VCD Athletic 2
Ashford United 2
from Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent
On the day before
Christmas Eve, 2017, Ashford played their first ‘proper’ game away to VCD
Athletic – in as much as an Ashford side had not previously played a league game,
or an FA Cup, FA Trophy or FA Vase tie, at Oakwood Sports Ground, in Crayford.
I have followed our
boys here before, however. On the 19th of January 2010, six inches
of snow and acute waterlogging, (remember that ?), at Homelands had prevented
Ashford Town from playing any games since Boxing Day, but the weather had
relented in time for us to play this Kent Senior Cup tie at Oakwood. In Town’s
final season, we won this game 1-2, with goals from Mark Lovell and Tom Murphy.
(These were the two players who later scored a goal apiece in Ashford Town’s
final game, a 2-1 victory at home to Chatham Town, to ensure that we weren’t
relegated ‘on the pitch’). Danny Lye also played in that Kent Senior Cup game.
A couple of seasons
later, after The Reformation, we were here again, in Ashford United’s inaugural
season, in the Kent Invicta League, to play Erith & Dartford Town, who were
ground sharing at the time. That game ended 2-2, and Erith & Dartford went
on to change their name to Kent Football United.
I have come to regard
VCD Athletic as fellow travellers, at this level of football, but this is, in
fact, the first time that the two clubs have occupied the same division. Vickers
have had a varied existence, in recent years, gaining promotion to the Isthmian
League Division 1 North, from the (then) Kent League, at the end of the 2012-13
season, before going straight up to the Isthmian Premier Division the following
year. That adventure lasted for two seasons, before relegation back to (the
then) Ryman Division 1 North, in 2016. For the current season, Vickers have,
happily, been transferred to Division 1 South, with the other Kent-based sides.
And we have already played VCD in the league once, going down 2-5 at home, with
what was still an extremely youthful side.
Today,
we were able to put out a far more experienced team, with Jason Whitmore having
brought in some high-quality new recruits in recent weeks – all of them with
experience of having played at ‘Conference South’, ‘Conference Premier’ and
football league level. Goalkeeper Michael McEntegart, Arinse Uade, George
McLennan and Shomari Barnwell made their debut in Ashford’s previous game, the
1-2 defeat at home to Horsham. Three more – Cheick Toure, Ryan Richefond and
Rohdell Gordon - had arrived two games before that. Six of these seven started
the game today, the exception being former Arsenal U-21 and Norwich City U-23
defender Arinse Uade, (who has a brother called Ashampooandset).
Strangely,
both Jason Whitmore and his Assistant, Paul Barnes, were unavailable to attend
today’s game – and so Gareth Williams, who came on as a substitute in United’s
1-1 draw at home to East Grinstead Town, was in charge of the team for the day.
Interestingly,
Gareth started Matt Day up front, as the No.9 and main target man, alongside
the very tall Shomari Barnwell. Joe Bingham, who captained the side in the
continued absence of the still-concussed Pat Kingwell, played in central
midfield, along with Ryan Richefond, who appeared to operate just in front of a
back three comprised of Cheick Toure, Jonathan Difford and Tom Cooney. Scotsman
George McLennan and Max Watters were out wide, with Rohdell Gordon appearing to
be roughly ‘in the hole’ behind the front two; (but please don’t take that
formation as gospel, given my limited knowledge of the finer points of the
game). What I’m fairly sure about is that Australian Michael McEntegart was in
goal – he had a different coloured jumper to everyone else.
On
the subs bench were young central defender James Fitchett, Kwabena Osei, Ira
Jackson, Brandon Williams and Andrew Dalhouse.
First,
before describing the match, there is the important ritual of naming and
shaming to deal with. On a pretty mild afternoon, for late December, there were
at least four Ashford players wearing GLOVES ! These were: Cheick Toure, Tom Cooney, Rohdell
Gordon and Shomari Barnwell. Get those bleedin’ gloves off ! There were a few VCD players with gloves on –
but they weren’t wearing our shirt !
On
the subject of shirts, the home side, members of the Green Fellowship, were
clad mostly in green & white stripes. Ashford Town had a season of wearing
such stripes, (in the 1980s, I think), but the sight of Vickers’ shirts
immediately reminded me of the colours worn by Great Wakering Rovers, when they
beat us 5-3 in the Preliminary Round of the FA Trophy, in the 2008-9 season, in
the arse-end of Essex.
What
was immediately apparent was that, regardless of Ashford United’s recent
improvements in personnel, today was going to be a difficult game, with VCD
Athletic announcing themselves as a young, bright team, intent on moving the ball
on the ground, and quickly. And it was the home side that fashioned the first
chance, in the second minute, when they won a corner on the left, after a shot
on goal was deflected behind. The resulting cross was allowed to progress as
far as Daniel Smith, beyond the far post, but his shot was high and wide. Two
minutes later, VCD picked the ball up from a McEntegart kick-out, and managed
to feed the ball forward to Aymun El-Moyhalbel, (who sounds Irish, but probably
isn’t), but the No.11 also shot well wide.
If
Vickers looked lively early on, then Ashford’s new-look side also appeared to
be very capable when going forward. The visitors’ first chance fell to Rohdell
Gordon, formerly of Stevenage, in the fifth minute. Cutting in from wide on the
left, he created an opening from a central position, and unleashed a firm shot
from about 20 yards out. It would have gone into the roof of the net, but for a
very good finger-tip save by Joe Mant – who, lest we forget, formerly occupied
the Ashford United goal for a total of 11,017 minutes, keeping 44 clean sheets.
Joe
actually had a slightly dodgy moment, in the VCD goal, in the 16th
minute. Matt Day launched a bouncing ball forward, for Shomari Barnwell to
chase, but centre-back Jeffrey Imudia appeared to have matters well in control
– until he managed to head the ball over Joe Mant, with Joe having to scramble
back and collect the ball just a yard from his goal-line.
If
there is one criticism that could be made of the United performance, it is that
there were still too many instances of players being muscled off the ball, or
worried out of possession. Our lads need to be stronger, both with and without
the ball. That is not a comment that can be levelled at skipper Joe Bingham,
however, who was very combative in central midfield, and was probably Ashford’s
Man of the Match. Seconds after Joe Mant’s scare, he made an important
interception, in the centre circle, and released Matt Day through the inside-left
channel. Matt had a clear sight of the target, but his well-struck shot went
across the face of goal.
At
about this time, Ashford’s forward-most players – Matt Day, Rohdell and Shomari
– were showing signs of linking up well, and I felt that the visitors just
about shaded the first 20 minutes.
Two
things that were stimeying Ashford’s rhythm and progress, however, were the
fact that Shomari Barnwell was having a bit of a ‘mare with his touch, with
lay-offs and ‘final’ balls seeming to invariably go astray, and the fussy
performance of the young referee, with the majority of his free-kick decisions
going the way of the home side. (Have I mentioned that there was an FA Assessor
in the stand ?). Jonathan Difford most often caught the referee’s eye, being
penalised several times for holding, and this culminated in a stern lecture,
about mid-way through the first half. The first player to be shown a yellow
card, however, was Joe Bingham, in the 15th minute, after conceding
a free-kick that he clearly felt should actually have been given his way.
Three
minutes after this caution, Vickers had their best chance of the half. After
yet another foul by Jon Difford, the home side had a free-kick in the centre of
the Ashford half – and they executed a well-worked routine. The ball was
chipped over the three-man defensive wall, and Junior Baker met the ball with
his head, at the far post. The ball seemed to virtually bounce along the
goal-line, and Kemoe Darboe seemed to have a tap-in at the opposite post, but
his attempt to hook the ball into the net merely sent it spiralling over the
bar.
This
near miss appeared to galvanise the home side, and right-back Ellis Brown was
soon dribbling into the Ashford penalty area, beating several players, in the
31st minute. Jon Difford managed to smuggle the ball away, only for
Aymun El-Moyhalbel to pick up possession wide on the right. Showing great pace
and control, the wide man dribbled the ball along the Ashford by-line, but his
low shot from close range was easily smothered by McEntegart, at the near post,
when a pull-back would probably have been far more dangerous.
As
VCD continued to press, Ashford had a chance on the break, in the 37th
minute. Rohdell Gordon carried the ball out of his own half, and had just Matt
Day and Shomari Barnwell, each marked by a defender each, in front of him.
Rohdell fed the ball left, to Barnwell, but, unfortunately, Shomari was still
having ‘one of those days’, and his control let him down, and the chance was
gone.
For
all the skill and pace possessed by Ashford’s front two, one thing that wasn’t
working very well for Gareth Williams’ team was that balls played forward to
them were simply not ‘sticking’ – but things were to change, in the 39th
minute, when United took the lead, with Shomari Barnwell getting his name on
the scoresheet. However, most of the credit for the goal should be given to
Matt Day, who showed just how a centre-forward should play. Joe Bingham played
a ball towards the right corner flag, and Matt first showed great pace and
power to get to the ball first, and then had the skill and composure to turn
and send in a dangerous cross. Shomari was the intended recipient, at the near
post, but I had the distinct impression that the ball was nodded into the net
by a defender – but Shomari was credited with the goal, and so has now scored
two goals for Ashford, in as many appearances.
In
the 42nd minute, Michael McEntegart did well to save a deflected
shot by Jonathan Adebayo, diving low and to his right. A minute later, Jon
Difford finally managed to persuade the referee to book him, when he was guilty
of holding a VCD forward as he tried to turn – but Ashford managed to hold onto
the 0-1 lead until half time. There was not much between the two sides during
this first half, and Ashford certainly should not have been embarrassed to be a
goal up at the break.
If
the yellow-shirted visitors’ first-half performance had given plenty of
encouragement that they would be capable of holding onto the hard-fought lead during
the second half, the complexion of the match changed after the re-start. VCD
started off at a high tempo, and were busy all over the pitch, and it soon
became clear that Ashford would have plenty of defending to do, if they were
going to leave Oakwood with all three points.
In
fairness, United’s defence stood firm for the next 20 minutes. Vickers’ best
chances fell to Rashid Kamara, in this period. As early as the 49th
minute, McEntegart was rooted to the spot as he watched Kamara’s curling effort
go wide of his far post. Later, in the 63rd minute, after Shomari
Barnwell received a yellow card for preventing a free-kick from being taken,
the second attempt at crossing the ball into the Ashford area found the VCD
No.10 in a central position, but the Ashford ‘keeper was easily able to smother
Kamara’s weak shot. (It’s unbelievable, Jeff !).
It
was in the 68th minute that the game was effectively turned on its
head. Aymun El-Moyhalbel dribbled the ball into the Ashford penalty area, from
the left, and close to the by-line. As he shaped to go around Tom Cooney, the
Ashford left-back brought him down with what was an annoyingly obvious foul,
and the ref, who was well positioned, had no hesitation in awarding a penalty.
Kemo Darboe stepped up to ‘take the kick from the penalty mark’, waited for
McEntegart to fall to his right and then calmly slotted the ball into the
centre of the goal.
As
all good teams will, VCD were quick to capitalise on this change in momentum,
going further ahead, just two minutes later – although Vickers’ second goal
came from a break away following an Ashford United corner, with Gareth Williams
having replaced Matt Day with Andrew Dalhouse immediately after the home side
had equalised. The swift VCD break found Rashid Kamara deep inside the Ashford
penalty area, but his initial shot, which beat McEntegart, was cleared off the
line. The ball was soon channelled back to Kamara, however, and he made no
mistake with his second attempt.
If
there had been genuine and well-founded optimism that Ashford might hold onto their
0-1 advantage at half time, there appeared, quite frankly, to be little hope of
the visitors equalising. They had enjoyed too little possession, and had
created too few chances, in the second half, and so it appeared that a gallant
defeat would be the most likely outcome. In fact, the boys very nearly went
further behind, in the 75th minute, when, pressing forward, they were
caught on the break. Kemo Darboe appeared to be well offside, as he raced clear
of the Ashford defence – but there was no flag ! Fortunately for the faithful Ashford
shopping-dodgers, who made up a good proportion of the 100-strong crowd, Darboe
dragged his shot across the face of goal.
The
replacement of Rohdell Gordon with Ira Jackson, in the 78th minute,
had had little impact – but there was just a chance that Ashford might have one
more opportunity to pull a point out of the fire. This materialised in the
final minute of normal time, in the form of a corner, which, fittingly, was won
by the hard-working Joe Bingham. The resulting cross was aimed at Andrew
Dalhouse, who waited just beyond the far post, and the big man rose above the
VCD defence, to power a header into the net, off Joe Mant’s crossbar. It was a
classical centre-forward’s goal – dare I say ‘Welfordesque’ in its execution ?
The
point was no more than Ashford deserved, on the overall balance of play, and,
more importantly, might prove to be enormously important to the team’s
confidence, going forward. At this very early stage, this new set of players
still looks a fair way off being a unit that might challenge for the play-off
positions, but things certainly appear to be going in the right direction.
