Croydon 0 Ashford United 1
From Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent
So
I made my usual belated appearance for the football season, (with umpiring
commitments during the cricket season being the main reason for my absence). It
is also usual for the season to be well underway by the time I attend my first
match. As I set out for the less-posh end of Surrey, this morning, Ashford
United had already played nine Southern Counties East League games.
It
has been a decent start to the campaign, with the lads currently lying in
second place in the league, having managed six wins and three draws, from the
nine games. However, Erith & Belvedere, relegated from Ryman Division 1
North last season, appear to be in ominous form, topping the table with 24 points
from the 27 possible, and averaging nearly 3½ goals per game. Could we be
destined to have another good season, only to end up with nothing, there being
one outstanding team standing in our way ?
The harsh reality, at Step 5 of the non-league pyramid, is that there is
just the one promotion place up to the next level, so that only one sheep will
be able to squeeze through that narrow gate. Last year, Whyteleafe was the one
team that was too good for us – (and, commendably, ‘Leafe won the championship
by “beating” every other team on aggregate, in league games). Could Erith &
Belvedere be our nemesis this time ?
Over
half of the Deres’ 32 league goals have been scored by one man, Alfie May, who
has an outrageous record of having scored 17 goals in nine matches, so far.
Every team with pretentions to win a championship needs an arch goal scorer of
that sort of quality, and Ashford will be mainly pinning their hopes on Stuart
Zanone. The 29 year-old is a relatively recent signing, and has made an
excellent start, scoring four goals in four games, to date.
Until
recently, Ashford fans have found goal scoring heroes to be elusive. In fact,
over the past ten years, (2005-6 to 2014-15, inclusive), we have only had four
strikers who have scored ten or more goals and have done so at a rate of a goal
every two games, or better – and three of these have played under the Ashford
United banner.
Top
of the shop is Mo Takaloo, who is head and shoulders above the rest, with 32
goals, at a rate of one every 84 minutes. Next comes Jimmy Dryden, who played
for Ashford United in two spells, in the 2011-12 and 2013-14 seasons – Jimmy’s
twelve goals came at a rate of one every 133 minutes. George Fenwick is third
in the list. George was a very under-rated player, (and son of the (then)
Manager, Terry), who scored 18 goals, at a rate of one every 177 minutes, in
what was a fairly dreadful Ashford Town side, in the 2006-7 season. The only
other striker to have scored at least a goal every other game, during this ten-year
period, has been Buster Smissen, who, happily, is still on Ashford United’s
books. Buster, so far, has 13 goals, at 178 minutes per goal. I’ll be surprised
and disappointed if Stuart Zanone doesn’t join this select bunch.
For
any Ashford fan looking for a reason to be cheerful, the next three players in
that list of goal scorers are Gary Mickelborough (23 goals, at a goal every 216
minutes), Walid Matata (16, at one every 220 minutes) and left-back
extraordinaire Kieran Byrne (27, at one every 221 minutes) – so three of the
seven most successful goal scorers that we have had in the past ten years are
in the current squad.
The
football season is a long haul, and needs to be approached a bit like driving
in heavy traffic – you need to concentrate on the car in front. And the car in
the headlights this afternoon was Croydon, (although “The Trams” shouldn’t
really be referred to in terms of being a car !).
Croydon
FC is not to be confused with Croydon Athletic FC, our old friends from Ryman
League days, who had a brief flirtation with star dust, with an extravagant
owner and an electric scoreboard – before the whole thing crashed and burned.
The reincarnation of The Rams is AFC Croydon Athletic, currently sitting in
fourth place in the Combined Counties League Division 1.
No,
today’s opponents were Croydon, who play at the Croydon Sports Arena, and who
were transferred to the SCEFL, from the Combined Counties League, for the start
of this season. Those of us who have been on the journey for some time, of
course, will remember Croydon as also being former Ryman League colleagues. I
well remember my previous visit to the Croydon Sports Arena, which was during
the 2004-05 season. It was notable for a wonderful, curling free-kick from
Byron Glasgow, (formerly of Reading), which gave Ashford Town their only goal,
in a 2-1 defeat. That was at the start of the Terry Fenwick era, just after we
had raided Southall, of the Combined Counties League, of some eleven players
(!). Blowing the dust off the match report I did on that game, I stated that
our “new Manager” was a certain Frank Gill – remember him ? – and described
Terry Fenwick as being “the coach”, although he watched that particular game
from the stand, (through his fingers, probably).
Byron
Glasgow was probably the best of a poor bunch of players, in those days. He is
also one of four Ashford players, that I can think of, to be named after a
city; (the other three are named at the end of this report).
As
it turned out, that 2004-5 season wasn’t brilliant for either club, with
Ashford Town finishing 20th of 22 and Croydon finishing bottom,
after which the two clubs went their separate ways.
One
practical difference to ten years ago was that, instead of driving to Croydon
by car, I made the journey today by public transport – a train down from Milton
Keynes Central, changing at Clapham Junction, and then completing the journey
by tram from East Croydon station to the Croydon Sports Arena itself. That’s a
two-hour trip, from ticket barrier to turnstiles. Maybe every non-league
football ground should have its own tram stop ?
That’s something for the ground graders to think about.
The
thing about Croydon Sports Arena is that it has a football pitch that is
surrounded by an eight-lane athletics track, (just like Walton & Hersham
and Lewisham Borough – although Corby Town and Bayern Munich have moved away
from the idea). Some fans hate these grounds, with a vengeance, but I don’t
mind them. I feel they add to the rich variety of the venues that we find at
our level of the game. They also generally tend to have good facilities, and a
decent stand, providing a rare opportunity to watch a game from an elevated
position. That’s certainly the case at Croydon, as it has quite a posh stand,
with some 400 blue and yellow seats, arranged in no fewer than eleven rows. The
front row is about six feet from the ground, and the top seats provide a good
view of the trams that pass by the eastern side of the ground, (but the
perimeter fence obscures the adjoining South Norwood Country Park, that lies
beyond). Apart from the main stand, there is plenty of terracing, grassy banks
and other covered standing areas, and so it is not surprising that the stadium
has an overall capacity of 8,000. Today’s attendance of 73 rather rattled
around the arena, on a day when none of the attendances at today’s SCEFL
matches managed to break three figures.
The
Ashford United team sheet suggested that the squad is still rather depleted, as
a result of injuries, work commitments and holidays in the sun. With Luke
Cuthbert, Pat Kingwell and Liam Whiting all missing, the back four had a rather
make-shift look about it. Jordan Miller was, once again, drafted in from
Faversham, with whom he is dual-registered, to do his excellent impersonation
of Pat Kingwell. Recent hat-trick hero Tom Scorer was again asked to fill in at
right-back and 18 year-old Callum Wraight played out on the left. It must be
said that all four had an excellent game, in front of Joe Mant, both
individually and as a unit. The midfield had a more familiar look to it,
consisting of captain Gary Clarke, Adam Cuthbert, Lee Winfield and Kieran Byrne
– but the best news was that Paul Chambers was able to start with his two
recent marquee signings, Andy Irvine and Stuart Zanone, up front, for the first
time this season.
Assistant
Manager Lloyd Blackman was named as one of the substitutes, which was a further
suggestion of availability issues, along with Harry Priddle, Joe Fisher, Ollie
Finch and Keelan Mooney.
By
common consent, this was an Ashford victory of the “win ugly” category, on a
surface that was very bumpy, with dry, bare patches that could be seen from
high up, at the back of the stand. There wasn’t much creativity from a solid Ashford
midfield, today, with most of the visitors’ attacks originating from a long
kick-out from Joe Mant. Nevertheless, a good team performance enabled the
visitors to hang on, fairly comfortably, to the early lead gained through yet
another Stuart Zanone goal.
It
was actually the home side that made the first opening, in the first minute of
the game. A nicely-worked move down the right gave Badar Mohammed a clear sight
of goal, but his low shot, from just outside the penalty area, was straight at
Joe Mant. Ashford’s goal, which came in the sixth minute, was also the result
of a good, swift build-up. Lee Winfield spread the ball wide, to Adam Cuthbert,
on the right. Adam sent in a first-time cross, behind the Croydon defence, and
Stuart Zanone was there to side-foot the ball into the net, from close range.
At
this stage, everything seemed to be set fair for the visitors. Andy Irvine is a
seriously large unit, and he was conspicuously the biggest and strongest
presence in the Croydon half of the field. Irvs’ best chance of the afternoon
came in the ninth minute, after Kieran Byrne had won the ball with a clean
tackle, inside Croydon’s half. The through ball that Byrne guided into the
penalty area took a substantial bobble which actually helped the ex-Tunbridge
Wells striker, as it rather sat up for him, but he hit his shot straight at
goalkeeper Francis Ameyaw. Stuart Zanone is also a big, strong lad, so there was
every prospect that, between them, the strike partnership would be able to give
the home defence a torrid afternoon. Added to that, there were early signs that
the likes of Lee Winfield, Gary Clarke, Tom Scorer and others had the skill and
the composure to dominate possession – if they were so inclined.
As
things panned out, however, there was never much between the two sides. Croydon
tried to play a passing game, throughout, and had enough good possession inside
Ashford’s half to keep their supporters interested for the entire 90 minutes.
The visitors never fully justified the odds of 8-15 that were available at
William Hill’s betting shop in Bank Street, in Ashford, but deserved the three
points due to a commanding display by the defence. For all Croydon’s efforts,
they never caused Joe Mant any real anxiety. I will pick out Jordan Miller,
first of all. He was an immense presence in the air, strongly repelling any
high balls thrown into the Ashford box. (The term “thrown” is appropriate,
here, as The Trams had a long-throw specialist in captain Steven Cox – twice he
launched a howitzer into the visitors’ goalmouth, in the first half, and twice
the danger was cleared by the head of Miller).
The
Miller-Walsh partnership worked very well, as Liam Walsh was often on hand to
use his pace to snuff out any danger on the ground. Apart from one, most
uncharacteristic, complete Horlicks he made in the first half, Liam had a
really good game. Both full-backs also deserve a mention. Young Callum Wraight
was solid enough at left-back, and Tom Scorer continues to amaze with his skill
and versatility. Several times, he showed great awareness to see a danger and
come across with a saving tackle, and, on more than one occasion, he had the strength
and balance to turn and play his way out of a tight spot.
In
the 15th minute, this defence came under attack from centre-back
Adam Allen, who had picked the ball up deep inside his own half. Careering
through the centre of the Ashford midfield, he made it all the way to the edge
of the 18-yard box, before his shot was blocked. Two corners followed in quick
succession, during a period of good Croydon pressure, but both came to nothing –
as did a number of other corners for the home side. In the 21st
minute, Ashford had a corner, after Stuart Zanone had run onto a long kick-out
by Joe Mant, and had sent in a good cross aimed at Andy Irvine, only to see the
ball hooked behind by one of the home defence. The kick, taken by Lee Winfield,
on the left, was met by Gary Clarke, at the near post, but he could do no more
than head the ball wide.
Liam
Walsh’s aberration occurred in the 26th minute. Running back towards
his own goal line, the “percentage call” was clearly to boot the ball into
touch, for a throw-in. Instead, Liam turned and passed the ball to a Croydon
forward, in the Ashford penalty area (!), but the danger was soon snuffed out
with a saving tackle.
The
home side’s next clear chance came in the 36th minute, after Badar Mohammed
had beaten the off-side trap. With only Joe Mant to beat, he could have taken
the ball into the penalty area, but instead fired a low shot straight at the
Ashford ‘keeper, from about 20 yards out.
Croydon
appeared to grow in confidence, as the half wore on, and, although the visitors
looked comfortable enough going into the half-time interval with a one-goal
lead, it has to be said that Joe Mant had had more work to do than Francis
Ameyaw, in the Croydon goal.
As
the Croydon Sports Arena’s impressive floodlights powered up, at about 4pm – it
was a fairly overcast afternoon, and quite a bit chillier than the weather
forecasters had suggested – Ashford made a bright start to the second half. Kieran
Byrne beat his man, on the half-way line, and his run took him all the way to
the corner of the penalty area. He unleashed a shot that always looked to be
fairly optimistic, but it was hit with great power, and Ameyaw looked a little
uncomfortable, as he blocked the ball with his fists, at the expense of a
corner. Lee Winfield curled the corner in with his right foot, and Stuart
Zanone headed wide.
In
the 54th and 55th minutes, Paul Chambers was forced to into
making two substitutions which probably didn’t help Ashford’s rhythm going
forward. The first of the changes saw Andy Irvine replaced by Joe Fisher, who
partnered Stuart Zanone up front, in a like-for-like swap. Joe worked hard, and
showed good close control, but is approximately half Irvine’s size, so the
attack lacked the physical presence it had in the first half. A minute later, Callum
Wraight obviously hurt himself in a tackle, raising an arm as soon as he had
gone down. He was replaced by Harry Priddle, who slotted into the midfield,
with Kieran Byrne dropping back into the left-back position.
Ashford
had a period of possession and pressure around about the hour mark, but rarely
looked like scoring, so that the remainder of the game was mostly about staying
solid and keeping at arm’s length a home side that never gave up trying. Having
said that, it did appear that Stuart Zanone had doubled the lead when he put
the ball into the Croydon net in the 75th minute. This occurred
seconds after Fray James had picked up a loose ball just outside the Ashford
area, and seen his low, diagonal shot comfortably saved by Joe Mant. Zanone ran
onto a long, high clearance from Kieran Byrne, and, appearing to be the only
outfield player in the Croydon half, easily rounded Ameyaw and tapped the ball
home – but did so with the use of an arm, which seemed to be totally
unnecessary.
In
a game that was “clean” throughout, enabling the referee mostly to keep his
cards in his pocket, Croydon’s Karl Douglin was shown a yellow one for his late
tackle on Gary Clarke, in the 78th minute. There were those among us
who thought we might see another card,
when Ollie Finch replaced Joe Fisher, in the 87th minute, as Ollie
had fully three minutes in which to get himself booked. Instead, it was Jordan
Miller who received Ashford’s only yellow card of the afternoon, when he “took
one for the team” – I hate that expression – when halting the progress of Douglin
as he broke through midfield, with a minute of normal time remaining.
So
plenty of talk among the faithful, after the game, of “sometimes having to win
ugly”, and I am sure that Paul Chambers and Lloyd Blackman will have been
delighted with the team’s resolve in being able to hold out for the three
points. I also well remember that, on my previous visit to Croydon Sports Arena,
ten years ago, three points would have seemed like gold dust, so I’m not about
to get sniffy about the manner of victory. Every win is important, and Ashford
United’s return now stands at seven wins and three draws, from ten games.
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