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 42nd
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 12th 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 18th 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 23rd
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 24th 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 30th 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 33rd
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 34th 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 38th 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 49th 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 50th
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 54th
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 66th 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 68th
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 70th 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 72nd 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 78th 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 82nd 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.
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