East Grinstead Town 1
Ashford United 2
from Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent
My second visit to East
Court, home of East Grinstead Town FC, this year, having attended the
corresponding fixture last season back in March. That meeting was towards the
end of a fairly bloodless campaign. Neither club had been able to put out a side
to threaten a mid-table position, yet there was little fear of relegation,
thanks to Shoreham having looked certain, from very early on, to occupy the
single relegation berth. That game was memorable for Clark Woodcock’s first
(and, so far, only) goal for Ashford, but the home side won the game 3-2. That
defeat meant that Ashford United’s away record in the league, at the time, was
Played 19, Drawn 4, Lost 15. Eventually, Ashford finished in 21st
place in the league, with East Grinstead Town 22nd – with only 20
teams in the division this season, both clubs will be looking for an
improvement.
It is fair to say that the
two clubs have strengthened since last season, with both starting today’s game tied
in 14th and 15th places, with 11 points from ten games.
However, Ashford went into this match as a team lacking in confidence, having gone
ten games without a win, and having gained just two points from the last seven
league games. On the limited evidence that I have seen, this season, Ashford’s
main problem appears to have been a lack of quality up front – so I was looking
forward to seeing Danny Parish, a 20 year-old striker signed from Thamesmead
Town, who scored on his debut in Ashford’s last game.
There were no ‘new’
faces, as such, on the team sheet for Ashford, but there were some very welcome
returning heroes. Chief among them was Joe Bingham, who captained United for a spell
last season. Joe added a muscular presence, and one or two biting tackles, to
our midfield today. I can imagine him forming a very useful partnership with
Sam Corne in central midfield. There were also two returners on the bench –
Luis Morrison and Brandon Williams – who are both recovering from injury. Luis
has been particularly missed in the centre of Ashford’s defence.
In terms of the starting
line-up, Matt Day was unfamiliar in a No.4 shirt – and started the game in a
deeper position than we are accustomed to seeing him in, on the left side of
midfield. Of the rest of the team, Josh Wisson and Ollie Rowe were in central
defence, in front of goalkeeper Sam Mott, with Jerald Aboagye and right-back
and Tom Carlse on the left. With Joe Bingham and Sam Corne anchoring the centre
of midfield, the front four were flexible with their positioning – but Harry
Ottaway was usually farthest forward, supported by Matt Day, Stefan Cox and Dan
Parish. For once, Gary Alexander had the luxury of naming five outfield
substitutes – alongside Luis Morrison and Brandon Williams were Clark Woodcock,
Ambrose Gnahore and Fidan Fejzi.
The name that
interested me in the East Grinstead line-up was that of Orlando Smith, who was
named at No.11 for the home side, both on the Football Web Pages website, and
on the team sheet that was pinned up at the ground. I was expecting to see the
Orlando Smith who played for Ashford Town in the 2008-9 season, and scored his
only goal for us in a league game away at Sittingbourne – but the young lad wearing
11 for the hosts this afternoon certainly wasn’t the Orlando we knew, and he
was identified with a different name by the PA announcer when he was
substituted.
This was a perfect
afternoon for watching footy. It was ridiculously mild for mid-November, and
the East Court stadium was looking a picture, with the woodland surrounding its
sloping pitch displaying all the colours of autumn. Unfortunately, the poor
quality of the play, from both sides, made this quite a hard ‘watch’ for the 144-strong
crowd. It was surprising to see semi-professional footballers give the ball
away with such regularity. This was particularly the case in the first half,
when the match looked more like a game of tennis than a game of football. I
actually hate tennis, but at least it is a sport that has given the world the
concept of the ‘unforced error’ – and there were plenty of those witnessed
today.
That said, there is no
doubt that Gary Alexander is striving to encourage his team to ‘play football’.
As usual, Ashford set out with a methodical approach, mostly keeping the ball
on the ground, and had most of the possession and did most of the attacking in
the opening minutes. The visitors actually had a clear chance to open the
scoring as early as the seventh minute, when Ollie Rowe, who had ventured
upfield for a corner, was picked out, totally unmarked in the penalty area, by
a good ball. With just Sheikh Ceesay to beat, Ollie immediately shot at goal,
but the ‘keeper saved with his feet.
East Grinstead’s first
chance came in the 15th minute. A break from defence saw two home
strikers bearing down on three back-peddling defenders. Nico Cotton set up
George Landais for a shot, but the No.9 blasted his effort well over the bar. A
minute later, Landais had a second opportunity. Joe Bingham was in possession,
but heading towards his own goal and under a great deal of pressure from
behind. He was unbalanced as he attempted to feed the ball back to the Ashford
back four, and so instead hit it straight to Landais. Taking the ball into the penalty
area, The Wasps’ forward struck his shot cleanly, but Sam Mott made a good,
diving save.
Nevertheless, Landais
didn’t have to wait long to get on the scoresheet, as he gave East Grinstead
the lead in the 20th minute. The goal was scored from the penalty
spot, but came about as a result of a good passing movement by the home side
which took the ball into the penalty area. Nico Cotton was in the process of
running onto a through ball when he was sent flying by a very obvious late
tackle from Ollie Rowe. It was clear to everyone in the ground that this was a
penalty, and so it was a very simple decision for the referee to make. This was
poor defending by Ollie, who was shown a yellow card for the challenge. Landais
took the ‘kick from the penalty mark’ well, slotting the ball firmly into the
bottom corner of the net, as Sam Mott dived the other way.
Rowe had a chance to
redeem himself in the 29th minute, when he rose above everyone at a
corner, but his header, from a Sam Corne cross, went just over the bar. A
minute later, Joe Bingham took a free-kick, after Matt Day had been fouled.
After the ball had been played into a crowded penalty area, it broke to Harry
Ottaway, whose attempt at a turn & shot in one movement, from 20 yards out,
went as wide as it was optimistic. Once again, Harry was impressive with his work
rate and movement – and maybe his poor scoring strike-rate owes something to the
amount of time he spends pulling out wide to the flanks and dropping deep to
pick up the ball. (The cruel statistic is currently one goal in 13.5 hours).
By stark contrast, [
spoiler alert ], Dan Parish has made an instant impact as a goal scorer, and conjured
up an equaliser for Ashford in the last scheduled minute of the first half.
Technically, Harry Ottaway could claim what the Americans would call an ‘assist’,
as he played a short ball to Parish that led to the goal – but this was very
much a solo effort. In fact, after 45 minutes of dross, after which 0-0 would
have been a fair reflection of the play, young Dan produced a moment of pure class.
Receiving the ball on the edge of the area, and with tall defender Jordan
Johnson right in front of him, Dan jinked to the right and then immediately
drilled the ball low, into the bottom corner of the net.
And it nearly got even
better for Ashford during the three minutes of added time at the end of the
first half. Sam Mott launched a high kick down the slope, deep into the home
half. Harry Ottaway got up well with his header, flicking the ball onto Dan
Parish, who was well inside the penalty area. He turned and shot, but this time
his effort was blocked.
Both teams played at a
noticeably higher tempo during the second half, and gave the ball away a little
less. Once again, it was Ashford who made the better start to the half, having
the majority of possession early on. For a brief period, the visitors’
formation changed, with Harry Ottaway playing in a deeper role, and Matt Day
and Dan Parish up front – but the men in green were unable to convert
possession into chances.
The first chance of the
second half fell to the home side, in the 61st minute, and this came
about as a result of good movement by George Landais, who was put through on
goal by Nico Cotton. It was a shock to see the Ashford defence split so
readily, but Sam Mott retrieved the situation, coming out to make a good save –
not for the only time this afternoon.
The resulting corner
came to nothing, but it did give the two managers the opportunity to make their
first substitution. As the injured Mitchell Chapman walked off very slowly and
feelingly, Grinstead manager Matt Longhurst replaced him with Jack Bray.
Ashford’s Gary Alexander, just a few minutes later, substituted Clark Woodcock
for Matt Day, and, to give credit where it’s due, both substitutions had an
impact – Woodcock with his pace down the left flank and Bray providing a viable
attacking option.
In fact, Jack Bray very
nearly restored East Grinstead’s lead in the 67th minute. After
Jerald Aboagye had committed a foul very near to the left touchline, Nico
Cotton took the free-kick and sent in a high cross to the far post. There, Bray
got up above the Ashford defence and connected well with a header, but Sam Mott
was in a good position to make a save. Two minutes later, Aboagye was guilty of
body-checking an opponent, in an almost identical position, and this time was
shown a yellow card by the ref. Once again, it was Cotton who took the
free-kick, looking for Bray’s shock of gingerish hair – and this time the No.14
put his header wide of goal.
At this stage of the game,
it was East Grinstead Town who appeared to be the more likely team to score the
next goal, having a succession of free-kicks and corners. It was also around
about this time that Ashford suffered a rash of yellow cards. Following soon
after Jerald Aboagye’s caution, Joe Bingham was booked for a late tackle, in
the 70th minute. This appeared to be a little harsh, as Joe was
attempting to play the ball, but he had earlier been given a ‘no more’ lecture
from the referee in the 55th minute, and so the yellow card was
probably earned as a result of an accumulation of offences. That was certainly
the case for the hard-working Stefan Cox – and the referee clearly indicated as
such – when he was yellow-carded after committing a foul in the 74th
minute.
In the 79th
minute, that man Jack Bray went close yet again. An excellent pass from Dean
Gunner put him clean through on goal, and Sam Mott did well to come out and
save at his feet. But the ball popped up in the air, and it appeared that Bray
had accepted the simple task of knocking the rebound into the net, but the ball
was cleared off the line by an Ashford defender who I have not yet been able to
identify.
With ten minutes to go,
Gary Alexander made his last roll of the dice, and this was a real ‘punt’,
putting on big, imposing centre-half Luis Morrison up front in place of Harry
Ottaway. Gaz Alex must have wished that Luis had been on the end of an
excellent cross that Clark Woodcock sent in from the left wing, just two
minutes later. In the event, it was the diminutive Dan Parish who was there
with the attempted header, and he lacked the inches to be able to get on top of
the ball.
But Clark Woodcock was
to be the substitute to make the telling contribution, in the 83rd
minute, as he once again showed good pace down the left flank and delivered a
dangerous cross. This time, Dan Parish caught up with the ball just beyond the
far post, forcing the ball into the net with his right foot, off the
goalkeeper, from almost point-blank range.
Having taken the lead,
Ashford held on for the three points fairly comfortably. In spite of there remaining
much room for improvement, this was a victory that will give Gary Alexander’s
squad a great deal of confidence. These were certainly a very welcome three
points, the win bringing to an end a winless streak of ten games. More
importantly, maybe, we have at last found a new goalscoring hero in Dan Parish.
Three goals from his first two games is an excellent start to his Ashford
career, and he certainly seems to have a touch of class about him.
One other player who
should certainly be ‘mentioned in dispatches’ is Sam Mott, who made several
good saves, without which the score line could have been rather different.
