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 18th
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 22nd
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 25th 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 35th 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 17th 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 48th
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 52nd 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 61st 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
75th minute. (Whyteleafe had already made their final substitution
when Junior Aikhionbare was sent on in place of Andre McCollin, in the 69th
minute). The other substitutions for Ashford were Clark Woodcock on for Toby
Ajala, in the 80th minute, and Trey Williams on for Danny Parish, in
the 84th 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.
