Rochester United v Ashford United. Southern Counties East League. 22nd of October 2016.

Rochester United 0

Ashford United 8

 

From Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent

After a week of cup ties, Ashford United returned to the business of the Southern Counties East Football League, with an away game at Rochester United – in the town of Strood. But one thing that didn’t change from last Saturday’s thoroughly dominant display against Sutton Athletic was that Ashford looked different class to their opponents. This time, however, in contrast to last week, when the lads somehow contrived to come away with a 2-3 score-line, the gulf between the two sides was reflected in a 0-8 victory – a record win for Ashford United.

Rochester must be getting sick of the sight of Ashford, who won the corresponding fixture last season 0-7. In fact, today’s result was Ashford’s eighth straight league win over today’s hosts, the sequence of wins now reading 5-4, 2-0, 4-0, 4-3, 2-1, 4-0, 7-0 and 8-0. Prior to that 5-4 result, here at Rede Court Road, beside the A2 – which was in 2011-12, Ashford United’s first season – Bly Spartans, as Rochester were then called, recorded a 1-3 win at Homelands, on their way to becoming the inaugural champions of the Kent Invicta League.

The ease of Ashford’s victory today was quite unexpected, given The Spartans’ encouraging start to the season. Having finished 15^th of 19 last year, Rochester started today’s game in 9^th place in the league, having recently recorded impressive victories away to the likes of Sevenoaks Town and Cray Valley PM. There were also various issues for Ashford to overcome, with goal-a-game Shaun Welford being absent due to suspension, and with the very recent loss of both Player-Coach Paul Booth, who has retired from playing, and has taken up a coaching opportunity elsewhere, and Charles Dickens, who was at the game today with his broken wrist in a plaster cast. (He won’t be writing any novels for the next few weeks !). In spite of all these set-backs, Ashford put on a very polished performance, and the 0-8 result was a pretty accurate reflection of the game.

It might be sacrilege to even mention this, but I’d venture to say that Ashford almost benefitted from Shaun Welford’s absence. From the kick-off, without a big target man to aim at, the visitors played good, on-the-ground football, at a decent pace. Ryan James, one man in the squad to have something approaching the great man’s physique, wore Welford’s No.9 shirt – but did not play up front, instead adopting a central midfield role. The spearhead of the Nuts & Bolts’ attack was Rory Hill, who, yet again, looked Ashford’s best player, and, with his pace and his ability to time his runs, was too good for the home defence. Either side of him were pacey wide men Ryan Palmer and Luke Miller.

The midfield trio of Ryan James, Ben Davisson and Tom Michelson all looked impressive, this afternoon, in front of a back-four of George Savage, Stuart West, Pat Kingwell and Dave Botterill. The latter has been drafted in as a direct replacement for Charlie Dickens. He’s a tall, experienced defender, who spent six years at Faversham Town, until March of this year. Unsurprisingly, he slotted into the team seamlessly, today. There was the reassuring presence of George Kamurasi, in goal, although this was George’s final match before he starts a three-match suspension, following his red card against Sutton, last week.

One worrying aspect about the Ashford team sheet was the lack of cover on the bench – which tends to suggest that the squad is fairly thin, at the moment. Apart from reserve goalie Owen McLeod, the only replacement options were strikers Brett Ince and Luke Eldridge. Manager Danny Lye and Player-Coach Mickey Phillips were named as subs, but both were kitted out in track-suit and slippers, so I suspect that neither had any intention of taking any part in today’s game.

In truth, all of Ashford’s players could have played in slippers, as this was a very comfortable afternoon for the lads. However, it was Rochester who created the first chance in the game, as early as the fifth minute, and they would have taken the lead had it not been for a goal-line clearance by full-back George Savage. A deft one-two put Michael Hurcomb into the Ashford penalty area, with a sight of goal, but his firm shot was well saved by George Kamurasi. Harrison Hume latched onto the rebound, and it was his shot that was headed clear by Savage George, with Kamurasi beaten.

Very soon, however, Ashford responded with a burst of three goals in four minutes, which effectively put an end to the game as a contest. The unstoppable Rory Hill was involved in all three of these. Firstly, in the seventh minute, he threaded a through ball into the path of Luke Miller, which gave the tiny Greenwich Borough loanee a one-on-one with goalkeeper Michael Elder. The young Greenwich Academy graduate had the composure to steady himself, before thumping the ball low, past the ‘keeper and into the net.

The second Ashford goal, coming just two minutes later, was a very poor one for the home side to concede. A long, high ball from deep inside the Ashford half was chased by Rory Hill, with the Rochester defence nowhere to be seen. Hill was actually inside the penalty area when he caught up with the ball, and nicked it away from the goalkeeper. Pulling the ball back from the by-line, he found Ryan James, who hit the ball into the net, off a defender.

Rory deservedly got himself onto the score-sheet, with the third goal. Throughout the afternoon, The Spartans were continually undone by runs into the channels from Ashford’s quick strikers, and, in the tenth minute, Hill was put clean through, in the inside-right position. From an acute angle, it appeared that his only option was to cross the ball into the centre, but what could only have been a shot found its way into the far corner of the net.

On 15 minutes, the irrepressible Hill picked up a loose ball half-way inside the Rochester half, and carried the ball to a central position. His ambitious, long-range shot went tamely wide, but the way in which the ball bobbled through Michael Elder’s penalty area was a reminder that today’s bumpy surface was something of a contrast to the bowling green that was provided last Saturday, at Sutton Athletic.

In spite of the three-goal deficit, the home side did put together several attacks in the first half, albeit without really troubling George Kamurasi. And it was from a Rochester attack that Ashford had an opportunity to make it 4-0, in the 20^th minute. After Big George had collected a weak shot, a ball from deep inside the Ashford half was played into the path of Rory Hill, who was again clean through on goal – but the No.11, disappointingly, side-footed his shot wide of the goal. Soon after, he had another chance. Ryan James set Luke Miller off on a run, down the right; Miller pulled the ball back to Hill, who could do no more than scuff his first-time shot wide.

On the other flank, Ryan Palmer was seeing plenty of the ball, but with far less end-product - and a sub-plot of recent games has been a feeling that Palms is currently rather lacking in confidence. What he really needs, of course, is a goal – he hasn’t scored since he got a couple against Lordswood, in a 0-7 league victory, on the 6^th of September – and, unfortunately, he didn’t manage to score any of the eight goals that went in this afternoon. Palms’ best chance probably came in the 29^th minute. After another good Ashford move, involving neat, on-the-ground football, he latched onto a through ball into the penalty area. He showed good persistence to get to the ball before a defender, and beat the goalie with his shot, but his effort was cleared off the line. Six minutes later, Ryan picked the ball up from a defensive clearance, and carried the ball towards the Rochester goal, always looking likely to shoot. Ignoring pleas from his teammates for a pass, he struck his shot well, but it went wide of the goal.

One other sub-text to the first half was that a few of the Rochester players were not shy about “leaving a foot in”, as had been seen as early as the 16^th minute, when striker Dan Gonzalez-Bello followed through on Ryan James, after the former Grays Athletic and Oxford United defender had pumped a long ball up-field – much to James’s annoyance. This earlier incident probably contributed to Ryan reacting angrily, in the 36^th minute, in response to a bad tackle by Sam Parrish on George Savage, which left Savage on the floor for several minutes. James received a yellow card for the pushing & shoving match he had with experienced defender Paul Gross, which soon escalated into general “hand bags”. When the rumpus had died down, the referee sent Parrish off, clearly feeling that the original tackle was worthy of a straight red card.

Going down to ten men was probably the last thing that Rochester needed, but they conceded no further goals in the first half. In fact, Ashford didn’t create any further clear openings until just before half time. With 45 minutes up, on my watch, there was yet another good Ashford move, and this resulted in the ball being laid off to Ryan Palmer, who shot straight at the goalkeeper. Then, in what must have been time added on at the end of the first half, Rory Hill completed a one-two with Luke Miller, but then hit his shot over the bar.

There was a farcical situation at the start of the second period. The first half had taken place thanks to the Ashford United kit man – a qualified referee – stepping in as an emergency linesman, with the appointed official having failed to turn up for duty. With the players of both teams lined up and ready to kick off, the referee was still running around, looking for a lino – until it was eventually agreed that our kit man, (and I wish I knew this hero’s name), would also flag the second half. All of this meant that the restart was delayed until 4.09pm, (which meant that I later had to hoof it back to Strood Station as soon as the final whistle blew, in order to catch the 17h32 train home !).

During the extended interval, the Rochester United Manager changed his team’s formation, replacing ineffective striker Dan Gonzalez-Bello with defensive midfielder Tony Whittaker – but it was to no avail, as the visitors were soon steadily increasing their lead against The Ten Spartans.

Ashford’s fourth goal came in the 52^nd minute – and this was Rory Hill’s second of the afternoon. Ben Davisson’s long ball released Rory through the inside-right channel, and it again looked like he was attempting a cross, from an acute angle, very near to the by-line – but the ball crept in, just under the crossbar, to the embarrassment of goalkeeper Michael Elder.

Just prior to this, there had been another incident that had an element of farce about it, when, in the 51^st minute, Ashford captain Stuart West received the softest yellow card that I have seen for a long time. As a high ball was approaching the Ashford back line, West gave his opponent a little nudge in the arm, with his elbow, which is what many players do in order to give themself a little room. The referee actually did very well to spot this little nudge – but I was surprised to see the card produced.

In the 54^th minute, Luke Miller had an opportunity to add to the five goals that he had already scored for Ashford. A good, flowing move was started by Stuart West, as he spread the ball wide to Ryan Palmer, on the left. As the ball was manoeuvred from left to right, it eventually found Miller, in the right half of the penalty area, but he hit his shot across the face of goal. Five minutes later, a perfectly placed pass from George Savage saw Rory Hill with the ball, in a similar position – but Rory shot straight at the goalkeeper.

Ashford’s fifth goal came from a corner, on the right, in the 61^st minute, and it was again a goal that probably had the Rochester Management tearing their hair out. Ben Davisson sent in a deep cross, and the tall Tom Michelson appeared to be completely unmarked, beyond the far post, and was able to head the ball straight into the net.

This was the signal for both benches to make a substitution, with Rob Alderman (another midfielder) replacing Alex Kendall, for Rochester, and Brett Ince taking over from Rory Hill as Ashford’s main striker. Ince had his first sight of goal after five minutes of coming on. The chance was really set up by a marauding run through the Rochester half by Pat Kingwell. For a big man, Pat has an incredible ability to ghost past opponents with the ball at his feet, and he progressed to within 25 yards of the home side’s goal, before laying the ball off to Luke Miller, who then squared it to Ince. Brett elected to hit the ball first time, but sliced his effort wide.

After 68 minutes, Danny Lye made his second, and final, substitution, replacing Ben Davisson with young Luke Eldridge, and, three minutes later, Rochester introduced new signing Chris McDermott, a striker from SCEFL Division 1 outfit Meridian, who now joined Michael Hurcomb up front, in a two-man attack.

But it continued to be Ashford who created the majority of the chances. In the 73^rd minute, Pat Kingwell again went on a raid through the Rochester half, and laid the ball off to Luke Miller, who pulled a low shot across the face of goal, from just inside The Spartans’ area. Three minutes later, a quickly-taken free-kick found Brett Ince in the inside-left channel. He cut inside, transferring the ball onto his right foot, but then planted his shot into the side-netting.

In the 78^th minute, Rochester really should have scored, when George Kamurasi carelessly, and uncharacteristically, allowed himself to be caught in possession, deep inside his own area, by Rob Alderman. With the ball breaking towards the by-line, Alderman pulled the ball back to fellow substitute Chris McDermott. Twisting and turning, just inside the Ashford area, the tall striker appeared, clearly, to be brought down, but the ref, who was right on the spot, waved play on. Instead of marking up what would have been no more than a consolation goal, Rochester then went further behind, as the Ashford counter-attack put Luke Eldridge through on goal. Luke calmly executed his one-on-one with the goalie, slotting the ball past Michael Elder, for his third goal for the senior side, the three goals coming in consecutive appearances.

So Eldridge’s goal made it 0-6 to Ashford, and a seventh goal was added just two minutes later. Rochester No.8 Harrison Hume had been on the floor, receiving treatment for cramp, and eventually had to leave the field. As he waited on the touchline, ready to return – and with the home side consequently temporarily down to nine men – a low cross was sent into the Rochester penalty area, where Brett Ince side-footed the ball home, for the simplest of goals.

That was the sixth time that Ashford United had scored seven goals in a match, and the record eighth goal for the reformed club, which came in the 82^nd minute, was the best of the afternoon. The ball was spread wide, to the seemingly tireless Luke Miller, on the right, who then fed George Savage, who was overlapping on his outside. Savage’s cross found Tom Michelson, near the edge of the penalty area, who sent an unstoppable shot into the net.

So a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon for the good turn-out of the Ashford faithful, who applauded all of the Ashford players and Management, including the heroic stand-in lino, off the pitch. With Croydon Athletic not having a game this weekend, and Crowborough Athletic playing in the FA Vase, today’s victory put Ashford back on top of the Southern Counties East League. Sterner tests are at hand, however, with a sequence of three top-of-the-table matches, against Crowborough, Sevenoaks and Croydon, up next. Ashford will need to go into all three games without George Kamurasi in goal, and will also be missing the iconic Shaun Welford in the first two of those.