys then largely took control of the game, having the lion’s share of
possession and doing all the pressing. After 54 minutes, Tom Binks came on as
sub for Joe Cornwall, after which Steve Taylor pushed further forward down the
right, linking up well with Paul Ribbens. In this half - whether or not it was
by chance or by design - it was young Dave Peachey who was the target of most
long balls forward, and, in spite of his slight frame (he’s built rather like
Rodney Trotter !), he was strong and competitive. But still the flick-ons and
lay-offs didn’t quite come off.
To be honest,
Ashford’s dominance was helped by Witney Town being fairly poor during this
period - the best that they could offer in response to the equaliser was a
speculative, long-range shot from Mike Cook, which was again straight into
Tucker’s arms.
The next
clear-cut chance fell to the visitors, after 55 minutes. Steve Lovell was
fouled, deep in the Witney half. Tony Eeles’s free-kick was only half cleared,
and Paul Ribbens’ header back into the danger zone found Dave Peachey on the
edge of the six-yard box. As a natural goal-scorer, he looked odds-on to put
the lads in the lead, but he pulled his shot across the face of the goal.
(“Rodders, you plonker !”).
After 63 minutes,
young David won yet another ball in the air, which Steve Lovell ran onto -
unfortunately, he got the shot completely wrong, and sliced it well wide. Well,
as Coach, you sometimes have to show the youngsters how NOT to do it !
By the time the
home side made their second substitution - Geoff Neville, in the 64th minute -
the pitch was beginning to cut up very badly, but Ashford were still in
control, with most of our best work continuing to come down the right , through
Steve Taylor and the excellent Paul Ribbens. The fact that the right wing area
began to resemble a ploughed field told us something about the way the match
was going !
After 67
minutes, it was Taylor who made in-roads into the Blanketmen’s penalty area,
getting to the by-line before being brought down. Gentle appeals for the
penalty were turned down, and the Nuts & Bolts had to settle for a corner
on the right. This was taken by Kirk Watts, who had been having a quiet second
half, after looking quite lively in the first period, but his cross was headed
wide.
Just after the
hour mark, the home side did come back into the game a little more, but could
manage only a corner, after 69 minutes, which resulted in an Ashford free-kick
for a foul on goalkeeper Tucker, and another optimistic long-range effort, that
went well over the bar, on 70 minutes.
It was at about
this time that there was the most amusing incident of the game. One of the
Witney players responded to some on-going stick from an Ashford fan behind the
goal by shouting : “Shut up, Noddy Holder !”. (A reference to his Barnet !).
That was really refreshing. A fan being barracked by a player. It could only
happen in non-league footy !
Witney had a
rather better chance after 76 minutes, when goal scorer Keith Knight was put
clean through on goal. Craig Tucker came out to meet him, and Knight pulled his
shot wide - he should have done better.
After 82
minutes, Ashford won a throw-in on the left, level with the penalty area.
Again, they tried the long-throw routine - the throw was flicked on at the near
post, and Tony Eeles was waiting at the far side of the box, as the last man,
and drilled the ball into the corner of the net, hitting roughly the same spot
that he had for the equaliser. Inevitably, there was the chant of : “Eelesy,
Eelesy, Goal Machine” from the Ashford faithful behind the goal. The nickname
“Goal Machine” has always meant to be ironic, as Tony has, traditionally, not
scored the number of goals that you might expect from a player with his talent,
but he’s certainly been banging the goals in this season ! 1-2 to the Greens !
Witney never
threatened to come back after this - their only remaining goal attempt came
with a free-kick outside the penalty area, with two minutes to go, which was
hit straight at Craig Tucker.
Then with 90
minutes on the watch - Scott McRobert having replaced Kirk Watts five minutes
earlier - Dave Peachey burst onto a lobbed through-ball from midfield, leaving
the home defence for dead. In a one-on-one situation with goalkeeper Tom King,
Peachey shaped to curl the shot into the net with his in-step - King got a hand
to the ball, but could not prevent it from ending up in the top corner of the
net. A good striker’s goal for David, and one which was just reward for his
good battling performance in the second half.
The 1-3
scoreline was also just reward for the team, for bossing the last 45 minutes,
having been a goal down to a soft penalty at half-time. The victory was just
what Tommy needed, after four consecutive defeats - let’s hope that the boys
can now go on to finish the season strongly, to set us up for a promotion
campaign next season. There are plenty of stern tests to come this term, though
- we still have the Isle of Wight to play twice, Hastings to play twice, and
have to go to the likes of Grantham and Rothwell. Also, Histon will be no
push-overs.
Which brings us
back to those amazing statistics. The magic number is now 33 : 16 wins, 17
defeats ...... and no draws. Also, Witney still haven’t beaten us on their home
ground - either in this new stadium, or at their old place. Spare a thought for
Craig Tucker and the defence, though - they were really unlucky not to have
doubled their tally of clean sheets for the season !
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