Cray Valley PM 2
Ashford United 5
From Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent
On
the final Sunday of February, I finally made it to a game - so Happy New Year,
everyone ! - and this was our second game at Badgers Sports Ground, in Eltham,
against Cray Valley Paper Mills in five days.
The first of these matches had been in the Quarter Finals of the Southern
Counties East League Cup, on Wednesday night, when a below strength Ashford
United side easily won the contest 0-2. Today, with Crowborough Athletic going
back to the top of the SCEFL table with a 2-1 victory over Erith Town, the
previous day, there were league points at stake, and so Danny Lye put out his strongest
team, which meant four changes from the mid-week side.
In
team-sheet order, the starting XI was: Big George, Ryan James, Frazer Walker,
Dave Botterill, Stuart West, Pat Kingwell, Ryan Palmer, Ben Davisson, Shaun
Welford, Adrian Stone, Rory Hill. On the bench were strikers Brett Ince, Jason
Goodchild and Luke Eldridge, along with Dan Stubbs and Harry Lavender, who made
his debut, here, last Wednesday.
Cray
Valley have, in the past, been a bit of a bogey side for Ashford United. In our
first season in the SCEFL (2013-14), The Millers held us to a 1-1 draw at
Homelands, then beat us home and away the following season (0-1 and 3-2); then,
in the second game of the 2015-16 season, they thrashed us 5-1, at Badgers, in
the FA Cup, which was a defeat that cost Paul Chambers his job as Manager.
Since then, however, under Danny Lye, things had been different, with Ashford
winning all four encounters, with the scores being 0-5, 1-0, 2-0 and 0-2.
Furthermore, Cray Valley today met an Ashford side in a rich vein of form.
Since losing 1-0 to Sheppey United on Boxing Day, Lye’s side had had a 100%
record in the nine games played in 2017, scoring 30 goals and conceding just
six. Everyone at Ashford United had also, very recently, been buoyed by a
successful appeal to the FA to have its application for promotion to the Ryman
League accepted.
The
most important job for the visitors to do, this afternoon, was to persuade The
Millers, early on, that there was going to be no prospect of any outcome other than
a repeat of Wednesday night’s easy win. However, the opposite happened. Not
only was the home team given the considerable encouragement of an early goal,
but an incident on the stroke of half time meant that Cray Valley actually went
in at the break with a one goal lead and with Ashford United reduced to ten
men.
Although
Ryan James wore the No.2 shirt, he actually seemed to have been given a fairly
free role in midfield – and it was Rory Hill who, not for the first time this
season, was most often seen in the right-back position, so he had clearly been
given the job of wing-back. It was when dropping back into this area, to
collect the ball from George Kamurasi, as early as the sixth minute, that Rory
made a considerable rick, which led to Cray’s first goal. Taking far too long
on the ball, Hill’s attempt at a long ball up-field was easily charged down by
Aaron Rhule. Catching up with the ball near the by-line, Rhule’s cross into the
centre came off Stuart West’s right foot and up onto his arm, and Referee Chris
Myatt had no hesitation in pointing to the spot from which three penalties were
to be taken, this afternoon. Up stepped Millers’ captain Jason Thompson, who
hit a well-struck shot low, into the corner of the net, in spite of Big George
diving the right way and almost getting a hand to the ball.
Throughout
the first half, both before and after the opening goal, Ashford, kicking up the
slope, but with a strong breeze behind them, were well on top, both in terms of
possession and territorial advantage, and it was not long before the visitors
were level. In the tenth minute, after a good, flowing move – and shortly after
Ryan Palmer had seen a long-range shot saved by Jordan Carey, at his near post –
Rory Hill sent in a deep cross which just eluded the head of Ryan James.
Evidently, the ball had taken a deflection from a Cray Valley player, as a
corner was awarded, on the left. Ben Davisson’s first cross was cleared, but
the ball was soon returned into the home side’s penalty area, travelling all
the way through to the far corner of the six-yard box, where Stuart West stuck
the ball firmly into the net, with his right foot. Although the Ashford captain
hasn’t been anything like as prolific for us as he was for Hollands &
Blair, his previous club, this was his fourth goal of the season.
It
was pretty much all Ashford for the remainder of the half, particularly for the
next five minutes, with the visitors bombarding The Millers’ penalty area with
a succession of corners and Shaun Welford long throws – but there was a
shortage of clear-cut chances, and any shots on goal were weak. In fact, Jordan
Carey, in the Cray goal, had little to do, up to half time, except make some
regulation stops which amounted to little more than back-passes.
In
spite of the distinct lack of “end-product”, there was little to bother
Ashford, as it seemed to be just a matter of time before they would take a
decisive lead, until Stuart West received a yellow card in the 38th
minute. This was for a late tackle, near the left touchline. This seemed a
little harsh, given that it was West’s first foul in the game – but the presence
of a man with a clip board, wearing an FA-branded coat, in the stand, might
have influenced Mr Myatt’s decision. But the real cost of the incident was felt,
by Ashford, some eight minutes later. With just over 45 minutes played,
according to my watch, the usually flawless Pat Kingwell was, for once, caught
in possession, deep inside his own half. With Enoch Adjei now clean through on
goal, West came across and brought him down, right on the edge of the penalty
area. There was a strong case for the Ashford skipper receiving a straight red
card, but Myatt instead showed Stuart a yellow one, followed by a red.
Worse
was to follow for Ashford, as Jason Thompson scored the best goal of the game,
from the resulting free-kick. Because the kick was so close to the goal, in a
fairly central position, it was not easy for the home captain to get the ball
over the defensive wall and then under the bar, but he did so superbly, curling
the ball into the top, far corner, giving George Kamurasi no chance.
So
the visitors somehow managed to find themselves trailing at the break, after a
half that they had completely dominated – and there was the real prospect that
the race for the SCEFL title, and that one, precious promotion place, might
take a decisive turn.
The
fact that Ashford were able to turn the game around fairly readily, with four second
half goals, and with just ten men, against the eighth-placed club in the
division, speaks loudly about the gulf in standard that appears to exist
between the top three or four SCEFL teams and the remainder. In fact, without
the errors of judgement at the beginning and the end of the first half, a 0-6 score-line
would have been a distinct possibility, and would not have flattered the
visitors. However, the turnaround did not happen immediately, with the home
side starting the second half on the front foot, and winning a couple of
corners and a free kick – all of which were taken by their skipper, Jason
Thompson. It was from the second of these corners that The Millers had a decent
chance to extend their lead, with centre-forward Scott Riley getting to the
ball ahead of George Kamurasi, but heading just over the bar.
Ashford’s
enforced reorganisation had seen Ryan James dropping back into a back three that
also included Pat Kingwell, (who had been passed the captain’s arm band), and
Frazer Walker. That gave Rory Hill more freedom to go forward, and his run into
the Cray Valley penalty box set up a half-chance for Adrianho, who rather
scuffed his shot wide, in the 54th minute, albeit with the consolation
of winning a corner. It took a couple of minutes for the corner, on the left,
to be taken, as Cray’s Ryan Fowler was down in the area, receiving treatment - Fowler
was obviously quite seriously hurt, as he had to limp off immediately, to be
replaced by Chandler Kasai. The game had entered the 56th minute
when Ben Davisson eventually swung the ball into the Cray Valley goalmouth,
where Shaun Welford came charging in, barely inconvenienced by any marking, to
head the ball into the corner of the net.
Having
equalised, a few misplaced passes, a few off-sides and a scrappy period of play
caused Ashford’s charge to stall a little, and it was the home side that had
the next clear chance to score. In the 62nd minute, an unnecessary
foul by Frazer Walker on Adjei gave Jason Thompson the opportunity to show his
dead-ball skills again. With the free-kick near the corner of the penalty area,
Thompson had the choice of going for goal or curling in a cross. In the event,
he whipped in a fast, curling ball into the Ashford goalmouth, which might have
been awkward for George Kamurasi if David Botterill had not bravely got his
head to the ball, putting it behind, for a corner. The always excellent Botts
was also there to head the resulting corner clear – but not before Thompson had
walked across to take the kick with the measured pace of a pall bearer. In
fact, throughout the second half, the home side very clearly appeared to take
as much time out of the game as possible at every dead-ball situation, and
every time that goalkeeper Carey had possession of the ball – which was probably
a reflection of how they had rated their own chances of hanging on to their
first-half lead.
Ashford
took the lead, for the first time in the game, about mid-way through the second
period. In the 66th minute, a long throw from Shaun Welford wasn’t cleared
by The Millers’ defence, and Adrianho’s shot from close range was blocked on
the line, clearly by a hand, given that a penalty was awarded immediately. There
was then a very lengthy and confusing period of play (or lack of it) as Referee
Myatt called both left-back Danny Smith and Jason Thompson over to him. First,
the Ref booked Smith, and then he showed Thompson a red card. From that, I
would guess that Smith was booked for dissent, whilst Thompson was sent off for
handling the ball on the line – but it might have been the other way around
! Anyway, the result was that the home
skipper was sent trudging back to the dressing room, giving the unusual
statistic of both captains in the match scoring a goal and then getting sent
off.
Play
was then held up for a lengthy debate, led by Jordan Carey, about where the
penalty spot actually was. Then the lino on the far side called the Ref over to
tell him of something that someone on the Cray Valley bench had said – and so Mr
Myatt went off to the touchline to have a word, pointing a threatening finger
in the direction of the changing rooms, but otherwise taking no action. After
further discussions about the location of the penalty spot, it was fully five
minutes before Shaun Welford was able to take the spot kick, and he thumped the
ball home with his usual unstoppable power and accuracy. Carey, like Kamurasi
earlier, dived the right way, but had no chance of keeping the ball out.
Just
three minutes later, Shaun Welford latched onto a through-ball and it looked odds-on
that he was going to complete his hat-trick, with only the goalkeeper to beat. He
pushed the ball past the on-rushing Carey, who sent him crashing to the turf.
It was a stone cold penalty, and it seemed likely that the ‘keeper would become
the third player to be shown a red card, (in what was never a dirty or
ill-tempered game), but the Ref decided that a yellow card was appropriate. Up
stepped Welford to take the penalty. Surely, this would be his hat-trick, now
?! No !
Amazingly, Shaun thumped his penalty attempt against the crossbar – but Adrian
Stone was first to react, and got to the rebound before the Cray Valley
defenders, took one touch and then tucked the ball into the net, off the post.
G-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-L !!
A-d-r-i-a-a-a-a-a-n-h-o-o-o-o-o-o-o !!
So
that made the score 2-4, and there was just one more goal to come, in an
incident-packed match – but the best piece of football in the entire afternoon
came in the 77th minute. Pat Kingwell played a long ball forward to
Adrianho, who expertly cushioned a header into the path of Ben Davisson. Ben
hit an absolute screamer, and it would have ended up in the roof of the net,
but for a brilliant save by Carey, who tipped the ball over the bar.
But
Shaun Welford was not to be denied his third hat-trick of the season – and probably
the umpteenth of his career – and it came in trademark Welford fashion, in the 79th
minute. Dave Botterill, who, like Pat Kingwell, has a demeanour on the field
that confirms that he has played at a higher level, whipped in a left-footed
cross, from a corner on the right, which actually went straight into the net –
although the Ref had already stopped play to have a word with a Cray Valley
defender. So Botterill repeated the cross, and, this time, Welford charged in
and headed home, from about three yards out, with the ‘keeper nowhere.
That
was Shaun Welford’s 72nd goal for Ashford, and his 35th
of the current season. That means that Welfs needs just 13 more goals, in a
minimum of 14 matches, to break Stuart Zanone’s iconic all-time Ashford record
of 47 in a season.
Once
a three-goal cushion had been established, Danny Lye took the opportunity to
make some substitutions, with Dan Stubbs replacing Rory Hill in the 80th
minute and Luke Eldridge being sent on in place of Adrianho in the 83rd
minute. Shaun Welford was eventually substituted with 90 minutes of normal time
completed – shortly after he had come close to scoring his fourth goal, and
Ashford’s sixth, with a great header from a Ben Davisson corner, only to see
his effort, from 15 yards out, saved by Carey. Welford’s substitution gave
Brett Ince the opportunity to play out the six minutes that the Referee added
on at the end.
So
The Nuts & Bolts went back to the top of the SCEFL, although, in spite of
having won 21 of their 26 league games so far, they still have plenty of work
to do to finish ahead of Crowborough Athletic, who are just a point behind,
with a game in hand.
One
other point about Ashford’s two matches against Cray Valley PM this week is
that the two sides are due to meet in the Final of the Kent Senior Trophy, on
the 9th of April – and, on the evidence of this week’s matches, it
is difficult to imagine The Millers preventing Ashford United from winning
their first silverware.
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