Cray Valley PM 3
Ashford United 1
From Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent
This was my first game
for a few weeks, mostly due to having missed the planned trip to Burgess Hill
Town on the first Saturday of the year. That was because I was laid low with a
virus. The lads won 0-7 – so that will teach me a lesson. The last game I saw
was the 1-0 defeat away to Haywards Heath Town, at the end of which I felt that
it was probably 50/50 as to whether Ashford United would secure a play-off
place at the end of the season.
In my absence, the
situation had changed markedly, with Tommy Warrilow’s boys having won all seven
games, six of those being league games. This had elevated the club to a fairly
comfortable second place in the table, five points clear of third-placed
Whitehawk, albeit with the teams immediately below us all having a game in
hand. Looking upwards, Hastings United appear well placed to be champions,
being four points ahead of us, this morning, and having played a game fewer.
Hastings demonstrated the strength of their resolve by luring our excellent
right-back, Jerald Aboagye, away from us on the eve of today’s very difficult
game. It is a move that can only tighten the Sussex club’s grip on the one
automatic promotion place this season. I’d suggest, therefore, that Ashford’s
main aim should be to secure either second or third place at the end of the
season, to be sure of at least one home promotion play-off tie in front of a
huge crowd.
When Ashford beat
Sevenoaks Town 4-1, last Saturday, to make it seven wins in a row, it was both
Tommy Warrilow’s longest winning streak as Ashford Manager, and Ashford United’s
longest run of wins in the Isthmian League. It has also been an impressive
sequence of performances, with 22 goals scored and just three conceded. However,
it is by no means our best run since The Reformation. Not by a long chalk. The
longest so far is 16 wins, which were put together during the 2013-14 season. We
scored 39 and conceded 14 during that run. Arguably slightly more impressive
was a 12-game sequence of wins during the 2016-17 season, when the goal tally
was 43 for and just nine against – 13 of those goals were scored by Shaun
Welford, with Adrianho scoring eight of them.
Today’s match was
against last season’s FA Vase runners-up, Cray Valley Paper Mills.
Unsurprisingly for a club that also gained promotion from the Southern Counties
East League in good style, The Millers have not found life particularly daunting
at Step 4 in the non-league pyramid. They have been in and around the play-off
places all season. Our hosts today occupied fifth place, the final play-off
berth, this morning, ten points behind Ashford and with a game in hand.
Today’s venue, Badgers
Sports Ground, in Eltham, is a very familiar one, of course. I have not only
been here for a number of fixtures against Cray Valley, but also seen us play
Greenwich Borough here a few times. Up until the end of last season, both of those
clubs were tenants at Badgers, but Greenwich have been on a marked slide since
the heady days of having Gary Alexander in charge with an eye-popping budget. I
won’t go into the details of the sad tale, but, after several months of strife,
this week saw Greenwich Borough’s resignation from the Southern Counties East
League. (They had, in any case, been playing their home games at Phoenix Sports’
ground, in Barnehurst, this season).
So passes the club that
launched the career of Ian Wright, who went on to play for Crystal Palace,
Arsenal and England, eventually climb to the height of Director of Football
Policy at Ashford Town. Let’s hope that Borough can regroup and eventually
reform.
Although the trip to
Eltham is a well-trodden path for me, which has usually entailed a journey by
train as far as Kidbrooke Station and then a 25-minute walk to the ground,
today there was the novelty of being able to make the trip almost entirely by
coach. After a five-minute drive to Milton Keynes Coachway and a change of
coaches at Victoria, I was able to get off at the coach stop at the top of Middle
Park Avenue. That’s about as near to a door-to-door journey as I am going to
get!
The first point of
intrigue, on arrival at Badgers, was the question of what Tommy Warrilow was
going to do, in terms of team selection, to cover for the loss of Jerald
Aboagye – in addition, how was he going to respond to the loss of key central
midfielder Josh Wisson, who will be out for about four weeks after injuring a metatarsal
bone last Saturday? (Apparently, Dave Smith trod on Josh’s foot while celebrating
a goal – FFS, Smithy).
Well, the first point
to make is that Tommy was not at the game today, leaving Assistant Manager OB
in charge. In terms of team selection, it was Theo Osinfolarin who got the nod
as Jerald’s replacement at right-back, in spite of the recent (re)signing of full-back
Ben Wilson, who was one of five named on the subs bench this afternoon. (The
logic there was probably that Ben’s usual position is on the left side of defence).
The back four, in front of Club Captain Sam Mott, was completed by Jake McIntyre,
Matt Bourne and Mo Kamara. Protecting the defence, in place of Josh Wisson, was
a new signing – Dquame Coleman, who was making his debut this afternoon. I have
to say that Dquame looked a natural replacement in this role. He looked to be
very much the Tom Huddleston type of player – the understated but efficient
stroller. The midfield ‘engine room’ was made up of Lee Prescott and Tom O’Connor,
with the in-form Aaron Condon (SEVEN goals in the previous four games) wide on
the left, and Jay May and Dave Smith up front. Joining Ben Wilson as named
substitutes were Tariq Ossai, Lee Hook (the reserve goalie who can also turn
his hand to outfield duties), Giorgio Russo and Benjamin Binder.
It was a pleasant day
for football. Cloudy but dry, with barely a breath of wind. It was also pretty
mild for the time of year, which is why I am duty-bound to name and shame the
glove wearers starting the game for Ashford. In no particular order of
wimpishness, they were: Osinfolarin, T., O’Connor, T. and Smith, D. (As an
aside, I’ve sometimes wondered whether players wearing gloves should be
disqualified from taking throw-ins, on the grounds that the extra grip must
give them some sort of unfair advantage?).
On the subject of
wardrobe malfunctions, there was no sign of either team, or today’s match
officials, being ready to walk onto the pitch at 3pm today, and the game eventually
kicked off four minutes late. This was apparently due to the referee objecting
to the fact that the green shorts which were part of Ashford’s usual, Norwich
City-style away strip clashed with those of Cray Valley’s all-green home strip.
The solution was for Ashford to borrow the light-blue shorts of The Millers’ away
kit, and it must have taken a while for the last-minute change of costume to
take place. It reminded me of the time that we played away to
Corinthian-Casuals, and there was an issue with our black socks clashing with
their navy blue socks, so Ashford Town had to borrow the pale blue socks of
Casuals’ second strip. One problem this afternoon was that a few of our players
still wore those green ballet tops that are currently very fashionable, so
their green sleeves still clashed with those of the Cray valley players.
Anyway, Ashford marched out from the dressing rooms looking distinctly Brazil-like,
with green numbers on their yellow shirts, and light-blue shorts.
A feature of Ashford’s
recent good run of results has been a noticeable improvement in the team’s
defensive record, with just the three goals conceded in the last seven games –
and that was immediately following a period of THIRTEEN consecutive matches
without a clean sheet, with just the one clean sheet in 21 games, (yes,
really). It is impossible to tell the extent to which the very recent changes
in personnel in the defensive department were to blame, but Ashford found
themselves behind after only three minutes today. Cray’s opening goal came from
the first attack of the game. Denzel Gayle broke through two tackles, inside
the Ashford penalty area, and squared the ball to Francis Babalola, who smashed
the ball low, into the net.
The situation very
nearly got rapidly worse for the visitors, just five minutes later, when there
were loud and confident appeals for a penalty from Cray. They looked certain to
double their lead, but a shot from about ten yards out was stopped on the line
by an Ashford arm. Presumably, the shot was hit at such pace that the referee
decided that the defender was unable to get his hand out of the way. (I will
not analyse the incident further, as, quite frankly, the interpretation of the
Hand Ball Law changes on such a regular basis that I am not sure that I
understand it anymore).
Theo Osinfolarin was
certainly given a thorough examination in the right-back position, with No.11
Ryan Flack being his main tormentor. Flack beat Theo, on the edge of the 18-yard
box, in the 14th minute, but his cross into the centre was sliced
clear by Matt Bourne. In the 20th minute, Flack fed the ball wide to
Babalola, who showed good control, before cutting inside and sending in a low
shot – which Sam Mott saved comfortably. Three minutes later, The Millers’ No.11
once again got the better of Osinfolarin, and this time it was the head of Matt
Bourne that headed his cross behind for a corner. The resulting cross passed
dangerously through the Ashford penalty area, but with nobody in green able to
get that vital touch.
So all the decent chances
during the first half an hour were at the end that Cray Valley were attacking.
(That was the end that had not a soul behind the goal, which contrasted with a
good turn-out of Ashford United fans at the other end, and elsewhere, in today’s
crowd of 131). The home side was full of players with quick feet and neat
skill, and their front two, in particular – Francis Babalola and Gavin Tomlin –
were threatening with their pace and movement throughout the game. As for
Ashford’s front two, Jay May worked hard challenging for aerial balls, but
mostly near the halfway line, and Dave Smith showed some good individual skill
when on the ball, but the visitors had virtually no worthwhile possession in Cray
Valley’s half.
It was no surprise when
The Millers doubled their lead, in the 31st minute, and it was also
not a huge surprise that it was the impressive Babalola, with some exemplary
finishing, who was again the scorer. He received the ball with his back to
goal, just inside the penalty area, and turned Matt Bourne before expertly
slipping the ball past Sam Mott from an acute angle.
It was a minute after
going two goals down that Ashford put together their first decent attack. After
a brief spell of possession, the ball was spread wide to Jake McIntyre, who
drove in an excellent cross, but a Cray defender got to the ball a fraction
before Dave Smith. This was the lads’ first measured and controlled sortie
forward – previous attacks had been of the hurried, one-touch variety, which
had succeeded in nothing more than losing possession.
The visitors did finish
the half with a couple of good chances, though. In the 42nd minute,
Theo Osinfolarin, on the right, for once turned the tables on Ryan Flack,
beating him on his inside, transferring the ball onto his left foot, but his
effort on goal curled wide of the far post. Then, two minutes later, the head
of Jay May fed the ball into the path of Aaron Condon, who let fly with a
tremendous shot with his left foot, which hammered against the post. Otherwise,
Ashford were comprehensively outplayed by Cray Valley during the first half,
and the home side thoroughly deserved the 2-0 lead at the break.
For information, the
spectator in the Cray Valley goal was Andrew Walker.
The second half, with
Ashford playing down the slope - which is such an endearing characteristic of
non-league grounds - was more even. Although the majority of chances were
created by Cray, Ashford did have some possession in the opposition’s half. In
fact, we managed a shot on target in the opening seconds of the half, just as
the Badgers Sports Ground floodlights began to shed light on the turf, but Tom
O’Connor’s volley was directed straight at Walker.
The first incident of
note after the interval was the issuing of a yellow card to Francis Babalola,
in the 49th minute, after a challenge on Sam Mott. It seemed to be a
fairly routine clearance for Sam, but he was left writhing on the ground,
suggesting that Babalola had ‘left a foot in’.
The first substitution
of the game was made by Ashford, with debutant Dquame Copeland being replaced
by Tariq Ossai. Copeland was subbed immediately after mis-placing a pass into
touch, but I am sure that this was purely coincidental. This was the first
mistake that I saw Copeland make, and, in any case, the substitution had a
tactical feel about it, with Ossai providing a more attacking option.
The fact that Ashford pressed
forward a little more in the second half might have had something to do with
the fact that the home side sat a little deeper, but Cray Valley still looked
very dangerous on the break. Usually, a break-out from defence found Ashford
faced with a 2 v 2 situation at the back, with Cray players rushing forward to
support the attack quicker than Ashford were getting players back. This was
certainly the case in the 58th minute, when the visitors’ defence
soon found itself out-numbered, but on this occasion the attack ended with
Hassan Ibrahim, who made 14 appearance for Ashford earlier in the season
(scoring twice), shooting just over the bar. Seconds later, Gavin Tomlin turned
and shot low from the edge of the Ashford penalty area, but Sam Mott was able
to make a comfortable save.
On the hour, the
referee produced a second yellow card, this time for Jake McIntyre. This
appeared to be a little harsh. Jake was late with a tackle on Denzel Gayle, but
only because Gayle was a little too quick for him. There didn’t seem to be any
intent or cynicism in the foul.
Ashford’s only goal of
the game, which came in the 65th minute, was actually a little gem.
It’s the sort of goal that will probably be quickly forgotten and ‘unsung’, but
it resulted from a good build-up and an excellent finish. The goal actually
began with a mistake from Lee Prescott, whose pass to Mo Kamara was rather short,
and Kamara, as the last man in the back line, briefly appeared to be in all
sorts of trouble. As so often, however, his skilled footwork and strength saved
the day for him, and he managed to successfully dribble his way into the Cray
Valley half. Just as he was picking up momentum, and there seemed to be the
possibility of him going on one of his trademark solo runs through the heart of
the opposition’s defence, he spread the ball wide into the path of Jake
McIntyre. It was a perfectly weighted pass, and Jake sent in a measured,
first-time cross. He found Jay May in the penalty area, who, with his first
sight of goal, smashed the ball into the net with his right foot.
This was the cue for
the pace of the game to increase a couple of notches, with both sides
increasing the tempo. Very shortly after pulling the goal back, the ball was
fed forward to Dave Smith, who chested the ball down to Tom O’Connor, who was surging
forward behind him, and Tom’s first-time shot went inches over the bar. Suddenly,
Ashford discovered that football was possible again. This was inspired,
one-touch stuff, and for a very brief time it really was just like watching Brazil.
However, Ashford’s
forward play generally lacked sufficient quality to create further clear-cut
chances. The second, and final, Ashford substitution was made in the 78th
minute, with Ben Wilson replacing Jake McIntyre, and playing very much as a
left-sided midfield player. Wilson came close to making an impact within four
minutes of coming on, when he met a floated Aaron Conlon free-kick with a
glancing header, but this went straight at Andy Walker.
The home side replaced
Ryan Flack with Daniel Smith at the same time that Ben Wilson made his
appearance, and later sent Warren Mfula on in place of Francis Babalola, in the
84th minute. The latter substitution might have been prompted by the
fact that Babalola was on a yellow card, but it did give him the opportunity to
receive a well-deserved ovation when he came off. He certainly looked the best
player on the pitch, this afternoon.
Ironically, just a
minute after Babalola’s substitution, Cray Valley scored the goal that sealed
the 3-1 victory and gave them all three points. Mo Kamara again launched a solo
run, attacking the centre of The Millers’ midfield, and when he was
dispossessed the ball broke to Denzel Gayle. Once in possession, Gayle showed
Kamara how a solo goal should be scored, beating two Ashford players and
carrying the ball all the way into the penalty area, before slotting the ball
past Sam Mott. The wild celebrations from the entire Cray Valley team made it
seem like they had won a semi-final and got through to a Wembley final again. In
truth, the euphoria was probably a reflection of the quality of the goal, and also
a sign that this was an important three points for the club, which considerably
strengthened their credentials as contenders for a place in the play-off bun
fight at the end of the season.
There was just one other
incident of note, (apart from Jay May contriving to get himself yellow-carded
in the first minute of injury time). In the last minute of normal time, Mo Kamara
either sliced a cross or made an audacious attempt to chip the goalkeeper.
Either way, Andy Walker was left helpless as he watched the ball sail over his
head and was no doubt relieved to see the ball come back off his far post.
So three goals to Cray
Valley, and one to Ashford United, who hit the post on two occasions – but that
is not to suggest that Ashford were unlucky this afternoon, as both teams got
what they deserved from today’s game. There is no doubt that Cray were just too
good for us, on this occasion, and I am once again left with the feeling that
our lads have regularly come up short when confronted with the better sides in
this division. That is now seven league defeats this season, which is more than
any other team in the top eight of the division, apart from Phoenix Sports.
However, Ashford remain in a strong position, with 16 games still to play, and
were helped, today, by the fact that the teams immediately above and below us,
(Hastings and Whitehawk, respectively), each dropped two points.
