Sevenoaks Town 4
Ashford United 0
From Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent
Today marked the start
of eight days that would probably define Ashford United’s season. All things
considered, it’s been yet another great season for the Club and its supporters.
We went into the morning of the match on top of the Southern Counties East
Football League, with seven league games remaining, having won 24 of our 31
matches. In the process, we’d scored 97 goals. That’s one more win, and two
more goals, than we managed during the whole of last season.
Usually, a record like
that is enough to see a club well clear at the top of a league table, but we
seem to be imprisoned in a recurring nightmare, where, no matter how well we
play, and how many games we win, there is one other team that appears destined
to do even better. Having suffered this fate for three successive seasons, at
the hands of Whyteleafe, Phoenix Sports and Greenwich Borough, our tormentors
this time around have been Crowborough Athletic – who finished in a distant
seventh place last season.
Before a surprise 1-0
defeat at Bearsted, a fortnight ago, Ashford United had put together a run of
14 wins from 15 league games. Meanwhile, The Crows, as if sustained by some
kind of black magic, had reeled off a sequence of 19 wins and a draw, from 20
league games. How can mortal men overcome such relentless consistency ? Crowborough did show the semblance of a
wobble towards the end of their FA Vase run, with four defeats in five games –
but, alas, all four losses were in cup ties. In the SCEFL, Crowborough had not
lost a game since the 3rd of September.
That pattern has
finally been broken, over the past two weeks, with Ashford following the loss
at Bearsted by being held to a draw, at home, by Croydon Athletic. Crowborough,
too, drew at home – to Deal Town. Then, last Tuesday evening, Ashford regained
the winning thread with a 3-1 home victory over Hollands & Blair, whilst
The Crows’ long unbeaten run in the league was finally ended, with a 0-1 defeat
at home to the other Croydon.
The outcome of that
synchronised wobbling is that, this morning, Crowborough trailed Ashford by one
point, but with a game in hand.
One thing that should
not be lost sight of is that the race for the SCEFL championship does not
involve just the two horses, with today’s opponents, Sevenoaks Town, just six
points behind Ashford, in third. Next Saturday will see the big Ashford United
v Crowborough Athletic showdown, so, with one or both teams dropping points in
that one, The Oaks still have a chance to get amongst the top two.
To add to the
excitement of the next eight days, in between the two crucial league Saturdays,
Ashford and Sevenoaks will meet again, on Tuesday, in the second leg of the
League Cup semi-final. With Ashford already through to the Final of the Kent
Senior Trophy, a cynic might suggest that victory on Tuesday would provide the
opportunity for the still-young club to have its most successful year to date –
by being runners-up in three competitions in the season, instead of two. But I
was born an optimist, and I have faith that Danny Lye and the boys will finally
win some silverware of some sort this season.
I enjoy visiting
Sevenoaks. Greatness Park is quite a picturesque venue, with a high, grassy
bank on one side, where dog walkers often stand and stare at the football for a
few minutes. I have made the trip on each of the previous two seasons. The
previous occasion was some 18 months ago – October 2015 – when we beat The Oaks
0-3 in the Second Round of the Kent Senior Trophy. One noteworthy aspect of
that game was that Big George Kamurasi made his début for Ashford. I remember
that there was a problem in that the Club had been unable to supply a pair of
shorts large enough for George. (I report that fact, but make no further
comment !).
I also remember that
match for my dismay at seeing both Stuart Zanone and Adrian Stone – two of my
most sacred Ashford heroes – in the Sevenoaks forward line against us. Happily,
Adrianho is now back at Ashford.
The game I saw here the
season before that was the league match in which Paul Chambers’ side were very
grateful to scrape a 2-2 draw. Stuart Zanone was playing for us, on that
occasion, on his way to setting a new Ashford record of 47 goals in a season.
His partner up front, that day, was Andy Irvine, (who got our equaliser). To
complete the circular nature of the non-league bubble, it was Irvine who scored
Bearsted’s goal in their victory over Ashford a fortnight ago – and he has
since joined Sevenoaks.
Irvine was in the
starting line-up for The Oaks this afternoon, but only made it as far as the 54th
minute, before having to go off with a leg injury. George Kamurasi was missing
for Ashford, along with Club Captain Stuart West and winger Rory Hill, all of
them, I gather, suspended.
George’s replacement in
goal was Adam Highsted, who, according to a little research I’ve done, is
currently on the books of Canvey Island, of the Isthmian Premier Division. Adam
has also played for Ramsgate and Whyteleafe, (and supports Ipswich Town and
shows signs of being Irish). He is obviously a decent ‘keeper, and it was
certainly not his fault that Ashford lost 4-0, this afternoon.
Pat Kingwell captained
the side, today, and played in central defence, alongside Joe Vines. George
Savage and Frazer Walker were the full-backs. In the absence of Rory Hill, I
expected Jason Goodchild to play as his replacement, wide on the left, but
Jason actually seemed to have a fairly free role in midfield, with Ben Davisson
and Richard Avery. Ryan Palmer was the only recognisable wide player. Palms
showed his usual array of tricks and dribbling skills, but invariably seemed to
have the ball in too deep a position to be able to hurt the opposition.
Adrianho played up front with Shaun Welford, who scored his 75th
goal for Ashford United on Tuesday – his 38th of the season.
The substitutes were
named as Luke Eldridge, Danny Lye, Dave Botterill, Aaron Lee-Wharton and
someone with a surname sounding like “Howard”. (I was relying on a single PA
announcement, which was gabbled off fairly quickly). So there doesn’t seem to
be a great deal of depth in the squad, at the moment, and I am a bit concerned
that Dave Botterill, who has looked one of our best players this season, has,
of late, been dressed more like a member of the coaching staff than a player
ready to come on.
I mentioned recurring
nightmares earlier. Well, Ashford’s travelling fans lived through one of those,
almost as soon as the referee blew his whistle to start the game. It was that
bad dream where everything that can go wrong does go wrong. Normally reliable
players made horrendous mistakes, one after the other, and the opposition just
seemed to walk the ball into the net, with our heroes apparently powerless to
stop them. In fairness to the lads, this particular nightmare cannot be
described as “recurring”, as poor performances have been extremely rare over
the past few seasons. That fact added to the sense of unreality, as Sevenoaks
made a mockery of Ashford’s league position by easing into a 3-0 lead in the
first ten minutes, and they should have scored a fourth, just five minutes
later.
I don’t have a second
hand on my watch, but I reckon that the first torpedo to hit the hull of the
Ashford ship must have made contact after about 40 seconds. Everything began
promisingly, with Ashford launching an attack, from right to left. But then
there was a whole litany of errors by yellow-shirted players. It began with
Ryan Palmer being caught in possession, deep inside the Sevenoaks half. The
ball was then played forward in the channel, towards the right corner flag. Pat
Kingwell chased this down, and seemed to have the situation well under control,
(as he usually does), but, on this occasion, he was easily shrugged off the
ball by Andy Irvine. As Irvs fed the ball into the penalty area, Joe Vines
failed to make what would have been a very important tackle. The ball was then
squared to Kieron McCann, who couldn’t miss from six yards.
The situation became
more serious for Ashford after nine minutes, when Oaks doubled their lead. A
long ball found the head of Andy Irvine, who appeared to be completely
unmarked. Irvine did what he does best – he nodded the ball down to a
team-mate. This was Joe Bingham, who cut inside and comfortably tucked a
right-footed shot into the corner of the net.
Could things possibly
get worse ? Well, they did. Just a
minute later, George Savage effected an excellent tackle, inside his own half,
close to the by-line. It was a tackle that deserved to foil that particular
Sevenoaks attack, but, instead, the ball went straight to an Oaks player. His
shot, from close range, was actually well saved by the diving Highsted, but the
ball went straight onto the head of Harrison Carnegie, who calmly nodded it
into the empty net.
By this time, I was
expecting to wake up at any moment, but the dream sequence continued. In the 15th
minute, Kieron McCann chased a clearance down the left flank. He crossed the
ball, and, of course, Andy Irvine was in the centre, in a large gap between two
Ashford defenders. Irvs should have made it 4-0, but he somehow managed to
blast the ball high over the bar, from six yards.
There was no shortage
of effort from Ashford, but nothing seemed to be clicking. When the lads tried
to pass the ball around, things didn’t quite work out, with the ball either
being played just behind a player, or just running away, into touch. When the
long-ball game was employed – which was most often – then that didn’t meet with
any success either. This tactic was not helped by the fact that Ashford played
into a strong, chilly breeze in the first half. In fact, the wind was strong
enough to blow a high clearance back in the direction from whence it came, before
it landed. The visitors had a few corners, and there were some long throw-ins
from Shaun Welford, but all the noisy Ashford support had to cheer were two
particularly good tackles by George Savage.
That was until the 29th
minute. Ben Davisson, very much the leader of Ashford’s midfield, took a free-kick,
about half-way inside the home side’s half, in a central position. His floated
ball forward was met by the bald pate of Joe Vines, who looped a header over
Sevenoaks ‘keeper Rob French. Shaun Welford and Adrianho, with an Oaks defender
sandwiched between them, both attacked the ball at the near post. It was
Welford’s head that made contact with the ball, but he could do no more than
nod it against the post, from point blank range.
Sevenoaks’ response was
to launch a counter-attack – which they are well-equipped to do, with their
speedy forwards. This time, it was McCann who led the charge, down the left. He
cut inside, bringing the ball onto his right foot, but his low shot went
straight at Highsted.
Although there were
questions to be answered by all of Ashford’s defence, today, Joe Vines has
shown himself, during his brief time with the Club, to be a useful attacking
presence in the opposition’s penalty area. In the 31st minute, he
rose well to connect with a cross that came in from the left wing, finding
Adrian Stone, in the centre, but Adrianho sliced his first-time volley high
into the breeze. Vines’ head was in action again, just a minute later, but this
time on the edge of the Ashford penalty area. The ball skidded off it, into the
path of Harrison Carnegie, but the wide man, who we remember tormenting us in
the colours of Phoenix Sports, a few years ago, sliced his shot wide.
In the 38th
minute, shortly after Jason Goodchild had been booked for what looked to be a
fairly innocuous foul, a long ball from the Sevenoaks half was nodded on, into
the Ashford penalty area. In keeping with the way things happened, this
afternoon, Joe Bingham raced onto this ahead of the Ashford defenders, who were
grateful for the new goalie rushing out to make a good save.
It was fairly telling
that, at the other end, Rob French had not had to make a save during the first
half, and, with Sevenoaks looking a constant danger on the break, the scoreline
might have been even more dismissive than 3-0.
The sole consolation
for Ashford hearts, at the break, was that Crowborough Athletic were trailing 1-0
to Croydon Athletic at half time.
By all accounts, Danny
Lye had a quiet word with the lads, during the interval. Whether this had any
impact is hard to say, but there is just the possibility that Shaun Welford
might have sparked a revival if he had converted a good chance in the third
minute of the second half. A clearance from Rob French was headed straight back
by Ashford’s midfield, and, for once, things ran perfectly for Ashford, as the
ball bounced conveniently into Welford’s path. Instantly having a one-on-one
situation with the goalkeeper, Welfs hit his shot superbly, and it was heading
into the roof of the net, but French Rob made a great save, tipping the ball
over the bar. Magnifique !
A minute later, Richard
Avery, who otherwise looked particularly unconvincing today, hit a shot, from
just outside the area, which deflected off a defender and just skimmed the top
of the crossbar. But Ashford never looked like getting back into this game.
This was in spite of Danny Lye’s tactical switch, in the 59th
minute, when he replaced George Savage with Luke Eldridge, leaving just three
at the back. George had been one of two players who had actually impressed for
Ashford, this afternoon. The other one was left-back Frazer Walker, who now went
across to play on the right side of the back three. There was even the brief experiment
of dropping Richard Avery into the centre of defence and pushing Pat Kingwell
up front – but nothing worked.
In truth, much of my
attention, during the second half, was focused on the Crowborough Athletic
Twitter feed, which was giving score updates from South London. (The Crows equalised
early in the second half, thanks to a début goal from Eddie Smith, a striker
that they have recruited, on loan, from Farnborough).
I am not going to blame
the referee for Ashford’s demise, but he did make quite a few strange
decisions, during the game. I have already mentioned Jason Goodchild being
yellow carded fairly harshly, in my view – well, the ref’s second victim was
Sevenoaks’ Kieron McCann, for what looked a fairly tame push on Jason. But
there were more cards to come – the next being a yellow one shown to Ryan
Palmer, for a foul.
In the 69th
minute, Adrianho showed a good piece of skill, bringing the ball down neatly,
on the edge of the home side’s area, before turning and shooting in one
movement, but French made a comfortable save. A minute later, seconds after
coming on as a substitute for Yacine Gnahore, Francisco Mbela very nearly added
a fourth goal for the home side, heading a cross from the right wing against
the foot of the post.
Sevenoaks did make it 4-0
in the 80th minute. The ball was allowed to run through into the
Ashford penalty area, and, although Adam Highsted initially appeared to have
the situation well under control, the pacy Byron Walker, who had replaced Andy
Irvine, in the 54th minute, got to the ball before him. Highsted
attempted a desperate clearance, but this turned out to be a complete “air shot”,
as he missed the ball and kicked Walker up in the air. It was, of course, a
stone-cold penalty, and it looked an equally obvious red card – but, for some
reason, the referee pulled out a yellow card, instead.
There was no doubt
about how Joe Bingham took the penalty, however, as he thumped it hard, into
the corner of the net.
So that was the end of
the scoring, this afternoon, but not the end of Ashford’s misery, by any means.
With a minute of normal time remaining, Ben Davisson received a yellow card,
following a harmless-looking infringement. In fairness to the referee, the card
was not necessarily shown for that offence alone, as the caution might have
been for an accumulation of offences, or for Ben’s reaction to being penalised.
(He often has an opinion on a decision). However, the real damage was done
fully four minutes into injury time, when Davisson was shown a second yellow,
and then a red, card. I didn’t see what happened, but I heard somebody say,
after the game, that Ben had “kicked out” at an opponent. If that’s the case, then
he was fortunate that the referee did not show him a straight red card. Either
way, it is likely that the subsequent suspension will prove costly for Ashford,
at such a crucial stage of the season, as Ben is such an important player for
the team.
In between the two
Davisson yellow cards, I should say that Adam Highsted pulled off an excellent
save, to prevent a 5-0 scoreline. The match had just entered the first minute
of injury time, when Pat Kingwell was dispossessed by Francisco Mbela, just
inside the Ashford half. (Pat did many good things, today, and often looked
typically classy and composed, but he lost the ball more times this afternoon
than I normally see in a season). Mbela fed the ball through to Byron Walker,
who was in acres of space and had just the ‘keeper to beat – but Highsted did
his job well, diving at Walker’s feet.
The Crowborough and
Croydon Athletic game ended up as a 1-1 draw. That means that the irony of
today’s terrible result, and quite dreadful performance, is that Ashford remain
in the driving seat for the SCEFL championship, in as much as things are still
in their own hands. Quite simply, the situation remains that Ashford will win
the title if they win their remaining six league games. In that sense, we have
managed to get through a very tricky fixture “unscathed”.
What is more worrying
is the manner of today’s defeat. Ashford were unable to lay a glove on
Sevenoaks, in spite of having played so well, by all accounts, last Tuesday.
Maybe a certain element of fatigue was to blame for today’s performance ? Well, if that’s the case, then the omens are
not good for next Saturday’s crucial game against Crowborough, because there
will be no opportunity to soft pedal in the SCEFL League Cup Semi-Final Second
Leg on Tuesday.
What is certain is
that, with today’s deserved victory, Sevenoaks have put themselves firmly in
the promotion picture, now trailing Ashford by just three points, having played
the same number of games.
