Greenwich Borough v Ashford United. Southern Counties East Football League. 7th of February 2015.

Greenwich Borough           1                

Ashford United           4

 

From Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent

In case anyone thinks that following Ashford United on the road in the Southern Counties East Football League might be a little “samey”, today’s fixture away to Greenwich Borough was a complete contrast to the visit to Holmesdale, just a fortnight ago. Whereas facilities at Oakley Road, with its seemingly improvised corrugated iron stands and lack of information, were fairly basic, today’s game was played at Dartford FC’s Princes Park Stadium, Dartford Borough Council’s 4,100-capacity ground, which was opened as recently as 2006.

Greenwich Borough FC is a transformed club, these days. Until recently, Borough were notable for surviving on ultra-low crowds – of the 30 or less type – and last season’s much-improved ninth-place finish in the SCEFL followed the ignominy of finishing last of 16 in 2011-12, and 15^th of 17 in 2012-13. Ground-sharing at Princes Park, since August 2013, has coincided with the club being reportedly extremely well bankrolled, and with the creation of a strong squad. One unsubstantiated rumour I’ve read is that two of Greenwich’s squad are both on a weekly wage that exceeds Ashford United’s entire weekly playing budget. Whether or not there is any truth in that, it is likely that the top earner in the club’s squad is 35 year-old Gary Alexander, whose Football League career, which consisted of 500-plus games, included spells with Leyton Orient, Millwall, Hull City and Brentford.

Starting today’s game in seventh place in the league – three points behind fifth-placed Ashford, but with two games in hand -  Greenwich were always going to be tough opponents. This was underlined by our hosts’ most recent result in the league – a 0-6 thrashing of Holmesdale, the same team that Ashford rather struggled against in a 3-4 victory, just a week earlier.

This was not my first visit to Princes Park, although the previous occasion had been eight years ago, for the Ryman League Division One South game between Dartford and Ashford Town.

And what a game that was !  The result was a 4-3 win for Dartford, with the winner coming from what appeared to be a fairly dodgy penalty in the 93^rd minute, over a struggling Ashford side. The game was memorable for the seven goals, a brilliant solo effort from Walid Matata, a howling goalkeeping error from Jake Whincup that gave The Darts their third goal, an earlier penalty save by Jake, two red cards, a disallowed goal, and Ashford Manager John Cumberbatch being dismissed and sent to the stands. The game was also remarkable for being played in front of a crowd of 1,470.

Ashford’s line-up that afternoon was interesting. Legendary right-back Tom Adlington played at centre-half, alongside Marc Cumberbatch; Anthony Allman, a midfield playmaker, was at right-back; Simon Glover was at left-back, (although Gloves played in virtually every position for Ashford); Luke Coleman, who captained Holmesdale, a fortnight ago, from the centre-forward position, was on the right side of midfield; Matt Carruthers, an attacking wide midfield player, was in central midfield. Steve Sodje partnered Walid Matata, up front, on this occasion, in place of the injured George Fenwick.

Two interesting players in the Dartford line-up were Ryan Briggs and John Guest, who both joined Ashford Town at a later date – but the star of The Darts’ side, on that particular afternoon, and on many others, was winger Dave Martin. He was brilliant in that game, which I think was his last for Dartford before joining Crystal Palace, and then Millwall.

Well, today’s game at Princes Park didn’t quite live up to the 2007 occasion, but it was a remarkable game in its own right, and did produce five very good goals, just the one red card and the frame of the goal was hit at least four times.

Ashford came here with what looked to be very nearly a full-strength side. In front of Joe Mant was the very experienced central defensive pairing of Pat Kingwell and Danny Lye. Both of these lads had a towering game, particularly Kingwell, who was an immense presence in the Ashford defence, and always seemed to be in the right place. (This was just as well, as Greenwich Borough were to prove themselves to be an extremely potent force going forward). On either side of the defence were the Cuthbert brothers – Adam on the right, and Luke on the left – who completed 90 minutes together for the first time since the Canterbury City game on the 27^th of December. I haven’t seen enough of Ashford this season to know how Adam is coping in this new, defensive role, but he did pretty well this afternoon.

Gary Clarke, the Club Captain, battled away in central midfield, alongside Lee Winfield, with Liam Whiting on the left and Tom Scorer on the right. Up front were Stuart Zanone and Darren Marsden, in what looks a very good combination. We know about Stuart, with his pace and his strength and his natural ability to score goals – and 19 in ten matches, coming into this match, speaks for itself – but Darren Marsden is looking like his ideal partner. He’s hard working and he’s intelligent, and has the skill to retain position and manoeuvre the ball into the right areas. Although the home side had the large majority of the possession in this game, with most of the match being played in Ashford’s half, every time the ball found its way to the visitors’ front two, they looked dangerous, and made life a misery for a hapless Greenwich Borough defence.

Both teams had a strong bench. In fact, the ten players named could probably form a team that would hold its own in the top half of the SCEFL table. For Ashford, there was Liam Walsh, Kieran Byrne, Ollie Finch, Andy Irvine and Gary Mickelborough; Borough’s substitutes were Jamie Wood, Lewis Wood, Paul Vines, Danny Phillips and Jack Clark. For good measure, Buster Smissen warmed up, in full kit, with the other Ashford subs, before the game, but was left out of the final XVI.

I mentioned that this was “a remarkable game”. In fact, it was one of the strangest games I have seen. This is because the visitors were under the cosh for at least the final 87 minutes of this match, being at full stretch to deny what is obviously a very good Greenwich side – but nevertheless managed to score four goals, and win comfortably. That they were able to do so was due to a solid and determined all-round team display – by eleven men in the first half, and then by ten men for virtually all of the second half. I have never seen a team lead by four goals, but yet appear to have to hang on so grimly – but hang on they did, and Paul Chambers and his boys deserve a great deal of credit for coming away with a 1-4 victory.

Ashford did, at least, make a fast start, and I thought that it was all Ashford in an opening three-minute spell that culminated in the visitors opening the scoring, with what might be described as a “Liam Whiting Special”. Stuart Zanone spread the ball wide to Whiting, on the left, and the script – certainly as far as Greenwich goalkeeper Craig Holloway was concerned – was for Liam to cross the ball into the centre. Instead, Liam lashed the ball into the roof of the net, with a left-footed drive that went just inside the near post.

That was the ideal start for Ashford, but, just a minute later, the home side gave an indication of what was to come, when former Beckenham winger Jake Britnall created a chance for an equaliser. Although Gary Alexander is the big name in the Greenwich side, their main threat this afternoon appeared to come in the shape of two very skillful wingmen – No.7 Mohammed Eisa and No.11 Britnall. On this occasion, it was Britnall who easily beat two Ashford defenders, to break into the heart of the visitors’ penalty area, but Joe Mant saved his shot from about ten yards out.

From this point, it looked a bit like Rorke’s Drift out there – except that it was the red shirts that were doing the attacking, with the yellows manning the barricades. I should add that there were also echoes of the Battle of Passchendaele, as the Princes Park pitch was in an appalling state, consisting of considerably more mud than grass, even before the game started.

In spite of the relentless assault on the Ashford defence, what made the game interesting, and enjoyable for the Ashford faithful, who made up the majority of the crowd of 117, was that the visitors always looked like they had the quality to score, when they did get the ball forward. In fact, Tom Scorer very nearly doubled the score in the tenth minute. Receiving the ball from a throw-in, on the left, Tom made room for a shot at goal, and his thunderous shot cannoned off Holloway’s right-hand post. Stuart Zanone, on the poach, about eight yards from goal, was unable to control the rebound, but the lino had already flagged him offside.

A minute later, Joe Mant, for the first time, reminded me of Jake Whincup !  Rising to make a regulation catch, after Chris Edwards had floated a free-kick into the Ashford box, Joe made a complete hash of things, but was fortunate to drop the ball at the feet of one of his own defenders. After a bout of head tennis, the ball was partially cleared, before Mohammed Eisa’s looping header, from a Chris Edwards cross, went just over the bar.

Greenwich looked particularly dangerous from set pieces, and Mr Nketiah, who kept very good control of the game, but was pretty fussy about any physical contact, gave the home side plenty of free-kick opportunities. In the 18^th minute, Danny Lye did well to get his head to the ball as a free-kick on the left was whipped in with great pace – and then Adam Cuthbert headed away the resulting corner, at the near post. Three minutes later, the Ashford defence failed to clear another Edwards corner from the left, and the visitors’ one-goal lead was preserved thanks to a good save by Joe Mant, and then a clearance, after a goalmouth scramble, by Adam Cuthbert.

Borough must have regretted their failure to convert pressure into goals, in the 25^th minute, when Gary Clarke made it 0-2. This came from an Ashford free-kick, awarded for a very harsh hand ball decision which appeared to me to be very much a case of ball-against-hand. The home defence had plenty of time to get organised, as Lee Winfeld and Darren Marsden stood over the ball. Eventually, it was Marsden who floated a cross to the far post, and Gary Clarke got up well to head the ball into the far corner of the net, for his 22^nd goal in an Ashford shirt. There’s no doubt that it was a well-taken goal, but the Greenwich Management was probably wondering how one of the smallest players on the pitch had managed to comfortably get his head to the ball.

The third Ashford goal came in the 31^st minute, and came on the break, after a period of Greenwich Borough pressure. Darren Marsden led the charge, down the right, and effectively played a “one-two” off a defender, who got in the way of an attempted pass to Stuart Zanone. Darren’s second ball was a cross into the heart of the Greenwich goalmouth, which was intercepted but not cleared. The ball fell at the feet of Stuart Zanone, about ten yards from goal – at which point there was only going to be one outcome. As usual, Stuart fairly slammed the ball into the net, decisively and without hesitation, in the manner of a clinical goal scorer.

In the 35^th minute, Liam Whiting, who reminds me increasingly of a young, and very lean, Stuart Pearce, made what I thought was a good, clean tackle – but this was from behind, and Liam’s angle of approach, and the fact that he made some slight contact with his opponent, meant that he not only conceded a free-kick, but also received a yellow card from Referee Nketiah. From the resulting free-kick, Gary Borrowdale pumped the ball into the Ashford area, and Joe Mant cleared with a decisive punch. The ball found Jake Britnall, on the edge of the 18-yard box, and Adam Cuthbert put in a challenge with studs showing, catching Britnall in the ribs. I am sure that there was nothing malicious in the challenge, but it looked bad, and Adam might have been a little fortunate to only be shown a yellow card.

It was Borrowdale who took the free-kick, and this was an excellent effort, eluding a six-man wall, before crashing against the crossbar.

A sending off looked even more likely in the 43^rd minute, when Liam Whiting miss-timed another genuine attempt to play the ball, instead catching Jake Britnall on the foot. This led to several Greenwich players forming a ruck around the referee, in what was obviously a concerted effort to get Liam sent off. To the ref’s credit, he refused to be intimidated by the mob, and, instead, gave Liam a lengthy lecture, which, as was clear to all present, was very much a final warning.

So the travelling faithful were delighted to see the lads go in at half time with a 0-3 lead, whilst acknowledging that the score-line hid the fact that we had actually been fighting a rearguard action for most of the first 45 minutes. Chief topic of conversation, however, was that the most predictable substitution of the season was about to be made, at the start of the second half.

It was a big surprise, therefore, that Whiting came out, after the break – especially with Kieran Byrne being available as an obvious like-for-like replacement. In fact, it was Greenwich who made a half time substitution, with Jamie Wood replacing Chris Saunders.

I am sure that Paul Chambers must have seriously considered replacing Liam – but he made the decision to “stick”, rather than “twist”, and this decision soon led to the visitors being reduced to ten men. As early as the second minute after the break, Liam went into a tackle in typically whole-hearted fashion, was slightly late, made contact with a Greenwich player……….and the second yellow card was inevitable. I don’t think the referee had any option, having clearly put Liam on last-chance notice – and the yellow shirts were a man down at The Alamo.

What helped Ashford’s cause, however, was that Stuart Zanone made it 0-4, almost immediately – in the 49^th minute, in fact. A break from defence saw Darren Marsden and Zanone in a two-against-two situation with back-peddling Greenwich Borough defenders. Darren pushed the ball into Stuart’s path, and, despite beginning his run from the halfway line, such is the striker’s strength and pace that there was never any doubt that he would make it into the Borough penalty area. With just Holloway to beat, Stuart went to the right, to make himself an angle, and then calmly slotted the ball into the net, eluding the ‘keeper’s outstretched arm. So that is now 21 goals in eleven matches for Stuart Zanone, extending a goal scoring sequence that has no precedent in the history of Ashford football.

So there then followed a bizarre 40 minutes, during which the ten men in yellow & green defended valiantly to hold off the Greenwich onslaught. This is a scene that has been acted out on many a field of battle, at home and abroad, and in the league and in the cups – but surely such a desperate rearguard has never been enacted to preserve a FOUR goal lead?!

But defend they did, and, with Pat Kingwell being the rock against which most of the red wave broke, the three points were made safe, with Joe Mant being beaten just the once – by Danny Phillips, in the 67^th minute.

Of course, Greenwich should be given credit for never giving up, and for applying the pressure right to the very end – but a combination of wayward shooting, good saves by Joe Mant or a defender getting a foot or a head in the way of the ball at the vital moment, gave Ashford United a well-deserved three points.

In the 60^th minute, Borough Manager Ian Jenkins replaced the ineffective Scott Kinch with Danny Phillips, and, a minute later, Paul Chambers made his first substitution, sending on Ollie Finch, in place of Tom Scorer. This gave us the chance to play “Ollie Finch Bingo” – which consists of having a sweepstake on how long it will take Ollie, who is a walking yellow card, to get himself booked. On this occasion, folks, today’s lucky number was 24. That’s two-and-four, twenty-four, as Ollie got shown the yellow after a late tackle on Jake Britnall, on the edge of the “D”, in the 85^th minute.

The goal that Greenwich did score, in the 67^th minute, was a good one. The ball was threaded through to Danny Phillips, who took a touch and then calmly placed the ball past Joe Mant’s left hand. This came just a minute after the home side had come close through Gary Alexander. Receiving the ball, on the left, from Mohammed Eisa, the man who had once cost Swindon Town £300,000 attempted to curl the ball inside the far post, with Joe Mant merely watching, but this effort went just wide. In the 70^th minute, No.9 Billy Bennett thumped a cracking shot against Mant’s right-hand upright, but Joe made a good save as Eisa attempted a curling shot from the rebound.

A minute later, Paul Chambers relieved a tiring Darren Marsden of his duties, the No.10 having run his socks off for the cause. Up to this point, Chambers had maintained a two-pronged attack, in spite of being down to ten men, against a Greenwich back three. Now, however, Marsden’s replacement, Gary Mickelborough, very much tucked into the midfield, in what was now a 4-4-1 formation. Later, in the 83^rd minute, the hard-working Stuart Zanone was also given a well-earned rest, when he was replaced by defender Liam Walsh. This provided the Ashford back line with much-needed reinforcement, with Gary Mickelborough taking over as the lone striker.

The nearest Greenwich Borough came to scoring, late on, was in the 89^th minute, when a left-footed shot from substitute Danny Phillips, from 18 yards out, crashed against Joe Mant’s upright once again – only to fall comfortably into Joe’s arms, after bouncing once. Almost immediately, the red shirts surged forward again, to the edge of the Ashford penalty area. Some typically neat passing provided Billy Bennett with a good shooting chance, but he blasted the ball over the bar. In the final minute of normal time, (before five minutes of added time), the home side had a free-kick, about 25 yards from goal. This was squared to Jake Britnall, who curled a shot that was destined for the far, top corner of the net, only for Joe Mant to tip the ball away for a corner – at which point Britnall must have known that it wasn’t going to be his day.

Mr Nketiah did wave a yellow card at someone in the 92^nd minute, after Greenwich had been awarded a corner. I am guessing that this could only have been for an Ashford player knocking the ball away in an attempt to waste time – but it was not obvious who was the recipient of the card.

So quite a match, with Ashford scoring four goals for the third consecutive game – and with Stuart Zanone being responsible for half of those goals.

The three points gained today lifted Ashford to fourth place, in the table, above Tunbridge Wells, who were playing in the SCEFL Challenge Cup. Another tough game awaits Ashford in just three days’ time, with third-placed Corinthian coming to Homelands on Tuesday night.