Ashford United v Beckenham Town. Kent Senior Trophy Final. 13th of April 2014.

Ashford United 0       Beckenham Town   4

 

The Kent Senior Trophy Final

 

From Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent

 

 

This week-end was very much cup week-end. There were the semi-finals of both the Scottish Cup and the FA Cup, (with the sight of plenty of Hull City and Sheffield United fans, in London, on this sunny Sunday afternoon), and, yesterday, there was the Final of the London Senior Trophy, in which Bridon Ropes, of the Kent Invicta League, defeated our old rivals from the Ryman League, Corinthian-Casuals. But the big event in our tiny corner of the football world was the Kent Senior Trophy Final, between Ashford United and Beckenham Town.

 

This was a big deal for me. I am in my mid-50s, now, and this was the first time that I had seen my boys in the final of anything. That’s probably not surprising, given that Ashford’s Roll of Honour, in terms of trophies won, in my life-time, is three Kent Senior Cups – one in 1962-3, when I was a toddler, and two in the mid-nineties, when I was unable to follow the team. In other words, when you support Ashford, it can be a very long time between drinks !

 

The nearest experience that I’ve had to this, as an Ashford supporter, was back in 1973, with that Semi-final of the FA Trophy. One of the novelties of that occasion was that, like today’s final, it was played on a neutral ground – London Road, home of Peterborough United. I went up to Peterborough with my Dad, on a coach that was organised by the R.E.M.E. And let’s say, just one more time, that the goal that Scarborough beat us by, in a 1-0 robbery, that day, was never a penalty !  (The other remarkable thing about the FA Trophy that year was that Scarborough went on to play Wigan Athletic in the Final – the same Wigan that played Arsenal in the FA Cup Semi-final yesterday).

 

So it was this historical context, more than anything else, that made today such a disappointing and dispiriting experience. This was certainly the worst performance that I have seen from Ashford United, this season, and I find it hard to explain how the boys managed to lose 4-0, and deservedly so, to a team that they beat comfortably, by a 3-0 margin, only last Tuesday.

 

Beckenham were always likely to be a difficult opponent. I knew that, having seen them outplay us in a 4-2 victory, in early March. That day, they looked a lively young side, having several players with the skill and pace to slice through our defence. By all accounts, Becks merely tried to kick our lads off the park, at Homelands, on Tuesday. Well, I can confirm that it was “the other” Beckenham that turned up for today’s Final, played at Tonbridge Angels’ Longmead Stadium, and they duly outplayed Ashford United, for a second time.

 

The day began brightly, with a large contingent of Ashford supporters, who made up the vast majority of the crowd of 412, enjoying the spring sunshine. The pitch looked immaculate – green and flat, and not on a ridiculous slope, unlike some of the pitches we play on in the Southern Counties East League. However, the first ominous sign came with the team sheet, which our hosts for the day had kindly printed out. Ashford were setting out in this Final with big centre-half Pat Kingwell up front, alongside Sam Conlon. What has tended to happen, with Pat playing as a striker, is that the team has reacted by simply lumping long balls in his general direction, instead of playing the ball along the ground. Deploying a centre-half in this manner was made all the more puzzling by the presence of no fewer than five strikers on the substitutes bench: Jimmy Dryden, Buster Smissen, Gary Mickelborough, Tom Scorer and Ira Jackson. The only solution to this conundrum was that Ashford must have had a game plan, and it could only be that The Management felt that Beckenham might be vulnerable to a big front man – and this appeared to be confirmed by the regularity with which Ashford played long, high balls up to Kingwell, throughout the game. (“The Management” actually consisted of Assistant Manager John Ovard, with Manager Paul Chambers being absent, due to a long-standing social engagement).

 

In spite of the absence of both Ollie Finch and Dave Cook through suspension, Ashford put out a strong midfield, consisting of captain Gary Clarke, Adam Cuthbert, Sam Fisher and Ronnie Dolan. The defence, in front of Joe Mant, lined up with Luke Cuthbert at right-back, Liam Whiting at left-back and the two Jordans, Ben and Miller, in central defence.

 

Well, the news on the tactical front is that the “Route 1”, in the air, approach simply didn’t work. Kingwell won his fair share of headers from Joe Mant’s clearances, but the Beckenham defence looked strong, and no chances were created using this ploy. In the meantime, Beckenham completely dominated a very one-sided opening ten minutes. The first chance for the team playing in all red came in the sixth minute. After Liam Whiting had conceded a free-kick on the right touchline, the resulting cross found Jake Britnell, on the edge of the “D”, but Britnell’s optimistic flick looped well over the Ashford bar. But it was not long before Beckenham took the lead. Ben Jordan gave the opposition a free-kick right on the edge of the penalty area, for pulling back Britnell. A five-man wall of green shirts faced the free-kick, but to no avail, as James Marshall stepped up and thumped the ball, low and hard, into the corner of the net, giving Joe Mant no chance.

 

United’s most promising moments came when they played the ball to Ronnie Dolan, who played wide on the left, and well up-field, during the first half. In the twelfth minute, Ronnie created Ashford’s first half-chance. Collecting the ball from a free-kick, taken from inside the centre circle, he curled a long, right-footed cross towards the far post, but Sam Conlon just failed to connect with a diving header. In the 23^rd minute, shortly after Joe Mant had saved a shot from Travis Gregory, at his near post, Dolan again carved out an opportunity. Sent wide by a cross-field pass by Jordan Miller, Ronnie managed to get around the Becks defence, and pulled the ball back from the by-line, but it was scrambled away.

 

Beckenham seemed to be very well-drilled when they had a corner, with clusters of players making carefully rehearsed runs – but the Ashford defence tended to deal well with corners. Ashford’s corners, in contrast, appeared to be hammering away at the theory that Becks’ goalie Rilwan Anibaba, and the defenders in front of him, were vulnerable to an aerial attack. This was seen in the 30^th minute, when Liam Whiting looped a corner right under the crossbar, which Anibaba just managed to tip away, for another corner, this time on the left. Adam Cuthbert also sent in a high, looping cross, but this was cleared by the defence.

 

Three minutes later, a foul on Sam Conlon almost on the by-line gave Ashford what looked very much like a short corner in hockey, on the right. Liam Whiting again went up to deliver the cross, but Pat Kingwell’s flicked header was saved, and, as the ball was scrambled away, Beckenham immediately launched a very pacy counter-attack. As the Ashford defence back-pedalled, Jamie Humphries bore down on Ben Jordan, in the penalty area. The Beckenham No.10’s quick feet beat the Ashford defender all ends up, to give himself just Joe Mant to beat, but the ‘keeper saved at the near post, with his foot.

 

The quickness of Beckenham’s front players continued to give Ashford problems, and they were drawn in to committing fouls – and in the 41^st minute, Liam Whiting was shown a yellow card for a foul on Jake Britnell.

 

Ronnie Dolan switched to the right wing, at the start of the second half, but it made little difference to the balance of play, with Beckenham remaining in control. In fact, it was good wing play by Jake Britnell that led to his side’s second goal, in the 54^th minute. He did well to get behind the Ashford defence, and, from the by-line, pulled the ball back to Travis Gregory, who was unmarked and had plenty of time in which to place the ball past Joe Mant.

 

That goal brought an immediate response from John Ovard, who replaced Sam Fisher with Tom Scorer, in midfield. This made an immediate, and very noticeable, difference, as Tom showed his ability to run with the ball, beat opponents and spray passes around from the centre of the field. In fact, if I were to nominate a Man of the Match for Ashford, I’d make it Tom, in spite of the fact that he was only on the field for just over half an hour. In the 59^th minute, he spread the ball wide to Ronnie Dolan, whose long cross, from near the touchline, was met by what amounted to not much more than a glancing header by Pat Kingwell, from close range, when a firmer contact would probably have been enough to beat Anibaba.

 

That was Pat’s final attempt at goal, for, in the 73^rd minute, John Ovard threw the dice for the last time, replacing Kingwell and Adam Cuthbert with Gary Mickelborough and Buster Smissen. However, it was a Beckenham substitute, Alex Wilks, who had replaced Damon Ramsamy in the 62^nd minute, who had the next clear chance in the game. Wilkes, who had looked to be Beckenham’s best player during their earlier 4-2 league win over Ashford, was put clean through on goal, with a one-on-one with Joe Mant – until Liam Whiting intercepted, with a saving tackle.

 

Beckenham had previously been forced into a substitution as early as the 30^th minute, when Joe Jackson replaced Steve McNamara, presumably because of injury – but Jackson’s game was to end prematurely, in the 78^th minute, when he was dismissed by Referee Steve Brown, after bundling into Ronnie Dolan, earning him a second yellow card. Beckenham Manager Jason Huntley made his final substitution in the 80^th minute, replacing the scorer of the second goal, Travis Gregory, with Jalloh Gassium – and this substitution came seconds after Buster Smissen had headed just high and wide of the angle of post and bar.

 

Ashford, inspired by Tom Scorer, were applying plenty of pressure on the Beckenham defence, albeit without really testing Rilwan Anibaba, when Becks scored their third goal, in the 83^rd minute. Ironically, this was a straightforward “Route 1” goal, with Jamie Humphries chasing a kick-out from the ‘keeper. He won the race for the ball, and his angled shot into the corner of Joe Mant’s net effectively sealed the Trophy for Beckenham.

 

It was probably no coincidence that Liam Whiting got himself sent off, just a minute later. This was for an ugly-looking late challenge, with Liam ploughing into Jake Britnell, and appearing to lead with his forearm. He had already been booked, but it looked like Liam was shown a straight red card for this. It was a shame that Liam had apparently let frustration get the better of him, as he had looked one of Ashford’s best players, this afternoon, as he has done throughout the season.

 

Ashford never stopped pressing forward, looking for a goal, even when down to ten men, and after the game had appeared to be effectively over – and Anibaba had his first proper save to make, as late as the 86^th minute. On this occasion, Tom Scorer picked the ball up, just outside the Beckenham penalty area. He jinked, to make room for a shot, and hit a powerful drive, but his effort went straight at the Becks ‘keeper.

 

In spite of Ashford’s efforts, it was Beckenham who scored the fourth goal – and this was again pure “Route 1”. Ben Jordan, with Jamie Humphries in close attendance, failed to deal with a high kick-out from Anibaba, three minutes into added time, and then Joe Mant came out to try to clear the bouncing ball – but his effort lacked conviction, and he looked like a man who had already been beaten three times, and who was just about ready for the final whistle. The result was that Humphries was left with the simple task of tapping the ball into an empty net, for his second goal.

 

So a thoroughly bad day at the office, for Ashford – if it’s possible to have one of those on a Sunday – and Beckenham Town won the Kent Senior Trophy for the first time in the club’s history.

 

What made a miserable day considerably worse was the brawl that broke out, after the match, in the stand occupied by Ashford United supporters. I will say very little about this incident, because I was a long way away from it, (on the halfway line), and I didn’t see how it started. However, given that some of Beckenham Town’s players had gone into the stand, and were seen to be trading punches with members of the public, in full view of any number of Kent FA officials, I think it’s very likely that the club’s victory in today’s Final will have come at some cost.

 

The officials, in their blazers, were, of course, there to present the shining Kent Senior Trophy to the victors. This looked to be about to happen, once the fracas had died down and the players and officials of both sides had wandered back to the centre of the pitch. The Referee’s whistle had demanded the attention of all present, and the PA announcer began proceedings – but then another scrap broke out, between two blokes in the same stand, and three of Beckenham’s players decided that they would break ranks and go across and get involved again, in spite of pleas from one of the club’s officials for them not to do so. This was the last straw, and caused the PA man to announce that the presentation of the trophy had been abandoned, and that everyone should wend their way home. This was a disgraceful and embarrassing way for the day to end, and I felt quite sorry for the County officials, who had given up their Sunday afternoon to be at the game.

 

I have learnt to take the rough with the smooth when supporting Ashford, over the years – it sort of goes with the territory – but, as football experiences go, I can safely say that this wasn’t one of the best.

 

 

 

 

Erith Town v Ashford United. Southern Counties East Football League. 5th of April 2014.

Erith Town         1       Ashford United 1

 

From Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent

 

 

So we awoke on the first Saturday in April with our football team still very much in contention for the Southern Counties East title, with the season far from over. Much of the credit for keeping the season alive for this long must go to Manager Paul Chambers, who has done a wonderful job in keeping the squad fit and motivated. In fact, Ashford went into this game, away to Erith Town, very much on the front foot, having chalked up three consecutive wins, whilst main promotion rivals Whyteleafe had lost their last two games.

 

Just nine days earlier, the season seemed to be effectively over, when United not only lost at Corinthian, but also had two players sent off, which appeared to indicate that the lads were finally bending under the mental strain of playing three games in a week. But those three wins, on Saturday, Monday and Thursday, which began with the 2-1 home victory over leaders Whyteleafe, had suggested that a corner had been turned. Nine points in five days !  That must surely be a club record. I well remember periods when we would have been happy with nine points from five weeks !

 

What has really reopened the title race, however, is the fact that Whyteleafe, who had previously looked flawless for several months, rattling up victory after victory, and having done so with a goal difference averaging more than two per game, followed that defeat at Homelands with a 3-5 home defeat at the hands of Ashford’s opponents today, Erith Town. That is why we began the day level on points with Whyteleafe, at the top of the league, but having played a game more. It is probably true to say, however, that taking just the point from this afternoon’s encounter, with the leaders completing a predictable victory at home to Canterbury, has considerably lengthened the odds of a first championship for Ashford United – and Tunbridge Wells’ 1-1 draw away at Corinthian has further consolidated Whyteleafe’s position.

 

Today’s match always promised to provide us with a good, close game. With Ashford looking likely to finish either 2^nd or 3^rd, in the SCEFL, Erith Town look destined to end up in either 4^th or 5^th, and the three previous games between the two sides this season had consisted of a 2-2 draw at Homelands in the Kent Senior Trophy, (which Ashford won on penalties), and a 0-1 victory to Erith at Homelands in the first leg of the SCEFL League Cup, followed by a 4-4 draw in the return leg. It was probably no surprise, given this recent history, that this afternoon’s match ended in a draw.

 

The origins of Erith Town are in the docklands of London, South of the river – hence the nickname “The Dockers” – and the club actually began as Woolwich Town, but the club’s current lot is to ground-share with Cray Valley Paper Mills at Badgers Sports Ground, in Eltham. This is deep in the heart of London’s middle-class suburbia, probably a long way from the club’s beginnings. On my 20-minute stroll from Eltham Rail Station, I mused about what some of the detached and semi-detached properties on either side of the A210 might be worth. I concluded that the value of any pair of them would probably be enough to buy Middlesbrough !

 

This was my first visit to the Badgers Sports Ground, and I must say that I was a little surprised at how undulating the playing surface was. It was very much up hill and down dale – a bit like Hobbiton. The pitch was also hard and bouncy, and with a breeze that was stiff enough to affect the trajectory of high balls, on what was otherwise a pleasant spring afternoon, conditions were less than straightforward for the players.

 

There was also a considerable slope, and Ashford played up this slope in the first half, with Joe Mant defending the goal at the end that backed onto some allotments. (I had an allotment, at one time – but I concreted the whole lot, in the end, as it was too much work).

 

In front of Joe, in central defence – at least while Ashford had ten men on the pitch – were Pat Kingwell and Jordan Miller, with Luke Cuthbert at right-back and Liam Whiting on the left. A strong midfield quartet consisted of captain Gary Clarke, Dave Cook, Ollie Finch and Ronnie Dolan, who appeared to have the freedom to switch between the left and right flanks. The front pair was Gary Mickelborough and Sam Conlon, who had his hair tied up in a Zlatan Ibrahimovic-style high bun. The Ashford squad’s midfield strength was emphasised by the presence, on the bench, of Adam Cuthbert and Sam Fisher – with Kieran Byrne unavailable. The subs’ bench was completed by defender Ian Wallace and striker Buster Smissen – in addition to “utility player” Paul Chambers.

 

The most notable name on the Erith Town team-sheet, for Ashford fans, was former United centre-half Lee Coburn.

 

The home side had the better of things during the opening ten minutes or so, and actually had the ball in Ashford’s net as early as the third minute. Skipper Russell Bedford threaded a through-ball to the feet of Aaron Jeffrey, who side-footed the ball past Joe Mant – but he was flagged off-side. In fact, Ashford didn’t make it up the hill to the Erith goal until the eighth minute, when they had a corner, on the left. Ronnie Dolan took this one short, to Sam Conlon, who was on the corner of the penalty area. Sam flicked the ball up, (probably not entirely on purpose), and hooked the ball towards the far post – but an Ashford head put the ball wide of the goal.

 

Gradually, Ashford took control of the game, and had a distinct edge in terms of possession and territorial advantage, throughout the remainder of the first half. Their first attack of note, however, didn’t materialise until the 24^th minute. This originated from Luke Cuthbert, in the centre circle, who spread the ball out wide, to the right wing. This was chased by Gary Mickelborough, who then sent in a first-time cross – but Sam Conlon was well wide with his first-time header. Sam had a much better chance, some four minutes later. Again, he combined well with his strike partner, Gary Mickelborough, heading the ball on, for Gary to catch up with, near the by-line. This time, Sam was better able to get on top of the resulting cross, but his firm header was just too high.

On the half-hour mark, Gary Mickelborough earned this team a corner, when his low cross was cut out by Russell Bedford, at the near post. The corner, taken by Liam Whiting, swinging the ball in left-footed, from the right, found Dave Cook, beyond the far post, but the man who scored his first goals for Ashford in Thursday’s 0-4 win at Sevenoaks was unable to head the ball back across goal. In the 33^rd minute, Mickelborough found himself under a high “up & under”, and managed to knock the ball down to Sam Conlon, who fed the ball into the path of Ronnie Dolan, but Ronnie’s shot was high and wide of the angle of the goal. Ronnie had a second chance to hit the target, in the 37^th minute, after Erith’s Alan Matthews had conceded a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area. Faced with a three-man wall, the ex-Ashford Town youngster sent in a high, looping cross, but straight down the throat of home ‘keeper Steve Phillips.

 

By this time, Dolan had clocked up 2,465 minutes in an Ashford shirt, which is 31 minutes more than Shaun Bradshaw managed in his Ashford Town career. Why is this significant ?  Well, if I may digress briefly, Shaun Bradshaw is generally recognised, by Ashford fans of a certain age, to be the benchmark for what constitutes a not-very-good striker. During the 2005-6 season, Bradders, (bless him), managed only five goals, at a strike rate that was a bit worse than a goal every five games. (Usually, full-backs and goalkeepers score more often than this). Well, the truth is that Ronnie has NEVER scored, for either Ashford Town or Ashford United. I apologise to Ronnie and his family for mentioning this, but doing worse than Bradders is not something that can go unsaid, even for a midfield player. What is remarkable, of course, is that Ronnie scored quite freely for Hythe Town, in the Ryman League, so we can be optimistic that this situation will change.

 

So the first half continued, with Ashford seeming to be in full control, albeit without requiring Phillips, in the Erith goal, to make a save – until the game was turned on its head, in a second, in the 44^th minute. It seemed that Pat Kingwell had made a routine clearance, from close to his own by-line, to conclude a rare Erith Town attack. My eyes followed the ball up-field, so I didn’t see why Referee Dempster halted play, awarded a penalty and immediately showed the Ashford centre-half a red card. I was not alone in being in the dark about the reasons for this crucial decision, but examination of the Ashford 1891 video cam, at the end of the match, showed that, on clearing the ball, Kingwell flicked his leg in the direction of the Erith striker who had come to close him down. I can only liken this incident to David Beckham’s sending-off in the World Cup, against Argentina. Technically, given the way in which the game is refereed, these days, Mr Dempster was correct, but the punishment – which was a penalty, a red card and almost certainly a three-game ban, given that the reason for the sending-off was “Violent Conduct” – hardly fitted the “crime”. The referee was, at least, consistent, in that he was the sort of ref that gave a free-kick every time a player’s foot went above knee-high.

 

One thing I will say, though, is that Aaron Jeffrey took the penalty extremely well, slotting the ball firmly into the corner of Joe Mant’s net, to give the home side an undeserved 1-0 lead at half-time. So, once again, just as in United’s FA Vase exit, at the hands of Hanwell Town, there was more evidence for the old adage that a penalty and the sending off of a key player can spoil your whole day !  (And Ashford Manager Paul Chambers certainly looked like he felt that way).

 

Chambo’s response, in terms of the team’s shape for the second half, was to revert to a three-man back line, with Luke Cuthbert playing in the centre, between Liam Whiting and Jordan Miller. Ollie Finch provided a lot of cover for the defence, and Ronnie Dolan appeared to push up much more.

 

In fairness to the Ashford team, it never looked like a ten versus eleven game – although the second half was much more even than the first, and the home side had several good opportunities to stretch their one-goal lead. In the 58^th minute, a long throw was aimed at tall centre-half James Holder, who had galloped up to be the obvious target in the Ashford penalty area. He easily knocked the ball down to Kofi Quartey, who should’ve scored, but instead blasted well wide. The ball did take a small deflection off an Ashford defender, but this was not enough to substantially divert the shot from its trajectory.

 

An even better chance came in the 60^th minute, when Erith Town were awarded a second penalty – at which point it appeared that Ashford were destined to get nothing from this game. The opportunity was created by Aaron Jeffrey, whose quick footwork on the Ashford 18-yard line took him past Liam Whiting, and into the penalty area, only for the defender’s miss-timed tackle to bring him down. It was an honest mistake by Liam, and many people would feel that the awarding of a penalty, which might have decided the result of the match, and (maybe) their season, were punishment enough – but Dempster again acted like the thoroughly modern football referee, and showed a yellow card. This meant that Liam Whiting joined Jordan Miller “in the book”, after the latter had been yellow-carded in the 53^rd minute, for what was a clear, but fairly innocuous, case of holding.

 

Aaron Jeffrey once again stepped up to take the penalty, hoping to chalk up his eleventh goal of the season. This time, he put more emphasis on power, rather than placement, and hit a very well-struck shot to Joe Mant’s left, but Joe, yet again, made a great save, flying across his goal. I don’t know what Joe’s statistics are for penalty saves this season, but he must be very near to a 50% strike-rate. What a season he’s had !

 

Both managers made a substitution in the 63^rd minute, with Erith’s Mark Thompkins introducing striker Joe Nwoko, and Paul Chambers making a like-for-like exchange, with Buster Smissen replacing Gary Mickelborough.

 

These substitutions were the prelude to Ashford United’s equaliser. Joe Mant pumped a long ball into the Erith penalty area, and, after a brief game of head tennis, the home No.3, Danny Moore, handled the ball. The referee was right on the spot, and immediately awarded a penalty. (There were some indications from the Ashford players that Moore had deliberately moved his hand towards the ball – but the official saw no reason to produce a card). Dave Cook, almost certainly buoyed by getting himself off the mark for Ashford on Thursday, stepped up and calmly slotted the ball into the corner of the net.

 

From here on, it was all very entertaining - pretty much end-to-end stuff, with both sides playing at pace, and going for the win.

 

In the 66^th minute, Kofi Quartey became the latest player to find himself rather harshly booked – for a high foot !  But his team had an excellent chance to regain the lead, almost immediately. The ball was spread out to the left wing, and a low cross ran all the way through to substitute Joe Nwoko, who was in the centre of the penalty area. Nwoko showed poor technique, on this occasion, leaning back and lofting the ball over the bar.

 

In the 71^st minute, Buster Smissen did well to win a free-kick, when he was felled by a defender, as both tussled under a high ball forward – when it looked to me like Buster was backing in. The kick was taken quickly, to the ever-lively Sam Conlon, who looked like he was attempting a cross, from the right – but his effort very nearly crept under Steve Phillips’ bar. Two minutes later, Ronnie Dolan went on a run, driving at the heart of the Erith defence, but he was stopped, with a trip, by James Holder, just outside the home penalty area. Liam Whiting curled the ball over a four-man wall, but straight to the ‘keeper, who caught the ball comfortably. Sam Conlon soon created a further chance, when he wriggled clear of a couple of tackles, on the right side of the field. His cross found Dave Cook, at the far post, who headed the ball down to Gary Clarke, only for the Ashford captain to slice his shot wide, across the face of goal. A minute later, Quartey showed a neat 180-degree turn, to completely beat Liam Whiting, but his shot was blocked by Jordan Miller.

 

In the 76^th minute, Ashford appeared to have a very good shout for a penalty. A long, high ball from deep inside the Ashford half was taken down by Buster Smissen, on the edge of, or maybe just inside, the penalty area. Buster appeared to be bundled to the ground, and, although it is dangerous to take too much notice of players’ appeals and counter-appeals, (as they always seem to think that every decision should be given in their favour), there did seem to be a certain amount of disbelief in the Ashford players’ anger that there was no whistle in their favour. Most of the enquiries were aimed at the lino, who was right in line, and should have had a good view of the incident.

 

The returning Adam Cuthbert replaced Sam Conlon, in the 80^th minute, Sam having impressed, once again, with his work-rate. In the 86^th minute, Sam Fisher replaced Ollie Finch, and Mark Tompkins sent on Danny Akers, as both teams continued to press hard for the winning goal. The home side even played three up front, during the latter part of the game, but both teams remained frustrated. Akers came closest to scoring, when his volley hit the top of the cross-bar, in the 92^nd minute, after the Ashford defence had cleared a throw-in taken from close to the corner flag – but this effort never looked likely to beat Joe Mant.

 

There was a tetchy incident involving Buster Smissen and Lee Coburn, which meant that the game ended on an argumentative note – but this was basically an entertaining game of football, played between two very evenly-matched teams. It is probably quite telling that both teams were clearly disappointed at not taking all three points.

 

I’d say that a draw was a pretty fair result, on the balance of play. It was a strange game in that, in spite of plenty of attacking endeavour from both teams, neither goalkeeper had a shot to save in open play. Another way of looking at it is that, with each team scoring a penalty, and Joe Mant saving one, Ashford’s 19-year old ‘keeper was responsible for earning the visitors a point.

 

That point is arguably just enough to preserve Ashford’s hopes of catching Whyteleafe in the race for the SCEFL title. Leafe now lead by two points, with a game in hand and a vastly superior goal difference – so Ashford effectively need to make up six points. On current form, it is not out of the question that Ashford could go to Whyteleafe on Easter Monday and get a result, and the league leaders still need to play Tunbridge Wells again – but it’s Ashford who have the harder run-in, and today was undoubtedly a very good day for our friends in Surrey.