Sevenoaks Town v Ashford United. Kent Senior Trophy Second Round. 17th of October 2015.

Sevenoaks Town       0       Ashford United 3

 

From Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent

Today was Kent Senior Trophy Second Round day. A total of 32 clubs were involved – 17 from the Southern Counties East League, 14 from the Kent Invicta League and West Wickham, from the Southern Amateur league, (who actually progressed to the Third Round, this afternoon, after a 4-2 win over Croydon). Ashford’s previous match in this competition was, of course, the Final, in 2014, which ended in a 4-0 defeat to Beckenham Town, a punch-up involving Becks’ players and a section of Ashford supporters and a ban for both clubs from the 2014-15 competition. Ashford United’s return to the competition saw them given a fairly tough draw, away to Sevenoaks Town, in the picturesque setting of Greatness Park.

Sevenoaks Town FC is not one of the “heavyweights” of the SCEFL, having only progressed from the Kent County League in 2003, but Mickey Collins has put together a useful side during his tenure as manager, which began just over a year ago, shortly before my previous visit to Greatness Park. That game resulted in Paul Chambers’ Ashford side being very pleased to get away with a 2-2 draw, in that season’s league match here. One of Oaks’ goals on that occasion was scored by Louis Sprossen, a winger who made a couple of substitute appearances for Ashford earlier this season, and who scored for FC Elmstead last night, in their 3-1 defeat at the hands of Erith Town in this competition.

Ashford came back from being 2-0 down, in last season’s game, through goals from Andy Irvine and Lloyd Blackman. Irvine’s strike partner that afternoon was Stuart Zanone, who played against Ashford two weeks ago, in the 4-2 defeat to Greenwich Borough - so it was a surprise to see Stuart making his debut for Sevenoaks, his fourth club of the season, this afternoon. Wherever Stuart goes in his career, he’ll always be an Ashford legend, after his record-breaking 47 goals last season, and he was partnered up front, today, by one of my other all-time favourite players: Adrian Stone. Adrianho came up through the youth ranks at Ashford Town, and was a prolific centre-forward for us, before being given his marching orders by Tim Thorogood for some disciplinary infringement, at the same time as Sam Saunders. While Sam has gone on to play for Dagenham & Redbridge, Brentford and Wycombe Wanderers, Adrianho has played for a whole string of non-league clubs.

It was good to see them both, this afternoon – and, happily, for the travelling Ashford faithful who made up a fair percentage of today’s crowd of 70, both had a quiet game. Adrianho showed some neat touches, but never had a sight of goal. Stuart had a very comfortable afternoon, wrapped snugly in Pat Kingwell’s pocket. (Yes, the big man quietly put in yet another flawless performance, today).

The Ashford United line-up hinted at a slight change in selection policy – probably due to today’s match being a cup game. All of the adults, (a.k.a. Player-Manager Danny Lye, Player-Assistant Manager Shaun Welford and Player-Coach Paul Booth), were in the dug-out, leaving the “kids” to start the game. And Danny Lye’s squad building process took another step forward, with two more lads making their debut.

One of the new boys was George Kamuresi, a signing from Grays Athletic, and quite possibly the largest goalie I have ever seen. Apparently, the greatest challenge for The Management has been to find a pair of green shorts large enough for him, and he turned out in a green top that seemed to be bursting at the seams. To deal with the important matter at hand, he was extremely impressive – or as impressive as he could be in the context of having a quiet game. He was vocal throughout, organising the Ashford defence, and was able to pluck high crosses out of the air with the ease of an 8-foot tall basketball player dunking the ball into a basket – and he stopped whatever shots he was required to save.

The other debutant was Tom Fagg, a tall, blond striker, with more than a passing resemblance to Peter Crouch, but without the full height advantage. Tom was given his chance by Danny Lye almost as soon as Ashford’s second goal went in, having been an unused substitute in the game away to Greenwich Borough. Fagg, of course, is a famous Ashford name. I have memories of The Great Joe Fagg from my youth – a huge personality, commonly known as “Mr Ashford”. He was the owner of the Fagg’s Fleet haulage company, a tireless charity fundraiser and (I believe) the father of the Ashford Carnival. In football terms, Joe Fagg was Ashford Town’s first manager after the Second World War, and led the club to the Kent League championship in 1948-9. I wonder if Tom is any relation ?

In front of Kamuresi were three players who will be familiar to long-standing Ashford fans, in this ever-changing side – Pat Kingwell and Luke Cuthbert in central defence, and Luke’s brother, Adam, at right-back. The back four was completed by Chris Elliott. The remainder of the team consisted of the new brigade, in what was largely a 4-5-1 formation. Seb Schoburgh, in his third appearance for the club, was the lone striker. Ryan Palmer, Josh Woolley and Ellis Green provided plenty of pace and flair from midfield, with Jack Healey and Mickey Dalton tending to sit back in a more defensive role today.

What Danny Lye and The Management are trying to achieve at Ashford is becoming clear. Many of us have been disappointed to see some favourites, and some stalwarts, leave the club recently, but they are being replaced with a squad of real quality. It is obvious that the likes of Green, Palmer and Schoburgh have played at a higher level – that’s written all over them – and both Josh Woolley and Mickey Dalton showed real signs of skill, this afternoon. Jack Healey also cut an impressive figure in Ashford’s midfield. He’s built like a centre-half – every bit as tall as Pat Kingwell, but broader and stronger across the shoulders - and must have been a great loss for his previous club, Lordswood.

The substitute’s bench was completed by Mickey Phillips and goalkeeper Nick Luen, (with Danny Lye in a purely white collar role, not actually named as a sub). Gibraltar international Jamie Bosio was in attendance, and warmed up with the squad, but, surprisingly, was not named in the 16.

After Big George Kamuresi was called on to make an early save from Stuart Zanone, from an acute angle, in the first minute, the first half was a relatively uneventful affair, with players expending most of their energy getting caught offside and bickering with the referee over some fairly minor decisions. The young ref hit back in the 18^th minute, when he showed a yellow card to Sevenoaks’ Tom Ripley, (slightly harshly), after a late challenge on Ellis Green. From the resulting free-kick, on the left side of the pitch, Green and Chris Elliott worked the ball between them, and the move finished with Elliott blasting the ball over the bar from close range and a tight angle, the ball ending up on the steeply rising common land overlooking Richard Stroud’s goal.

Several of the Sevenoaks players questioned why Seb Schoburgh wasn’t booked for a late tackle on Steve Camacho, in the 21^st minute. Five minutes later, however, as a large and noisy squadron of Canada Geese flew over the ground, Schoburgh did well to chase down what seemed to be a lost cause near the left corner flag, turn and make his way into the Sevenoaks penalty area, before hitting a low shot against the foot of the near post.

It was a fairly even first half, although Ashford probably played the better, passing football. It was nice to see an Ashford side knocking the ball around, on the floor, but what the visitors sorely lacked was Shaun Welford’s presence as a target man. Much of the visitors’ forward play focused on the quality and pace of Ryan Palmer, on the right flank, but crosses were often sent into a vacant Sevenoaks penalty area. One such cross did find Schoburgh, in the 34^th minute, but he hooked the ball over the bar – and had been flagged offside, in any case.

Seconds later, Sevenoaks had a free-kick, about six yards inside the Ashford half, which was pumped deep into the visitors’ penalty area. Adrian Stone managed to head the ball goalwards, and his looping effort was about to creep under the crossbar – but Big George plucked the ball out of the air with the ease of a parent helping a child down from the top bed of a bunk. (The Ashford fans are going to like George).

In the 36^th minute, Sevenoaks were having a good spell of pressure, with Ashford struggling to clear their lines. Eventually, Martin Debrah hit a shot on the turn, from about eight yards, but Kamuresi saved well, with his legs.

One feature of the game was Jack Healey generally being “in the wars”. As well as going down with a couple of leg injuries, he suffered two blows to the face in the first half, and went down with an injury to his nose, in the 38^th minute. Jack was off for a full five minutes, as the Ashford physio struggled to stop the flow of blood, and returned to the pitch shortly before the referee blew for half time, with exactly 45 minutes having been played.

So no goals in the first half, with the game due to be decided on kicks from the penalty mark, should the scores be level after 90 minutes.

For some reason, Josh Woolley, who had worn the No.9 shirt during the first half, came out for the second with an “18” on his back – but that didn’t stop him from creating a chance for himself, in the 49^th minute. Picking the ball up about 20 yards from goal, he struck his left-foot shot sweetly, but the curling effort went wide. A minute later, Josh sent in a cross that was easily headed clear by the Sevenoaks defence, instigating a break that was only halted when Mickey Dalton clipped the heels of Gary Stock, as the pair chased after the ball.

Woolley made way for Shaun Welford – a proper No.9 – in the 52^nd minute, and this provided Ashford with that missing ingredient. After this substitution, the visitors were able to take firm control of the game. Almost immediately, Ellis Green, on the left, found Welford with a deep cross, but the Assistant Manager’s header went straight at goalkeeper Richard Stroud. A minute later, however, Ashford went into a lead that they never looked like they would relinquish. Welford began the attack, spreading the ball wide to Ryan Palmer, on the right. Palms fed the ball through to Seb Schoburgh, in the penalty area, who turned and then planted his shot just inside the far post, for his first goal for Ashford.

Sevenoaks’ Steve Camacho had oodles of time in which to line up a shot, in the 61^st minute, before slicing the ball high and wide, but the home side’s best chance to equalise came four minutes later, when Stuart Zanone reminded us of what he is capable of. On the one occasion that he received a well-timed through ball to run onto, he sprinted clear of the Ashford defence. Stuart beat Kamuresi with his shot, but his effort flashed across the face of the goal.

Jack Healey’s physical suffering was ended in the 66^th minute, when he was replaced by regular skipper Mickey Phillips, and Mickey Dalton received a yellow card, in the 70^th minute, for a daft late tackle on Zanone, but the cup tie was effectively decided just three minutes later. Shaun Welford was again the man to make the difference, and, this time, he added his name to the scoresheet. Ryan Palmer cut in from the right touchline, with the ball on his left foot. He sent in a high, looping cross, beyond the far post. Welford appeared to leap above the goalkeeper, nodding the ball into the net, to register a trademark goal – and his ninth for Ashford, at a rate of just a shade under a goal a game.

With Tom Fagg replacing Schoburgh up front on 75 minutes, Ashford played neat, passing football for the remainder of the match, comfortably seeing things through to the final whistle, in spite of a triple substitution made by Mickey Collins with ten minutes remaining.

A seal was placed on a thoroughly good team performance by a stunning individual goal by Ryan Palmer, with 90 minutes on the clock. Picking the ball up from a throw-in, on the right, Ryan produced a neat shimmy to ghost past one defender. A body swerve then sent two more off for a hot dog, as he entered the penalty area with only the goalkeeper to beat, before making no mistake in lashing the ball into the net. It was very much a “worldie”, to go alongside Paul Booth’s volley against Greenwich Borough, two weeks ago.

So Ashford made it through to the last 16 of The Trophy, along with nine other SCEFL clubs, five clubs from the Kent Invicta League and West Wickham.

Another significant point to note is that Danny Lye’s developing team finally managed to string two victories together – for the first time this season.

Greenwich Borough v Ashford United. Southern Counties East Football League. 3rd of October 2015.

Greenwich Borough 4       Ashford United 2

 

From Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent

This is a result that requires explanation. There will be casual observers who will see the bare result, and see that Gary Alexander scored a hat-trick, and they will take it that this was the day that class came to the fore, when Greenwich Borough’s battery of stars proved too good for Ashford United and confirmed themselves as the outstanding team in the Southern Counties East Football League. Borough may well win the title and gain promotion to the Ryman League – but there was much more to this game than the bare result suggests.

For a start, the home side didn’t look obvious champions to me. It’s true that their excellent forward unit – Stuart Zanone, Mohammed Eisa, Gary Alexander and Jake Britnell - always looked dangerous, and would be able to score four goals against most teams in this league, but our hosts looked distinctly ordinary elsewhere on the park. There was never much to choose between the two sides, this afternoon, and, with 88 minutes on the clock, I thought I’d be reporting on a heroic performance from ten-man Ashford United in securing a point in the face of adversity. All three of their substitutions – all forced - had long since been made, and there were players having to play out of position, due to injuries to others. In short, this was a game in which anything that could go wrong for Ashford did go wrong – yet they had shown signs of maybe taking all three points, before two late goals from Gary Alexander secured victory for Borough.

That’s not to say that there was nothing to worry about for the Ashford fans who made up the majority of the 86-strong attendance. The lads turned in a whole-hearted performance today, but there clearly remain deficiencies in certain areas, and the squad-building process under Danny Lye is far from complete.

And to think that the day started on such a happy and optimistic note, with a big match, carnival atmosphere in Milton Keynes. There was bunting adorning every platform of the railway station, and there was an influx of smiling and animated Japanese tourists. (I won’t use the line about there being a nip in the air – I will save that one for Pearl Harbour Day, which is in December). Clearly, the New City was hosting one of those egg-chasing games – that game for hooligans played by hooligans, which will receive no further mention in this report – but it made a change from the station being full of Arsenal fans on a Saturday morning.

Back to the game for gentlemen played sissies, it was a warm, sunny day in Dartford – probably the last balmy day of football this season – and the Princes Park pitch looked lush and green, (contrasting with the state of the ground in the corresponding fixture here last season, when the majority of the playing surface had resembled a ploughed field). Ashford United announced a strong-looking starting line-up, but, in the absence of both Cuthbert brothers – and I am reliably informed that they had to go shopping with their Mum - there were signs of a lack of defensive cover in today’s squad, which was to contribute to our downfall later on.

Dan Eason was in goal, with Tony Browne and Chris Elliott on either side of the defensive pairing of Pat Kingwell and Danny Lye. In front of them, Ashford effectively lined up with two ranks of three, with Jamie Bosio, skipper Mickey Phillips and Mickey Dalton in midfield, and Ryan Palmer well forward as an attacking option wide on the right, with the experienced strike partnership of Shaun Welford and Paul Booth in the centre. For the second consecutive game, however, the bench had a distinctly attacking look about it – which is another way of saying that there appeared to be a distinct lack of defensive cover – in the shape of Sebastian Schoburgh, Josh Woolley, Tom Fagg, Ellis Green and goalkeeper Nick Luen, (although, as it turned out, it was a good thing that we had a substitute goalie available on this occasion).

One of the reasons that we are currently short of defenders is the recent defection of Nathan Paul to Greenwich – although I was slightly surprised to see Nathan deployed at right-back, having looked so impressive in the heart of Ashford United’s defence since the start of the season. It was also good to see Stuart Zanone, this afternoon – maybe not in that silly red and black shirt, of course, but there appeared to be tangible goodwill towards Stuart from the Ashford fans. (Still our hero, after those 47 goals last season !).

It was not Greenwich Borough’s intention to blind the visitors with science, with their main tactic appearing to be the long ball forward, to bring their expensive forward-line into play as soon as possible. In fact, some of the home side’s siege gun balls would have looked more appropriate at Twickers, this afternoon – not that I’m being sniffy about the general tactic, as it was often effective. One of these balls from the back was latched onto by the pacey Mohammed Eisa, in the third minute. He squared the ball to Gary Alexander, whose shot was comfortably saved by Dan Eason, diving to his right.

But it was Ashford who took an early lead, after five minutes – (a lead which was to be surrendered, for the upteenth time this season). Paul Booth ran onto a long ball from the visitors’ defence, in the inside left channel. The player-coach laid the ball back to Chris Elliott, who was wide on the left. Elliott’s deep cross beyond the far post found Pat Kingwell, who nodded the ball back to Ryan Palmer, some twelve yards from goal. Palmer was easily able to add to the two goals he scored on Tuesday evening, turning and hitting a low shot past goalkeeper Craig Holloway.

Although the opening goal was the ideal start for Ashford, the first of a whole litany of mishaps occurred almost immediately. Before Greenwich could restart the game, it was obvious that right-back Tony Browne was in trouble with an injury. The Ashford Physio came onto the pitch, but it appeared that the decision had already been made for a substitution, as the Browne Dog limped off the pitch very gingerly, holding something in the vicinity of his groin. (I will not be more specific – this is a family show !). And so the make do & mend process was already underway. Josh Woolley slotted into midfield, with young Mickey Dalton having the thankless job of filling in at right-back, against Mohammed Eisa, one of the very best forwards in the league.

The lad did his best, but this was, unfortunately, something of a mis-match, with Eisa appearing to be able to beat Dalton at will – and, as the best teams do, Greenwich sought to exploit this loop-hole immediately. One of the challenges that Mickey faced was that, not only did he have to contend with a fast and skilful opponent, but he is also not the tallest – and, in the 18^th minute, a long ball over his head found Eisa, but the tall Greenwich No.11’s shot was blocked, for a corner.

However, the Ashford lead was not to stay intact for long, as, in the 18^th minute, the visitors’ defence failed to clear a cross, and the ball fell to Danny Phillips, inside the six-yard box. Phillips’ first attempt to score hit the post and came back to him, but he made no mistake with the second, which actually went in off the post.

There was never much between the two teams during the first half, but Greenwich probably shaded it in terms of chances created, with Ashford being inaccurate with their crosses and through-balls. This was in spite of Gary Alexander playing in a deep midfield position. In the 20^th minute, Billy Bennett attempted to place a header just under Dan Eason’s crossbar, but the Ashford ‘keeper made a good save. In the 24^th minute, Mohammed Eisa was able to run onto a headed flick-on, deep in the heart of the Ashford half, with an ease that suggested that the Ashford defence wasn’t “owning” this area of the field. Eisa hit his shot well, but Eason again made a good save.

Ashford’s lack of precision with their approach play was typified, in the 30^th minute, by Ryan Palmer planting a cross into the side-netting, after he and Mickey Phillips had combined in a nice move down the right. Four minutes later, however, Palmer did rather better, with a cross that found Shaun Welford beyond the far post. The big No.9 headed the ball across the face of the Greenwich goal, and Mickey Phillips, steaming in, planted his header over the bar. There were incredulous appeals for a penalty, for a push in the back, but the referee was unresponsive. Then, just a minute later, Shaun Welford was allowed by the Borough defence to turn and let the ball run across his body, before hitting a thunder-bolt, with his left foot, just over the bar.

Another issue that Ashford had to contend with was the performance of today’s referee. Young Mr Down may or may not have a long and successful career in the game, but he is about to receive a rare accolade – criticism from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent. I tend not to be critical of match officials, as I realise that they have a very difficult and thankless job, but the lad was inconsistent today. He missed plenty, but, at the same time, gave some very soft free-kicks and made some strange decisions with yellow cards. Footballers are notoriously adversarial and unhelpful when it comes to referees, but it was obvious from an early stage that players from both sides had little confidence in this particular ref. I have never seen a referee who is biased towards one team or the other – fans just convince themselves of that – but Ashford did appear to get the rough end of the decisions, certainly in terms of the yellow cards.

Jamie Bosio was the first to be booked, in the 36^th minute. It is not uncommon to see a player commit a bad foul immediately after he has seen the referee fail to give a free-kick for what he thinks is a clear foul on a team-mate – and this is what appears to have happened here. Shaun Welford was the player who seemed to be the victim of the obvious infringement, and Nathan Paul happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, as a frustrated Bosio clattered him.

There could be no complaints about that particular booking, and the same can be said for the second yellow card, which was shown to Danny Lye, a couple of minutes before half time. This was a bit of an old man’s tackle by Lyesie – Jake Britnell, who was carrying the ball through central midfield, was too quick for him, so the Ashford player-manager halted his progress with a trip.

Just prior to this, Shaun Welford had won the ball in the air, finding Ryan Palmer in the penalty area, before Palmer hit a fierce shot just wide of goal. This was followed by Stuart Zanone running onto a through-ball behind the Ashford defence, and then squaring the ball to Jake Britnell, in the centre, whose shot was charged down – but the teams trooped in at the break with the scores level, at 1-1.

The plus points for Ashford in the first half were more or less where I expected to find them. I had heard good things about Ryan Palmer, and he had shown himself to be fast and skilful, and a handful for defenders when in and around the penalty area. I hadn’t seen Jamie Bosio before, but he had looked a class act in midfield – very composed and obviously very comfortable on the ball, at this level, and looking like one man who we could rely on not to give the ball away. The other outstanding performer was, as usual, Pat Kingwell. It is a pleasure to see the man go about his business, as he has become a master of his trade. On the ground, he is always there with the interception, he is strong and composed when facing his own goal and, of course, he gets his head to most aerial threats. Yet again, he would have been the candidate for Ashford’s Man of the Match, if I were to give such an award. Mickey Phillips would certainly have run him close, for his overall drive and effort throughout the 90 minutes, but Kingwell would have shaded it, for sheer, understated flawlessness.

It wasn’t long before things started to go wrong for Ashford in the second half, which began with a period of solid Greenwich Borough pressure. In the 48^th minute, Stuart Zanone ran onto a ball over the top, and, for the second time, got behind the visitors’ defence. He just had Dan Eason to beat, but the Ashford ‘keeper did well to save Stuart’s shot. It appeared that it was Borough who might have the problem to contend with, as one of their prize assets went down, clutching his ankle – but Stuart was eventually able to continue. What was more final was the fact that, at the same time, Jamie Bosio had limped off slowly, and it was once again fairly obvious that it was a groin injury. (It didn’t look good at the time, but I’m pleased to report that it was “just a niggle”, and that Jamie should be fit to join the Gibraltar squad for the forthcoming international weekend).

So the next reshuffle for Ashford saw substitute Sebastian Schoburgh join Shaun Welford up front, with Paul Booth dropping back into midfield.

In the 53^rd minute, Josh Woolley was booked for what appeared to be a very minor show of dissent, reacting in disbelief as he was adjudged to have fouled an opponent. Two minutes later, things might have been worse for Danny Lye, when he was late with a tackle that was clearly very “bookable” – but, instead, the ref decided to give him a long public warning, making it clear to everyone that he was on his last chance.

In the 57^th minute, a shot by Gary Alexander went wide, but a corner was given, as Mickey Phillips had just got a nick onto it. With the resulting cross going right through the Ashford area, Stuart Zanone chased the loose ball and put it back into the mixer. During the ensuing scramble, the ball popped up and hit Pat Kingwell’s fore-arm, and it looked to be a clear penalty – but nothing was given. The ball was quickly heading in the other direction, with an Ashford break showing the home defence to be in disarray. There were options for Ashford, but the opportunity ended with Josh Woolley’s attempted left-footed shot being blocked by Nathan Paul, who had come across with the covering tackle. Ashford maintained the pressure, forcing a corner on the right. The resulting cross flicked off a Greenwich Borough head and found Paul Booth on the edge of the area, who hit the ball, on the full volley, low into the net. This was certainly a candidate for Goal of the Season, and a sweet strike that Booth will remember for a long time. (What he won’t remember for so long is that he was booked shortly afterwards – for reasons that remain unknown to me).

So Ashford retook the lead in the 58^th minute, but this was again short-lived, for Greenwich were level just seven minutes later. In the 63^rd minute, Mohammed Eisa ran onto a through-ball, into the Ashford area. He rounded the advancing Eason, who tripped him with his right hand – and so this was a very straightforward decision for the referee to award a penalty and to show Eason a red card. There was some delay as Ashford’s substitute goalie, Nick Luen, changed into Dan’s silver-grey jersey, and the visitors made their third and final substitution and reshuffle. This time, Josh Woolley was sacrificed, with Shaun Welford playing up front on his own, certainly when Greenwich had the ball. Gary Alexander finally smashed the ball in the net in the 65^th minute. It was a very straightforward penalty. Nick Luen dived one way, as goalkeepers tend to do, and the penalty taker hit the ball in the space that he had just vacated. Ironically, if an outfield player had had to go in goal to face the penalty, the ball would probably have hit him in the chest – but it was 2-2, with 25 minutes left to play.

The plan for Ashford was very much to try to hang on to the point, but Schoburgh and Palmer, in particular, both looked so dangerous with the ball at their feet, when breaking forward, that the visitors looked just as likely to score the next goal. Borough, however, clearly had the scent of victory, now that Ashford had been reduced to ten men – and it was only now that Gary Alexander started to take up forward positions.

In the 67^th minute, Mohammed Eisa turned and shot, on the edge of the area, but his effort was wide. Just a minute later, however, Greenwich should have scored. Again, Eisa tormented Mickey Dalton, who had little chance of preventing the cross which eventually found Jake Britnell – who fired his shot over the bar.

At the other end, in the 69^th minute, Seb Schoburgh worked a decent shooting chance for himself, from an acute angle, well inside the Greenwich area, but Craig Holloway saved, at the foot of his near post. A minute later, Ashford were awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position, right on the edge of the “D”, after Billy Bennett had fouled Mickey Phillips - but Phillips paid for this with another yellow card, this time for his angry reaction to the foul. Arms were barely raised, as the two players squared up, but the referee handed out a rather harsh booking to each of them. Chris Elliott, who seems to be one of the dead-ball specialists of the team, with his Rory Delap throw-ins and his free-kicks, went for goal, but his shot went over the bar.

In the 74^th minute, a good lay-off by Stuart Zanone, in a neat, one-touch move, put the ball into Mohammed Eisa’s path, but the winger’s low shot was easily stopped by Nick Luen. Five minutes later, Luen was again called into action, when he had little problem in getting down to save a low Stuart Zanone shot. A minute after this, in a slightly bizarre incident, Danny Lye attempted to pass the ball back to Luen, but instead gave the ball straight to Jake Britnell, who was well inside the penalty area. Britnell tried to devise something with another Greenwich player, but the latter was in an offside position, so this opportunity came to nothing.

Ashford continued to have chances, at the other end, and had a free-kick on the edge of the Borough area, in the 84^th minute; this time, it was Ryan Palmer who took responsibility for the kick, but his attempt was also always going too high. Two minutes later, Chris Elliott won the ball in midfield, and sent Shaun Welford off on a break, in the inside-right channel. Welford had Ryan Palmer available in the centre, but instead chose to shoot, and Craig Holloway made a comfortable save at his near post.

With just two minutes remaining of normal time, it appeared that Ashford would hang on for what would have been a deserved point, but there was actually still time for Gary Alexander to complete a hat-trick. His second goal of the game, and Greenwich’s third, was pure class. Scott Kinch, who had come on as sub for Billy Bennett, in the 76^th minute, spread a high, looping pass out to the left wing – the ball was fed inside to Alexander, who very deliberately curled the ball into the corner of the net, giving Nick Luen no chance.

That goal knocked the stuffing out of Ashford’s ten men, who really didn’t deserve to go further behind, just a minute later. Alexander and Stuart Zanone combined well, through the middle, in a move that ended with the former hitting a shot from close range, that was well saved by Luen – but Alexander made no mistake with the rebound, to make it 4-2.