Ashford United v Sutton Athletic. Kent Invicta League. 10th of December 2011.

Ashford United 1 Sutton Athletic 0
Byrne 7

From Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent

Ashford United’s final game before Christmas 2011, in this, the Club’s inaugural year – and just my second sight of the boys. There might have been the temptation for me to think that I had rather missed the show, and that the season was already effectively over – with Ashford now eliminated from all three cup competitions, and in 13th position in the 16-club league, all of 19 points behind leaders Bly Spartans. However, the announcement, on Thursday, of two high-profile signings changed all that ! Mo Takaloo from Deal Town, and Roy Guiver from Folkestone Invicta. This was a clear sign of intent from Tony Betteridge and his management team that they are not prepared to simply fulfill fixtures for the remainder of the season, and that they are still determined to pursue the new club’s objective of gaining promotion to the Kent League Premier Division at the first attempt, if at all possible.

Mohammed Takalobigashi is the more eye-catching of the two signings. Of Iranian extraction, and brother of both welterweight boxer Mehrdad and hip hop artist Rocky (better known to the world as Mic Righteous), Mo has been a proven goal scorer for the likes of Margate (in what is now the Blue Square Premier), Ramsgate, Maidstone United and Hythe Town. When a player with that sort of pedigree signs for a club that is at several levels below where he has played in the past, it is never certain that he will replicate his previous form – but Mo looked fit today, and motivated, and showed his obvious ability in being able to hold the ball up, and link up with other players.

The signing of Roy Guiver is arguably less spectacular, but thoroughly logical, in my view. Eye-witness accounts this season have suggested that Ashford’s young squad has lacked experience on the pitch in general, and needed, in particular, a really powerful aerial presence in both penalty boxes. Roy is strong, and can play as a centre-forward or as a centre-half, and would appear to be able to provide the perfect support for the talented youngsters that we have in these positions. Having made a place on Folkestone’s bench his own, in recent seasons, the move also seems to make sense for the player. Roy played in Ashford’s defence, this afternoon, and played a full part in achieving a pretty rare clean sheet. Regardless of how Mr Guiver’s spell at Homelands pans out, he is likely to have a decent stud career ahead of him, when he finally hangs up his boots. At the end of the month, he is due to become Neil Cugley’s son-in-law. With that genetic background, the future Mrs Guiver will probably produce a few decent defenders among her progeny. If she is successful as a broodmare, then let’s hope that a few of those defenders turn out in the green & white, in years to come.

Here is today’s full line-up: - 1. Billy Rice, 2. Sam Conlon, 3. Richard Quigley, 4. Ben Jordan, 5. Roy Guiver, 6. Ollie Finch (capt.), 7. Liam Whiting, 8. Jack Albin, 9. Tom Scorer, 10. Mohammed Takalobigashi (better known in our world as Mo Takaloo), 11. Kieran Byrne. Subs.: 12. Dan Morrison, 14. Gary Lockyer, 15. Liam Walsh, 16. Peter Williams, 17. (GK) Mo Munden.

It was cold today – very cold – but as beautiful a day as we could hope for in December. Clear, blue sky, and not a breath of wind – with spectators on the far side having the familiar problem of shading their eyes against the setting sun in the first half. The Homelands pitch looked beautifully green, with barely a blade of mud visible, and was, as usual, a credit to groundsman Steve Hackett. The unusually mild weather has been kind to Steve so far this season, but Thursday’s heavy rain meant that he had had to work fairly hard on the surface to get it up to scratch, following Wednesday’s U-18 match against Gillingham.

It was good to see so many friendly and familiar faces at the game, today – the usual advert for cosmetic surgery, behind the goal, of course, (and I don’t exclude myself from that, lads). There was a decent turn-out of 120, given the expected losses to the competing charms of Christmas shopping, and the fact that Ashford United had come into this game on the back of four straight defeats.

Sutton Athletic were always likely to provide a decent test, this afternoon, starting the game two places above Ashford – three points ahead, having played a game more. They turned out today in black & white stripes, black shorts and white sockies, so that anyone watching the match on the telly might have thought it was Hibernian v Grimsby Town. My biggest gripe about the visitors’ kit, however, was that the blue numbers on the back of the striped shirts were almost impossible to decipher – and I felt almost as sorry for Gary Kirton, who was on PA duty today, as I did for myself !

Such difficulties in identifying visiting players were less of an issue in the opening moments, since it was the home side that made the early running. In the sixth minute, Tom Scorer, partnering Mo Takaloo in a new-look strike pairing, sent in a good cross from the right, presenting Kieran Byrne with a simple chance in the centre, from about six yards out, but Ashford’s No.11 fluffed his attempted side-footed finish. Kieran did, however, make amends, just a minute later, when he scored what turned out to be the winning goal. His curling, left-footed free-kick from the right was aimed towards Sam Conlon, who was bearing down on the near post. Both Sam and Sutton ‘keeper Dean James failed to make contact with the ball, to give Byrne his sixth goal of the season. Incredibly, five of these have been direct from a free-kick, with the other being a penalty !

The goal was initially credited, over the PA, to Sam Conlon – but this was soon corrected by a combination of Conlon’s honesty in admitting that he had not got a touch, and the wonders of modern communications technology. In spite of wearing the No.2 shirt for Ashford this afternoon, young Sam actually played on the wide-right of midfield. He looked pretty comfortable both in his attacking role, and with his defensive responsibilities. I wasn’t consciously looking for a Man of the Match – but I probably wouldn’t have looked further than Sam.

That said, Mo Takaloo, predictably, showed enough, on his debut, to confirm that he was the most accomplished player on the pitch. As well as carrying out his duties as link-up man, he showed some good skills when in possession in the penalty area. A typical example came in the eleventh minute, (shortly after Billy Rice, in the Ashford goal, had palmed away a goal-bound downward header, after a Sutton corner). Mo received the ball with his back to goal, and was readily able to turn and shoot – but his tame shot went straight at the visiting ‘keeper. Six minutes later, he executed a similar turn-and-shot, and this time James had to make a good save, diving to his right.

Just prior to this chance, Takaloo had shown a different side to his game, when he riled Sutton’s William Roomes with an outrageously late tackle which went unpunished by Referee Scott Waters. It looked like the “relationship” between the two players was going to turn into one of the game’s sub-plots, when they were tangling with each other just a few moments later. It looked like Ashford’s new man was doing some holding, and a clearly less-than-happy Roomes appeared to lash out with his hand. This caused Scott to issue the first yellow card of the match – which he probably would have done even if an FA Assessor had not been sitting in the stand.

In the 23rd minute, Kieran Byrne had a chance to add to his tally of direct free-kick goals, when he lined up the ball in a central position, not far outside the Sutton penalty area – but his shot went just wide of the angle of post and bar. In truth, this was not a game in which Ashford created a great number of chances, and it was a little disappointing that they never quite got hold of the match, and failed to really impose themselves on the opposition. In fact, although Ashford looked to have the better players, there was little or nothing between the sides, and Sutton Athletic had periods in which they looked the more purposeful and forward-going side.

Although the home back four generally looked solid in the face of Sutton’s attempts at equalising, they had goalkeeper Billy Rice to thank for preserving the clean sheet, in the 26th minute. This came about as a result of a good move, and a good through-ball, from the Dartford-based outfit, and Ashford’s veteran ‘keeper did well to save with his feet. Shortly after, on two separate occasions, a long ball easily penetrated the Ashford defence, but, on both occasions, a home defender was there to save the situation with a strong tackle.

There was a different look to the second half. The sun had long gone down, the floodlights were on and a yellow moon rose above the leafless trees on the far side of the ground – but, in spite of Richard Quigley blazing a shot just over the bar in the opening minutes of the half, it was still Sutton Athletic who had the majority of possession, looking determined to get on level terms.

In the 51st minute, Billy Rice did well to cleanly collect a corner, from the right, and then, three minutes later, Sutton’s Joe Horlock blasted a free-kick goalwards, only to see it deflected over the bar by Ashford’s green & white defensive wall. The resulting corner, from the left, was headed clear. I’m at a loss to explain why the free-kick had been awarded – and Roy Guiver was probably equally confused, as he marked his return to Ashford with a yellow card for dissent.

As the visitors made their first substitution, in the 57th minute, there were calls of “Lift it, Lift it” from an Ashford player – and this was certainly what was required.

On the hour mark, the home side actually had a chance to score out of nothing, after Tom Scorer robbed a Sutton defender. Tom carried the ball into the penalty area, and pulled it back to Takaloo – but Mo’s rather weak shot was easily saved. A minute later, however, Ashford came to life with their best move of the match – and this began with Takaloo picking the ball up on the halfway line. He played a one-two with Kieran Byrne, and then fed the ball forward to Tom Scorer. Tom pulled the ball back, this time to Liam Whiting, who had time to take a touch before aiming a firm shot that went just over the bar. This was to be Tom Scorer’s final meaningful contribution of the day, as his injury jinx appeared to strike again, in the 64th minute, when he had to be replaced by Gary Lockyer. Gary was, at least, a natural replacement – and was easy to spot, wearing green sockies, whilst all of his outfield colleagues were wearing white !

Sutton continued to look enterprising going forward, and a good, flowing move in the 65th minute ended with an attempt at goal which had to be cleared off the line – the follow-up attempt was blasted high and wide. At the other end, in the 69th minute, Gary Lockyer saw his shot deflected wide, for a rare Ashford corner, and then, a minute later, collected a yellow card for his defensive work near the left-back’s corner flag. This was all part of an impressive little shift from Gary, who also went close in the 78th minute, shooting just past the angle, from 20 yards out, after an impressive turn. (For the record, Kieran Byrne became the third Ashford player to be booked, in the 76th minute, after refusing to retreat the required ten yards, after Sutton had been awarded a free-kick).

Ashford Physio Alan Orsbourne had had a quiet match, in a busy season, and wasn’t called into action until ten minutes from the end, when Jack Albin went down winded, after a clash with a team-mate when both had attempted a headed clearance from a Sutton corner.

In the 83rd minute, an ambitious, long-range shot from Sutton’s Chris Murlees was easily taken by Billy Rice, who, in the final analysis, was not seriously tested in keeping Ashford’s lead intact, in spite of the visitors’ commendable enterprise. In the end, the three league points were as deserved as they were welcome, after a performance from the home side that was plenty solid enough, if not sparkling.

The final action of what was never a nasty, or dirty, game concerned the small matter of three late red cards. The first two came in the 87th minute. Liam Whiting went in for a challenge on goalkeeper Dean James which looked, to me, to be a fair enough attempt at winning a 50-50 ball. However, Scott Waters interpreted this as being a two-footed challenge, and reacted by awarding Liam a straight red card. First, though, Scott had to deal with the fact that a clearly disgruntled James had retaliated by aiming a slap in the direction of the Ashford man – and sent him off, meaning that he had to be replaced in goal by an outfield player, for what remained of the game.

Ashford Manager Paul Chambers reacted by replacing Mo Takaloo with Dan Morrison, leaving Gary Lockyer on his own up front – but Chambo’s opposite number, Guy Eldridge, soon had his playing staff reduced to nine, when Ryan Eldridge was sent off, two minutes into injury time. This came about after Eldridge jnr had grappled on the floor with Richard Quigley, after a challenge near the halfway line. The third red card of the match seemed to mystify some on-lookers, but I’m sure that I saw Eldridge get in a crafty slap on Quigley – but this happened right in front of the referee, who was in a good position to see it.