From Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent
This
was part of an Easter week-end double-header, which began at Cheriton Road on
the Saturday, with Folkestone Invicta’s 4-1 Ryman Division One South victory over
Crawley Down. It was good to see Roy Guiver taking full advantage of the dual
registration system, to be on bench duty for Folkestone. Ashford United’s
centre-half actually got to make an appearance, being thrown on as a striker by
Neil Cugley in the 83rd minute, once the three points had already
been secured. Roy very nearly made it 5-1, with his first touch, but was just
unable to turn the ball in, converging on a cross, from three yards out.
So
Folkestone’s season is very much alive, with a place all but guaranteed for the
hope and the glory of the promotion play-offs. That’s more than can be said for
the two teams that shared the points at a cold, wet and thoroughly miserable Oakwood
today. It’s true that Ashford have two fixtures remaining after today’s match,
but the campaign for promotion has long been over, with no mathematical
possibility remaining for overtaking leaders Bly Spartans, (which has been the
only gateway to promotion in this inaugural Kent Invicta League season). The
home side, ground sharing at the home of VCD Athletic in its very first season,
lost all pretentions to promotion a long time ago, and began today’s Easter
Monday fixture in 11th place in this 16-team league.
This was an interesting match-up, in as much as both
teams started the season as championship “possibles”, if only because they were
completely unknown quantities, being new-born clubs. Interestingly, their
experience has been starkly contrasting. Whilst The Management at Ashford
United will ultimately be disappointed at failing to achieve the stated
objective of promotion at the first time of asking, this season has been a
success at so many different levels. I would guess that virtually all of the
healthy number of loyal supporters that braved the conditions, this afternoon
in Crayford, would say that they have enjoyed the Kent Invicta league
experience, with the general standard of football having been (for most)
surprisingly high. In that context, the top-five finish which is very much
within United’s grasp will be seen as a very good launching pad for next
season. Furthermore, whilst the strength of Ashford’s away support has been a
feature of the entire season, an average home gate of around 200 has provided
those who have invested in the new football club with plenty of encouragement that
there is a sound foundation of support for the future.
The same cannot be said for Erith & Dartford Town.
The club started the season with plenty of fanfare, and pulled off a
considerable marketing coup when staging the very first Kent Invicta League match,
on the Friday evening before the inaugural set of Saturday fixtures. This
enabled them, no doubt, to attract a number of ground hoppers, programme
collectors and other just plain curious non-league football aficionados, in an
opening night audience of 300, which remains the biggest gate of the KIL to
date. Ominously, perhaps, things didn’t go as much to plan on the pitch, with
the visitors on that occasion, Phoenix Sports, running out 0-4 winners ! Since then, no fewer than three management
teams have come and gone – with squads of players coming and going as a result
– accompanied by some quite public accusations of broken promises, unpaid debts
and unpaid wages. The impact of all this turmoil has, unsurprisingly, been a
distinct deterioration in the team’s on-field results – with the most
eye-catching debacle being a 1-8 home defeat at the hands of bottom club
Orpington - and the club has begun to resemble an outfit just going through the
motions of fulfilling the season’s fixtures, with the possibility of the Club
not fielding a team at all in 2012-13 being the latest subject of rumour and
speculation. The club is currently managed by 20 year-old Sam MacNeil, son of
the thoroughly maligned Chairman, Roy, with the word on the street being that
their line-up regularly includes players that are considerably younger than the
manager. Every reason, therefore, for Ashford United’s players and supporters,
making their way up the M2, to expect little resistance lying in wait at The
Oakwood.
Early impressions did nothing to refute these
pre-match expectations. Thankfully, VCD’s home is a decent ground, with the
stand on one side, with its four rows of green & white seats, providing
cosy shelter from the cold breeze and light rain – but the lack of a match-day
programme of any kind, and the PA announcer’s failure to give any information
on the team line-ups, came as no surprise. As the teams lined up before the
match, it was noticeable that a very youthful Erith & Dartford team was
clad in blue shirts which lacked both sponsor’s logo and club badge, and one of
the boys started the game with a “16” on his back. In fact, it felt very much
like Ashford had wandered into a schools’ football tournament – and this
impression was reinforced by the addition of a referee who appeared himself to
be considerably younger than many of the shirts in my wardrobe.
It’s slightly ironic that a heavy reliance on youth,
albeit interwoven with some much more experienced legends, has been a feature
of Ashford United’s inaugural Kent Invicta League season – but in most areas of
the pitch, this afternoon, it was literally a case of men against boys. That’s
all the more reason, then, for disappointment at the visitors’ failure to make
their obvious physical advantages count – and, it must be said, for credit to
be given to the Erith & Dartford lads for emerging with a well-deserved
point.
I make no apologies for stating that the home side
looked to be there for the taking, throughout the match, particularly during
the opening quarter of an hour, when Ashford appeared to be destined for a
comfortable, wide-margined victory. The first opportunity came in the opening
minute, when left wing-back Richard Quigley latched onto a lobbed through-ball.
Running into the Erith penalty area, he headed the ball over diminutive 16
year-old goalkeeper Louis Gardiner, and provided himself with the chance to
slide the ball into an empty net, albeit from an acute angle – but thumped his
shot against the near post. Nevertheless, it was no surprise when Ashford took
the lead, in the fifth minute, and it was not entirely unexpected that this
opening goal came as a result of a fairly comical cock-up in the Erith defence.
The home number 3, (whose name was illegible on the hand-written team sheet
that I later managed to get a squint at), made an unconvincing attempt at a
clearance, which hit Tom Scorer in the midriff, from close range. Tom, the
younger of the Scorer brothers – and comfortably Ashford’s best player, on the
evidence of the first half – was able to easily pass the ball into the net.
In the eighth minute, Aaron Firth, another Ashford
player to emerge from today’s game with some credit, turned left, and then
right, on the corner of the six-yard box, and manufactured enough space for
himself to get in a shot on goal, which was saved by Gardiner at the near post.
The ball bounced around the penalty area from the resulting corner, before
Firthy attempted an ambitious bicycle kick, which went well wide.
So no worries, so far, for the visiting Ashford fans
who had swelled today’s gate to an official figure of 70, (at least half of
whom must have been hiding from the wind and the rain). In fact, the most
taxing moments had been early on in the game, when, between us, we set about
the task of deducing the Ashford line-up. Everyone recognised the unmistakable
figure of Mo Munden, in goal, and we soon managed to figure out the
now-familiar 3-5-2 formation ahead of him. In the centre of the back three was
skipper Ben Jordan, flanked by Folkestone’s finest, Roy Guiver, and Lee Coburn.
The midfield unit was made up of the experienced Matt Bower, with the more
youthful Liam Whiting and Sam O’Keefe – and these were flanked by the
wing-backs Richard Quigley and Peter Williams, on the left and right,
respectively. Tom Scorer was joined in attack by Aaron Firth. I cannot name the
full complement of substitutes, but Danny Morrison came on for Sam O’Keefe,
early in the second half, and both Dan Scorer and Sam Conlon were physically on
the bench, but with neither expected to play, being on the long-term injury
list.
Generally, quite a nice blend of youth and experience,
then – and there was one player in the Erith & Dartford line-up who was
conspicuously a man amongst boys. No.9 Raffa Akala, reportedly on loan from
Dartford (!), had thighs that were approximately the same size as the torso of
many of his team-mates, and generally stood out like Peter Crouch at a
children’s party. He also had obvious ability, and his two goals, in the 14th
and 16th minutes, turned the game on its head.
The first of these resulted from a defensive error
from an Ashford defender, (which I think was Ben Jordan). He badly misjudged a
long ball forward, which bounced over his head, and fell at the feet of Erith’s
No.10 – and the nearest I can get to deciphering the hand-written team sheet is
to guess that his name was Steve Filmer. Anyway, he fed the ball to his strike
partner, Akala, whose low, diagonal, right-footed shot eluded the right hand of
the diving Mo Munden. The Ashford defence appeared to still be half asleep
when, just two minutes later, a simple throw-in found Akala clean through on
goal. He rounded Mo Munden, and it then seemed that the unthinkable had been
averted, with the ball close to the by-line, giving Akala the narrowest of
angles for a shot on goal – but, with a margin for error that must have been no
more than inches, he made no fuss at all about sliding the ball into the net, for
a 2-1 score-line.
I don’t think that anyone present saw this coming –
but it’s not unusual for goals to change games, and Ashford’s bright start soon
turned into an absolutely dreadful first half performance. Of course, the
knee-jerk panic response appeared to be the long, hopeful ball forward – which almost
invariably gave the ball back to opponents that were now increasing in
confidence – but the malaise ran deeper than that. The defence looked
vulnerable, and the midfield, collectively, had a ‘mare. Passes went astray,
through balls were hit to nobody, and there was a whole succession of the kind
of fluffs, shanks and miss-cues that give footballers nightmares. Probably the saddest
moment came in the 35th minute, when Matt Bower, deep inside his own
half, aimed to play a straightforward return pass to Roy Guiver, only to see
the ball deviate from his foot at a crazy angle, and go out for a corner.
Unsurprisingly, Matt is only a shadow of the player he once was, and today he
seemed to be struggling to regain his touch, after having been on the side-lines
with injury for much of the season.
There were, however, chances for Ashford to equalise, and
so redeem this first half display to some extent, late on in the half. In the
43rd minute, a Richard Quigley free-kick, from about the half-way
line, skidded off the head of an Erith defender – the one with the illegible
name – for a corner, on the right. The ever-industrious Quigley went over to
take the dead-ball kick, and curled in a cross with his left foot – and a touch
by Tom Scorer, at the near post, saw the ball hit the angle of bar and post.
Just as a member of the Erith & Dartford backroom staff was holding up the
number “1”, to indicate that there would be a minimum of one minute of added
time at the end of the first half, Aaron Firth was put through on goal, in the
inside-right channel, but an excellent tackle by a home defender put the ball
out for another corner – just to remind ourselves that there were two teams out
there, and that the 2-1 half-time score was partly due to the defensive efforts
of Sam MacNeil’s young side, which was giving its all, and not just to Ashford’s
incompetence.
There weren’t many people in the ground who could not
guess what was awaiting the Ashford team, from Manager Paul Chambers, during
the interval. Another constant theme that has run through the season has been
reports of Chambo’s very vocal and uncompromising management style – and I’m
searching for euphemisms, here. Anyway, given that the contingent of Ashford
fans had a very healthy mix of women and children, I think it was probably a
good thing that the changing rooms at VCD are located some 50 yards from the
playing area, in what looks like a former cricket pavilion, at the opposite
corner of the ground to the bar and snack bar area.
In fairness to the Ashford team, it must be said that
the second half was a very one-sided affair, in which the determined effort to
salvage the three points – which still looked there for the taking – never flagged.
Goalkeeper Mo Munden was a virtual spectator for the remainder of the game,
which was largely an exercise of attack versus defence, with Erith & Dartford
no longer threatening to increase their lead. In this context, then, the
disappointing thing has to be that Ashford were unable to muster the quality to
turn their territiorial and physical dominance into goals, but there cannot be
any question marks raised as to the lads’ efforts, on an afternoon which
continued to be cold, wet and breezy.
The player who looked most likely to breach the home
defences was Aaron Firth, who looked strong, direct and full of heart. Richard
Quigley also seemed to have the tools for the job, and was involved in much of
the good attacking play down the left flank.
Firthy did, however, blot his copybook in the 57th
minute, when he received a yellow card. He was put through on goal by Tom
Scorer, and knocked the ball wide of the advancing goalkeeper. As the two
players converged, Aaron went sprawling, with all fours wide apart. The
referee, who, in spite of his youthful appearance, seemed to be well capable of
doing the job, was in an excellent position, no more than 15 yards away, and
directly behind the incident. Immediately, he waved his hands to signal “no
penalty”, and, once that decision had been made, did absolutely the right thing
in showing Firth the yellow card. (From the half-way line, side-on to the
incident, my opinion is worth very little, but I’m pretty sure that the ref got
this one right).
A minute earlier, we had beheld the sight of Manager
Paul Chambers getting changed into his yellow and green kit. Now I’m sure that
Chambers has no illusions as to his remaining prowess as a player, so the fact
that he was preparing to enter the fray was probably more a sign that he felt
that the lads needed closer supervision (!) – or maybe it was because he had
simply run out of fit men to throw on. He had already replaced Sam O’Keefe with
Danny Morrison, as early as the 48th minute, and, when he eventually
entered the fray, in the 67th minute, it was to replace a visibly
sore Matt Bower.
Prior to the manager’s self-introduction, Ashford’s
efforts had failed to really trouble Louis Gardiner, in the Erith goal. A
succession of corners had been dealt with, including when Gardiner took the
ball off the head of Roy Guiver, in the 64th minute, after Aaron Firth
and Peter Williams had worked a short corner routine between them – but,
generally, it was the defence in front of the young ‘keeper that was able to
deal with every threat that Ashford provided.
Erith & Dartford’s second-half resistance finally appeared
to be broken in the 70th minute, within three minutes of Paul
Chambers coming on. Tom Scorer put Aaron Firth through, again in the
inside-right channel. Firth put in a good cross, and there were cheers from the
Ashford bench, and from the knot of Ashford supporters huddled in Oakwood’s
only stand, as Chambers himself seemed to sweep the ball into the net, from
close range. Unfortunately, it soon became clear, as Chambo slumped onto the
low railings behind the goal, with his head resting on his forearm, that his
shot had gone the wrong side of the post, and that the ball was resting ON the
back of the net, rather than in it.
Nevertheless, the manager did have an impact on the
game, winning balls in the air and showing enough ball control to remind
everyone that he could play a bit, in his pomp. In the 75th minute,
he came close to scoring, when he appeared to be getting on the end of a long cross,
from the right. Unfortunately, for the Ashford cause, Roy Guiver, who was later
booked for dissent, was also very close to getting to the cross, at the far
post. Chambers did make a call, but Roy was already committed to his effort,
and put the ball behind for a goal-kick, effectively taking the ball off Chambo’s
head. In the context of the match, it was just one of many Ashford attacks that
failed to deliver the killer blow – but I get the impression that the incident
might not do a great deal to improve harmony in the dressing-room. (On the subject
of peace and harmony, the largely unemployed Mo Munden was shown a yellow card
by the ref, before play restarted – and I can only imagine that this must have
been for his commentary on the incident).
On a happier note, Chambers did play a part in the
Ashford equaliser, in the 78th minute. He was ambling back from what
was clearly an off-side position, after a previous attack had broken down, when
a ball was played over an Erith defensive line that appeared to be waiting for
an off-side whistle. Aaron Firth ran onto the ball, from a position that was
just as clearly on-side, rounded the goalkeeper and calmly rolled the ball into
an empty net. Strangely, in a way that mirrored Paul Chambers’ near-miss, some
eight minutes earlier, the ball actually sneaked through a hole in the back of
the net, so there was a horrible moment when it appeared that Firthy had missed
an open goal – but he was to be seen celebrating with the Ashford fans behind
the goal, and it was 2-2.
There was no let-up in Ashford’s pursuit of a winning
goal – but it did not materialise. It was not a great surprise that Aaron Firth
came closest, in the time that remained. With just two minutes remaining of
normal time, he ran onto a through-ball from defence, down the right flank, cut
in, and saw a good effort foiled by an even better diving save by goalkeeper
Louis Gardiner. In the dying moments of the game, Danny Morrison saw his shot
from long range deflected behind for a corner, and Liam Whiting headed just
over the bar, from a corner, but the match ended all square.
I think that Manager Paul Chambers will have felt that
this was very much a case of two points dropped – although the addition of just
one point to the season’s total is not likely to make a great deal of difference,
in the final analysis, with Ashford United seemingly heading for fourth or
fifth spot in the league in the season of the Club’s rebirth. On the other side
of things, I think that the young Erith & Dartford players are entitled to
feel very proud of the point they gained, this afternoon, having looked
over-faced by a physically stronger, and more experienced, Ashford side.
