Beckenham
Town 4 Ashford
United 2
From Ashford United’s
Milton Keynes Correspondent
Today
I had a day out in Beckenham. In marked contrast to last Saturday’s visit to
Gillingham – no offence to Gillingham – Eden Park Avenue, home of Beckenham
Town FC, is in the heart of middle-class South East London. No doubt it’s a
hotbed of rugby union fans and UKIP supporters.
This
was my first trip to Beckenham, and one I had been looking forward to, because,
unlike some of the outfits in the Southern Counties East League, Beckenham Town
is a well-established club, having been a fixture in this league since 1982.
One benefit of this fixture for public transport users is that Eden Park Avenue
is literally five minutes’ walk from Eden Park mainline rail station, which is,
in turn, just 29 minutes’ ride from London Bridge Station. Also, for the first
time this season, for me, planning the trip was made simpler by the fact that
this was a league match, without the complication of the possibility of extra
time and penalties to contend with. One of several extraordinary features of
this 2013-14 season has been the proportion of cup games that Ashford have
played. The totals, up to first thing this morning, were 15 league games, (with
14 wins and a defeat), and 17 cup games – meaning that there were 17 league
games, plus the Kent Senior Trophy Final, still to come.
Whatever
happens in that cup final – and we’ll be playing either today’s opponents,
Beckenham Town, or mid-table Kent Invicta League side Fleet Leisure – the fact
that we’ve made it to the final of this competition, in our first season at
this level, is, in my opinion, an achievement worthy of commemoration. If we
win the Trophy, it will certainly demand the etching of another tattoo ! But there is, (or was, this morning), still
everything to play for in the SCEFL, which looks decidedly like it has become a
two-horse race, between Ashford United and Whyteleafe. At the start of today’s
game, Whyteleafe had a four-point lead, but having played two games more than
Ashford. This lead at the top was stretched to four points only two days ago, in
a Thursday night game in which ‘Leafe landed a comfortable 4-1 victory, at home
to Beckenham. This result rather focused attention on how Ashford would get on,
against the same team, today.
A few miles to the north, this afternoon, Whyteleafe
had a very tough match, away to Phoenix Sports. In a “normal” season, we
Ashford fans might regard that as an opportunity for our rivals to drop points,
and so give us an advantage – but this is the season in which, incredibly, we
are yet to meet any of the other top-five teams in the league, and so the fate
of the SCEFL title, and the solitary promotion place, will be decided by how
Ashford fare in the crucial matches at the top of the table that are to come,
in the remaining few weeks of the season.
I am, personally, surprised that Ashford United has a
realistic shout of winning the league, in our first season at this level. In
common with many United fans, I suspect, I started this season merely hoping
that the squad would be able to hold its own at Step 5, and considering that a
top-five finish would represent a successful season. In spite of the lads’ encouraging
start, I have been cheerfully accepting that Whyteleafe would probably be
champions at the end of the season, as they’ve continually looked to be the
side to beat. At the beginning of the day, they had dropped five points,
compared with Ashford’s three, but their goal difference averages at about
three goals per game, and I can’t remember the last time that ‘Leafe failed to
win – it must’ve been sometime in the Summer.
However, my pessimism – or maybe it’s the humility of
the son of a town whose football team rarely has pretensions for winning
anything – certainly doesn’t appear to be shared by the Football Club, with The
Management having completed the permanent signing of three first team regulars
from Hythe Town, in the past couple of weeks. Manager Paul Chambers is
certainly going to war with a squad, and a rumoured wage bill, that already has
the appearance of being ready for the Ryman League. In other words, there is no
doubting The Management’s determination to grab the opportunity for promotion
at the first attempt. I am certain that our old rivals from those former Ryman days
are just as determined to have Step 4 football being played at Church Road,
next season, so it promises to be an exciting end to the season.
Since the addition of Hythe trio of Dave Cook, Pat
Kingwell and Ronnie Dolan, Ashford have won both of their games – the quarter-final
and semi-final of the Kent Senior Trophy – but the performance from the team
wasn’t entirely satisfactory in either game. It’s hard to sniff at two
hard-fought victories, against two very good sides, but the manner of victory
was “functional”, rather than dominant or scintillating, so, with Beckenham
Town, (currently in 11th place in the league, having finished in the
same position in 2012-13), expected to provide less of a test than either
Phoenix Sports or Hollands & Blair, I was hoping for a more convincing
display, today.
The early portents were good, since the pitch looked
absolutely immaculate, in the spring sunshine, with not a square inch of mud
showing on its smooth, level surface. The Eden Park Avenue playing surface
slopes gently, from east to west, but not to the extent of the steep gradient
that we witnessed at Hollands & Blair, last week. Would this be a pitch
that would enable Ashford to play their free-flowing football ? It was certainly a pitch that would allow for
no excuses.
The dominant feature of the ground is the high railway
embankment that borders the ground on its southern edge. The game was played to
the back drop of the noise of trains pulling into, and out of, Eden Park
Station. A paradise for any train spotter with an interest in non-league
football. The older of the two stands has some twenty padded seats, arranged in
two rows. This stand, which has a wooden base, is situated on the halfway line,
so was the natural choice for me. The other has more seats, three rows deep,
but is confined to just one half of the pitch. Behind one goal is a long
building, which looks to be of wooden construction, and this houses the bar and
the dressing rooms.
The Ashford line-up showed few changes to the side
that had earnt that solid semi-final victory against Blair, last week. Pat
Kingwell was again in the centre of the back four, but this time, for the first
time, was partnered by Ben Jordan. (Liam Whiting had a bad back, apparently).
Luke Cuthbert was at right-back, with the excellent Kieran Byrne at left-back.
Dave Cook started the game in a very defensive role, just in front of the back
four – which he seems well-equipped to do, but it is still a slightly strange
deployment decision, given that he won the Ryman League Golden Boot award last
season, with 27 goals from midfield ! In
a 4-1-3-2 formation, the midfield trio consisted of captain Gary Clarke in the
centre, flanked by Adam Cuthbert and Ronnie Dolan. Jimmy Dryden had a start, up
front, and I was delighted that Sam Conlon got the nod as Jimmy’s striking
partner, ahead of Gary Mickelborough and Buster Smissen, who were named as
substitutes. The bench was completed by Ollie Finch and Sam Fisher, as well as
Jon Sparkes, the substitute goalie, and it was good to see Tom Scorer having a
kick-about with the substitutes during the half time interval.
As expected, with the pitch looking in such pristine
condition, the game started at a fast pace, but it was Beckenham who were the
first to settle, and the more inclined, of the two teams, to knock the ball
around along the ground. The first incident of note came in the seventh minute,
when Beckenham had a penalty appeal. A shot was charged down by an Ashford
defender, just inside the visitors’ penalty area, resulting in the ball clearly
striking a raised arm. The referee’s reason for turning down the appeals was
that the defending player was adopting a “natural body posture”, and was unable
to get out of the way – but I’ve seen those given, elsewhere.
One Ashford player, in this debacle, who barely put a
foot wrong was Kieran Byrne. He looked pure class, whenever he was in
possession, and was almost wasted at left-back. Having said that, his free-kicks
were a little disappointing today, and he wasted a kick in a promising
position, in the eighth minute, when he curled the ball straight into the hands
of Rilwan Adibaba, the Beckenham ‘keeper. Three minutes later, however, Kieran
put Sam Conlon clean through on goal, with a long ball that looked more like a
clearance than a pass. Nevertheless, it put Sam through with a one-on-one with
the goalie, but he pulled his shot across the face of goal, and wide.
As the half wore on, Ashford continued to play too
many balls in the air, with the home side happier to make use of their
excellent facility, and Becks’ striker Richard Pearce, with the long
dreadlocks, had the ball in the Ashford net in the 20th minute, after
collecting a diagonal pass from James Marshall, but he had already been flagged
offside.
It wasn’t until the half-hour mark that Ashford really
settled down to play some passing football, and a swift move from the back
resulted in Gary Clarke having a sight of goal, from just outside the penalty
area. After Wadmore, for Beckenham, and Dryden, for Ashford, had been off target
with weak efforts, Gary actually struck his shot well, but straight at the
goalkeeper. Moments later, a spot of head tennis put Ronnie Dolan through on
goal. Ronnie showed good strength, as he latched onto the ball, and hit his shot
firmly, but this was again too close to Adibaba, who made a good save.
The visitors were now starting to create chances, and
the 35th minute saw Kieran Byrne careering through the Beckenham half
– but his run was ended with a trip by Frankie Warren, which earned the Becks
No.6 a yellow card.
So it was against the run of play, during this brief
period of Ashford pressure, that the home side took the lead, in the 37th
minute – and this was not to be the last time, this afternoon, that Ashford
would look vulnerable when the opposition was breaking out from defence. This
break was led by Alex Wilks, a winger who posed a constant threat to the
Ashford defence, and who was clearly the Man of the Match. On this occasion,
Wilks led a break-out down the right wing, cut inside at great pace, and then
created an opening for himself, in front of goal, by playing a neat one-two. To
cap an excellent individual goal, he gave Joe Mant no chance, by placing a low
shot in the corner of the net.
The home side came close to going a man down, in the
40th minute, when Frankie Warren, having just received a yellow
card, committed a stupid foul, from behind, on Adam Cuthbert, who was in the
centre circle, facing his own goal and going nowhere. I am sure that the
referee would have shown Warren a yellow card, if he had not already been
booked.
Dave Cook did adopt a more forward position, for the
remainder of the first half, as Ashford strived for an equaliser – but when the
visitors did equalise, in the 44th minute, the goal came from a
corner. There was nothing particularly elaborate, or scientific, about this
goal – just a good cross from Adam Cuthbert, from the left, and a firm header
from Jimmy Dryden, which the goalkeeper appeared to save, but Sam Conlon poked
the ball over the line, to make sure. It was Dryden who received the
congratulations on the field, and he has been credited with the goal, so,
evidently, the goalie was unable to prevent Jimmy’s header from going over the
line.
There was still just time, in the first half, for
Ashford to manufacture a further half-chance, as Jimmy Dryden met a Luke
Cuthbert cross, from the right wing, with a glancing header at the near post,
but the angle was very tight, and the Ashford No.9 was never going to sneak the
ball in – so the half ended with the teams all square, at 1-1.
Whyteleafe, meanwhile, had gone in at half time at
Phoenix Sports a goal up.
Becks Manager Jason Huntley introduced Joe Jackson,
for the start of the second half, and the No.16 was shown a yellow card within
three minutes of his appearance, when he was guilty of a late tackle on Gary
Clarke, in the centre circle.
However, the home side took the lead, soon after, in
the 50th minute, and this was once again the result of a break away
after a period of Ashford pressure. Damon Ramsamy bore down on the Ashford
area, and executed a neat one-two, the return pass putting him through on goal,
in the Ashford area. A deft touch took him past Joe Mant, and he stroked the
ball firmly into the net, for a second brilliant goal for Beckenham.
Paul Chambers’ response was to replace Sam Conlon with
Gary Mickelborough, in the 53rd minute, and Ashford’s first chance
in the second half came three minutes later. After some good work down the
left, Kieran Byrne flipped the ball over the head of a defender, into the path
of Dave Cook – but Cook was pulled down on the corner of the penalty area, by
Adam Wadmore, causing the referee to immediately pull out his yellow card. Adam
Cuthbert belted the free-kick straight into the defensive wall.
The colour of the card produced in the 58th
minute was red, and it was shown to Ronnie Dolan, in just his second game of
his second spell at Ashford. Ronnie was on a run through the Beckenham half,
and the ball was getting away from him, as it was cleared by a red-shirted
defender. Dolan caught his man late, and his momentum meant that contact was made
with some force, so it was no surprise that the referee decided on a straight
red card.
So not much was going to plan for Ashford, at this
stage, and things got worse when Beckenham extended their lead, in the 65th
minute. For a third time in the afternoon, the visitors were badly caught on
the break, with the taller defenders having been sent into the opposition’s
half, at a free-kick. Very quickly, Becks had a three-against-two advantage, as
they streamed into the Ashford half – and this became three-against-one when
Ben Jordan, (I think it was), stumbled and fell. On occasions, teams make a
mess of these situations, but the home side made all the right decisions,
passing the ball to the left of the last Ashford defender, putting Jake
Britnell through on goal. Joe Mant made an attempt at a tackle at Britnell’s
feet, but the No.8 rounded the goalkeeper and tapped the ball home from about two
feet.
Ashford looked worryingly vulnerable, at the back, against
what was a young and pacey side, and Beckenham’s winning margin could easily
have been more convincing. The score in terms of red cards was, however, evened
up in the 65th minute, when Adam Wadmore was shown a straight red
card, to go with his earlier yellow one. This was as a result of an incident at
a Beckenham corner. I didn’t see the incident, but the referee immediately
produced the red card from his pocket, before the kick was taken, and Kieran
Byrne was down on his knees, clutching his face – so I think we are all capable
of filling in the gaps !
Buster Smissen, on eleven goals for the season, at a
rate of one every 145 minutes, was introduced, by Paul Chambers, in the 69th
minute, in place of Adam Cuthbert. Two minutes later, he managed to get on the
end of a long ball forward, and just had the goalkeeper to beat. However, the
angle was fairly acute, and Buster’s shot was well saved by Adibaba. The
rebound looped back to Smissen, but he was unable to square the ball to a
colleague in the centre. In the 75th minute, Buster had a very similar
chance, in a similar position, but Adibaba again foiled the goal-scoring
attempt, making a good, low save.
Alex Wilks, who didn’t play in Beckenham’s 4-1 defeat
at Whyteleafe, on Thursday, continued to terrorise the Ashford defence, running
at them at every opportunity. In the 78th minute, Dave Cook appeared
to have no answer, but to barge his man over, and received a yellow card for
the offence. The free-kick, in a central position, about halfway inside the
Ashford half, was fairly blasted into the three-man, yellow and green Ashford
wall, by James Marshall – but Ashford’s iron man, Gary Clarke, barely blinked
as he took the hit.
Sam Fisher replaced Dave Cook, in the 81st
minute, and, almost immediately, the Ashford defence was embarrassed for pace.
This time, it was Luke Cuthbert, in the right-back position, who was found out,
as substitute Travis Gregory, who had replaced Richard Pearce, in the 74th
minute, was able to run around him, and reach the by-line. From there, Gregory
pulled the ball back to James Marshall, whose firmly-struck, first-time shot
would have thudded into the roof of the Ashford net, if Joe Mant had not made a
brilliant, finger-tip save. This was the only glimpse we had of Ashford’s
goalkeeping hero of the previous two Saturdays – not that Joe could have been
blamed for any of the Beckenham goals.
Ashford actually played their best football of the
game in the final ten minutes or so, as the play became stretched. In the 84th
minute, a good move ended with Buster Smissen attempting to send in a cross,
from the left – but his attempt was blocked, for a corner. This was taken by
Kieran Byrne, whose cross was well met by Gary Mickelborough, in the centre of
the penalty area; Jimmy Dryden attempted to divert Mickelborough’s firm header
into the net, but was unable to keep the ball down.
The visitors continued to try to salvage something
from the game, with a three-pronged attack of Dryden, Mickelborough and
Smissen, and GazMik had an attempt at goal in the 88th minute,
cutting in from the left. His well-hit shot, from the edge of the penalty area,
brought another good save from Adibaba, and Jimmy Dryden turned the rebound
into the net, but had already been flagged offside.
Beckenham’s fourth goal came in the 91st minute,
and perfectly illustrated Ashford’s vulnerability to the home side’s pace.
James Britnell picked the ball up on the halfway line, and a change of gear
enabled him to ease past Sam Fisher. His pace took him past another Ashford player
in the middle of the visitors’ half, and then right through the centre of the
defence, and into the penalty area. Britnell’s firm shot appeared to be well
saved by Joe Mant, but the ball looped over the ‘keeper and then spun into the
net, for Britnell’s second goal.
A further minute into injury time, and Luke Cuthbert
was again exposed, in the right-back position, with Damon Ramsamy beating him,
all ends up. Luke reacted by tripping his man, and the referee didn’t think it
was too late to show him a yellow card.
There were 93 minutes on the clock when Ashford scored
their second goal. A long ball over the top appeared to catch Buster Smissen
well off-side – but he checked his run, and Jimmy Dryden, coming from a deeper
position, ran onto the ball, down the left flank. With a clear sight of goal,
Jimmy struck his shot well, but the ‘keeper made another good save. The ball
spiralled up in the air, in much the same way as it had done for Beckenham’s fourth
goal, and Buster Smissen was well placed to follow up, and smash the ball into
the net.
Six minutes of time were added to the original 90, and
this was long enough for one more moment of controversy. I didn’t see the
Ashford player involved, but my view was that he legitimately went in for a 50-50
tackle with Alex Wilks, and Wilks came out of it the worse, lying injured, on
the ground, for several minutes. After the game, two people who were closer to
the incident than me, but otherwise independent of each other, said that this
incident was worse than any of the previous fouls in the game that had resulted
in yellow and red cards – but the referee saw no reason to take any action.
But the salient issue from the game is that this was a
very sobering experience for the Ashford team and management. The worse news
was that, as a quick trawl through the afternoon’s tweets revealed, Whyteleafe
had taken all three points from their game at Phoenix Sports, coming away with
a 1-3 victory, after Phoenix had equalised. This means that it’s probably fair
to say that this was the afternoon when the race for the inaugural SCEFL title,
and promotion (back) to the Ryman League, took a decisive turn in the direction
of Whyteleafe. This evening, ‘Leafe are seven points ahead of Ashford, having
played two games more.
In theory, that means that we just have one point to
make up, and, in that context, an optimist would view the two league games we
still have to play against Whyteleafe as being an opportunity. In practice,
however, Whyteleafe look unstoppable, and anyone witnessing Ashford’s last
three games will find it hard to believe that they can improve enough to take
points from the league leaders. It’s true to say that Beckenham looked anything
but a side lying in 11th place in the league, but it’s basically the
same side that lost 4-1 to Whyteleafe, less than 48 hours earlier. The addition
of the three lads from Hythe appears, at this early stage, to have taken the
team backwards, rather than forwards. I’ve no idea of why this might be, and there
is no doubt that the recent acquisitions have added quality and depth to the
squad – it’s just a reluctant observation of team performance.
The other sub-text to this deserved victory for
Beckenham is, of course, that they are very likely to be our opponents in the
Final of the Kent Senior Trophy. With an improved performance, I think there is
no reason why Ashford should not reverse the form, come the middle of April –
but today’s game has given Paul Chambers and John Ovard plenty to think about,
between then and now.
No comments:
Post a Comment