Haywards Heath Town v Ashford United. Isthmian League Division 1 South-East. 7th of December 2019.

Haywards Heath Town 1

Ashford United 0

from Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent

First of all, Happy Pearl Harbor Day, everyone. And, appropriately enough, there was a nip in the air this morning.

So that gets the Pearl Harbor joke out of the way. I think I’ve probably used that particular gag about five times, now – whenever I go to an Ashford game on the 7^th of December.

Back in the world of dreams, today Ashford United travelled to West Sussex, to take on Haywards Heath Town – and I took advantage of the direct rail service between Luton and Haywards Heath and followed suit. Ashford had played four times since I last saw them – in the 2-2 draw away at Herne Bay – and they had won two and lost two. Others have described this as being further evidence of the team’s inconsistency this season. I disagree with this. I reckon that Tommy Warrilow’s squad has been remarkably consistent, in that they have beaten the teams occupying the lower reaches of the division but have been beaten by the better sides. During those last four games, convincing victories had come against struggling Hythe Town and Ramsgate, whilst we had lost to Whitehawk and Guernsey, conceding three goals in each match.

Given that analysis, it was difficult to know what to expect from today’s game, since Haywards Heath Town started the day well down the table, but with four or five games in hand of the other teams in the division. Haywards Heath are a decent team, and I reckon they are ‘nailed on’ to finish in the top half of the table at the end of the season. Therefore, a draw, or at least a very tight game, was probably the expectation. In truth, today’s contest really should have finished as a goalless draw. Unfortunately, a defensive howler by Mo Kamara, in the 43^rd minute, gifted the home side a half-time lead, and a very solid defensive display by our hosts ensured that Ashford never looked like getting on terms, in spite of dominating possession for at least the final hour of the match.

The defensive qualities of Haywards Heath apart, there was never a likelihood that I would be purring about this match being a ‘good advert’ for the Isthmian League, as there was not a great deal of quality shown in the final third of the pitch by either side. That is in spite of the two teams on show being among the better sides in the division. There was no excuse for this, as there were perfect footballing conditions today: a fairly mild day, for December, and barely a breath of wind. Tommy Warrilow was also able to field what was recognisable as being pretty much his strongest side. Club captain Sam Mott in goal, with a new-look central defensive pairing of Matt Bourne and Mohammed Kamara, with Jerald Aboagye and Jake McIntyre the full-backs on either side of them. The arrival of the experienced Bourne has enabled Josh Wisson to resume his defensive midfield role. The midfield quartet was completed by Lee Prescott in the centre, Aaron Condon the wide man and Tashi-Jay Kwayie, who very much pushed up in support of the usual strike pairing of Jay May and Dave Smith. On the subs bench were Tom O’Connor, Theo Osinfolarin, Levi Gold, Benjamin Binder and ‘keeper Lee Hook.

The game was played in a fairly low-key atmosphere. This was partly due to there being a small crowd, of just 102, but there was no chanting or singing from either set of supporters. The very vocal choir which used to follow Ashford United in away games appears to have long abandoned the cause, and their absence is almost certainly partly responsible for the fact that the average league gate at Homelands is currently 117 down on last season’s average. I am happy to report, however, that there were many familiar faces of long-standing supporters in attendance, and without this away following the gate would have been very meagre indeed.

The Haywards Heath Town support is certainly not the most vocal, but the home fans were woken up early when The Blues, playing in blue & white striped shirts, blue shorts and blue sockies, launched an attack straight from the kick-off. Ryan Warwick carried the ball deep into the Ashford penalty area, but his shot went high and wide. Early half-chances for Ashford fell to Dave Smith and Tashi-Jay Kwayie. In the eleventh minute, Smith got on the end of a very long clearance from Sam Mott, taking the ball on his chest just 20 yards from goal, but his curling shot went well wide. Three minutes later, Tashi-Jay’s long-range shot went well over the bar, hitting nothing but the tall netting protecting the block of flats situated just behind the goal.

There were two other chances created by The Blues during this early period. In the 18^th minute, Callum Saunders dinked a through ball into the Ashford penalty area, in the path of centre-forward Trevor McCreadie. This seemed all too easy, from the point of view of the Ashford defence, but the striker’s weak shot was well saved by Sam Mott. Three minutes later, a good, cross-field move by the home side ended with Saunders putting a low cross into the centre. This found right-back Hamish Morrison, of all people, in the six-yard box; he attempted to neatly guide the ball past Sam Mott, but instead deflected it straight to the Ashford ‘keeper.

From about the half-hour mark, Ashford United began the enjoy the majority of possession and territorial advantage, but without being able to breach the Haywards Heath defence. David Smith, in particular, was very closely marked, and had very little space in which to work. As a man who had gone into this game as Ashford’s top scorer, having a strike rate of almost a goal a game, (he had actually scored 17 goals, at a rate of a goal every 105 minutes), it is probably fair to say that Haywards Heath had done their homework properly.

Just as it appeared that the half was about to end goalless, and at about the time that I was thinking that Ashford might have a problem scoring if the home side somehow managed to get a goal, that is precisely what happened. In the 43^rd minute, Mo Kamara received a square ball from his defensive partner, Matt Bourne, and had acres of space in front of him. Mo has shown, on at least two occasions this season, that he is perfectly capable of slaloming with the ball between opponents, and beating an entire team. Like a hound who had suddenly heard the hunter’s horn, he bounded forward from deep inside his own half. He had already got up a good head of steam when he encountered his first obstacle, in the person of Kieran Rowe. Unfortunately for Kamara and Ashford, Rowe’s tackle was a good one, and, having robbed the United defender, he was clean through on goal. It was a chance to score handed to him on a plate, but Rowe took the opportunity brilliantly, rounding Sam Mott with a classy drop of the shoulder, to virtually walk the ball into the net. So The Blues went in at half time with a 1-0 lead.

The second half was all Ashford, as the visitors continued as they had ended the first half. On the plus side, there was no shortage of effort from Warrilow’s men, and they did well to continually win the ball back, and maintain a fairly constant pressure. Ashford’s problem, however, not for the first time this season, is that they lacked the skill and the guile to break down a good, well organised defence. Generally, The Blues’ defence held a strong line in front of their 18-yard box. When the ball did enter the box, it either did not fall to an Ashford player, or there were plenty of blue & white-shirted bodies available to make a block.

The result was that Luke Glover, in the Haywards Heath goal, had very little to do. He did, however, have to make a save in the 51^st minute, after a free-kick was awarded to Ashford for a foul on David Smith. This was taken by Jake McIntyre, who managed to curl his shot over a four-man wall, but this was straight at Glover, who easily made the save. In the 57^th minute, Tashi-Jay Kwayie had a ‘double attempt’ from inside the penalty area, but both of his shots were blocked.

The first Ashford substitution was made in the 63^rd minute, when striker Jay May was replaced by gifted midfielder Tom O’Connor, with Kwayie pushing up to partner Dave Smith in attack. This might have been partly for tactical reasons, but Jay did limp off rather feelingly. Tom immediately added a hint of creativity to the midfield, put was unable to have a telling impact. There was a brief scare for the home defence in the 65^th minute, when a long throw from Jake McIntyre was allowed to bounce inside The Blues’ six-yard area, before being collected by Luke Glover; then, seconds later, Lee Prescott almost succeeded in putting Kwayie through on goal, but Tashi-Jay was unable to control the ball, managing only to poke the ball to the waiting goalkeeper.

It was a measure of the extent of the Ashford pressure that, when the home side eventually got the ball upfield, winning a corner, they conspicuously took as much time out of the game as they possibly could before taking it. Callum Saunders sauntered over to the corner flag at a pallbearer’s pace. When the kick was eventually taken, it ended with a Blues player hitting a shot that was so wild that it ended up on the roof of the block of flats behind the goal.

Ashford did not help their cause with some wayward shooting, when attempting to threaten Luke Glover’s goal from distance. In the 74^th minute, Glover made a punched clearance from a corner from the right. The ball bounced towards Lee Prescott. The experienced Ashford No.7 had plenty of time in which to steady himself, and hit the ball cleanly, and he made measured strides towards the ball – but cluelessly hit it high and wide. In the 80^th minute, Prescott had another attempt at a long-range shot, after Aaron Condon had squared the ball to him, but he again hit it high over the bar. Do the players ever practise shooting? (Asking for a friend).

So the game very much resembled an ‘attack v defence’ exercise during the second half – in which case the defence won emphatically, and, for that reason, Haywards Heath deserved the three points for the victory. I feel that Ashford might have deserved a point for sheer persistence and effort, but it was not to be. The final squeak of a chance in ‘normal time’ came in the 83^rd minute. Jerald Aboagye sent in a long cross from the right. This was headed back across the face of goal, almost under Luke Glover’s crossbar, and there were pleas for a penalty as Tashi-Jay Kwayie challenged for the high ball at the far post, but the referee waved these away.

Tommy Warrilow’s final throw of the dice was to replace Josh Wisson with striker Levi Gold, to form a three-man strike force, but this was too late for the change to have any impact. Hope was finally extinguished when, a minute into injury time, Dave Smith went into what looked to be a 50-50 challenge, which ended with both players on the turf injured, and a crowd of players indulging in a spot of mild ‘hand-bags’. The upshot was that both David Smith and Levi Gold were shown a yellow card – to add to the yellow card that had been shown to Haywards Heath’s Ryan Warwick, on the hour mark, for a foul on Jake McIntyre.

The extended delay was just what Haywards Heath wanted, of course, and it appeared to have taken the game pretty much to full time, but the match continued deep into the early evening. In fact, as much as eight minutes was added on for stoppages. It was during this time that Ashford had their two best chances of the half, resulting in two excellent saves by Glover, who finally had to show what he was capable of. First, he made a good, reflex save when a shot emerged from a crowded goal mouth; then, he came swiftly out of his goal to thwart a Mo Kamara cross after the Ashford centre-back had penetrated deep inside the Haywards Heath penalty area.

So Ashford left the Hanbury Park Stadium empty-handed, having once again come up short when confronted by one of the division’s better teams. In spite of the gloom, we remain within the play-off zone, dropping one place in the league, from fourth to fifth. United face VCD Athletic in the Kent Senior Cup on Tuesday, but the next league match, next Saturday, will be against leaders Hastings United. Unless there is an improvement in the ‘final third’ of the field, I fear we might struggle to get anything from that game.

Herne Bay v Ashford United. Isthmian League Division 1 South-East. 16th of November 2019.

Herne Bay  2

Ashford United  2

from Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent

It is difficult to predict the direction in which Ashford United’s season will go. The narrative at the start of the season was that, after an excellent 2018-19 season, which culminated in a fourth-place finish and being denied promotion to the Isthmian Premier Division only after extra time in the play-off final, it would be more difficult this season for Tommy Warrilow, given the need to operate with a smaller playing budget. However, Tommy’s boys appeared to make light of the loss of several star players at the start of this season, by reeling off five straight league wins.

But closer analysis of this start to the campaign now reveals that this might have been a bit of a false dawn, since four of the five teams that Ashford beat were positioned between 15^th and 20^th in the table at the start of today. It is therefore hardly surprising that the lads then lost the next three league games – against teams currently in the top four of the division – but the apparent slump in form had certainly seemed to be taking a toll on the lads’ confidence. That is why it was very important that they emerged with a win away at Whyteleafe on Tuesday night, a hard-fought 3-4 win, with both of the club’s main strikers, David Smith and Jay May, getting on the scoresheet.

For the record, Whyteleafe were 11^th in the table this morning. Today’s opponents, Herne Bay, started the match in seventh position, a place and two points behind Ashford, having played two games more. That means that the lads’ task today was to achieve a league victory over the highest-placed team in the division since the 1-2 win at Phoenix Sports in the season’s opening fixture.

I was thoroughly looking forward to this match, not least because it was my first visit to Winch’s Field. In fact, I can’t remember having previously been to Herne Bay, the town of my Mother’s birth. Although I’m not particularly a ‘box-ticker’, today’s excursion means that the remaining important non-league grounds in Kent that I have not attended are now just those of Ebbsfleet United, Margate, Faversham Town and Deal Town – oh, and Hythe Town.

As I had expected, Winch’s Field is a typical, old-fashioned (and that’s a compliment) non-league football ground, set among the semi-detached properties of the local community. Not a pre-fabbed stand in sight. The main stand is long, extending for almost the length of the pitch, on one side, and there is covered terracing at each end. In fact, Herne Bay FC seems to be a proper, well-supported football club. Today’s excellent attendance, of 355, was swelled by Ashford United’s usual strong away following, but this is the first time that I have been to a league match at which there were more home fans behind the goal than Ashford fans at the other end. (And they made more noise, on this occasion).

Sam Mott once again wore the captain’s armband, in goal, for Ashford – and I was delighted to see former Ashford United favourite George Kamurasi in goal for Herne Bay. Big George was a key member of Ashford’s 2016-17 double-winning side, and also played for us during the two seasons either side of that campaign.

Ramell Lake once again wore the No.3 shirt – which no doubt had something to do with the fact that Mr & Mrs McIntyre had just given birth to a baby – but the rest of the Ashford side appeared to be pretty much as expected. Josh Wisson and Mo Kamara were in central defence, with Jerald Aboagye at right-back. Danny Walder and Tom O’Connor were in central midfield, with Aaron Condon out on the left, no doubt with a remit to supply some quality crosses, and the returning Laurent Mendy on the right side of midfield. Laurent played in five full games for us at the end of last season, including all four hours of the two play-off games, in addition to making four substitute appearances. Jay May and David Smith led the attack today, having scored three goals between them in Ashford’s 3-4 victory over Whyteleafe on Tuesday. My assumption is that Zak Henry was absent due to suspension, following his recent red card.

Tommy warrilow was able to name a full quota of five substitutes today – Benjamin Binder, Tashi-Jay Kwayie, Theo Osinfolarin, Levi Gold and Lee Prescott – whilst there were just three bums on the home side’s bench. Two names that leapt from the Herne Bay teamsheet were Zak Ansah, (because that’s a scary prospect for any opposing team), and Laurence Harvey, who played as a young central defender for Ashford Town in 2009-10, and for Ashford United in 2011-12. He has developed into a big, strapping lighthouse of a centre-half !

The match began beneath a covering of high, grey cloud, which persisted for the duration of the match, and the Winch’s Field floodlights were illuminated as early as the eighth minute – and it was the home side that made the brighter start. In the opening seconds, Tushuan-Tyreese Walters, to name but three, sent in a cross from near to the right corner flag, which was met by his strike partner, Zak Ansah, but Ansah failed to make a clean contact, and Sam Mott gathered easily. Soon afterwards, Walters was again on the attack, and cut inside left-back Ramell Lake far too easily for Ashford fans’ liking. He shot for goal, but his weak shot went wide. Walters and Ansah were to look dangerous for the remainder of the half.

Ashford’s first opportunity was created in the 11^th minute, and this was a tremendous solo effort from centre-back Mohammed Kamara. A long kick-out from Big George was taken on the chest by Kamara, deep inside his own half, and a slaloming run took him as far as the edge of the Herne Bay penalty area, but he fired a fairly wild shot wide.

The Bay took the lead in the 17^th minute, and it was a goal that demonstrated the home side’s attacking quality. It came after an Ashford attack had broken down, and Bay turned defence into attack in an instant, soon having a two v two situation with the Ashford back line. Tushaun-Tyreese Walters carried the ball into the Ashford half, and had support from Zak Ansah on his left – but he required no assistance, showing great footwork to beat two players before slotting the ball home from a distance of about 15 yards.

The first half of this game was generally fairly even in terms of possession, but Herne Bay appeared to be the better organised and more coherent side, and had more pace, and more quality in attack.

David Smith did force Big George into making a save, in the 20^th minute, when he made room for a shot from 20 yards out - but the Ashford defence was backpedaling, just seconds later, as the home side rapidly counter-attacked once again, being halted only by an offside flag. Jay May worked tremendously hard all game, but received little decent service this afternoon, spending most of his time either flicking on long clearances in the direction of David Smith, or dropping very deep in search of the ball. May went on a solo run, in the 25^th minute, through the heart of the Herne Bay defence, which he attempted to finish by placing a toe-poked shot just inside George Kamurasi’s left-hand post. Big George was able to make the save, but was at full stretch, diving low.

But the best chances in the first half fell to the home side. In the 32^nd minute, Mo Kamara was unable to organise his feet in time to clear an attempted through-ball, and so this let Walters through on goal once again, but this time Sam Mott came out to make a save. Two minutes later, Zak Ansah showed brilliant skill when, with his back to goal, just outside the penalty area, he turned and nutmegged Josh Wisson in a single, fluid movement. Leaving Josh several yards behind, Ansah had just Sam Mott to beat. He tried to do so by placing the ball to Sam’s left, for what would have been a beautiful and (at this level) quite astonishing goal, but the ball rolled just wide.

However, Ansah’s quality was to shine through, in the last minute of the first half, when he put Bay 2-0 up. The Ashford defence was in a little disarray as the home side counter-attacked after an Ashford move had broken down, and the ball broke fairly conveniently into the path of Keiron Campbell. The Herne Bay No.11 spread the ball to Ansah, in acres of unmarked space on the left, and he had all the time he needed to steady himself and measure a chip into the far corner of the net.      

Earlier, in the 37^th minute, Daniel Lawrence had received the first of seven yellow cards that were shown, in what was never a dirty match. This was for a tackle from behind on Tom O’Connor. Three minutes later, Jay May had also been booked, after he had dropped particularly deep, well into his own half, in fact, in order to pick up possession. As he was approached by a Herne Bay player, Jay instinctively stretched out a fully-extended arm in order to hold off his opppnent’s challenge. Unfortunately for both men, Jay’s hand connected with the face, and so the referee deemed it worthy of a yellow card.  

So the situation looked pretty grim for Ashford at half time. They had been clearly second-best to a team beginning the afternoon seventh in the division, and the squad was beginning to take on a fairly mid-table-ish look. But, to the surprise of many, the boys showed tremendous character to not only dominate the second half, but also score a couple of goals to earn a point that had looked unlikely on the evidence of the first 45 minutes. It is fair to say that the first half-hour of the second half was ‘all Ashford’, but in spite of fairly monopolising possession of the ball, the visitors made little impression on the Herne Bay defence. In fact, the home side looked more likely to score from an occasional lightning-fast break.

Much of the credit for the turn-around in the game must go to Ashford manager Tommy Warrilow, who made a tactical change at half-time, sending on the attacking midfield player Tashi-Jay Kwayie in place of left-back Ramell Lake, and so relying on a three-man back line, with Josh Wisson in the centre.

Kwayie actually came closest to scoring for Ashford during the early part of the half when, in the 49^th minute, following a corner on the left, he hit the bar with a looping header. But Herne bay went even closer to scoring, in the 59^th minute, when another very fast break sent Walters clean through on goal again. A goal here probably would have wrapped up the three points for the home side, but Sam Mott kept his team in the game, with a good save. There was another scare for the Ashford captain in the 69^th minute, when he saved a long-range shot from Thomas Carlton, but then had to smother Ryan King-Elliott’s attempt to put the ball in from the rebound.

Ashford continued to mount attacks on the Bay defence, and gained reward for the fairly constant pressure in the 70^th minute. It was probably inevitable that the ball would fall nicely to an Ashford player in an attacking position sooner or later, and it was appropriate that that man should be the substitute, Tashi-Jay Kwayie. And he made no mistake, thumping the ball home, from about 15 yards.

Tashi ‘celebrated’ the goal by getting himself yellow-carded, just four minutes later, for what looked to be a fairly obvious, and fairly daft, late tackle.

And so the half continued along much the same lines, with Ashford pressing forward and dominating possession, and Herne Bay maintaining an acute threat on the counter-attack. There were certainly good chances for the home side to score a third goal. In the 80^th minute, the diminutive Keiron Campbell sprung out of a defensive position with a turn of pace that the current Ashford squad simply doesn’t possess. As Campbell charged into the deserted Ashford half, Josh Wisson came across with a desperate attempt at making a saving tackle. Josh, who again impressed, this afternoon, always looked like he was going to come second in this race, and the most likely outcome appeared to be that he would miss the ball, clean up his man and be sent off – but Josh somehow managed to avoid both runner and ball. Campbell sped away, bearing down on the Ashford goal, but Sam Mott was able to save the eventual shot at his near post.

In the 83^rd minute, (two minutes after Tommy Warrilow had replaced Danny Walder, a holding midfielder, with Levi Gold, a striker), the three-man Ashford defence was again left to deal with a fast Herne Bay raid. This time, it was Zak Ansah who tried to hit the target, but his low, well-hit shot was foiled by an equally well executed save.

Ashford were rewarded for clearly ‘winning the second half’ with an equaliser just a minute from normal time. A cross came in from the right, and Big George was screaming at his defence to clear the ball from his six-yard line. For once, the defence failed to do so, and David Smith took the opportunity to swivel on the loose ball and fire home from close range.

There was a feeling that this would be the final meaningful action in the match, with both sides leaving Winch’s Field with a point, but there were still plenty of incidents to come, with the game extending for a further ten minutes, once injury time and injury time for injuries inflicted during injury time had been added on.

First, on the stroke of the 90^th minute, Tushaun-Tyreese Walters received a yellow card for a late tackle on Laurent Mendy; this was his second yellow card, so this led to him being sent off, necessitating the short walk from the touchline on the far side to the dressing room. Five minutes into injury time, Levi Gold picked up a yellow card and David Smith went down injured, limping off, to be replaced by Theo Osinfolarin. There were also chances created at each end of the pitch, the last of these, at 4.55pm, being a Herne Bay free-kick, with Zak Ansah standing over the ball. It needed little imagination to envisage Ansah winning the match with a final piece of sublime skill, but his shot at goal went inches wide.

So not a totally convincing performance by Ashford, but the point was well deserved, given that the manager had had the courage to change things at half time, and the players had responded by putting in a much improved second-half performance. In fact, a pretty good week’s work for Tommy Warrilow and his boys, with four points gained from two matches, both of them away from home, and both of them against a good team. The point lifts Ashford up a place, to fifth, which constitutes a play-off berth. There is still room for improvement in what remains of the season – and we have only played ten of our 38 games – but there is surely cause for optimism that Ashford can continue to nibble away at those play-off positions.

Sevenoaks Town v Ashford United. Isthmian League Division 1 South-East. 19th of October 2019.

Sevenoaks Town  3   

Ashford United  0

 

From Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent

The corresponding fixture last season, which took place almost exactly a year ago (give or take a couple of days), was notable for some Ashford United fans’ very vociferous and very determined protest aimed at Sevenoaks manager Micky Collins. That involved a litany of personal insults hurled at Collins from the high ground at one end of the Greatness Park pitch, before, during and after the match, which the home side won 1-0. The winning manager hardly endeared himself to the Ashford faithful when he smacked our (then) manager, Gary Alexander, around the back of the head at the conclusion of the game.

Much has changed since last year. Alexander has moved on to be manager at Glebe, in the Southern Counties East League, being succeeded at Ashford by Tommy Warrilow. Collins is still in charge at Sevenoaks, but I was a little surprised to find that there was a semblance of a protest at today’s game. It involved just a handful of people, and a drum and some banners, and I heard no insults descending in the breeze, so it appeared to be more of a vigil than a protest.

It was actually a day of protests, with a huge march organised in London in support of a ‘people’s vote’ on Brexit. I was a little concerned that the influx of people to the capital might jeopardise my trip across ‘town’ to Sevenoaks, but there were no problems. There were plenty of marchers passing through Charing Cross Station, with various banners – my favourite was a very simple one, featuring a photo of Boris Johnson with the caption “Liar – Charlatan – Twat”. But I was heading to a far more important event than a demonstration about the country’s democratic soul and future economic prosperity – I was off to Greatness Park for the clash of the teams lying in second and third place in the Isthmian League Division 1 South-East.

Whatever limitations Micky Collins might have in terms of inter-personal skills and the ability to make friends and influence people, there is no doubt that he has done a wonderful job as manager of Sevenoaks Town. Having gained promotion to the Isthmian League at the end of the 2017-18 season – a year after Danny Lye led Ashford United to promotion by the same route – Collins managed the club to a very respectable tenth-place finish last season. The football club was arguably already punching above its weight, (rather like its manager), during that campaign, and there is a suggestion that the club can take things to the next level this time around. Today’s deserved 3-0 victory over Ashford United means that Sevenoaks top the table this evening, with Ashford slipping down to fourth.

There will be no panic buttons pressed at Homelands after today’s poor result, given that this was only Ashford’s seventh league game of the season, but the worry for Tommy Warrilow and all concerned with the club is that the current squad has been found wanting when coming up against two of the better teams in the division – Sevenoaks today, and Cray Valley Paper Mills, the team currently third in the table, two weeks ago.

One mitigating factor is that the relatively small Ashford United squad was involved in an FA Trophy replay, which went to extra time, on Tuesday evening. That is not to say that the lads looked tired or jaded this afternoon. In fact, for the first hour of the match, Ashford looked perfectly capable of winning the game, given the number of chances that they managed to create, even though Oaks had taken a 1-0 lead just before half time. No, the problem, this afternoon, appeared to be a lack of quality up front in the finishing department. If the lads were lacking anything, it appeared to be more a lack of confidence in front of goal than a lack of energy – which is a little strange for a team that went into today’s game having won nine games out of 13 so far this season.

Tommy Warrilow opted for what looked like a 4-1-3-2 formation today, (although I’m no expert on these things). Theo Osinfolarin retained his place at left-back, a position he occupied in the Trophy replay, away at Witham Town, in midweek, meaning the man normally in that position, Jake McIntyre, had to settle for a place on the bench. Similarly, goalkeeper Aaron Lee-Wharton was named as a sub, having filled in for Sam Mott last Saturday, since Motty played in goal today, and wore the captain’s armband. The remainder of the back five consisted of Mo Kamara and Josh Wisson in central defence, with Jerald Aboagye at right-back. Zak Henry played deep, just in front of the back four. Hassan Ibrahiym, who scored Ashford’s two goals on Tuesday night, was in midfield with Lee Prescott, with wide-left man Aaron Condon making up the midfield trio. Jay May and David Smith resumed their ‘little & large’ act up front.

The substitutes bench was completed by Danny Walder, Ramell Lake and Benjamin Binder – but I should point out that Ashford used no substitutes at all, this afternoon, which suggests that Tommy Warrilow has learnt something from his old boss, Neil Cugley !

It was in the 42^nd minute that the home side took the lead, but up to that point Ashford had looked the team most likely to prise open the opposition’s defence, in spite of having looked a little shaky at the back sometimes. The visitors had not been shy about using ‘Route 1’ football, (which I have no problem with), and the preferred weapon seemed to be the long ball looking for the head of Jay May, which would flick the ball into the path of David Smith. May also showed himself to be very adept at sliding the short ball through the Sevenoaks high defensive line, but nobody in the yellow shirt of Ashford was able to muster enough quality to supply a finish.

The first clear chance for the visitors came in the 12^th minute, when Zak Henry made a rare run forward, exploiting the space that opened up before him, before sliding the ball left, to David Smith – but Smith pulled his shot wide. Three minutes later, it was Jay May’s turn to miss. Having set up an attack with a ‘trademark’ flicked header for Smith to run onto, May soon had the chance to finish it off when running onto a square pass, but his shot was horribly miscued.

Ashford’s best chance of the first half came in the 18^th minute, after some brilliant work by Aaron Condon. With the aid of deft dummy, inside his own half, Condon was away and free down the left flank. He laid on an inch-perfect pass for David Smith to run onto, inside the penalty area. Smith did just about everything right, taking the ball around goalkeeper Patrick Lee, but Lee probably did his job in forcing the Ashford striker wide, making him shoot from quite an acute angle, and Smith’s low shot hit the far post.

Ashford looked most vulnerable in defence when attempting to play the ball out from the back – which is something that they very much share with one of the 2018 World Cup semi-finalists. There is probably some Spanish technical term for this business of passing the ball around in your own penalty area, instead of hoofing the ball clear, but to fans of non-league football it is simply ‘fannying around at the back’. And this fannying around nearly cost the visitors a goal in the 23^rd minute, when one of the Ashford defenders, with Sam Mott out of his goal in order to take part in the passing game, presented the ball to ex-Ashford United forward Adrian Stone, who was standing on the edge of the 18-yard line. Stone really should have scored, but instead side-footed the ball against the bar.

Of course, it was great to see Adrianho still playing at this level. One of my favourite all-time Ashford players, having also played during the Ashford Town era, he scored eleven goals, at a rate of a goal every 116 minutes, in Ashford United’s double-winning 2016-17 season. Frazer Walker, who played at right-back for Sevenoaks Town this afternoon, also played a big part in that promotion-winning season, and the home side’s No.11, Tyrell Richardson-Brown, scored three goals for Ashford during the following season (2017-18).

The Ashford defence had another dodgy moment approaching the half-hour mark, when there was some confusion between Mo Kamara and Sam Mott as to who was going to deal with a through-ball from the Sevenoaks defence. This gave an opportunity to Frankie Sawyer, who looked to be the home side’s most dangerous player, with his pace and movement, to nip in between the two – but Kamara saved the situation with a brilliant tackle.

Just prior to this, in the 24^th minute, Dave Smith had spoilt a neat one-two between himself and Jay May, with a heavy touch, just as he was through on goal, enabling Patrick Lee to come out and collect. Hassan Ibrahiym also wasted a chance, in the 30^th minute, when he shot wide after carrying the ball deep inside the Sevenoaks half, ignoring several good opportunities to pass the ball.

Oaks actually had the ball in the back of the Ashford net (for the first time) in the 33^rd minute, after a sustained attack during which Ashford were unable to clear the ball, but only after the referee had blown his whistle for a free-kick. However, most chances in the first half were created, and missed, by Ashford. In the 34^th minute, David Smith did well to beat two players inside the Sevenoaks penalty area, but his chipped cross to finish the move was careless, and went over Aaron Condon’s head. Smith also won a free-kick in a dangerous area, in the 38^th minute, when he managed to convince the referee that he had been bundled over from behind, (as strikers do), but Lee Prescott’s shot at goal from the resulting free-kick was always going well over the bar.

So Sevenoaks might have been second-best during the first half, in terms of the number of chances created, but they were soon 2-0 up, thanks to a couple of well-taken goals – one in each half - from corners. The first of these, three minutes before half time, was a beauty. The ball was slung in from the left, and centre-half Daniel Cumber met the ball on the full volley, a couple of feet from the ground, and steered it into the corner of the net. For some reason, in the confusion that followed the goal, Ashford captain Sam Mott managed to get himself a yellow card, (for something he said to the ref, maybe).

It was very important for the visitors to hit back as soon as possible in the second half, and we were possibly unlucky not to do so. Almost straight from the kick-off, Mo Kamara went on a run through the midfield area. He fed the ball through to David Smith, who, in spite of being tightly marked, and with his back to goal, managed to turn and shoot. Lee, in the Sevenoaks goal, got down to save, but, not for the first time this afternoon, was unable to gather the ball, and Jay May, following up, neatly dinked the ball over him and into the net. The realisation immediately sunk in that the referee had already blown his whistle. (He was making that signal with his hand that referees make to indicate an offside decision – but this particular ref had one or two episodes of signalling the wrong reason for a free-kick when his lino put the flag up).

The second half was generally much more even in terms of the number of chances created by the two sides, with the Ashford defence being breached several times. On one such occasion, in the 49^th minute, a Sevenoaks move flowing from right to left found Kyle De Silva with a clear sight of goal, but he pulled his shot wide.

But Ashford strived hard for an equaliser during the early part of the second half, and in the 50^th minute, we had what looked to be a good shout for a penalty. Aaron Condon was making his way along the by-line, when his cross clearly struck a Sevenoaks hand, but cries for a penalty were immediately waved away by the ref. In the 54^th minute, Josh Wisson, who was really solid this afternoon, sent in a long-range shot that went just too high, then, two minutes later, Jay May met a corner from the right with what would have been a perfect downward header, but this was comfortably blocked on the line by a Sevenoaks defender.

On the hour, Lee Prescott was guilty of a slightly embarrassing ‘air shot’, after the ball was pulled back from the by-line, but his failure to put foot to ball almost had more serious consequences for his team just two minutes later. Attempting a clearance from his own 18-yard area, he missed completely, the ball bouncing up to strike him on the hand. This looked like a clear penalty, but the ref again waved away the penalty appeals.

Chances continued to be created at both ends. In the 66^th minute, Kyle De Silva again found himself with a clear sight of goal, with time to set himself for a shot – but his effort hit the far post. A minute later, David Smith went clear, in the inside-left channel, and this time struck the ball really cleanly, but his shot was well saved by Patrick Lee in the Sevenoaks Town goal. Then, in the 68^th minute, Micky Collins made the first of his two substitutions of the afternoon, sending on his son, Louis, in place of striker Frankie Sawyer.

The Ashford defence appeared to be fast asleep, in the 70^th minute, when two simple passes found Kyle De Silva completely unmarked in the penalty area – but The Oaks’ No.7 hit his shot just wide.

A major turning point in the game came in the 72^nd minute. Jay May got up well to meet a long cross from the right, heading the ball down to David Smith in the centre, just a few yards from goal. It seemed certain that Smith would score, but Patrick Lee somehow managed to keep the ball out. Then, in the 78^th minute, Sevenoaks scored that all-important second goal. From a tackle from Josh Wisson, the ball broke to Adrian Stone, in time and space, but his shot was well saved by Sam Mott. However, from the resulting corner, Adrianho got up well to meet a deep cross and plant the ball into the net.

Go – o – o – a – l       A – dri – a – a – nho – oo – oo

That goal effectively ended the game as a contest, but there was still time for a fair amount of farce, and some nastiness. In the 82^nd minute, David Smith and Ben Gorham challenged for a high ball, with Gorham ending up on the floor with blood trickling from his brow, gesturing that he had been struck by Smith’s elbow. There appeared to be no intent involved here, and the referee clearly agreed, as Smith received no more than a yellow card. Three minutes later, however, Gorham took the opportunity for what looked to be clear retaliation for the elbow in the face, and so he was probably fortunate that the colour of the card that he saw was also yellow. That incident seemed daft enough, but, just a minute later, Ryan Fowler was guilty of a nasty-looking tackle on Hassan Ibrahiym, and this time the referee had no hesitation in pulling out the red card. It seemed to be a fairly brainless thing for Gorham to do, with the three points already in the bag.

Micky Collins made his second, and final, substitution in the final minute of normal time, with Alec Fiddes replacing Adrianho for the six minutes that the referee had added on. It was in the fifth of those six minutes that Sevenoaks finished off a very good afternoon for the club with a third goal. It was a fairly tired and sloppy goal, from the point of view of the visitors, as the ball was given away, allowing Louis Collins a free run on goal. Collins still had Sam Mott to beat, but did this expertly, rounding the ‘keeper and calmly slotting the ball home – like watching Jimmy Greaves, it was.

So a pretty good day for Collins Snr, with his boy getting onto the scoresheet late on, and the fact that Hastings United dropped two points at Haywards Heath this afternoon sent his team to the top of the table - but plenty for Tommy Warrilow to think about, with this being his heaviest league defeat as Ashford United manager.

East Grinstead Town v Ashford United. Isthmian League Division 1 South-East. 21st of September 2019.

East Grinstead Town  1

Ashford United  3

from Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent

First game of the season for me - and Ashford’s eighth – although I did turn up for the game at Whyteleafe last week. On that occasion, ten minutes before kick-off, what sounded like a space ship descended upon the ground and landed on the pitch. Sadly, it was an air ambulance, and because it had come to attend to the mother of one of the Whyteleafe players, the match was, quite rightly, called off.

There were no such problems today, though. It was the perfect Saturday. A cloudless, late-September afternoon. All the trains ran on time – and Ashford United won away. Today’s win lifts Ashford to second in the division. More importantly, it maintains our 100% record in the league, after five games. Sevenoaks Town are the current leaders, a point ahead of us, but having played two games more.

After last season’s highest-ever finish for the Club since The Reformation – fourth in the Isthmian League Division 1 South East – the narrative over the summer was that things would be tougher for us this time around, in the light of a significant cut in the playing budget. That may well eventually turn out to be the case, but there has been no sign of this so far. On the evidence of my first sight of the boys, we appear to have a very solid team, and I would trust in Tommy Warrilow’s experience and pedigree as a manager to ensure that we are there or thereabouts, challenging for promotion, at the end of the season.

The team news, on arrival at the ground, was that our hosts, East Grinstead Town, had made six changes since their last match – which was probably a reflection of The Wasps starting the day third-bottom of the league, having managed just the three points from their first six games. For Ashford, Jay May, with just one goal to his name so far this season, had been relegated to the bench, with Tashi-Jay Kwayie playing further forward, to partner David Smith up front. This change might have been partly to do with the fact that Tommy Warrilow had a new name to put on the team sheet, that of Aaron Condon, who wore the No.11 shirt this afternoon. Another slight surprise (to me) was that Sam Mott, our goalie, was Ashford’s captain, although the rest of the team had a very familiar ring about it, with Warrilow having stuck with pretty much the same team during the season to date: Josh Wisson and Mohammed Kamara in central defence; Jerald Aboagye at right-back and Jake McIntyre at left-back; Danny Walder, Zak Henry, Lee Prescott and Aaron Condon in midfield. Joining Jay May on the bench were Hassan Ibrahiym, Levi Gold, Theo Osinfolarin (a name which seems vaguely elvish) and spare goalie Lee Hook.

It’s always a pleasure to come here. East Court is an entirely tree-lined ground, set in parkland, and it’s a pleasant 20 minutes’ walk from East Grinstead Rail Station – left at the church, past the tennis courts and then through Mount Noddy Cemetery (which is a damn silly name for a cemetery – sounds like an instruction to Big Ears).

The pitch also looked a picture – flat and with short grass – and this probably contributed a great deal to an entertaining and fast-paced first half. The first 20 minutes were particularly full of action, with each team scoring at the beginning and the end of this period of play.

It was Ashford who scored first, with Aaron Condon taking just five minutes to get off the mark for his new club. A long cross from Jerald Aboagye, from the right, found Condon near the left edge of the penalty area. Rather than crossing the ball, his first touch took him past the defender, with the ball now on his right foot, and he placed a low shot under the body of goalkeeper Brannon Daly.

But the home side came back at Ashford with plenty of good, fast football, and looked anything but a side having just two teams below them in the league. Just a minute after going behind, they had a corner. This was taken short, resulting in a firm shot from an acute angle, which required a good, diving save from Sam Mott. Five minutes later, a long clearance from Mott created a three-against-three situation for Ashford, but this resulted in Tashie-Jay Kwayie hitting a shot straight at the goalie. Both sides also had dangerous free-kick situations, near to the opponent’s by-line – Ashford in the 13^th minute, after Jake McIntyre was needlessly hacked down from behind by Andrew Blake, and East Grinstead in the 15^th minute, after Aaron Condon made a very late ‘striker’s tackle’ on Gil Carvalho – but neither chance was converted.

In the 16^th minute, an Ashford break from defence ended with ginger-haired No.8 Kwayie finding David Smith with just the one defender to beat, but Smith could do no more than win a corner – which was over-hit by Zak Henry. Two minutes later, full-back Jerald Aboagye, who was dangerous down the right for Ashford all afternoon, won a corner. The resulting cross was met with a powerful header by Lee Prescott, near the edge of the penalty area, but his effort went straight at goalkeeper Brannon Daly. That was also the fate of a curling shot by David Smith in the 19^th minute.

With both teams launching their fair share of attacks during this opening period, East Grinstead’s equaliser, which came in the 20^th minute, was by no means against the run of play, and it came as a result of a wonderful piece of skill from O’shaye Giraud-Hutchinson. After a good build-up by The Wasps on the left side of the field, the ball was fed inside to O’shaye, who hit a curling shot, from about 25 yards, into the top corner of the net. Sam Mott was at full stretch with a dive, but he never had a chance to get near Giraud-Hutchinson’s shot.

Following the East Grinstead goal, Ashford had an uncertain spell during which several passes went astray, and we seemed to be conceding all the free-kicks. However, order was restored in the 35^th minute, thanks to a moment of pure inspiration from Jerald Aboagye – who was a strong candidate for Man of the Match, this afternoon. Picking the ball up a few yards from the corner of the penalty area, Jerald charged towards goal and simply lashed the ball into the net.

The visitors had the better of the final ten minutes of the half – their best chance during this time falling to Aaron Condon, in the 37^th minute, after a good move involving David Smith and Lee Prescott, but his shot went over the bar – and so they were good value for their 1-2 lead at the break.

East Grinstead made one substitution at half time, replacing Oluwajuwon Akintunde with Misha Djemaili, (which was the worst nightmare of the PA announcer, who struggled with players’ names all afternoon), but it was O’shaye Giraud-Hutchinson who had the home side’s first chance of the second half. This came after Jerald Aboagye had headed behind for a corner, in the 47^th minute. The corner was taken short, to O’shaye, who again showed great skill in sending in a curling shot towards the far post, managing to wrap his foot around the ball as he was running away from goal, but this time his effort went wide.

I don’t know the extent to which Tashi-Jay Kwayie was playing out of position, up front, but he generally looked fairly bewildered, and uncertain as to the role he should be playing. There were times when he actually got in David Smith’s way. This lack of assistance for Smith might have explained why the latter didn’t quite look like a man who had scored eight goals in six-and-a-bit appearances this season. Smith did enough when on the ball to show that he is certainly a class act as a striker – he had a great first touch, and showed good close control – but he had a frustrating time in front of goal for most of the afternoon.

T-J, too, looked a skillful player when on the ball, and he did set Smith up with a simple chance to score, in the 48^th minute. Attacking down the right, he managed to get to the by-line and send in a good cross, which was intercepted by an East Grinstead defender. There were immediate calls of “Hand Ball” from the Ashford fans behind the goal – who made up a large proportion of today’s crowd of 113 – and the referee, who was well positioned, immediately pointed to the penalty spot. There were no complaints from the East Grinstead players.

The expectation was that David Smith would step up and put away his ninth goal of the season, but Brannon Daly saved his low shot. The ball went straight back to Smith, and slotting home the rebound appeared to be easier than scoring from the penalty itself, but Daly somehow kept the follow-up effort out with his feet. It sort of summed up David Smith’s afternoon, but he looks capable of scoring many more goals this season.

Smith might have shown a little frustration, just two minutes later, when he bundled over O’shaye Giraud-Hutchinson, in a dangerous position. The resulting free-kick was an in-swinging cross, which was allowed to travel all the way through the Ashford penalty area, eventually going harmlessly away for a goal-kick. At the other end, in the 53^rd minute, Lee Prescott shot from just outside the penalty area, but straight at the goalkeeper. But the next incident of real note happened a minute later, and we might have witnessed the Goal of the Season. It came from a corner, on the right, which was conceded by Drew Cooney, as he cut out a Kwayie cross from the right. The resulting corner was hit deep, and was met by Aaron Condon with a beautifully-timed volley. The ball was screaming towards the far top corner of the net, but was headed away by the defender at the far post.

Condon had a similar chance in the 57^th minute, which was created by some good play between Kwayie and Aboagye. It was the right-back who supplied the deep cross, from the right, and this time Aaron hit his volley just as sweetly, but it was just too high.

There now followed a very scrappy passage of play during which not a great deal of football was played. There were a number of stoppages for free-kicks, and some niggles between players, and the Ashford players were perfectly happy to take plenty of time over goal-kicks, free-kicks and throw-ins. The situation just threatened to boil over in about the 65^th minute, when Ashford’s Zak Henry and East Grinstead’s Craig McGee had a session of ‘hand bags’ in the middle of the pitch – but the referee sorted things out with a quiet word. In fact, the ref was excellent all game. He was very decisive with his decisions and managed to maintain control of the game whilst keeping his cards in his trousers. His patience finally ran out with Zak Henry, however, in the 72^nd minute, when the Ashford No.7 was a little over-aggressive with a challenge once too often. It was a daft yellow card to pick up, given that Zak had received plenty of verbal warnings.

The attacks that were launched during this stop-start period of the game came from Ashford, and, in the 70^th minute, David Smith had a great chance to brighten up his entire afternoon. Jerald Aboagye got the better of East Grinstead’s tall, blond centre-forward Dean Bown, inside the home side’s half, which presented Ashford with a four-against-three situation. The ball was worked nicely, to give Smith a clear shooting chance from about ten yards out, but he fluffed his shot wide.

Smith finally got his goal in the 73^rd minute, the culmination of what was probably Ashford’s best move of the match. Tashi-Jay Kwayie moved the ball out to Jerald Aboagye, who was, as usual, wide on the right. Aboagye’s cross was deep, beyond the far post, from where Aaron Condon steered the ball across the face of the East Grinstead goal. David Smith was at the far post, stooping very low to head the ball into the net, from a couple of feet out.

And that third goal for Ashford was the final meaningful action of the game. There were substitutions made by the home side – Robin Deen for Dean Brown in the 81^st minute, and Dan Pearse for goal-scorer O’shaye Giraud-Hutchinson in the 84^th minute – but these seemed to be made for the sake of giving players a run out in the team, rather than to make a meaningful attempt to get something from the game. In fact, the home side spent the final 15 minutes of the game building patiently, putting sequences of passes together, but rarely managing to leave their own half of the field. Ashford were quite content to ‘sit in’ for the remainder of the game, and, in truth, after a fairly even first half, Sam Mott did have a very easy time of it in the second half. Tommy Warrilow did replace Kwayie with Levi Gold, in the 78^th minute, and Aaron Condon with Theo Osinfolarin, in the 80^th minute, but the match rather dozed off after the third Ashford goal.

This was a good win for Ashford. The scoreline might have been more emphatic if David Smith had had better support and had had a better finishing day, but there is plenty of cause for optimism for United’s fans for the season to come.

Whyteleafe v Ashford United. Isthmian League Division 1 South East. 2nd of March, 2019.

Whyteleafe  1

Ashford United  3

from Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent

Ten games remaining in the season, at the start of today, and, for the first time in our history, we have a club that is in the throws of a battle for play-off places. Actually, with Cray Wanderers looking already home & hosed as champions, and with a gap opening between the four teams currently in the play-off positions and sixth-placed Whyteleafe, it seems that this battle is likely to concern the order in which the teams finish in those play-off places. That certainly appears to be the case after this afternoon’s result at Church Road. Trailing Ashford United by seven points this morning, the home side desperately needed to win this match. The fact that the visitors walked off with all three points means that the gap between the two sides has now stretched to ten points. Even with Hastings United’s surprise defeat at home to Haywards Heath Town, which sees them drop into the final play-off position, Whyteleafe are still nine points adrift of the play-offs.

This was a very important win for Ashford, given that they had lost their previous two matches. Those unexpected reverses, coming at the hands of Herne Bay and Phoenix Sports, had coincided with free-scoring Danny Parish having been unable to start both games, due to an ankle injury. We will never know how much Danny’s injury contributed to this sudden loss of form, but he was back in the starting line-up today, as part of a new striking partnership, with the experienced Jay May. I have read and heard the view of some Ashford fans that the arrival of Jay May, an archetypal ‘big target man’, has been the cause of an unwelcome change in the team’s style, encouraging a ‘more direct’ approach. I can’t comment on this, having not witnessed the two defeats, but it’s certainly true that Jay brings a completely new dimension to the team. He was dominant in the air today, and held the ball up well, and there were early signs of an understanding developing between him and Danny Parish. I just wish that he’d persuade his Mum to abandon all this Brexit nonsense, before it’s all too late.

The remainder of the side was pretty much as expected. Sam Mott was back in goal, with Lee Hook having deputised for him last Saturday, in front of a back four of Jerald Aboagye, Tom Carlse, Mohammed Kamara and Afolabi Coker. If Jay May was strong in the air up front, Mohammed and Afolabi were just as dominant at the back. Of the midfield quartet, Josh Wisson reprised his defensive midfield role, with Sam Corne furthest forward in support of the two strikers, and with Toby Ajala on the right and Sam Hasler on the left.

This was my first view of Sam Hasler, a new signing from Hythe Town making his third appearance for Ashford. I had read up on him, though, and his Hythe Town profile mentioned that he has a remarkable long-range shot in his locker, and that he’ll be remembered there for one or two outstanding goals from dead ball situations. Well, we didn’t have to wait long, this afternoon, for Sam to show us his ‘party piece’. In the very first minute, in fact, he picked up the ball inside the Whyteleafe half. With the defence not hurrying to close him down – having not read his profile, presumably – Sam let fly with an absolute thunderbolt which was still rising when it hit the back of the top left-hand corner of the net. The consensus from around the ground was that the shot was hit from at least 30 yards out, but I reckon that the distance was nearer 35 yards.

That was a tremendous start for the visitors, and it got better, in the fourth minute, when Jay May scored a second goal - his second goal for Ashford, on only his third start. Danny Parish chased the ball through the Whyteleafe penalty area, but was running away from goal, towards the right touchline. However, he soon turned and beat one defender, before sending in a dangerous cross. Goalkeeper Tyler McCarthy saved the first effort on goal, but the ball ricocheted into the air, and May was there to thump it in from close range.

So a dream start for Ashford, in such an important game, but a very early lead can sometimes be a double-edged sword, as it gives the opposition plenty of time in which to get back into the game – and Whyteleafe came back strongly at the visitors. They looked sharp and incisive going forward, and had a good chance to equalise in the tenth minute. A good passing movement on the left put left-back Matthew O’Donoghue through on goal, but Sam Mott did well to save from close range and an acute angle.

The two-goal lead did not last long, though, as ‘Leafe pulled a goal back in the eleventh minute. I think it was right-back Marvin Armstrong who got to the Ashford by-line and sent in a low cross within a yard or so of Sam Mott’s goal line. As a posse of players converged on the ball, Jerald Aboagye was guilty of a push on a Whyteleafe player, and the ref blew immediately for a penalty. Jerald also earned a yellow card for his action, when there might have been a case of the colour of the card being red, and this became a major bone of contention later in the half when the home side was reduced to ten men after a comparable incident.

Bradley Wilson stepped up to take the penalty, and easily slotted the ball into the bottom corner of the net, with Sam Mott diving the other way.

During this period, both teams looked bright and dangerous coming forward, and it appeared that there would be more goals to come – but, surprisingly, there was no addition to the score line before half time. Both teams had chances, though. In the 18^th minute, a good passing movement from Ashford gave top-scorer Sam Corne a sight of goal, but his shot was just wide, the awarding of a corner suggesting that his effort had taken a deflection. At the other end, in the 22^nd minute, a good Whyteleafe passing movement on the edge of the Ashford 18-yard box managed to find Bradley Wilson overlapping on the left as the extra man. Wilson was clean through on goal, but his shot was saved by Sam Mott, diving low. In the 25^th minute, the visitors worked the ball wide to Jerald Aboagye, on the right, whose long, looping cross found Jay May at the far post, but the big man’s header was just too high.

The incident that caused plenty of discussion among the crowd of 182 occurred on the half-hour mark. A quick through-ball out of defence set Danny Parish off on a run at goal. Getting to the ball first, it was always likely that Danny would have too much pace for the home defence. As he approached the penalty area, there was no doubt that Helge Orome was leaning on the Ashford No.9. Danny was unbalanced as he managed a weak shot at the goalkeeper, falling as he did so. The Lino was already flagging furiously, and, after awarding a free-kick right on the edge of the 18yard box, the Ref showed Orome a red card, apparently very much on the recommendation of his Lino. I don’t think there is any doubt that a red card was the correct decision, here, but the word “consistency” was one of the words hurled in the referee’s direction, along with quite a few obscene ones.

From this point, Ashford took full control of the game. In the 35^th minute, Sam Hasler, who looks quite a bit like Matt Day when he’s on the ball, took possession of the ball on the right. He cut inside, transferring the ball onto his hammer of a left foot, and hit a shot that appeared to be every bit as sweet as the one that had given Ashford the early lead. In fact, it would have found the roof of the net in the same way, if it had not been for an excellent, one-handed save by Tyler McCarthy. This was undoubtedly the save of the match.

A minute later, Sam Corne combined well in a one-two with Afolabi Coker, but was the victim of a bad foul by Emmanuel Maja when going for the return. This earned Maja a yellow card. Danny Parish took a shot at goal from the resulting free-kick, causing McCarthy to make another good, diving save.

There was a strange incident right at the end of the half, when Stefan Cox, who had been an Ashford United player just four games ago, was replaced by Harvey Brand. I don’t think I have ever seen a substitution made so close to the interval. Why didn’t the Manager wait until half time?

There was, however, time for a further Ashford chance before the break. About a minute into injury time in the first half, Jay May spread the ball wide to Tom Carlse, on the left. Carlse’s low cross found Danny Parish in the penalty area, stooping low with a glancing header that was just wide.

Whyteleafe did make a substitution during the interval, replacing Helge Orome with Emmanuel Mensah, but Ashford effectively put the game to bed as soon as the half began. A good passing movement between Danny Parish and Sam Corne put Parish into the Whyteleafe penalty area. He made a neat reverse pass to Corne, who was a few yards behind him, and Sam swept the ball into the net in a manner that was very similar to his finish that earned the Nuts & Bolts three points at Three Bridges, just five Saturdays ago. Sam Corne has been an absolute star this season. That was his 17^th goal of the season – which is a tremendous contribution for a midfielder – and he has appeared in every game on the British mainland this season. (He has missed the away day at Guernsey, only).

From this point, Ashford began to look a very good side. It might be argued that they were entitled to look impressive, against ten men and with a two-goal cushion, but it was reassuring to see them come across as being comfortably better than the side that remains in sixth place in the league table. There was a string of half-chances to the visitors early in the second half. In the 48^th minute, Josh Wisson hit a first-time shot wide, after a good passing movement, before Danny Parish saw a low shot well saved by ‘keeper McCarthy just a minute later. In the 52^nd minute, Mohammed Kamara attempted a first-time shot from a corner from the right, and this required another good save from Tyler McCarthy, who unsurprisingly was later named as Whyteleafe’s Man of the Match. In the 61^st minute, a diagonal ball forward found Jay May, who laid the ball off to Danny Parish. Danny’s shot was blocked, and Jay’s effort from the rebound was saved.

Throughout this time, the home side gamely kept two of their ten men up front, but the Ashford defence coped well with The ‘Leafe’s occasional attacks, and Sam Mott had little to do besides dealing with back passes and the odd through-ball.

From about the hour mark, the visitors’ task became one of ‘game management’, just easing towards the final whistle. Manager Tommy Warrilow eased this process with regular substitutions. The first of these was when he replaced Josh Wisson with Bode Anidugbe, in the 75^th minute. (Whyteleafe had already made their final substitution when Junior Aikhionbare was sent on in place of Andre McCollin, in the 69^th minute). The other substitutions for Ashford were Clark Woodcock on for Toby Ajala, in the 80^th minute, and Trey Williams on for Danny Parish, in the 84^th minute.

One slightly concerning factor is that the three substitutes used were the only outfield subs available to Tommy Warrilow this afternoon. As we enter a crucial phase of the season, the apparent total lack of defensive back-up is a little worrying. Nevertheless, today’s win lifts Ashford to fourth position, above Hastings United - one point and four points behind Haywards Heath Town and Horsham, respectively, and both have played a game more. If Ashford can win that game in hand, then we will progress to third place, which is the requirement for securing what would surely be a very lucrative home tie in a Play-off Semi-final.

Three Bridges v Ashford United. Isthmian Division 1 South East. 26th of January, 2019.

Three Bridges  0

Ashford United  1

from Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent

This season will definitely be my most shameful in terms of the number of Ashford United games seen. Today’s trip to Three Bridges, in West Sussex, was just my fourth game of the season. With Whyteleafe away looking like being the only other feasible fixture for me, due to a number of factors (mostly work-related), this is looking like being a five-match season. The previous game I saw was back in November, when the lads ended a run of eleven games without a win with a 1-2 win at East Grinstead Town, in what was a dreadful game quality-wise. So, what have I missed?

Well, I’ve missed a change of manager, as Gary Alexander has been replaced by Tommy Warrilow, in what I feel is going to prove to be a hugely important change. For the first time in Ashford United’s history, we have recruited a manager with a proven track record. More importantly, Tommy is already an Ashford legend, having been a member of the great Ashford Town side that Neil Cugley put together. I am sure that Tommy is a manager that the fans can really identify with, and get right behind.

The club has also been on a great run of form since that scrappy win at East Grinstead. A return of eight wins and a draw from ten games had lifted Ashford to third in the league table, at the start of today’s game, and The Warrior’s lads are now looking like genuine play-off contenders – which would be the first time that any Ashford team has ever taken part in play-offs. Added to that, everyone I spoke to at the game today was eager to emphasise what good football the boys are playing right now, so it is a very exciting time to be an Ashford United supporter. (When isn’t it?)

Inevitably, there were many new faces for me to get used to, with only five survivors from the East Grinstead match being in Ashford’s starting line-up today. One of the new faces was actually quite an old face, (no offence, pal), as the vastly experienced Lee Hook, who recently joined as a player-coach, was in goal, in place of Sam Mott. I understand that Sam was on ‘church business’, related to his forthcoming wedding. (Actually, I thought that vicars only worked on a Sunday). Our regular ‘keeper has been in excellent form recently, and it is to Hooky’s credit that he kept the run of clean sheets going, today extending the run to four in a row. In fact, the boys have managed to not concede a goal in five of the last six games.

Tommy set the side up in an interesting shape today, with central defenders Afolabi Coker and Mohammed Kamara holding the fort at the back whilst full-backs Jerald Aboagye and Tom Carlse pushed up on the flanks for most of the game. There was a slight change of role for Josh Wisson, who was in a deep midfield position, just in front of the centre-backs, from where he was pretty impressive in running things for the visitors. Ashford’s formation was pretty much 4-1-3-2, with Sam Corne playing well forward, in support of forwards Danny Parish and Trey Williams, with Toby Ajala and Bode Anidugbe on either side.

There were just the three substitutes on the bench for Ashford – Clark Woodcock, Usman Adeniji and Stefan Cox, who was returning after a seven-game suspension – indicating that Warrilow is having to cope with a continuing player shortage.

The match kicked off at 3.01pm precisely – roughly three hours before Steve Sodje’s bed-time – and it was soon evident why Ashford fans are currently purring about the way the team is going about its business. In spite of playing into the breeze, which drove intermittent drizzle into their face, Ashford dominated the opening 15 minutes with quick and accurate passing, with all of the players looking comfortable on the ball. This wasn’t very different to the style of play that Gary Alexander was encouraging, but I had the impression that Tommy Warrilow is doing so with better players.

In spite of this early domination of possession, there were few clear-cut chances in this period. Toby Ajala went slaloming through the Three Bridges defence, in the fifth minute, only to be upended – but the free-kick routine of initially playing the ball short simply didn’t work. In fact, Ashford’s regular use of playing the ball short at free-kicks and corners, rather than just slinging the ball into the area, generally failed to create chances today. One exception, however, was when a corner was played short, in the ninth minute. After Danny Parish had cut in from the left and had a right-footed shot blocked, the corner, on the left, was laid short to Tom Carlse, whose cross found Trey Williams’s head in the centre, but his glancing header nestled on the roof of the net. But Williams immediately had the unexpected opportunity of a follow-up attempt, when Bridges’ goalkeeper James Shaw looked distinctly unsure, making a complete mess of playing the ball short from the goal-kick. The ball fell at Trey’s feet, but his first-time shot was well saved by Shaw.

Eventually, the home side, currently in a solid, mid-table position, having been promoted from the Southern Combination League as runners-up last year, began to get into the match, and although Ashford generally looked the better side, there appeared to be two ways in which we might concede a goal. One might have been as a result of a Three Bridges break, with our full-backs upfield, and the other from a set piece, with Lee Hook looking a little vulnerable under the high ball early on. One of these occasions was in the 13^th minute, when Brannon O’Neill took a corner on the right, left-footed, curling the ball in under the Ashford cross-bar. One of a melée of players near the goal-line headed the ball onto the bar, before it was then nodded behind for another corner. Two minutes later, the Ashford goal was threatened by another cross that came in from the right, but this was headed just over by No.15 Alex Clark. (For some reason, the Three Bridges players wore squad numbers).

Lee Hook had to make his first real save in the 19^th minute. George Gaskin (No.16) tried a long-range shot that appeared to be far too ambitious, especially once he had made his intentions obvious, but his effort would have gone into the roof of the net, and Hook did well to tip the ball over the bar. In the 23^rd minute, Ashford’s vulnerability to the break was seen, when they gave the ball away carelessly in midfield. This gave the home side a two v two situation. Gaskin laid the ball to the left, to Clark, who wasted the opportunity by firing wide.

Ashford’s next chance did not materialise until the 25^th minute, and this came about as a result of Joe Tennent clumsily losing control (of the ball, that is) in his own penalty area, allowing Sam Corne to nip in. This was a promising position for the visitors, with Corne having the ball at his feet, on the by-line, but his cross was forced behind for a corner. In fact, Ashford now had two corners in quick succession, but both of these were subjected to the play-it-short routine, and came to nothing.

The in-form Danny Parish, with 13 goals in his twelve games for Ashford, had a couple of chances in the 29^th minute. First, he turned and sent in a low shot that went wide of goal. Then, seconds later, Ashford again were presented with the ball straight from a Shaw goal-kick. Sam Corne put Parish through on goal, and the Ashford No.9, from a difficult angle, elected to try to chip the goalkeeper, but the attempt went wide of the far post.

There were big appeals for an Ashford penalty, in the 34^th minute, when Tom Carlse was flattened in the penalty area, but the referee was satisfied that the ball had been won in the tackle, and indicated as such.

In spite of occasionally looking a little vulnerable at the back, Ashford continued to look fairly comfortable and in control for the remainder of the first 45 minutes, and ended the half with a spell of pressure, a corner from the right resulting in Afolabi Coker hitting an typical defender’s shot high over the bar. Three Bridges did, however, have a chance, on the break, in injury time, but Alex Clark pulled his shot wide of goal.

The second half was rather more one-sided, and there seemed to be an increasing sense that both teams knew that Ashford were the better side, and that one goal would seal the three points for them. This goal duly came in the 58^th minute, and it was the excellent Sam Corne who delivered it, scoring his 14^th goal of the season. Trey Williams ran onto a through-ball from the half-way line, and, in all honesty, he really shouldn’t have gained possession – but he got to the ball due to a combination of weak defending and his own strength and determination. Williams then laid the ball into the path of Corne, making a run from midfield, who swept the ball into the corner of the net. This telling contribution was to be Trey’s last, as he was replaced by Usman Adeniji, four minutes later.

Three Bridges’ frustration at going a goal down showed, in the 61^st minute, when Jensen Grant earned a yellow card for a late tackle on Bode Anidugbe, but the home side had an excellent chance to equalise, in the 65^th minute. It was Grant who ran onto a through-ball, into the Ashford penalty area, and through a combination of Lee Hook coming out to intercept and an Ashford defender coming across with a saving tackle, was left in a heap on the turf. The referee waved away the penalty appeals, and, although I could not see clearly what happened, I was left with the impression that we’d had a let-off there.

As the half wore on, the home side had no periods of possession of note, and began to commit more fouls as frustration grew. In the 70^th minute, the ref made a point of giving Joe Tennent a stiff, finger-pointing lecture, presumably for something that the No.20 had said, but Brannon O’Neill received a deserved yellow card in the 75^th minute. Bode Anidugbe was skating through the centre circle, with three Three Bridges players trailing in his wake, and it was a fairly dispirited trip by O’Neill that earned him the booking.

The Ashford players were actually quite impressive with what is now called ‘game management’, being very adept at drawing fouls from the tiring and discouraged opposition. Tommy Warrilow also played a part, with substitutions calculated to protect the one-goal lead. But first there was a chance for Ashford to go further ahead, in the 78^th minute, when Tom Carlse sent a long, breeze-assisted free-kick into the home penalty area. Centre-half Afolabi Coker appeared to be unchallenged as he got his head to the ball, but James Shaw made a good, diving save.

Three Bridges Manager Martin Dynan made a double-substitution in the 80^th minute, while Brannon O’Neill was preparing to take a free-kick, replacing Alex Clark and Jensen Grant with Connor French and Darryl Siaw. O’Neill, clearly the Bridges’ orchestrator, being responsible for all dead-ball kicks, curled a dangerous cross into the Ashford area, but French headed wide.

Warrilow’s second substitution was made in the 86^th minute, when Stefan Cox, with orders to put in a brief defensive shift, replaced Toby Ajala. Then, just a minute later, the visitors had an opportunity to put the result beyond doubt, after Danny Parish had done well to charge down a clearance, deep inside the Three Bridges penalty area. Sam Corne ran onto Parish’s short pass, and tried to mimic what he had done earlier, with the goal, but on this occasion his shot was blocked. I must say that the referee was quite impressive today, and I felt he had a good game, but he did make the strangest decision that I have seen for a long time at the resulting corner. The ball was swung in from the left, and Shaw took the ball and then dropped it as he collided with one of his own defenders. With no green shirts anywhere near, the ref made the astonishing decision to blow up for a free-kick. It is often the case that goalkeepers are over-protected – but that was ridiculous.

Ashford did have to withstand some late pressure, particularly in the 89^th minute, starting with a rather panicky tackle by Mohammed Kamara, which resulted in Ashford’s only yellow card in the game. Brannon O’Neill inevitably took the free-kick, but the three-man defensive wall did the job, deflecting O’Neill’s shot at goal behind for a corner. The same man trotted across to swing the ball in with his left foot, but failed to beat the first man in the crowded area – this was Stefan Cox, who headed behind. O’Neill’s second attempt was a better one, locating a Three Bridges head from within a ruck of players on and around the six-yard line, but the ball went just wide of the far post.

Ashford’s final substitution – Clark Woodcock on for Danny Parish, on the 90-minute mark - was purely for the purpose of running down the clock, and there were the now-familiar shenanigans with keep-ball by the corner flag as the visitors held on comfortably enough for a deserved win.

The news, in Three Bridges FC’s very nice, and very spacious, bar was that Hastings United had somehow contrived to lose 4-1 away at Herne Bay, meaning that the second-placed team now leads Ashford United by only two points. Ashford’s momentum towards a place in the play-offs is now very strong. The ‘cushion’, between ourselves and sixth-placed Haywards Heath Town, is now one of six points. It might also be expected that Tommy Warrilow’s side will only improve further, as players return from injury and suspension, so anything is possible from here onwards. I picked one hell of a season to miss so many games.