Hollands and Blair v Ashford United. Southern Counties East League. 24th of September 2016.

Hollands and Blair 0      Ashford United 3

 

From Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent

Today’s venue was Star Meadow Sports Club, right next to the A2, on the southern edge of Gillingham. The town was certainly abuzz, today – mostly, it must be said, because of The Gills’ match against Coventry City, at Priestfield Stadium, but my trip to Medway was for Ashford United’s fixture away to Hollands and Blair.

This is where is all began for the reformed Ashford United FC. Our first competitive game was here, in the Kent Invicta League – and we lost 1-0 to a club that has featured a great deal in our short history.

Matches have usually been fairly tight between these two teams. There have been eight games in total, in the Kent Invicta League, Southern Counties East League and a couple of cup competitions – and the ledger shows four wins for Ashford, three for Blair and a draw. The aggregate score, before today’s game, stood at 9-9.

In spite of the closeness of the contests, it must be said that these are two very different clubs. Ashford United FC is, for all intents and purposes, a reincarnation of a semi-professional club whose natural level, based on all known history, is Step 4 of the non-league pyramid. We’ll be the third-best supported club in the SCEFL, this year, and it would be a surprise if there were more than two clubs in this league with a larger playing budget than ours.

I’m not an expert on Hollands and Blair as a club, but it appears to be genuinely a community-based club, with sound claims to having amateur status. (I have it on good authority that the Blair playing budget consists of a £60 prize for Man of the Match). The First XI is the standard bearer of a club that fields teams at all age levels down to U-9s, plus “Tots” and veterans.

It is to Hollands and Blair’s credit, therefore, that the First XI has finished above Ashford United in the table in all of the seasons that the clubs have competed in the same league. In the inaugural Kent Invicta League season, Blair finished third, with Ashford fifth; the following year, the clubs finished second and third, respectively, although it was Ashford who were promoted, due to Star Meadow’s (then) insufficient ground grading. Last season (2015-16) was the next time that the two clubs were in opposition, and, once again, Hollands and Blair finished second, with Ashford third, (although this was actually due to Ashford’s ten-point deduction because of off-field issues).

As I travelled to the game today, Ashford lay in fourth position, with five wins and two losses, from the seven games played. Blair were in seventh, albeit unbeaten in the league, with three wins and five draws, from eight games.

I am inclined to believe that Ashford will, finally, finish ahead of Blair this season; (famous last words, maybe !). I just have the feeling that H and B’s wonderful effort in finishing runners-up in their first season in the SCEFL might have been a peak for them. Since then, their highly successful Manager, Paul Piggott, who had led the club to two Kent Invicta League championships during his seven-year stint in charge, has stepped down – and Ashford United have also poached two of Blair’s best players, in Stuart West and Tom Michelson.

Well, the good news for the Star Meadow faithful, today, was that Paul Piggott was back !  The bad news, however, was that the 46 year-old was making a return in goal, in the apparent absence of regular ‘keeper Tom Benham. I should point out, however, that any assumptions made about Piggott’s presence being responsible for the eventual score-line would be inaccurate. He looked fit, and had a good game, making several important saves.

The Ashford team news focused on the goalkeeping position and midfield. First of all, it was heartening to hear the news that the return of the very popular George Kamurasi, following a family bereavement, might not be far away – although, in the meantime, Danny Lye has drafted in Nic Taylor, of Haywards Heath Town, of the Sussex League, as cover. Nic went straight into the starting eleven, today, with young Owen McLeod, who had kept goal in Ashford’s previous two games, against Corinthian and Bearsted, relegated to the bench. Nic immediately gave the impression of being a very competent goalie. He had a very solid game, this afternoon, and, like George, is a very vocal organiser and motivator at the back.

As for the midfield, Ashford have brought in Luke Miller, on loan, from Greenwich Borough. A recent product of Greenwich’s footy academy, Luke looks a really exciting prospect. He gives the impression of being very young, and is tiny – I’d put him in the same height category as Joby Thorogood, Jazeel Bonaparte and Kevin Skinner – but he has lightning pace, and looked dangerous throughout the 90 minutes, running the channels and making the home defence look pretty slow. He was probably Ashford’s best player out there today, and, for however long he is with us, he’ll offer us something that we didn’t have before his arrival.

The need for fresh horses has arisen because of the departure of Mikey Dalton to Sevenoaks Town, and also because of Mickey Phillips’ absence, probably for several weeks, after a knee operation. Mickey was part of a decent-sized crowd of 123, today – proudly showing off the scar on his knee.

The only other real surprise in the Ashford line-up was the demotion of Ryan Palmer to the bench, with Brett Ince preferred, on the left side of midfield. So it was the first-choice back four, in front of Nic Taylor, of Savage George, skipper Stuart West, Pat Kingwell and Charles Dickens. With Shaun Welford the target man, it looked like a midfield quintet, consisting of Tom Michelson, Ben Davisson, Rory Hill, Brett Ince and Luke Miller – although Luke, wearing the No.10 shirt, often supported Welford in attack, in a more traditional “No.10” role.

As at Corinthian, a fortnight ago, there were few defensive options on the bench. Danny Lye named himself as one of the subs, but wasn’t actually wearing his kit – which left the options of Ryan Palmer, Tommy Fagg and Luke Eldridge, plus the substitute goalie. (Paul Booth was in the dug-out, but was neither in team kit, nor named as a sub).

The names that jumped off the team-sheet for the home team were James McDonald, who finished as the SCEFL’s leading goal scorer last season, and Gary Lockyer, who played for Ashford United as a young lad, in that inaugural 2011-12 season, scoring nine goals, at a rate of one every 196 minutes.

Ashford made a lively start to the game, with Brett Ince attacking the home defence from the right wing in the opening seconds. He managed to get past his man, and made it to the by-line, only to be blatantly chopped down. At any other time in the game, it would have been a certain yellow card – but the defender guessed correctly, and got away with the foul. Ince attempted a snap shot at goal in the seventh minute, which went wide, but otherwise made little impact on the game.

More promise was shown by Luke Miller, whose pace was first seen to good effect in the tenth minute. Right-back George Savage did well to take possession of the ball, and turn, in his own half, and sent a long ball forward for Miller to chase. The No.10’s run took him inside the Blair penalty area, but a saving tackle put the ball behind, for a corner. Three minutes later, Luke did some good work on the left side of the field, before squaring the ball to Brett Ince, who again took the ball into the penalty area. This time, he managed a shot on target, but it was comfortably saved by Paul Piggott. The resulting corner was over-hit.

Ashford certainly had the better of the opening 15 minutes, in terms of attempts on goal, but Blair now very nearly scored. Top finisher James McDonald was the provider on this occasion, sending in a cross, from the right, which caused panic in the visitors’ six-yard box. The ball pin-balled around in the goalmouth, coming back off the crossbar, at one point, but refused to settle for a man in red, and eventually rebounded into the grateful arms of Nic Taylor.

In the 20^th minute, Hollands and Blair were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the Ashford penalty area, very near the by-line, after Referee James Hurst felt that George Savage had pulled back Louis Valencia. Ashford not only survived the free-kick situation, but also launched a counter-attack, with Luke Miller being released down the left with a long ball from the left-back position. It was no surprise that Luke caught up with the ball, but, being close to the by-line and shooting from an acute angle, he could do no more than hit the ball across the face of goal. Seconds later, Rory Hill also made it to the Hollands and Blair by-line, and shot from a similar position, but his effort was cut out by Josh Baron. 

The home side also had a couple of chances at about this time, with Louis Valencia shooting high and wide, and Pat Kingwell having to make a good block in his own penalty area, moments later – but it was Ashford who took the lead, in the 28^th minute. The goal originated from a clearing header by Stuart West, from inside his own half, which found Rory Hill, about half-way inside the Blair half. Hill took a couple of touches, bringing the ball into a central position, before hitting a low shot into the net. Although Paul Piggott, in the Blair goal, was generally blameless throughout the afternoon, Hill’s shot appeared not to be unstoppable, from the point of view of either its pace or its accuracy – but he hit it well enough for it to go in, for his third goal for the club.

Gary Lockyer had been very quiet, against his former club, up to this point, but, in the 31^st minute, did well to win his side a free-kick in a dangerous position. With his back to goal, on the edge of the Ashford area, he was being very tightly attended to by Stuart West. Cleverly, Gary tried to turn, and basically rolled himself over Stuart’s right thigh. Referee Hurst, who I felt was poor, today, (appearing to fall for every attempt to con a free-kick, and having an annoying habit of blowing his whistle every time someone hit the ground), duly blew up for the foul. As well as suffering abuse from the Ashford bench for awarding the free-kick, Mr Hurst incurred the wrath of Gary Lockyer, who was convinced that the offence took place inside the penalty area. The resulting free-kick was blocked, and then cleared by Shaun Welford.

In the 35^th minute, Lockyer’s strike partner, James McDonald, set up a good chance by turning George Savage, and appeared to have the beating of George for pace, as he approached the Ashford goal – only to be brought down as the pursuing Savage clipped his heels. That earned George a yellow card. I suppose it would be naïve to think that the clipping of the heels could have been accidental, in that situation, so the booking was probably justified – but, presumably, the defender would have got away with it if he had done precisely the same thing in the first minute of the game.

The play now became fairly scrappy, and Referee Hurst’s decisions were the most noteworthy happenings, up to half time. In the 39^th minute, there were some protests from the Ashford bench after James McDonald had been a little late on Pat Kingwell, after the centre-half had made a clearance – but no action was taken. Then, two minutes later, Gary Lockyer was shown a yellow card by Hurst for a late tackle on Ben Davisson, in the centre circle.

The final chance of the half fell to the visitors, in the 45^th minute. Shaun Welford headed the ball on, into the path of Luke Miller, who reached the Blair by-line, once again, before pulling the ball back to Rory Hill, whose low shot was well saved by Piggott, at the near post.

So Ashford walked off, down the pronounced cross-slope, to the Star Meadow changing room complex, with a 0-1 lead at half time. Whilst both sides looked capable of scoring, during the first half-hour, Ashford had created the most chances, and had seemed to be well in control since taking the lead.

Both goalkeepers had a fairly comfortable save to make, during the opening minutes of the second period – with Gary Lockyer’s snap shot going straight at Nic Taylor, and Shaun Welford picking up a loose ball, before hitting a low shot straight to Paul Piggott – but the save of the match came in the 51^st minute. A chipped through ball from Ashford’s central midfield sent Shaun Welford clean through on goal, for the first time in the game. The big, experienced No.9 can usually be relied upon to put such chances away, but, on this occasion, Piggott came out on top in the one on one situation.

Hollands and Blair then had a brief period of putting pressure on the Ashford defence, and there were appeals for a penalty after Pat Kingwell had made a late contact with James McDonald, after the Blair No.9 had sent in a low cross from the Ashford by-line. Then, in the 56^th minute, Jack Simon attempted a shot from outside the penalty area, which was always going high and wide, and, a minute later, Tom Michelson was forced into an indiscretion, getting himself booked for a late tackle.

However, the three points were effectively secured by the visitors on the hour mark, when Shaun Welford doubled the lead. The problem began, for the home side, when Player-Manager and left-back Bryan Greenfield was badly caught in possession, by the quicker and brighter Luke Miller, deep inside his own half – acknowledging his mistake with a raised hand of apology to his team-mates. The Blair defence resolved the situation at the expense of a corner, but it was from this corner that Welford scored his 46^th goal in Ashford colours. Ben Davisson’s cross, from the left, eluded the main crowd of players in the centre of the penalty area, but Welford came charging in behind them, and thumped a trademark bullet header into the corner of the net.

Immediately, the home side showed the first signs of frustration, as Ross Webb was shown a yellow card before the game restarted, presumably for something he said to the ref.

Things got worse for Blair in the 67^th minute, when the third goal went in. The visitors never, at any point, attempted to out-Barcelona their opponents, or to blind them with science, being perfectly happy to take the “Route One” approach. With a man like Shaun Welford up front, I’m sure that this had everything to do with playing to one’s strengths, (which never did anyone any harm), and this was very much in evidence when George Savage pumped a long, looping ball out from the right-back position, into the path of the big man. At the age of 37, Shaun no longer has bags of pace, but he uses his experience to time his runs so well, and this enabled him to burst clear of the Blair defence. He took time to control the ball, and then, this time, he belted the ball past Piggott and into the net.

At that moment, Shaun Welford equalled Stuart Zanone’s record Ashford United total of 47 goals. Shaun was replaced by Tommy Fagg eleven minutes after scoring his second goal of the afternoon, and so has currently played for a total of 4,131 minutes for those 47 goals – that equates to a goal every 88 minutes. Stuart Zanone played for 3,345 minutes, and so scored his goals at a rate of one every 71 minutes, (which is comfortably the best scoring rate of any Ashford striker since 2005).

So, with the third goal in the bag, everything appeared to be rosy for Manager Danny Lye, who immediately replaced Brett Ince with Ryan Palmer. But it took just two minutes for a little of the shine to be removed from the afternoon, when George Savage was shown a red card as a result of receiving a second yellow one. It seemed to be a fairly innocuous foul, on the far side of the pitch, but Mr Hurst must have felt that it was worthy of a booking – and yellow plus yellow equals red. The impact of the sending off is likely to be felt at a later date, with precious little defensive cover being available.

The impact of the incident on the game, however, was negligible, with Rory Hill dropping back into the No.2 position, and looking fairly comfortable there. More importantly, Hollands and Blair now looked a beaten side, and it was Ashford who displayed more verve and freshness, and it was easy to mistake the visitors as being the team with the one man advantage. In fact, the main questions in the time that remained appeared to be concern whether Ryan Palmer could grab a confidence-boosting goal, and whether Luke Miller could cap a very impressive debut by getting onto the score-sheet – and both players tried hard to do so.

In the 72^nd minute, Luke picked the ball up on the right, near the corner of the penalty area, and hit a shot across the face of goal, after cutting inside. In the 83^rd minute, a clearance from the Ashford defence, after Blair had failed to capitalise on a free-kick situation, found Ryan Palmer inside his own half. He carried the ball all the way down the left wing, to the home side’s by-line, but had to settle for a corner. Five minutes later, Palms had the ball inside the Hollands and Blair penalty area, twisting and turning in an effort to make room for a shot. His only thought was to go for goal, but his eventual curling shot went just over the bar. Shortly afterwards, he picked up a loose ball, just outside the Blair area, and again attacked the home defence – and, this time, he made a mess of trying to curve the ball, with his instep, inside the far post, and merely succeeded in side-footing the ball wide.

The home side also had a couple of opportunities to grab a consolation goal, in the closing minutes. In the 80^th minute, a Jack Simon corner was well met by the head of skipper Sam Prescott, but his effort appeared to be headed off the line by the visitors’ captain, Stuart West – although it wasn’t clear whether Nic Taylor was actually beaten at the time. In the final minute of normal time, Gary Lockyer got up well to a Jack Simon cross, but his powerful header went well over the bar.

So it was a fairly comfortable win for Ashford, which was pretty surprising, given that this was anticipated to be one of United’s most difficult games of the season. With the prolific James McDonald never posing a threat, it is tempting to conclude that the Hollands and Blair team he was playing in this afternoon is some way below the quality of the one that finished second to Greenwich Borough, in the league, last season. Undoubtedly, all will be revealed during the course of the season – although Ashford will have a further test of their promotion credentials in their very next match, when they travel to league leaders Croydon Athletic.

Corinthian v Ashford United. Southern Counties East League. 10th of September 2016.

Corinthian          2                

Ashford United   3

 

From Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent

With the cricket season finally over, I made my customary late entry to the fray, with Ashford United already eight games into the 2016-17 season. As usual, we’re already out of the FA Cup, but, this year, not without piecing together a useful little run of three games, ending with an heroic, narrow defeat at the hands of Ryman Premier League outfit, and former league rivals, Burgess Hill Town. That 2-1 reverse meant that Manager Danny Lye suffered the first back to back defeats of his short managerial career – but even the slightest hint of a wobble was eradicated the following Tuesday, when Ashford went to (then) third-placed Lordswood and thrashed them 0-7.

Tuesday’s win merely reinforced the belief that surely – surely ! – this season must be the season that Ashford United finally gain promotion back to the Ryman League. (Didn’t it ?). Having effectively been runners-up five times in the past three seasons, (with last year’s third in the Southern Counties East League being due to the ten-point deduction for off-field issues), this season we don’t have a rival bank-rolled to the extent that Greenwich Borough were. Also, I have the distinct impression that Hollands & Blair will not be able to repeat the wonderful season they had last year, (on virtually a zero budget), now that Rob Denness has signed for Greenwich and we have stolen two of Blair’s best players, in Stuart West and Tom Michelson.

In theory, Whitstable Town should now be one of Ashford’s main rivals, having been relegated from the Ryman League last year – (and they’ve got Darren Marsden !) – but Whitstable have already dropped nine points. I also wouldn’t rule out newly-promoted Sheppey United, who have already picked up six points at Homelands, this season – but they have also dropped eight points elsewhere.

Are we really worried about the long-term challenge of the teams currently around us, at the top of the league ?  (Croydon Athletic, Croydon, Cray Valley PM). Only time will tell.

I always have a healthy respect for Corinthian, today’s opponents. By coincidence, the corresponding fixture last year, back in March, was the last time that I saw my boys in a league game. At the time, Corinthian were lying fourth in the SCEFL. Ashford won the game 1-2, thanks to a spectacular winner from Ryan Palmer, but our goose had already been cooked, in terms of promotion, as a result of a 3-4 defeat at the hands of Croydon Athletic, the previous Tuesday. This morning, The Hoops were mid-table, level on points with Whitstable.

One thing that has struck me, from afar, is that Danny Lye now appears to have established his “own team”. Having taken over from Paul Chambers after two games of last season, the sole survivors of the team that Lyesie inherited are Pat Kingwell, Mickey Phillips, Paul Booth, Luke Cuthbert and Josh Woolley, and all have been in and out of the side, this season. However, one fixture in the side, and a very reassuring presence, has been goalkeeper George Kamurasi – but, unfortunately, George has recently had the shock of losing his father, and so, quite understandably, was absent today. My thoughts are very much with Big George.

Replacing George in goal was young Owen McLeod, in front of a central defensive pairing of skipper Stuart West and Pat Kingwell, with Charles Dickens and Savage George the full-backs. (Kingwell has evidently been on holiday, being almost unrecognisable without a beard and with a sun tan). There was a start for Mickey Phillips, alongside Tom Michelson in central midfield, with Danny Lye playing both Rory Hill and Ryan Palmer as wide men. In a 4-4-2 formation, Shaun Welford, going into today’s game with six goals in the eight games played so far, led the attack, alongside Brett Ince, who was making his fourth appearance for the club.

I can’t confirm whether Paul Booth was named as one of Ashford’s substitutes, (and Gay Dawn Farm, for all its picturesque, rustic charm, is annoying in that it lacks a PA system and doesn’t provide team sheets), but those who were definitely on parade were Tom Fagg, Luke Eldridge, Mikey Dalton and Ben Davisson. So that’s two strikers and two central midfielders, with zero cover for the back five – but more on that later !

After a wet trip down the M1 and M25, The Farm, situated just outside the village of Longfield, just south and east of the Dartford Bridge, was dry, if very overcast. In terms of the match, the early brightness came from the home side, who did most of the pressing in the first ten minutes, with Ashford being forced to defend. This was a fairly typical Corinthian side – very young, but fairly physical, and with an intention to get the ball on the ground and play decent football. Owen McLeod was tested early on, during this period, and looked a little uncertain when hesitating to come out and intercept a through ball, but no mishap resulted. Shortly after, he made a comfortable save, falling to his right to thwart a low shot from Corinthian’s skipper Luke Tanner, and that seemed to settle him. Owen then looked very competent between the sticks – up until his departure, in the 79^th minute, which completely altered the course of the match.

Ashford’s best chance early on came in the tenth minute, when the impressive Rory Hill pushed the ball past his full-back, on the right, and managed to deliver a dangerous cross, but was unable to find an Ashford head in the centre. From this point, the visitors began to assert themselves on the game, having the majority of possession, as they played down Gay Dawn’s gently undulating slope. Rory Hill, on the right, and Ryan Palmer, on the left, looked skillful and dangerous, and Kingwell, West and Dickens looked classy and composed as they comfortably dealt with any Corinthian attack.

It was the home side, however, that took the lead – in the 27^th minute. Charlie Dickens committed a foul on the Ashford left, close to the corner flag. The resulting free kick was taken short, but the visiting defence repelled the attack, at the expense of a corner. Again, Corinthian played the ball short, and the attack on the Ashford penalty area was halted, (according to Referee Jamie MacLeod), by a Mickey Phillips trip, in the penalty area. Phillips appeared to disagree with the decision, (unsurprisingly), but the ref was well positioned and wasn’t far away. It was Luke Tanner who took responsibility for taking the penalty, and, with Owen McLeod seemingly wrong-footed, easily side-footed the ball into the net.

So, just as in the corresponding fixture last season, Ashford were faced with having to come from behind – except that Corinthian scored a minute earlier, back in March.

The goal appeared to spark Ashford into life, as they went in search of a quick Denzil Washington. The first chance came as a result of a chip to the far post by Rory Hill, which was misjudged by a Corinthian defender and fell at the feet of Shaun Welford – but goalkeeper Dan Bygrave made a good save, from almost point-blank range. Soon after, Mickey Phillips was convinced that he had been tripped in the Corinthian area, in an incident that appeared to be very similar to the one that led to the home side’s goal – but Mr MacLeod was unconvinced, in spite of prolonged Ashford protests.

In the 33^rd minute, Brett Ince showed the one spark in what was, I thought, an otherwise disappointing performance. A long ball played out of defence was well taken by Ince, who turned and then delivered a shot, which went just wide of the goal.

Two minutes later, Ashford were level, and the goal was, once again, scored from the penalty spot. Shaun Welford did well to turn his man and run onto a through ball, and was clean through on goal when a covering defender came across and body-checked the big No.1. The ref was once again close to the action, and, this time, had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot. Welford stepped up to take the kick, and readily sent the ‘keeper the wrong way.

Ashford now took control, and besieged the Corinthian goal for the remainder of the half. In the 38^th minute, yet another cross from Rory Hill found Mickey Phillips in the centre of the penalty area, and the midfielder attempted an ambitious overhead kick, which went just past the post. Two minutes later, Hill was again the provider, doing well to get to the by-line and sling in a dangerous cross. Phillips, again well forward, was on the end of this cross, but his initial shot, from close range, was saved by Bygrave. But Shaun Welford was there to apply the finish, and put Ashford ahead with his, and the visitors’, second goal.

As drizzle swept across the ground, the Ashford pressure continued, but Corinthian made it to half time without further loss.

Ashford appeared to rather sit on their lead during the second half, during which time their work was fairly sloppy and careless. The home side’s play was fairly poor in the final third of the pitch, which helped to preserve Ashford’s lead, as did the quality of Ashford’s back four.

In fact, the first half an hour of the second half was fairly unremarkable, with little of note to report, beyond bookings and substitutions. Stuart West was the first to see a yellow card, for a foul committed right on the edge of the penalty area, in the 49^th minute, which must have been perilously close to being the third penalty of the match. Danny Lye was also the first of the managers to make a substitution, pulling off Mickey Phillips, after an impressive shift, in the 53^rd minute, replacing him with Ben Davisson.

Corinthian’s Jack Billings earned himself a deserved yellow card when he blatantly tripped Rory Hill as the Ashford winger was making rapid progress through the home side’s half. There was, however, to be no further punishment for the home side, as Ryan Palmer curled the free-kick just high and wide of the angle of post and bar.

Both teams made a substitution in the 63^rd minute. Manager Michael Golding replaced Joe Loft with James Sutherland for Corinthian, whilst Danny Lye sent young Luke Etherington on in place of Brett Ince.

Ashford looked livelier with the two substitutes on the field, but the defence continued to be the busier unit. There were also instances where Corinthian broke through, and Owen McLeod had some work to do. In the 52^nd minute, Jack Billings tried a shot from outside the penalty area, which clipped Charlie Dickens’ heel, and Owen did well to gather the spinning ball. On the hour mark, the same Corinthian player had time and space in which to line up a swerving shot, from a similar position, and the ‘keeper again made a good save. But McLeod’s best moment came in the 74^th minute. A good passing movement from Corinthian cut through the Ashford defence, putting Conor Johnson through on goal. He looked certain to score, but Owen came out and made a great save, diving at Johnson’s feet. (Seconds later, Luke Eldridge was booked, for a late tackle).

In spite of these chances falling to the hosts, Ashford continued to look the better side, and very likely to hang on to their one-goal lead, whilst showing little to suggest that they might actually score a third goal. Then, in the final 15 minutes, the game changed completely.

What started the chain of events was the substitution of a visibly tiring Shaun Welford with Tom Fagg, in the 77^th minute. This appeared to be a fairly routine, like for like replacement, but its true significance lay in what happened just two minutes later – when Owen McLeod slumped to the ground, inside his six-yard box, and required several minutes of treatment. I have no idea of the nature of the problem that Owen had, but the lad was clearly in some distress, and it soon became apparent that he was unable to continue. From his body language, both at the time and when sitting on the bench afterwards, it appeared that the problem might have been with his vision, or with his head, but it’s dangerous to speculate. Anyway, the significance of the Welford substitution, just two minutes earlier, is that Welfs would have been the ideal replacement in goal, having had previous experience of goalkeeping, and having performed heroically when replacing the red-carded George Kamurasi at Crowborough last season, and keeping a clean sheet for 67 minutes !

As it was, Tom Fagg, having just been introduced as a centre-forward, pulled on the keeper’s jersey – probably more due to being the tallest of the outfield players, than for any ability as a goalie that he might have. In the reshuffle, it appeared that Rory Hill went up front, on his own, with Luke Eldridge switching to the right of midfield. However, the main issue was whether the ten men of Ashford could protect Tom Fagg, in goal, for the ten minutes, or so, that remained.

Tom’s first task was to face up to a corner, on the Corinthian right, which was sliced straight behind for a goal kick – but a corner taken from the other side, in the 84^th minute, gave more of a sense of what might be to come, as the ball flashed through the Ashford six-yard area, across the face of goal, and out for a goal-kick.

Three minutes later, alas, the inevitable happened. Corinthian No.11 Conor Johnson sent in what was a fairly harmless cross, all along the ground, from the by-line, and I’m afraid to say that Tommy made a complete hash of gathering it, and the ball trickled over the line. It was a gut-churning moment, and one which Corinthian seemed almost embarrassed to celebrate – but the question was now whether Ashford would actually lose a game of which they had seemed to be in full control since the closing minutes of the first half.

What didn’t help the stand-in goalie was that the visitors showed little inclination to use some intelligence and keep possession of the ball, and so Corinthian were able to apply plenty of pressure on the Ashford goal for the remainder of the game. In the 90^th minute, (but with the certainty of a considerable amount of added time), a shot was deflected behind for a corner to The Hoops. The resulting cross found Mike Hagan, just inside the penalty area, and it’s likely that a shot on target would have been enough to seal the three points for the home side – but Hagan sliced his shot well over the bar.

A minute later, Tom Fagg almost atoned for his earlier error. In spite of his lack of ball handling skills, he showed himself to have an excellent kick, and launched a long, high ball into the Corinthian half. Rory Hill took up a good position, inside the “D” of the penalty area, which made him favourite to get to the ball after its first bounce – only to be flattened by the advancing Dan Bygrave. The free-kick was taken by Hill himself, his curling effort being beaten away by Bygrave at the far post.

With 94 minutes on the clock, Ashford had a free-kick situation to defend themselves, after Pat Kingwell had been uncharacteristically clumsy in committing a foul. Before the kick could be taken, Corinthian manager Michael Golding took the opportunity to throw on his final substitute – Brima Daramy, in place of Jamie Taylor – in a last attempt to secure all three points, but the free-kick came to nothing.

But anyone who travelled to Gateshead, in February, to witness the pandemonium on the banks of the Tyne, when Ashford snatched a late, late winner to beat Dunston UTS in the Fifth Round of the FA Vase, will know that anything is possible for our heroes. On that occasion, Tommy Fagg had a close-up view of the winning goal, as he was the nearest Ashford player to the unfortunate Dunston defender who knocked the ball into his own net. This time, he was wearing an unfamiliar goalkeeper’s jersey as he began the move with another long kick from inside his penalty area. The ball was picked up by Rory Hill, on the right, who held onto the ball before squaring it to the advancing Tom Michelson. The midfielder had plenty of time to pick his spot, and made no mistake, drilling the ball into the far corner of the net.

Cue - manic celebrations !