Eltham
Palace 2 Ashford
United 2
From Ashford United’s
Milton Keynes Correspondent
We
were awoken this morning by the clock-alarm blaring out “Mr Blue Sky” – and that
turned out to be very appropriate, as FINALLY this season, we were able to
watch a footy match in relatively warm and sunny conditions. There was still a
fairly chilly breeze at Green Court Sports Ground, up on top of the hill in
Crockenhill, by the side of the A20, just South of Swanley – but there was a
cloudless sky throughout the day, which was more like what we expect at the end
of the season.
And
it’s probably true to say that it’s been a season tinged with disappointment
for Ashford United, even if the consensus among the travelling faithful has
been that it’s been another hugely enjoyable experience in the Kent Invicta
League. Ashford are almost certainly nailed on for third place, with Phoenix
Sports having made sure of the title, and promotion to Step 5, with a 1-0 win
over second-placed Hollands & Blair, during the week. Third place is just
about what we deserve, this season, with both Phoenix and Blair consistently
being the best two teams on the league, throughout. Third is an improvement on
last year, when we finished fifth, but it does seem a disappointment, with so
much emphasis being placed on finishing in a promotion place, at the start of
the season – which, officially, is the same thing as winning the championship –
and with a substantially stronger squad than last year. Of course, there is
still a chance that Ashford will be placed in the higher division for next
season anyway – but that’s to be decided by discussions that will be taking
place up in the Blazersphere, over the Summer.
There
was certainly an element of end-of-term among the Ashford players this
afternoon, as there had been two weeks previously, away at Lewisham – and there
was a definite similarity in the two performances. On both occasions, Ashford
started slowly, and found themselves trailing to a side that they were expected
to beat fairly comfortably. The difference, though, was that I always felt, at
Lewisham’s Ladywell Arena, that the boys were so superior in terms of ability
and experience that they would not only win the game, but also probably win by
something similar to the eventual 2-6 score-line. Today was different. Although
Eltham Palace were gifted an early two-goal lead by sloppy errors from Ashford’s
defence, they looked an altogether better side than Lewisham, were solid and
tidy throughout the team and I spent at least 88 minutes, this afternoon,
thinking that Ashford were going to lose this match. For that reason, after
Gary Mickelborough’s last-minute goal had snatched a 2-2 draw, it felt more
like a victory !
The visitors turned out in the holy green & white
home kit, today, with Eltham Palace playing mostly in royal blue, but with one
sleeve almost entirely yellow, which ruled out Ashford’s Norwich City-style
away kit. It was a 4-4-2 formation, to start off with, with Roy Guiver up front
with Damian Abel. Tom Scorer had a starting berth, but this time wide on the right
of midfield - and he looked impressive in this role, sometimes going past
defenders at will, and was certainly Ashford’s most dangerous player, today.
Liam Whiting was in central midfield, alongside Adam Cuthbert, with Kieran
Byrne in his familiar position on the left. There was a surprise in defence, in
as much as Danny Morrison was at left-back and Luke Cuthbert at right-back, (instead
of the other way around). Captain Ben Jordan and Sam Marsh were in central
defence, in front of goalkeeper Roddy Hayward – which meant that the talented Joe
Mant had to settle for a place on the bench, once again. It was actually a
bench that was full of Ryman League and Kent League experience, as it included
Gary Clarke, (demoted to sub as a result of his absence last week, no doubt), Sam
Conlon and Gary Mickelborough. The diminutive Sam Fisher made up the five.
Ashford’s first set-back came as early as the second
minute, when Sam Perry sent in a deep cross from the right. This is something
that goalkeeper Roddy Hayward probably should have dealt with, but the ball
looped over his head, and went in off the far post. There also seemed little
danger when, in the seventh minute, a long ball was launched into the Ashford
half. Ben Jordan seemed to be well in control of the situation, and tried to
nod the ball back to Hayward, just as he’s done hundreds of times in the past –
but, this time, he failed to get anything like the required contact, and Nick
Wybrow was able to nip behind him, and poke the ball past the ‘keeper, and into
the net.
From this point, Eltham Palace rarely threatened to
increase their lead, but it’s fair to say that, in spite of clearly having the
majority of possession in the first half, Ashford looked just as unlikely to
trouble the home side’s goalkeeper. This was mostly due to a lack of quality in
the final third of the pitch, with a succession of woefully inaccurate crosses
and through-balls giving the Palace defence an easy time.
The first real sign of life from the visitors came in
the twelfth minute, when a speculative turn and shot by Kieran Byrne, from
outside the penalty area, went high and wide. Two minutes later, Tom Scorer did
some great work down the right wing, worrying the defender out of the ball,
near the corner flag, before sending in a good cross. Roy Guiver managed to get
a header on target, but this required just a regulation save from the goalie.
In the 22nd minute, Kieran Byrne and Danny Morrison combined well,
on the left, before Morrison put in a deep cross that was just too high for Roy
Guiver – Liam Whiting came steaming in behind Guiver, but headed wide. Whiting
had another chance, again steaming forward from central midfield, in the 36th
minute. He picked up a loose ball, and sent in a decent shot which needed a
good save from the Palace ‘keeper – and this drew applause of encouragement
from the Ashford faithful.
Generally, though, it was a first half of frustration
for the Ashford management team, and the score remained at 2-0 until the break.
Gary Clarke appeared to be warming up in earnest
during the half time interval, and so it was no surprise that he was introduced
by Paul Chambers immediately prior to the restart. Clarke replaced Sam Marsh,
with Roy Guiver dropping back to his more familiar central defence position,
and Adam Cuthbert taking up a forward position, just behind, and in support of,
Damian Abel.
Clarke caught the eye almost immediately, with an
excellent cross-field ball that found Tom Scorer, on the right. Tom broke
through one tackle, and then found himself inside the Eltham Palace penalty
area, before letting go with a tremendous shot which went just over the bar.
The home ’keeper had just managed to get a hand on the ball, and so it was a
corner to Ashford, on the right. This was taken by Kieran Byrne, but his
in-swinging effort was just too high for Luke Cuthbert, beyond the far post, who
could only head the ball behind. Just a minute later, Adam Cuthbert was put
clean through on goal, and it looked likely that he was going to add to the two
goals he scored last week, in the 2-1 home victory over Sutton Athletic – but the
Palace goalie was equal to the task, and came out and won the one-on-one
situation.
There was a major scare for Ashford in the 53rd
minute, when Roddy Hayward left his penalty area to deal with an under-hit back-pass.
By the time he intercepted the ball – with both hands – he was outside his
area, and the Lino, who was right in line, was flagging furiously. There must
have been a fair probability that the referee, who was being assessed, this
afternoon, would show Roddy a red card for this technical infringement – but the
colour of the card was yellow.
Manager Paul Chambers made the first of his three
substitutions when Gary Mickelborough replaced Damian Abel, after 56
ineffective minutes. But it was once again Tom Scorer who was responsible for
creating Ashford’s next chance, in the 58th minute. From about
midway inside the Eltham half, Tom turned and went on a run down the right
wing. In spite of the attentions of no fewer than three blue-shirted defenders,
he got to the by-line, and sent in a good, low cross. Liam Whiting arrived from
midfield, but could only side-foot the ball over the bar. In the 66th
minute, Tom again showed his quality, beating his man with ease, but sliced his
attempted cross behind the goal. Just seconds later, the Cuthbert brothers
combined, when Luke sent in a high, long cross, which found Adam, beyond the
far post, but Adam’s header looped up onto the top of the crossbar, with the ‘keeper
seeming fairly unflustered by the situation.
Chambo’s second substitution was part of a tactical
change. He replaced Roy Guiver with Sam Conlon, who went to join Gary Mickelborough
in attack, and ordered a switch to a three-at-the-back system, with Danny
Morrison, Ben Jordan and Luke Cuthbert holding the fort. However, Ashford’s
first goal, which came in the 77th minute, had little to do with
tactics and formations, and everything to do with the quality of Kieran Byrne. There
was a suspicion of hand-ball as Gary Clarke took possession of the ball in midfield,
but there was no reaction from any of the officials. Gary found Kieran Byrne,
who was about 25 yards from goal. Kieran took one touch, and then simply
leathered the ball, and it arrowed into the net, via the underside of the bar.
It was yet another absolute screamer from Ashford’s wide-left midfielder – and it
was almost as annoying as it was thrilling, considering that, with such quality
in the side, it had taken us 77 minutes to find the net.
There was now a tangible sense of urgency among the
Ashford players – which was matched by the home side’s attempts to fritter away
seconds at every opportunity.
The visitors thought that they were surely about to level
the scores, in the 83rd minute, when a corner found Adam Cuthbert in
the area. There were cries for hand-ball from the Palace defenders, but Adam
managed to unleash a great shot, which was headed off the line by a home
defender. However, the Lino in front of the stand was flagging furiously,
having spotted the hand-ball – and Eltham could breathe again.
Ashford continued to press for the equalising goal,
but it didn’t come until the final minute of normal time, with Gary
Mickelborough scoring his eleventh of the season, (the first being in the
opening game – the FA Cup victory at Deal). Gary did well to control an awkward
ball, inside the Eltham area, before taking it wide of the ‘keeper and finding
the back of the net, to the obvious delight of the Ashford bench.
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