Cray Valley PM 3
Ashford United 2
From Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent
Every
football team has a bad patch – a sequence of games where disappointing results
cause a dip in confidence, which leads to more below-par performances and more disappointing
results. This applies to all clubs, regardless of their standing or financial
resources – reference: Manchester City. Those of us who can be counted among
the veterans of relegation campaigns past, following Ashford Town, can vouch
for the fact that “lean spells” can last for years, or decades, rather than
weeks – but the three-and-a-bit seasons of Ashford United’s existence, since
The Reformation, have been a time when the fans have been rewarded with far
more victories than defeats. That’s why the current relative slump is cause for
concern.
United’s
run of six games without a win, stretching over some seven weeks, coming into
today’s game, is comfortably the longest such spell in the club’s short
history.
There
were signs that all was not hunky-dory during our most recent win – a 0-1
success away to a surprisingly impressive Croydon, in the league. On that
occasion, there was general praise for the lads for their ability to dig in and
“win ugly”. After the following Saturday’s game, which yielded a point at
Sevenoaks, there was a patient understanding, among the Ashford faithful, that
our boys sometimes had to “draw ugly”, and there was also the consolation that
the team had fought back from being 2-0 down. However, “losing ugly”, (4-0), to
Erith & Belvedere, in the next game, did not go down so well.
Five
weeks on, Ashford really needed to win, this afternoon !
Added
to the desire to end the winless sequence was the feeling that the season, even
though we are in the early days of November, is threatening to be a massive
anti-climax, certainly in comparison to last season’s heroic efforts. Although
Ashford sat in second place in the Southern Counties East Football League, this
morning, we already had twelve points and eleven points to make up on Erith
& Belvedere and Phoenix Sports, respectively, in terms of the number of
points dropped, so promotion already appears to be no more than a remote
possibility. We also had a memorable season of cup football last season,
reaching the last 17 of the FA Vase and getting to the Final of the Kent Senior
Trophy. This time around, we’ve been knocked out of two cup competitions early,
and been expelled from another.
This
was never going to be an easy opportunity for Ashford United to break their
recent duck. Today’s opponents, Cray Valley Paper Mills, have always been a
decent side. Strangely, The Millers started today’s game as low as 17th
in the league, having finished a very creditable seventh last season.
This
was my second visit to the Badgers Sports Ground, the previous occasion being
Ashford United’s 1-1 draw against ground sharers Erith Town, last season. I
remember Pat Kingwell getting sent off in that match.
True
to the weather forecast, today was a dull, showery day, but reasonably mild. With
the first of a number of outbreaks of rain in the Eltham area arriving just
before kick-off, I headed for the shelter of the only covered seating on the
ground – a small stand, on the halfway line, with three rows of green, plastic
seats. The only other shelter from the elements is provided by a short, covered
standing area, on the opposite side of the pitch. Both stands were mainly
occupied by Ashford supporters, who almost certainly made up the bulk of a
disappointing crowd of 57.
The
team news, which appeared by means of a very welcome team sheet, which was
distributed in the bar prior to the game, was that Ashford were without two
important players in midfield. One of these was captain Gary Clarke, who was
missing his first game of the season, and the other was Lee Winfield. This
meant that James Everitt started the game in central midfield, alongside Adam
Cuthbert. The good news, however, was that Manager Paul Chambers was able to
start with both Stuart Zanone and Andy Irvine up front, in Ashford’s usual
4-4-2 formation. Further encouragement was provided by the fact that arguably
Ashford’s two most gifted players, Kieran Byrne and Tom Scorer, were playing in
the wide midfield positions, on the left and right, respectively. Pat Kingwell
and Liam Walsh made up the central defensive partnership, in front of ‘keeper
Joe Mant, with young Charles Dickens at left-back and Luke Cuthbert at
right-back. Luke wore the skipper’s arm band, today, in Gary Clarke’s absence.
In
contrast to some recent matches, Ashford had a strong-looking bench, consisting
of Gary Mickelborough, the returning Buster Smissen, Jordan Harris, Harry
Priddle and Assistant Manager Lloyd Blackman; (although it must be said that
defensive cover was a bit thin !).
The
game kicked off late, at 3.16pm, due, initially, to a fifteen-minute delay
caused by a road accident which created widespread traffic chaos locally, and
then to a respectfully observed minute’s silence to mark Remembrance Weekend. Ashford,
playing in their Norwich City-style away strip, so as not to clash with the
home side’s green & black, kicked up the slope in the first half. The
visitors made a fast start, winning a corner in the opening minutes, as well as
a couple of free-kicks to the right of The Millers’ goal, both of which were
taken by Kieran Byrne – but Stevie Sutton, in the Cray Valley goal, was
untroubled. In fact, it was the home side that managed the first effort on
target, when bearded centre-forward Jim Doherty turned and shot, from the edge
of the “D”, but his effort was straight at Joe Mant.
Cray
Valley soon took the lead, in the 13th minute, and did so with an
excellent goal, which was made possible by a brilliant diagonal ball from the
aptly-named Jamie Miller, which went inside left-back Charles Dickens, and into
the path of Alwayne Jones. Once Jones had collected the ball and transferred it
onto his left foot, he had the straightforward task of planting the ball in the
net, past Joe Mant, and he made no mistake.
Ashford’s
early inclination had been to favour the “Route One” approach – which must
always be tempting, with a big unit like Andy Irvine up front – but the
visitors finally got a passing game together, in the 19th minute. Most
of these passes were in the Ashford half of the field, but the ball was
eventually manoeuvred forward – but, as the move broke down, Cray Valley
counter-attacked, and soon had a three-against-three situation with the Ashford
defence. Ben Yiadom slid an inch-perfect pass into the path of Jim Doherty, and
it really should have been 2-0 – but the bearded wonder side-footed the ball
wide of the Ashford goal.
The
visitors equalised in the 24th minute. This was a good,
centre-forward’s goal from Stuart Zanone, who timed his run perfectly, beating
the offside trap and sprinting clear of the home defence. He rounded the
goalkeeper and slid the ball into the empty net.
In
the 28th minute, Alex Chambers ran onto a flick-on from Jim Doherty,
but he pulled his shot across the face of Joe Mant’s goal. Chambers’ next act
was to get himself booked, in the 37th minute, for a nasty foul on
James Everitt – by which time the rain had intensified and the Badgers
floodlights were fully on.
Ashford
took the lead in the 39th minute. The chance came shortly after a
free-kick had been awarded for a foul on Kieran Byrne, close to the left
touchline. The resulting free-kick was launched long, towards the Cray Valley
far post, but the chance came to nothing. However, goalkeeper Stevie Sutton,
when attempting a clearance down the slope, struck Stuart Zanone in the back.
Zanone was quick to latch onto the loose ball, and, still with plenty to do, he
curled the ball into the empty net, for his second goal of the match, and his
ninth of the season.
So
a largely even half ended with Ashford United 1-2 ahead, thanks mainly to the
opportunism of Stuart Zanone.
Light,
but steady, rain greeted the teams as they trooped out for the second half –
and The Millers equalised within three minutes of the restart. There seemed to
be little danger, as Ryan Sawyer looped a high cross into the Ashford penalty
area. Alex Chambers and an Ashford defender were indulging in a static
grappling match, directly under the cross. The Cray Valley striker got his head
to the ball, nodding it past Joe Mant, from a standing position.
The
match remained fairly evenly poised, and was sometimes genuinely end-to-end.
Both sides attempted to play passing football, in increasingly slippery
conditions, but with the home side looking the more threatening, having more
pace up front.
Up
until the moment that Cray Valley won the match, there were relatively few
clear-cut chances created by either side. In the 53rd minute, the
home side won a throw-in, deep inside the Ashford half. From this position, the
ball was threaded through to Jim Doherty, on the edge of the visitors’ penalty
area. Doherty sent in a low cross, which was deflected goalwards by Paul Gross, from about six yards out, but
Joe Mant was well positioned. In the 57th minute, Ashford were
awarded a free-kick, when Referee Judd penalised Ronnie Vint for a foul on Andy
Irvine, (which drew widespread ironic cheers from the travelling faithful).
Adam Cuthbert took the free-kick, aiming to score direct, but his right-footed
effort was always going just over the bar. On the hour mark, Adam’s brother,
Luke, conceded a corner, on the left. This was taken by Jimmy Rogers, and the
Ashford defence failed to clear the danger first time. The ball broke to
full-back Ryan Sawyer, but his low, side-footed shot was comfortably saved by
Joe Mant.
Just
prior to the latter chance, Paul Chambers made his first substitution,
replacing Tom Scorer with Gary Mickelborough. Ten minutes later, both managers
made a change, with Merrick Simms replacing Alwayne Jones, for The Millers, and
Paul Chambers sending Buster Smissen on for Andy Irvine, who had battled hard,
up front, but without success.
In
the 76th minute, Jim Doherty, who had chipped away at the referee
throughout the afternoon, finally persuaded the official to show him a yellow
card, for continual dissent. This was just as Ashford were pressing forward,
looking for a winner. A low cross from the left flank was met by Kieran Byrne,
whose shot was deflected wide, for a corner. The resulting cross, also from the
left, was met by a leaping Stuart Zanone, but he steered his header wide of the
far post.
In
the 85th minute, shortly after Gross Paul had been booked for a foul
on Stuart Zanone, Ben Yiadom was found with a square pass, about 25 yards out.
Faced by left-back Dickens, Yiadom cut inside, onto his left foot, and unleashed
a great shot which was destined for the roof of the Ashford net, before Joe
Mant tipped the ball over the bar.
Cray
Valley’s winner came with 90 minutes just about up, on my watch. The ball was
manoeuvred out to substitute Merrick Simms, who was overlapping on the left
flank. His effort on goal was blocked by Luke Cuthbert, for a corner. With the
corner taken short, a deep cross was launched towards Joe Mant’s far post, into
a crowd of players. In the confusion of green and yellow shirts, the ball ended
up in the Ashford net. It was impossible for me to see, from the halfway line,
what happened in the melee. There were some suggestions, from those around me,
that Joe might have had the ball, and then lost it – and he certainly seemed to
be appealing for a foul afterwards – but the end result was that The Millers
ran out 3-2 winners. The evidence from elsewhere is that centre-half Ronnie
Vint scored with a tap-in, from a few inches out – and he has certainly been
credited with the goal.
Whilst
it is frustrating for Ashford to have a point wrenched from their grasp in the
dying seconds, it must be said that a point is probably the most that they
deserved. Sutton, in the home goal, was certainly the least involved of the two
goalkeepers, and Cray Valley would have edged this game on points, if it had
been a boxing match. What is more concerning is that, on current form, a point
is probably the most that many of us will have expected from today’s fixture.
So
Ashford United slipped down to third place in the league, behind Phoenix
Sports, who picked up a 6-1 victory over Lingfield, today – and so continue to
display form that is at a different level to that of Ashford.
The
main positive to come out of today’s game at Badgers – apart from the fact that
Stuart Zanone confirmed that we have a talented striker who can put the ball in
the net when given the opportunity – was the performance of Pat Kingwell. He
was immense, in the centre of the Ashford defence, hardly putting a foot wrong,
throughout the game.
