Greenwich Borough v Ashford United. Southern Counties East Football League. 3rd of October 2015.

Greenwich Borough 4       Ashford United 2

 

From Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent

This is a result that requires explanation. There will be casual observers who will see the bare result, and see that Gary Alexander scored a hat-trick, and they will take it that this was the day that class came to the fore, when Greenwich Borough’s battery of stars proved too good for Ashford United and confirmed themselves as the outstanding team in the Southern Counties East Football League. Borough may well win the title and gain promotion to the Ryman League – but there was much more to this game than the bare result suggests.

For a start, the home side didn’t look obvious champions to me. It’s true that their excellent forward unit – Stuart Zanone, Mohammed Eisa, Gary Alexander and Jake Britnell - always looked dangerous, and would be able to score four goals against most teams in this league, but our hosts looked distinctly ordinary elsewhere on the park. There was never much to choose between the two sides, this afternoon, and, with 88 minutes on the clock, I thought I’d be reporting on a heroic performance from ten-man Ashford United in securing a point in the face of adversity. All three of their substitutions – all forced - had long since been made, and there were players having to play out of position, due to injuries to others. In short, this was a game in which anything that could go wrong for Ashford did go wrong – yet they had shown signs of maybe taking all three points, before two late goals from Gary Alexander secured victory for Borough.

That’s not to say that there was nothing to worry about for the Ashford fans who made up the majority of the 86-strong attendance. The lads turned in a whole-hearted performance today, but there clearly remain deficiencies in certain areas, and the squad-building process under Danny Lye is far from complete.

And to think that the day started on such a happy and optimistic note, with a big match, carnival atmosphere in Milton Keynes. There was bunting adorning every platform of the railway station, and there was an influx of smiling and animated Japanese tourists. (I won’t use the line about there being a nip in the air – I will save that one for Pearl Harbour Day, which is in December). Clearly, the New City was hosting one of those egg-chasing games – that game for hooligans played by hooligans, which will receive no further mention in this report – but it made a change from the station being full of Arsenal fans on a Saturday morning.

Back to the game for gentlemen played sissies, it was a warm, sunny day in Dartford – probably the last balmy day of football this season – and the Princes Park pitch looked lush and green, (contrasting with the state of the ground in the corresponding fixture here last season, when the majority of the playing surface had resembled a ploughed field). Ashford United announced a strong-looking starting line-up, but, in the absence of both Cuthbert brothers – and I am reliably informed that they had to go shopping with their Mum - there were signs of a lack of defensive cover in today’s squad, which was to contribute to our downfall later on.

Dan Eason was in goal, with Tony Browne and Chris Elliott on either side of the defensive pairing of Pat Kingwell and Danny Lye. In front of them, Ashford effectively lined up with two ranks of three, with Jamie Bosio, skipper Mickey Phillips and Mickey Dalton in midfield, and Ryan Palmer well forward as an attacking option wide on the right, with the experienced strike partnership of Shaun Welford and Paul Booth in the centre. For the second consecutive game, however, the bench had a distinctly attacking look about it – which is another way of saying that there appeared to be a distinct lack of defensive cover – in the shape of Sebastian Schoburgh, Josh Woolley, Tom Fagg, Ellis Green and goalkeeper Nick Luen, (although, as it turned out, it was a good thing that we had a substitute goalie available on this occasion).

One of the reasons that we are currently short of defenders is the recent defection of Nathan Paul to Greenwich – although I was slightly surprised to see Nathan deployed at right-back, having looked so impressive in the heart of Ashford United’s defence since the start of the season. It was also good to see Stuart Zanone, this afternoon – maybe not in that silly red and black shirt, of course, but there appeared to be tangible goodwill towards Stuart from the Ashford fans. (Still our hero, after those 47 goals last season !).

It was not Greenwich Borough’s intention to blind the visitors with science, with their main tactic appearing to be the long ball forward, to bring their expensive forward-line into play as soon as possible. In fact, some of the home side’s siege gun balls would have looked more appropriate at Twickers, this afternoon – not that I’m being sniffy about the general tactic, as it was often effective. One of these balls from the back was latched onto by the pacey Mohammed Eisa, in the third minute. He squared the ball to Gary Alexander, whose shot was comfortably saved by Dan Eason, diving to his right.

But it was Ashford who took an early lead, after five minutes – (a lead which was to be surrendered, for the upteenth time this season). Paul Booth ran onto a long ball from the visitors’ defence, in the inside left channel. The player-coach laid the ball back to Chris Elliott, who was wide on the left. Elliott’s deep cross beyond the far post found Pat Kingwell, who nodded the ball back to Ryan Palmer, some twelve yards from goal. Palmer was easily able to add to the two goals he scored on Tuesday evening, turning and hitting a low shot past goalkeeper Craig Holloway.

Although the opening goal was the ideal start for Ashford, the first of a whole litany of mishaps occurred almost immediately. Before Greenwich could restart the game, it was obvious that right-back Tony Browne was in trouble with an injury. The Ashford Physio came onto the pitch, but it appeared that the decision had already been made for a substitution, as the Browne Dog limped off the pitch very gingerly, holding something in the vicinity of his groin. (I will not be more specific – this is a family show !). And so the make do & mend process was already underway. Josh Woolley slotted into midfield, with young Mickey Dalton having the thankless job of filling in at right-back, against Mohammed Eisa, one of the very best forwards in the league.

The lad did his best, but this was, unfortunately, something of a mis-match, with Eisa appearing to be able to beat Dalton at will – and, as the best teams do, Greenwich sought to exploit this loop-hole immediately. One of the challenges that Mickey faced was that, not only did he have to contend with a fast and skilful opponent, but he is also not the tallest – and, in the 18^th minute, a long ball over his head found Eisa, but the tall Greenwich No.11’s shot was blocked, for a corner.

However, the Ashford lead was not to stay intact for long, as, in the 18^th minute, the visitors’ defence failed to clear a cross, and the ball fell to Danny Phillips, inside the six-yard box. Phillips’ first attempt to score hit the post and came back to him, but he made no mistake with the second, which actually went in off the post.

There was never much between the two teams during the first half, but Greenwich probably shaded it in terms of chances created, with Ashford being inaccurate with their crosses and through-balls. This was in spite of Gary Alexander playing in a deep midfield position. In the 20^th minute, Billy Bennett attempted to place a header just under Dan Eason’s crossbar, but the Ashford ‘keeper made a good save. In the 24^th minute, Mohammed Eisa was able to run onto a headed flick-on, deep in the heart of the Ashford half, with an ease that suggested that the Ashford defence wasn’t “owning” this area of the field. Eisa hit his shot well, but Eason again made a good save.

Ashford’s lack of precision with their approach play was typified, in the 30^th minute, by Ryan Palmer planting a cross into the side-netting, after he and Mickey Phillips had combined in a nice move down the right. Four minutes later, however, Palmer did rather better, with a cross that found Shaun Welford beyond the far post. The big No.9 headed the ball across the face of the Greenwich goal, and Mickey Phillips, steaming in, planted his header over the bar. There were incredulous appeals for a penalty, for a push in the back, but the referee was unresponsive. Then, just a minute later, Shaun Welford was allowed by the Borough defence to turn and let the ball run across his body, before hitting a thunder-bolt, with his left foot, just over the bar.

Another issue that Ashford had to contend with was the performance of today’s referee. Young Mr Down may or may not have a long and successful career in the game, but he is about to receive a rare accolade – criticism from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent. I tend not to be critical of match officials, as I realise that they have a very difficult and thankless job, but the lad was inconsistent today. He missed plenty, but, at the same time, gave some very soft free-kicks and made some strange decisions with yellow cards. Footballers are notoriously adversarial and unhelpful when it comes to referees, but it was obvious from an early stage that players from both sides had little confidence in this particular ref. I have never seen a referee who is biased towards one team or the other – fans just convince themselves of that – but Ashford did appear to get the rough end of the decisions, certainly in terms of the yellow cards.

Jamie Bosio was the first to be booked, in the 36^th minute. It is not uncommon to see a player commit a bad foul immediately after he has seen the referee fail to give a free-kick for what he thinks is a clear foul on a team-mate – and this is what appears to have happened here. Shaun Welford was the player who seemed to be the victim of the obvious infringement, and Nathan Paul happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, as a frustrated Bosio clattered him.

There could be no complaints about that particular booking, and the same can be said for the second yellow card, which was shown to Danny Lye, a couple of minutes before half time. This was a bit of an old man’s tackle by Lyesie – Jake Britnell, who was carrying the ball through central midfield, was too quick for him, so the Ashford player-manager halted his progress with a trip.

Just prior to this, Shaun Welford had won the ball in the air, finding Ryan Palmer in the penalty area, before Palmer hit a fierce shot just wide of goal. This was followed by Stuart Zanone running onto a through-ball behind the Ashford defence, and then squaring the ball to Jake Britnell, in the centre, whose shot was charged down – but the teams trooped in at the break with the scores level, at 1-1.

The plus points for Ashford in the first half were more or less where I expected to find them. I had heard good things about Ryan Palmer, and he had shown himself to be fast and skilful, and a handful for defenders when in and around the penalty area. I hadn’t seen Jamie Bosio before, but he had looked a class act in midfield – very composed and obviously very comfortable on the ball, at this level, and looking like one man who we could rely on not to give the ball away. The other outstanding performer was, as usual, Pat Kingwell. It is a pleasure to see the man go about his business, as he has become a master of his trade. On the ground, he is always there with the interception, he is strong and composed when facing his own goal and, of course, he gets his head to most aerial threats. Yet again, he would have been the candidate for Ashford’s Man of the Match, if I were to give such an award. Mickey Phillips would certainly have run him close, for his overall drive and effort throughout the 90 minutes, but Kingwell would have shaded it, for sheer, understated flawlessness.

It wasn’t long before things started to go wrong for Ashford in the second half, which began with a period of solid Greenwich Borough pressure. In the 48^th minute, Stuart Zanone ran onto a ball over the top, and, for the second time, got behind the visitors’ defence. He just had Dan Eason to beat, but the Ashford ‘keeper did well to save Stuart’s shot. It appeared that it was Borough who might have the problem to contend with, as one of their prize assets went down, clutching his ankle – but Stuart was eventually able to continue. What was more final was the fact that, at the same time, Jamie Bosio had limped off slowly, and it was once again fairly obvious that it was a groin injury. (It didn’t look good at the time, but I’m pleased to report that it was “just a niggle”, and that Jamie should be fit to join the Gibraltar squad for the forthcoming international weekend).

So the next reshuffle for Ashford saw substitute Sebastian Schoburgh join Shaun Welford up front, with Paul Booth dropping back into midfield.

In the 53^rd minute, Josh Woolley was booked for what appeared to be a very minor show of dissent, reacting in disbelief as he was adjudged to have fouled an opponent. Two minutes later, things might have been worse for Danny Lye, when he was late with a tackle that was clearly very “bookable” – but, instead, the ref decided to give him a long public warning, making it clear to everyone that he was on his last chance.

In the 57^th minute, a shot by Gary Alexander went wide, but a corner was given, as Mickey Phillips had just got a nick onto it. With the resulting cross going right through the Ashford area, Stuart Zanone chased the loose ball and put it back into the mixer. During the ensuing scramble, the ball popped up and hit Pat Kingwell’s fore-arm, and it looked to be a clear penalty – but nothing was given. The ball was quickly heading in the other direction, with an Ashford break showing the home defence to be in disarray. There were options for Ashford, but the opportunity ended with Josh Woolley’s attempted left-footed shot being blocked by Nathan Paul, who had come across with the covering tackle. Ashford maintained the pressure, forcing a corner on the right. The resulting cross flicked off a Greenwich Borough head and found Paul Booth on the edge of the area, who hit the ball, on the full volley, low into the net. This was certainly a candidate for Goal of the Season, and a sweet strike that Booth will remember for a long time. (What he won’t remember for so long is that he was booked shortly afterwards – for reasons that remain unknown to me).

So Ashford retook the lead in the 58^th minute, but this was again short-lived, for Greenwich were level just seven minutes later. In the 63^rd minute, Mohammed Eisa ran onto a through-ball, into the Ashford area. He rounded the advancing Eason, who tripped him with his right hand – and so this was a very straightforward decision for the referee to award a penalty and to show Eason a red card. There was some delay as Ashford’s substitute goalie, Nick Luen, changed into Dan’s silver-grey jersey, and the visitors made their third and final substitution and reshuffle. This time, Josh Woolley was sacrificed, with Shaun Welford playing up front on his own, certainly when Greenwich had the ball. Gary Alexander finally smashed the ball in the net in the 65^th minute. It was a very straightforward penalty. Nick Luen dived one way, as goalkeepers tend to do, and the penalty taker hit the ball in the space that he had just vacated. Ironically, if an outfield player had had to go in goal to face the penalty, the ball would probably have hit him in the chest – but it was 2-2, with 25 minutes left to play.

The plan for Ashford was very much to try to hang on to the point, but Schoburgh and Palmer, in particular, both looked so dangerous with the ball at their feet, when breaking forward, that the visitors looked just as likely to score the next goal. Borough, however, clearly had the scent of victory, now that Ashford had been reduced to ten men – and it was only now that Gary Alexander started to take up forward positions.

In the 67^th minute, Mohammed Eisa turned and shot, on the edge of the area, but his effort was wide. Just a minute later, however, Greenwich should have scored. Again, Eisa tormented Mickey Dalton, who had little chance of preventing the cross which eventually found Jake Britnell – who fired his shot over the bar.

At the other end, in the 69^th minute, Seb Schoburgh worked a decent shooting chance for himself, from an acute angle, well inside the Greenwich area, but Craig Holloway saved, at the foot of his near post. A minute later, Ashford were awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position, right on the edge of the “D”, after Billy Bennett had fouled Mickey Phillips - but Phillips paid for this with another yellow card, this time for his angry reaction to the foul. Arms were barely raised, as the two players squared up, but the referee handed out a rather harsh booking to each of them. Chris Elliott, who seems to be one of the dead-ball specialists of the team, with his Rory Delap throw-ins and his free-kicks, went for goal, but his shot went over the bar.

In the 74^th minute, a good lay-off by Stuart Zanone, in a neat, one-touch move, put the ball into Mohammed Eisa’s path, but the winger’s low shot was easily stopped by Nick Luen. Five minutes later, Luen was again called into action, when he had little problem in getting down to save a low Stuart Zanone shot. A minute after this, in a slightly bizarre incident, Danny Lye attempted to pass the ball back to Luen, but instead gave the ball straight to Jake Britnell, who was well inside the penalty area. Britnell tried to devise something with another Greenwich player, but the latter was in an offside position, so this opportunity came to nothing.

Ashford continued to have chances, at the other end, and had a free-kick on the edge of the Borough area, in the 84^th minute; this time, it was Ryan Palmer who took responsibility for the kick, but his attempt was also always going too high. Two minutes later, Chris Elliott won the ball in midfield, and sent Shaun Welford off on a break, in the inside-right channel. Welford had Ryan Palmer available in the centre, but instead chose to shoot, and Craig Holloway made a comfortable save at his near post.

With just two minutes remaining of normal time, it appeared that Ashford would hang on for what would have been a deserved point, but there was actually still time for Gary Alexander to complete a hat-trick. His second goal of the game, and Greenwich’s third, was pure class. Scott Kinch, who had come on as sub for Billy Bennett, in the 76^th minute, spread a high, looping pass out to the left wing – the ball was fed inside to Alexander, who very deliberately curled the ball into the corner of the net, giving Nick Luen no chance.

That goal knocked the stuffing out of Ashford’s ten men, who really didn’t deserve to go further behind, just a minute later. Alexander and Stuart Zanone combined well, through the middle, in a move that ended with the former hitting a shot from close range, that was well saved by Luen – but Alexander made no mistake with the rebound, to make it 4-2.