From Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent
September
the 8th 2012; and this was my first game of Ashford United’s second
campaign, now that all commitments to the Cricket Season have been honoured. It
was ironic, but no surprise to anyone au fait with the British climate, that, after a Summer in whites when we’d been largely treading on sodden
outfields, watching the rain come down, our first excursion of the football
season took place beneath clear, blue skies and a hot sun !
It was rather fitting that our seasonal debut should
be made at Star Meadow Sports Club, Gillingham, home of Hollands & Blair
FC, since the corresponding fixture last season was where it all began for the
“reformed” Ashford United. After 15 months without a football team to support,
and all the bullish optimism during the 2011-12 pre-season friendlies, the 1-0
defeat of a youthful Ashford side at the hands of Blair came as a stark reality
check to many. It turned out to be the start of a very difficult season for
Ashford, who slumped to as low as 13th in the 16-team league, before
eventually finishing strongly, ending up in fifth place.
It was, of course, also a learning experience for
Hollands & Blair, who had just come up from the Kent County League (Step 7
in the non-league pyramid). Having won the County League twice in the previous
three years, Blair were arguably the benchmark for how strong the new league
was going to be. I think it’s fair to say that they had a fairly mixed season,
with inconsistency preventing them from finishing higher than third in the
league – but there was the wonderful achievement of winning the Kent Senior
Trophy, for the ex-Rochester & District League club, which made it a highly
successful season for them.
Last season’s fact-finding and water-testing
activities are now a thing of the past, and both teams have hit the ground
running, this time around. Anyone who has bothered to read this far will
already know that this was the game where two 100% records were on the line,
with Ashford having won four from four, and Blair five from five – and lest any
suggestion be made that this season’s Kent Invicta League will be a two-horse
race, Phoenix Sports have also made a strong start to the season, having won
four and drawn one, from five games.
For a match that had been so eagerly anticipated, it
was pretty disappointing as a spectacle, and was generally low on quality,
particularly in the first half, when the whole thing was anything but a good
advert for the Kent Invicta League. There were rumblings last season – and again
this afternoon – about the bumpiness of the ground here. Well, it certainly
looked very flat to me, and the grass was very short – but the pitch certainly “played”
bumpy, with players on both sides struggling with their touch.
The other feature of the Star Meadow Sports Club
ground is its pronounced slope, which has a steep gradient from one corner flag
to another, but mostly from flank to flank. It’s the most sloping pitch that I’ve
seen for a long time – and I’ve visited a fair number of non-league grounds.
Regardless of the impact the pitch had on the players’ performance, I reckon that
the slope actually gives a ground some character, and enhances the experience
for the spectator.
Star Meadow is already a nice place to come. This
impression would undoubtedly have been influenced by the fact that today’s
match was played out in warm sunshine, but there was a lovely atmosphere at the
ground throughout. At one end, there is a large and very nice bar, which has a
number of beer garden-style benches aligned in a row, behind one goal. Next to
this, and protected by the same high, wire mesh fence, is an enclosed children’s
area, complete with bouncy castle and playground. It’s probably the most family-friendly
ground I’ve been to – and the bar was well populated when we arrived at 2.30pm,
and was full and buzzing when we left at 5.45pm.
Otherwise, there is little to report in terms of
facilities at the ground. As is the norm in the Kent Invicta League, there are
no stands here, no PA system – just a rectangular pitch surrounded by a single
rail. Having said that, it was no surprise to hear that the club has plans to
install a 150-seat stand before the end of the current season, and Ashford fans
who had attended the inaugural match last season pointed out that there had
been several noticeable improvements. These included an expensive-looking set
of 3-G practice pitches on one side of the ground. There was also a consensus
that the playing surface was a big improvement on the one witnessed last year.
There is little doubt that the Ashford United squad is
much improved from the one that concluded the 2011-12 season undefeated in the
final ten games. Whilst the nucleus is still there, quality has been added all
over the pitch, with the addition of wing-backs Matt Hadlum and Luke Cuthbert,
Luke’s brother Adam in central midfield, and the experienced Gary Mickelborough
in attack. I think that another key addition has been 17 year-old Joe Mant, in
goal. He has been talked up more than any Ashford goalkeeper since – well,
probably since Tony Godden, who went straight into West Brom’s first team when
he left us, in the 70s. As expected, young Joe looked confident with his
handling, and commanded his area pretty well – but this was to be a game in
which he was not going to be called upon to make a save.
One surprise was that Joe did not have Paul Chambers’
favoured three-man defensive formation in front of him. Maybe it was a measure
of Chambo’s respect for today’s opposition, who were widely expected to be the
lads’ sternest test of the season to date, but Ashford took to the field in
4-4-2 formation. Dan Morrison was at right-back, playing in his first game of
the season, and Richard Quigley was making his first start. (If this had been
something of a gamble for The Management, then it has to be said that both
played well, with Morrison being particularly impressive). Ben Jordan and Lee Coburn
put on their usual assured display in central defence. The midfield quartet of
Luke and Adam Cuthbert, Ollie Finch and Liam Whiting played fairly deep in the
first half, far removed from Mo Takaloo and Gary Mickelborough up front. Sam
Conlon, Aaron Firth, Sam Fisher, Liam Walsh and ‘keeper Tom Carr made up a very
strong-looking bench. I am unable to shed any light on the whereabouts of Matt
Hadlum – mainly because I wouldn’t recognise him from a bar of soap – but Roy
Guiver was in attendance, as part of the crowd of 126.
The visitors made the brighter start, but had little
to show in terms of clear-cut chances – their best effort being Liam Whiting’s
shot on the turn, in the opening minute, which was too high. Both teams had
opportunities from corners and free-kicks, which came to nothing, but it was
the home side that gradually started to assert. The first recognisable chance
for Blair – playing in all red, so that the match rather looked like Liverpool
v Norwich City – came in the eleventh minute. A high ball over the Ashford
defence found Sean Hetterley, just inside the Ashford penalty area and free of
his marker – but the No.10 sliced the ball wide, to his obvious frustration.
Blair waited until the 17th minute for
their first corner, and this was swung in from their right, left-footed and
in-swinging, close to the Ashford goal-line, with Dan Morrison having to hoike
the ball clear. A minute later, a good passing movement resulted in the ball
being pulled back from the visitors’ by-line, and a defender had to be alert
with a saving tackle, just in front of goal. The resulting corner was hit too
long. In the 21st minute, a cross from the left was met by an
unchallenged Stuart West, but the tall No.8 nodded the ball wide. A minute
later, Blair had what turned out to be their best chance of the game, when
another corner from the right was curled in towards the near post. This was met
with a diving header, and the ball thumped against the post.
Quite sensibly, Referee Neil Baker, a man with Ryman League
experience, now agreed to a request from both benches for a general water break.
I don’t know what the temperature on the pitch will have been, at the time, but
it was still 26ºC when we drove through Rochester at 6pm. However, the break
rather benefited the visitors, as Blair had been showing signs of taking
control, and had started to look dangerous. After the unscheduled break, neither
side produced a great deal leading up to half time. Ashford created nothing up
front, and were guilty of several silly off-sides; Hollands & Blair tended
to favour the long ball, a tactic that was generally well dealt with by the
Ashford defence. There was a flurry of activity around about the 38th
minute, when, after an H&B corner was headed clear by the first defender,
Luke Cuthbert led a break-out. He was clear of the chasing home defence by
about half a length, but was let down by a poor finish. Moments later,
centre-forward Ricky Freeman picked the ball up on the left corner of the
Ashford penalty area, cut inside onto his right foot and let fly with a shot
that was just too high and wide.
So it was 0-0 at half time – and it wasn’t clever !
The second half began with a needless yellow card for
Lee Coburn. Ricky Freeman was shielding the ball, trying to ensure that it
would go out for a corner – an annoying little charade that is played out in
almost every game, all over the world. It’s irritating when players do that,
but there was no need for Coburn to throw his opponent to the ground, and the
yellow card was a formality. During the melee in the penalty area that followed
the resulting corner, Freeman was adjudged by the ref to have lunged in on Dan
Morrison, and so collected a yellow card of his own.
The whole complexion of the match was changed in the
53rd minute, by a moment of brilliance from Liam Whiting. Ashford
were awarded a free-kick, some 15 yards inside the Blair half. Ollie Finch
tapped the ball square to Whiting, who hit an absolute screamer, with his left
foot, which was still rising as it hit the roof of the net, giving goalkeeper
James Smith no chance. Suddenly, in a game that was already looking like it had
“0-0” written all over it, the visitors had something to hold onto. The mantra now
repeated by Manager Paul Chambers was “Squeeze !!” – but, if his intention was
for the team to close ranks, to protect the precious lead, then this was not
apparent in his next move, which was to replace Richard Quigley with a forward,
Aaron Firth, in the 56th minute.
After both sides had failed to make anything of a
free-kick in a dangerous position – Ashford’s near the right corner flag, and
Blair’s on their right touchline – Liam Whiting sent Gary Mickelborough off
down the left flank, with what was a hopeful, hooked clearance. Bearing down on
the Blair penalty area, Mickelborough crossed the ball to Mo Takaloo, in the
centre, and there were howls from the Ashford players and bench for a penalty,
for Takaloo being pulled back – but nothing was spotted by Referee Baker or his
lino.
H&B Manager Paul Piggott responded, in the 66th
minute, with a double substitution, replacing skipper Marc Chapman and Jack
West, with Steve Hafner and Cliff Eldridge. This move failed to change the
course of the game, but Blair had a half-chance, just two minutes later. Lee
Coburn conceded a corner when forced to hook a cross, from the right, over his
own crossbar. The resulting corner, swung in, left-footed, found Ricky Freeman,
beyond the far post; his header back into the centre was nodded goalwards by another
Blair forward, but this effort was easily caught by Joe Mant, on his line.
Aaron Firth then had a mad five minutes or so. He was
given a stern talking to by the referee, in the 70th minute, after a
spat with a Blair player. The bickering session continued immediately,
resulting in a yellow card for the Ashford substitute – I don’t think the ref
was going to show the card, but Firthy rather talked him into it. More worrying
moments followed for the Ashford bench, as Aaron still refused to let the
matter rest – resulting in another extended interview with the referee.
Eventually, the red mist cleared, but there had appeared to be a real danger
that Aaron would either be sent off, or need to be substituted before he was.
The main impact of this little episode was to cause
some minutes’ delay, and to break up play in a way that suited the visiting
team. From here on, the Blair players became more tetchy, and there was the odd
late tackle and snide elbow. Ricky Freeman was guilty of one such incident in
the 73rd minute, with an unnecessarily late challenge on Dan
Morrison – and was possibly a little fortunate not to add to the yellow card
that he earnt earlier in the half.
Up until the 76th minute, Ashford’s archgoalscorer,
Mo Takaloo, had contributed very little – but then showed his class when he
pounced upon a half-chance as soon as it was presented. The Hollands &
Blair defence, probably as much due to mental and physical fatigue, in the warm
conditions, as anything else, made a real mess of what should have been a
simple clearance. A touch from Aaron Firth richocheted to Mo, on the edge of
the area, with only the goalkeeper to beat – and so there was only going to be
one outcome ! For the umpteenth time in
his career, Ashford’s No.9 rounded the goalie with ease, and did what he’s paid
for – thumping the ball into the net. He has now scored in every league match
this season, and in six consecutive games altogether. I cannot verify whether
the latter is a Club record – but it feels like it ought to be !
And that was that. The three points were secure. All
that was required, for the remainder of the game, was for the Ashford defence
to repel what appeared to be increasingly desperate H&B attacks, consisting
mainly of long balls forward. Ross Brookes replaced Sean Hetterley, for the
home side, in the 78th minute, and Paul Chambers replaced Mo Takaloo
and Gary Mickelborough with Sam Conlon and Sam Fisher, with just five minutes
remaining – but the visitors successfully saw out the remaining time, to ensure
that theirs was the 100% record that endured.
So not a classic match, and probably not a classic
performance from Ashford, but they looked pretty solid throughout, easily
holding the league leaders at bay, and walked off with a clean sheet and three
points. That’s the sort of performance and outcome that usually delights the
Manager – and we, as fans, shouldn’t complain either.
It’s very rare that being an Ashfordian is something
to boast about – but it’s been quite a few days for the town. First,
Ashford-born Sam Northeast scores 165, in Kent’s victory over Derbyshire; then
former Ashford Town right-back Roy Hodgson leads England to a 0-5 victory in
Moldova – and now this !
No comments:
Post a Comment