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 2nd
or 3rd, in the SCEFL, Erith Town look destined to end up in either 4th
or 5th, 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 24th 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 33rd 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 37th 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 44th
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 58th 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 60th
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 53rd
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 63rd
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 66th 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 71st 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 76th 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 80th minute, Sam having impressed, once again, with his
work-rate. In the 86th 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 92nd 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.
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