Gravesham Borough 1
Ashford United 4
From Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent
Kent
Senior Trophy Second Round day, today – away to Gravesham Borough, of the Kent
Invicta League. And that meant new team for Your Milton Keynes Correspondent,
as well as a new ground and a new town, as this was my first visit to the town
of Strood, which sits on the west bank of the River Medway, on the other side
of the water to Rochester. Gravesham Borough actually ground-share, at Rede
Court Road, with Rochester United, who were called Bly Spartans when they were
our opponents in the Kent Invicta League during that inaugural 2011-12 season. (The
suspicion is that Bly changed their name to “Rochester United” because
Rochester is distinctly posher than Strood).
Ashford
actually beat Bly Spartans at this ground in that season – 4-5, largely thanks
to a late Mo Takaloo hat-trick, after we’d been 4-1 down and had a man sent off
– but it didn’t stop our opponents from going on to become the first Champions
of the Kent Invicta League. Today’s cup tie, however, was our first ever meeting
with Gravesham Borough, since today’s hosts didn’t join the Kent Invicta until
after Ashford had been promoted to the Southern Counties East League. In those
days, Gravesham Borough were called Fleet Leisure, but changed their name at
the start of the 2014-15 season. It’s a club that was founded in 1927, and
originates from the Bowater pulp and paper company, which grew rich from
supplying paper to the London newspaper industry.
The
good thing about travelling to Strood is that there is no necessity for the
usual trek across London on the Underground. Instead, I had a five-minute walk
from Euston to St Pancras, and then caught the smart Javelin train all the way
to Strood. (It’s the service that goes to Herne Bay, but stops at a number of
Ryman Division One South locations on the way). Strood station is right on the
banks of the Medway – unnervingly so, in fact, in these days of rising sea
levels. The 30-minute walk to the ground then took me along the town’s High
Street, and then up the A2 – “up” being the operative word, given that it’s all
uphill, and steep, from the river.
Rochester
United Sports Ground, on Rede Court Road, is right on the edge of town. Only
one of the four sides of the ground is developed, and here there is a tea bar,
a bar, the dressing rooms and a decent-sized stand, with four rows of grey
seats. On arrival, the first priority, after grabbing a cup of tea, was to find
a sheltered spot away from the stiff, chilly breeze - this turned out to be in
front of the thick belt of trees on the opposite side of the ground to the stand.
The pitch was lush and green, but, in time-honoured non-league fashion, had a
pronounced slope, which ran in a diagonal direction down to what was Ashford’s “left
back” corner flag in the first half. (Ashford actually played both up the hill
and into the wind for the first 45 minutes).
Manager
Danny Lye had been quoted, during the week, as saying that he intended to rest
a few players for this game, to give some of the fringe players a run out.
However, the starting eleven appeared to be pretty much at full strength, to me:
Big George in goal, and a back four of Chris Elliott, Pat Kingwell, Jack Healy
and Luke Cuthbert; Dan Stubbs and Mickey Dalton in central midfield, with Ryan
Palmer wide on the right and Josh Woolley wide left; and the experienced pairing
of Paul Booth and Shaun Welford in attack.
It
was on the bench that Danny Lye had taken the opportunity to find room for some
youngsters – namely Clark Woodcock and Callum Whitmore – but more about them
later. The other subs were goalkeeper Nick Luen, Mickey Phillips and Seb
Schoburgh.
There
were two names of note on the Gravesham Borough teamsheet. One was Danny
Hockton, formerly of Millwall, Stevenage Borough, Dover Athletic, Chelmsford
City, Crawley Town, Margate, Bromley, Braintree, Maidstone and, most recently,
Faversham, but today he was warming the bench with a No.16 on the back of his
red shirt. The other was Keelan Mooney, who started (and finished) the game on
the right wing for Borough, having made six appearances – with none lasting
longer than 82 minutes – for Ashford United towards the start of the 2014-15
season.
In
spite of Ashford’s strong starting line-up, I was expecting this to be a
difficult game for the visitors. I have a healthy respect for the standard of
the Kent Invicta League – mostly from bitter experience during our two
campaigns in that league – and Gravesham Borough are one of the better teams at
that level, lying fourth in the league this morning. I have to say, therefore,
that I was very surprised at how comfortably Ashford eased their way into the
Quarter Finals of this competition. The strikers always had plenty of time and
space on the ball, and should really have scored more goals, and, in spite of
the home side launching plenty of spirited attacks, Ashford’s defence had
little trouble in giving goalkeeper George Kamurasi a fairly quiet afternoon.
The
game appeared to be over, as a contest, after the visitors went two goals up in
the first quarter of an hour – but the margin might easily have been wider during
this period. In the opening seconds, the Borough offside trap was beaten, with
Ryan Palmer being set free down the right wing. His low cross found Shaun
Welford in the six yard box, but the Player-Assistant-Manager’s attempted flick
with his heel was well saved by ‘keeper Ollie Dewey, diving low at the near
post. In the eighth minute, a foul on Shaun Welford gave Ashford a free-kick,
near the right touchline. Left back Chris Elliott tends to take the majority of
Ashford’s dead-ball kicks (and throw-ins), and, on this occasion, his
left-footed ball into the area broke to Shaun Welford, whose powerful shot was
blocked at point-blank range. The ball fell to Paul Booth, who attempted to
place a curled shot inside the far post, but his effort was just wide.
Ashford’s
opening goal came in the tenth minute, occurring just after a short period of
Gravesham Borough pressure. Paul Booth, who stood out as a class player, this
afternoon, particularly when he had the ball at his feet, beat one defender,
before threading the ball into the path of Ryan Palmer. Once through on goal, Palms
had no problem with sliding the ball past the goalkeeper and into the net.
Palmer
was also involved in the second Ashford goal, which was scored in the 14th
minute. Not for the only time, this afternoon, he found himself in possession
of the ball and with plenty of space to run into, on the right. After one
step-over, he squared the ball to Paul Booth, who had as much time as he
wanted, in the Gravesham area, to look up and place his shot in the far corner
of the net. The ball certainly got a nick off Shaun Welford on its way in, and
it wasn’t clear whose goal it was – but Boothy pointed to Welford during the fairly
under-stated goal celebration, and it was later confirmed that it was Shaun’s goal.
Ryan
Palmer appeared to give the home side problems every time he had the ball, and
the team in all red – (think Liverpool v Norwich City) – didn’t cope with him at
all well. At times, Ryan resembled the Pied Piper, as he carried the ball
around the field, with defenders following in his wake, much to the frustration
of the Gravesham manager. Josh Woolley also saw plenty of the ball, and looked
lively, but without achieving the same success as Palmer. One of Woolley’s best moments came in the 17th
minute, when he carried the ball down the left wing, cut inside and then beat
right back Andy Pierce, to get to the by-line. Josh managed to get in his cross,
but it was headed behind by Dan Nash, for a corner.
Although
they were being comfortably held by Ashford, Borough were putting together
plenty of nice moves, and probably launched more attacks than Ashford in the 30
minutes after the visitors’ second goal, but all they had to show for their
first-half endeavours was a low, long-range shot from Luke Adams, in the 20th
minute, which was easily saved by Kamurasi.
Ashford’s
next clear chance didn’t materialise until the 31st minute, when a
through ball from Dan Stubbs presented Shaun Welford with a one-on-one with the
goalkeeper, but Dewey did well to save Welford’s shot. The ball broke to Paul
Booth, who once again had the luxury of time to control the ball and wind
himself up for a shot, but the Gravesham Borough defence blocked his effort. Two
minutes later, Booth had another opportunity, but his turn and shot, from just
outside the area, went just over the bar.
In
the 36th minute, however, Booth made no mistake, and this was very
definitely his goal. Josh Woolley initiated the attack when he intercepted a
clearance. He found Ryan Palmer, who slid the ball behind the Borough defence,
and into the path of Booth. The Player-Coach easily rounded the goalkeeper and
rolled the ball into the empty net. That was Booth’s 15th goal of
the season – but I have lost count of the number of goals that Ryan Palmer has
set up. (We don’t use the American term “assist”, in this establishment, just
as we avoid terms like “rooky” and “soccer”, and refuse to celebrate Halloween).
Ashford
had a succession of corners, in the first half, with the home side not winning
their first corner until the 44th minute – and then the situation
merely led to an Ashford break, from which they nearly scored. Dan Stubbs did
brilliantly to carry the ball across the field and out of his own half, hurdling
two scything attempts to foul him. He laid the ball forward to Josh Woolley,
who progressed the move down the left wing, and then ran on to take the return
pass, deep inside the Gravesham half. Stubbs then spread the ball wide to Shaun
Welford, whose attempt to place the ball into the net bounced off the top of
the crossbar.
This
is the first time that I have seen Dan Stubbs, and I was impressed. He drove
the team on from midfield, moved the ball well, whether he was passing it or
carrying it, and generally seemed to know what he was doing. I reckon he was
Ashford’s Man of the Match, this afternoon.
The
first half ended with Borough being awarded a free-kick, with about a minute of
added time having been played, halfway inside the Ashford half, and to the
right of centre. Keelan Mooney sent in a high, curling cross which found Andy
Pierce, but the defender’s header sailed high over the crossbar.
As
the referee blew for half time, Gravesham centre-forward Baff Adbaye was on the
ground, receiving treatment, and he didn’t come out for the second half, being
replaced by Jeffrey Omoregie. But it was Ashford who had the first chance of the
second period, and Ryan Palmer was again the creator. Attacking down the right
wing, in the 49th minute, he sent in a low cross that found Shaun
Welford in the centre, about eight yards out, but Shaun rather scuffed his
shot, and the ball popped up into the hands of goalkeeper Dewey.
Two
minutes later, Danny Lye felt comfortable enough, with the three-goal lead, to
be able to make a substitution, and replaced Luke Cuthbert with young Callum
Whitmore, at right back. Ginger-haired Callum looks about 14, but he also looks
like a footballer, and seemed to slot into the team very comfortably. He
certainly was not to blame for the Gravesham Borough goal, which was scored in
the 54th minute. The opportunity for the home side came about
because Ashford lost the ball in midfield. The ball was threaded through to Jeffrey
Omoregie, who got to the ball quicker than the nearest Ashford defender, (who
was either Pat Kingwell or Jack Healey – they are very similar in build and
appearance). Omoregie had plenty still to do, but he took a touch and slotted
the ball past George Kamurasi, to make it 1-3.
Ashford
should have equalised almost immediately, when a long throw from Chris Elliott,
which he used increasingly as the half wore on, caught the Gravesham defence
napping, sending Paul Booth clear, down the left wing. Booth pulled the ball
back to Ryan Palmer, who had time and space in the centre of the penalty area,
but somehow managed to hit the ball over the bar. In the 57th
minute, another long throw from Elliott was laid off to Palmer, who was again
in a central position. This time, Palms squared the ball to Josh Woolley, whose
low shot went straight at Ollie Dewey, in the Gravesham goal.
Ashford’s
three-goal advantage was restored in the 59th minute, and owed a lot
to an error by one of the Gravesham central defenders. He really should have
cut out an attempted through-ball aimed at Shaun Welford, but somehow allowed the
ball to squirm away from him, into Welford’s path. With just the goalkeeper to
beat, Welford’s initial shot was saved, but he was able to control the rebound
and eventually stuck the ball in the net.
That
was Shaun’s 17th goal of the season, as he continues to just edge
ahead of Paul Booth. It was also Ashford’s 24th goal in the last six
games, and 17 of them (that’s 71%) have been scored by Welford, Booth and
Palmer. Overall, that trio has scored 65% of Ashford’s 54 goals this season.
Danny
Lye responded to the fourth goal by ending Paul Booth’s impressive shift,
replacing him with Seb Schoburgh.
To
the credit of both sides, the game was played at a high tempo right to the very
end – but it was Ashford who created the majority of the chances. On the hour
mark, Josh Woolley attacked the Borough penalty area, at pace, from the left,
and it took a block from two Gravesham defenders to stop him. From the
resulting free-kick, on the edge of the penalty area, Ryan Palmer went for
goal, but his effort deflected off a defender’s head, for a corner. Five
minutes later, a booming clearance from Pat Kingwell skidded off the head of a
back-pedaling Dan Nash, and fell nicely into the path of Seb Schoburgh. Bearing
down on goal from the right wing, and with just the ‘keeper to beat, Schoburgh
saw his shot well saved by Dewey. In the 69th minute, Josh Woolley
attacked down the left wing, sending in a low cross which found Ryan Palmer, in
the centre; Palmer’s shot was blocked, the ball spiraling just over the bar.
Ashford’s
third substitution was, I thought, the most interesting. Clark Woodcock
replaced Josh Woolley, in the 70th minute, and is clearly a similar
type of wide, attacking player to Josh, although he took up a position on the right
side of midfield. I would say that Clark looks about 14½, but, like Callum
Whitmore, he looks every inch a footballer. He’s quick and athletic, and seemed
to be confident on the ball. If there are more young lads like Clark and Callum
in Ashford’s youth set-up, then this is good news for the Club’s future.
Gravesham
Borough also made a substitution, in the 75th minute, when Oscar Saxon
replaced Luke Adams, but it was the substitute who had been introduced at half
time, Jeffrey Omoregie, who really should have doubled his, and Borough’s,
score, just two minutes later. Ashford captain Pat Kingwell showed that he is
human, like the rest of us, when he made a rare error, his complete miss-kick presenting
Omoregie with a golden opportunity to make the score 2-4. The big No.15 did the
most difficult thing, in taking the ball around George Kamurasi, only to then
put his shot wide. Three minutes later, another Gravesham substitute, Chris Carcary,
forced Kamurasi into the indignity of having to make a save, diving to his
right, with a shot from outside the penalty area, but chances were rare for the
home side, as Ashford continued to look comfortable.
So
it was looking like being the perfect Saturday afternoon for Danny Lye, with
the team winning, and with no injuries or yellow cards – but that scenario was
very nearly shattered, in the 84th minute, when Seb Schoburgh fouled
George Snelling. The Gravesham Borough centre back clearly took a far dimmer
view of Seb’s tackle than the referee did, and there was a brief session of “handbags”,
which was out of character in a game that had been played in a very good spirit.
The referee had little hesitation in sending Snelling off, for what must have
been a very clear instance of retaliation, which was also spotted by the lino.
The home side restarted the game with a free-kick, but there was no yellow card
for Schoburgh.
Ashford’s
final chance came in the 88th minute. Dan Stubbs capped an excellent
personal performance by chipping the ball over the Gravesham defence and into
the path of the reprieved Seb Schoburgh, who squared the ball to Shaun Welford,
in the centre. A score of 1-5 would probably have been a fairer reflection of
the balance of play, but Welford chipped the ball over the bar, from about 15
yards out.
So
ended a disappointing afternoon for the Kent Invicta side, but league leaders
Glebe flew the flag for the KIL, with a 2-3 victory at Beckenham Town. Sheppey
United became the second Kent Invicta club to make it through to the last eight
of the Kent Senior Trophy when they beat West Wickham – the other sides through
to the Quarter Finals are Erith Town, Erith & Belvedere, Holmesdale,
Corinthian and Canterbury City, (for whom Jamie Bosio made his début).
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