Walton Casuals 4
Ashford United 0
from Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent
Walton Casuals away.
Another eagerly anticipated fixture, and one that we rarely missed, back in
that parallel universe when the team was known as “Ashford Town”, and playing
at a level below the Isthmian League was unthinkable. Back in those days,
Walton Casuals were perennial fellow strugglers, and one of the few teams that
we felt we might actually beat.
Those matches, on the
banks of the Thames, always seemed to be relegation six-pointers. Looking back
in my archives, I discover that I filed a match report for this fixture in each
of the last five seasons of Ashford Town’s existence, from 2005-6 to 2009-10, inclusive.
We didn’t collect many points in the first three of those games, with the
scores being 1-0, 1-1 and 2-1, but crucial points were then picked up in
2008-9, with a 0-3 victory, and then in that final year, when the lads won 1-4.
I notice that two of those four goals were scored by young centre-half Laurence
Harvey, who, certainly up until last season, was playing for Canterbury City.
During this period,
Walton Casuals played at a crappy little ground which would not have looked out
of place in the Kent League. All that has now changed, as the site has been
redeveloped considerably, with the creation of Elmbridge Sports Hub. The whole
facility is very impressive, with a public swimming pool, a gymnasium, one of those
climbing wall things, etc. The complex also includes an athletics stadium,
which is separate from the football ground – which means that Walton &
Hersham FC, who also share the ground, don’t have an athletics track around
their pitch, which used to be a source of irritation for many when visiting their
old ground of Stompond Lane.
The pitch itself looked
immaculate – like a brand new artificial pitch, which is exactly what it is. The
one mystery, today, was that, in spite of the seemingly state of the art
facilities, there were no PA announcements at all.
It’s probably no
coincidence that Walton Casuals FC’s progress in terms of developing the venue
has been mirrored by progress on the pitch. With ex-West Ham United defender
Tony Gale leading the club (as Chairman) off the pitch, and his son, Anthony,
as Manager, The Casuals are now one of the best teams in our division. Starting
today’s game in sixth place, they are likely to be leading contenders for at
least a play-off place at the end of the season.
It’s also fair to say
that Ashford United, in spite of having been very near to the bottom of the
table all season, can no longer be regarded as ‘relegation fodder’, given the
improved form that they have been showing of late, following a number of
quality signings. The lads went into today’s game having gained 11 points from
their previous five games. With relegation now no longer a realistic threat –
touch wood ! – what we are intrigued to know is how good the current squad actually
is. Today’s game against a genuine top-six team promised to shed some light on
that question……
A look at today’s team
sheet revealed that we were a little short of defenders, today, both on and off
the pitch. The on-the-pitch issue is by choice, as Manager Jason Whitmore has
consistently shown a preference for a three-at-the-back formation – and this
approach has certainly been paying dividends in recent games. Today’s back
three, in front of Michael McEntegart, were Cheick Toure, James Fitchett and
Tom Cooney – in the absence of John Difford. But it was the absence of
defensive cover on the bench that was a little worrying. Apart from forwards
Matt Day, Ira Jackson and Clark Woodcock, the bench was made up of reserve
goalie Aaron Lee-Wharton and coach Gareth Williams, who may or may not have had
some kit on under his tracksuit, today.
Of the starting
line-up, our five-strong midfield had Kwabena Osei starting the game just in
front of the back three, with skipper Joe Bingham and Ryan Richefond in the centre,
and George McLennan and Max Watters out wide. Shomari Barnwell and Andrew
Dalhouse continued their partnership up front, with Shomari going into the
match with a record of having scored a goal a game, and Andrew not far behind
him.
And to complete the
roll call, it is my duty to name and shame today’s glove wearers: they were
Cooney, T., Dalhouse, A. and Toure, C. I will be writing to their parents in
the morning.
The line on the far
side was run by Paula Wyatt, a very fit-looking lady lino. Not wearing gloves.
(Just saying).
Although there were
some 15 places between the two teams, at the start of play, that difference was
never very evident during the first half. As one might expect from two teams
used to playing their home games on a plastic pitch, both sets of players set
off trying to play on-the-ground, passing football. Ashford matched the home
side in midfield and in defence, but achieved little in the ‘business’ third of
the field. Very little seemed to ‘stick’ up front, and the lay-offs and
through-balls generally failed to come off today. It’s fair to say that Walton
Casuals clearly shaded a first half in which neither goalkeeper was required to
make anything more than a regulation save.
Ashford ‘keeper Michael
McEntegart was the first to get his gloves dirty, having to field a weak shot
by Casuals’ bearded right-back, Harry Mills, in the opening minute. In the
fifth minute, a break from defence resulted in the ball being worked to Youseff
Bamba, who was Casuals’ spare man on the left. He carried the ball into the
Ashford penalty area before unleashing a shot with his left foot, but
McEntegart made a comfortable save.
The first time that the
home side actually managed to get behind the visitors’ defence was in the 20th
minute, when Bamba danced his way to the by-line, but his cross went harmlessly
through the penalty area. A few minutes prior to this, James Fitchett received
a stern lecture from Referee Adrian Harris, for a tackle from behind – which had
implications for what was to happen later in the half.
Ashford’s first real
chance came in the 21st minute, and came as a result of Max Watters
running with the ball on the right flank – which looked to be the visitors’
best means of creating something, all afternoon. Max cut inside, and squared
the ball to Andrew Dalhouse, who flicked the ball into the path of Joe Bingham,
inside the penalty area. Joe’s shot was on target, but comfortably saved by Walton
Casuals goalie Denzel Gerrar. A minute later, Watters again fed the ball inside
to Dalhouse; this time, the Walton Casuals defence failed to close him down,
and so he chanced a shot from about 25 yards out, which flew just wide of the
angle of post and bar.
In the 25th
minute, James Fitchett committed a foul which appeared to be fairly innocuous,
but, having had a ‘friendly’ warning from the ref, it was no surprise to see
him receive a yellow card this time. It appeared that worse was to follow in
the 34th minute, when young James brought down Youseff Bamba just
outside the Ashford penalty area, with what looked a far more obvious foul.
What didn’t help the Ashford centre-half’s cause was that Bamba was pointing at
him, reminding the referee that he was already on a yellow card, almost before
he had hit the ground – but Mr Harris erred on the side of leniency, and gave
him a lecture that would undoubtedly have been about ‘Last Chance Saloons’.
Ashford Manager Jason
Whitmore took the sensible option, and substituted Fitchett at half-time, replacing
him with Ira Jackson, with Kwabena Osei dropping back and looking distinctly
vertically challenged in the middle of the back three.
Max Watters also found
himself booked, in the 37th minute, but this was for a fairly
trivial ‘offence’. After the referee had blown for a free-kick, Max just dinked
the ball over the low, green perimeter fence, to give himself time to get back
into position, rather than to waste time or to show dissent. However, Mr Harris
took great exception to this, and angrily produced a yellow card.
Both sides had opportunities
to score during the closing minutes of the first half. In the 38th
minute, Youseff Bamba did well on the right-hand side of the pitch, turning and
getting the ball onto his left foot, but blazed his shot well over the bar.
Four minutes later, a long ball from the Ashford defence found Andrew Dalhouse,
who showed great physical strength to get the better of Dominic Ogun, before
shooting straight at the Casuals ‘keeper, from close range. With a minute to go
to half-time, Michael McEntegart found Max Watters with a good throw, and Max
carried the ball as far as the edge of the home side’s penalty area, before
hitting a shot that was saved, but not gathered, by Denzel Gerrar. However, the
goalie recovered in time to prevent Shomari Barnwell from turning in the
rebound.
But the best chance of
the half to either side came well into the 45th minute. The Stags
put together a well-constructed move, with Ashford seemingly short-handed at
the back. It was either Josh Kelly or Sean McCormack who finished the move with
a shot from an acute angle, which rebounded off the foot of the far post.
So the half ended
goalless, and, with both defences and both goalkeepers seeming to be fairly comfortable,
this was not a huge surprise, nor was it a false reflection of the first 45
minutes.
It was during the
second half that the gap between the two sides really showed. In fact, it
reminded me of watching a cup tie between two sides several levels apart in the
football pyramid, in which the under-dogs (that’s us) do well to achieve parity
at half time, only for the better side (that’s them) to change up a gear and
blow them away in the second period. Generally, Walton Casuals appeared to be a
division or two superior to Ashford. I have seen us lose 3-0 to
Corinthian-Casuals, 5-0 to Greenwich Borough and 4-2 to Carshalton Athletic,
this season, (and they are all title / play-off contenders), but this is a considerably
better Ashford side than played in any of those games, so I’d have to say that
Walton Casuals are the best side I’ve seen this season.
The turnaround happened
fairly quickly, with the home side almost scoring in the first minute of the
half. A long kick-out from the Casuals ‘keeper bounced beyond the Ashford
back-line, and Josh Kelly, an 18 year-old striker on loan from Maidenhead
United, got to the ball ahead of the retreating defenders. He hit a low shot, first
time, but missed the target.
Casuals continued to
knock the ball around at a higher tempo than they had in the first half, and
took the lead as early as the 49th minute. Slick interplay resulted
in Sean McCormack, also on loan from Maidenhead, chasing a through-ball into
the Ashford area. Rather than being up-ended, he was sort of eased off the ball
by the chasing George McLennan, and the referee, who had a good view, had no
hesitation in awarding the penalty. For the offence, George became the third
Ashford player to receive a yellow card this afternoon.
Youseff Bamba waited
patiently to take the kick, and then hit a powerful shot, which was brilliantly
saved by Michael McEntegart – but Josh Kelly reacted quickest, and turned in
the rebound. McEntegart furiously berated his team-mates, presumably for being
slow to follow up on his excellent save.
Walton Casuals soon
went 2-0 up, in the 54th minute. Quick passing on the left flank
resulted in Josh Kelly finding his way inside the Ashford penalty area. He beat
Kwabena Osei (I think it was), to get to the by-line, before forcing the ball under
the body of the advancing McEntegart, and into the far corner of the net.
Kelly very nearly
completed a hat-trick, in the 60th minute, after Harry Mills and
Sean McCormack had combined well down the right. The latter crossed the ball,
from inside the Ashford area, to Kelly, in the centre, but the No.9 smashed his
shot against the crossbar. But it was McCormack who put the game to bed with
Casuals’ third goal, just two minutes later. As Ashford pressed forward, a
swift break put the visitors’ defence in a 2 v 2 situation, with McCormack
attacking down the right. Plenty of green shirts managed to get back, but Kwabena
Osei fluffed a chance to head the ball clear. Eventually, a cross found
McCormack on the right side of the penalty area, and he did well to turn the
ball in.
With the confidence
that a three-goal cushion always gives, Walton Casuals then controlled the remainder
of the game, playing some nice football. Ashford were not without chances, with
Ira Jackson dragging a shot wide, after a particularly good move, in the 67th
minute, and then Shomari Barnwell being gifted the ball on the edge of the
Casuals’ area, after a complete aberration from a defender, in the 70th
minute, before pulling his shot across the face of goal.
The visitors cannot be
faulted for their effort, this afternoon, with Joe Bingham driving the team
forward from the deep midfield position he adopted during the second half, and
Andrew Dalhouse manfully leading the line, but it looked far more likely that
the home side was going to score more goals. As steady pressure was applied to
the Ashford defence, Michael McEntegart had to be alert in coming off his line
to thwart some slick passing movements.
Casuals Manager Anthony
Gale made a double substitution in the 78th minute – which allowed
Jason Whitmore to replace Shomari Barnwell with Matt Day, at the same time –
but the biggest impact was made when one Tyrell Richardson-Brown replaced Sean
McCormack, in the 82nd minute. Against a tiring Ashford defence,
Tyrell did a very passable impersonation of Marcus Rashford, with his pace down
the right flank. (So it’s interesting to recall that Tyrell scored only three
goals for Ashford United, earlier this season, at a rate of 501 minutes per
goal – which is a worse strike-rate than that achieved by the oft-maligned Sean
Bradshaw !).
Tyrell first
out-stripped the Ashford defence in the 84th minute, when a swift
break from the back sent him on his way with a 2 v 1 situation. He squared the
ball to Youseff Bamba, who shot wide. Two minutes later, Tyrell had a similar opportunity,
again showing great pace, but this time his cross failed to locate a teammate.
In the 88th
minute, Jason Whitmore made his third and final substitution, replacing George
McLennan, who had had a quiet game, with Clark Woodcock. It’s always good to
see Clark getting a run-out with the first team, but it seemed that
insufficient time remained for him to make an impact – but this was actually
not the case. Within seconds of coming on, Clark was found by Max Watters, wide
on the right. His first attempt at a cross was blocked, and it appeared that
the ball was going to bounce out for a throw-in, but it instead spun back to
Clark’s feet. This time, he delivered an excellent cross into the Casuals’
goalmouth, where Matt Day did very little wrong with a header from close range –
except that it went straight at the goalkeeper. As consolation goals go, that
would have been a gem – it would have been good to see the two Ashford
youngsters combine for a goal.
So there was to be no
consolation for the visitors. In fact, Ashford went 4-0 down with what was,
quite literally, the final kick of the game. And it was no surprise to see
Tyrell Richardson-Brown getting onto the scoresheet, doing what he had
threatened to do since he had been introduced, by Anthony Gale, for his
impressive cameo. Running onto a sharply delivered through-ball, he lifted the
ball over the advancing Michael McEntegart, and was no doubt delighted to see
it bounce into the net, off the far post.
My view is that the final
score of 4-0 did not flatter the home side – but it was no disgrace for the
Ashford boys to be beaten by a better team, this afternoon. The lads’ next game
will be away to second-placed Cray Wanderers, on Tuesday night. That will
undoubtedly be another stiff test for Jason Whitmore’s much-improved side.
