Holmesdale 3
Ashford United 4
From Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent
There
was a feeling of “the morning after the night before”, as I travelled to
Bromley for today’s Southern Counties East League match with Holmesdale.
Precisely a week ago, life was full of anticipation and optimism, in the lead
up to Ashford United’s FA Vase 4th Round tie with Eastern Counties
League leaders Norwich United, with the visitors expecting to take coach loads
of supporters down to Homelands. Unhappily, a waterlogged pitch, which forced
the postponement of the game, and a sobering 0-5 defeat in the rearranged
match, in front of a much reduced crowd, last Tuesday evening, punctured a huge
bubble of expectation, and effectively ended all hope of honour and valour, for
another season.
With
the prospect of promotion already very faint, and with exactly half of
Ashford’s league fixtures played, it’s hard not to feel deflated. What is hard
to take is the manner of Tuesday’s defeat. Although Norwich United went into
the Vase tie in a dominant position in their league, with 18 wins from 20
matches, it has come as a jolting surprise that our heroes appear to have been
outclassed, with the 0-5 score-line certainly not misrepresenting the
difference between the two sides.
In
spite of Ashford’s generally impressive record, this season – and let’s not
overlook the fact that we have, so far, only lost two games in what is a strong
league – there is an accumulation of evidence of the squad being found wanting
when coming up against a really decent side. Tuesday night’s 0-5 defeat can be
placed on the shelf alongside the 4-0 loss to Beckenham in last year’s Kent
Senior Trophy Final, and the 4-0 capitulation to Erith & Belvedere, earlier
this season – and, if we’re being really harsh, the 4-0 drubbing at the hands
of, the admittedly very good, Peacehaven & Telscombe, in last year’s FA
Cup.
So
today was the first game of the rest of the season for Ashford United – away to
Holmesdale, whose Oakley Road ground is located in the London Borough of
Bromley. Our hosts began the day in a solid, mid-table, twelfth position,
having won nine, and lost twelve, of their 24 games. Therefore, in a season
when, for once, the bottom side in the SCEFL will be relegated to Step 6, it
seems pretty certain that Holmesdale will not be the team to fall through the
trap door. The Management at Oakley Road should receive praise for this, as
Holmesdale FC only graduated from the Kent County League as recently as 2007,
and the facilities here are certainly no more than you would expect to find at
an average Kent Invicta League ground.
The
man-made structures at Oakley Road, which consist of two dug-outs on one side
of the pitch, a stand with three rows of seats on the opposite side, and a
small shelter for standing spectators behind one goal, are fashioned from
corrugated iron sheets and scaffolding poles. The Emirates Stadium it ain’t,
but the three rows of seating in the stand rise steeply, providing a good,
elevated view of the pitch from the top row.
The
majority of today’s crowd of 62 were Ashford United fans, so it’s probably safe
to assume that Holmesdale FC is not used to the business of catering for paying
customers. The club officials and volunteers that I met were friendly enough,
but there was no programme, no team-sheet, no PA announcements and the
floodlights only came on for the final five minutes of the match. It was a good
thing, therefore, that the match itself was able to justify the £7 admission.
What
we saw was not particularly high in quality, with both teams willing to lob the
ball in the air, in the general direction of the opposition’s goal, on a
regular basis, but we did get seven goals and an exciting finish. As an added
bonus, we had the side-show of the pantomime that results from having a referee
eager to please his assessor in the stand, with the supporting cast of an
over-fussy lino and an increasingly exasperated band of travelling supporters. All
tremendous fun !
An
incident-packed first half fairly flew by, and was unusual in that the three
goals scored in the first 45 minutes – one to Ashford, and then two to
Holmesdale – all came within a four-minute period.
Another
remarkable thing was that Ashford target man Andy Irvine had almost his entire
game concentrated in the opening seven minutes, with four very decent chances
coming his way. In the first minute, he won a free-kick, mid-way inside the
Holmesdale half, for a push in the back. (This was a good spot by the ref). From
the resulting free-kick, which was delivered long, Ashford contrived to have
two men over, at the far post. Irvine was the second of these, but he fluffed
his header wide, when he should have done a lot better.
In
the third minute, Kieran Byrne met a kick-out from the Holmesdale ‘keeper with
a volleyed clearance of his own which went straight into Irvine’s path. The
hero of Tunbridge Wells’ 2012-13 FA Vase campaign showed good pace, for a big
fella, to latch onto the ball, but, instead of shooting, he attempted a pass to
Stuart Zanone, and his effort deflected off a defender’s shin, running tamely
through to the ‘keeper.
Three
minutes later, the visitors put together a good move, made possible by an
excellent cross-field ball from Liam Whiting, which found Gary Mickelborough on
the right flank. The move ended with Irvs getting on the end of a cross from
the right, but he rather got underneath his attempted header at goal.
Irvine’s
best chance, during this very strange opening period, came in the seventh
minute, when he ran onto a high ball forward. All eyes turned to the lino on
the far side, but there was no flag raised for offside, and Irvine had only the
goalkeeper to beat – but he rather scuffed his shot wide of goal.
It
is very unusual for all those chances to have fallen to one man, especially as
Irvine was partnered up front today by the in-form Stuart Zanone, in what was
basically a full-strength Ashford side. In a 4-4-2 set-up, Darren Marsden and
skipper Gary Clarke were in central midfield, with Gary Mickelborough on the
right and Liam Whiting on the left. The back four, in front of Joe Mant,
consisted of Adam Cuthbert in his now-customary right-back position, Kieran
Byrne at left-back and Pat Kingwell and Danny Lye in the centre. On the bench,
this afternoon, were Buster Smissen, Lee Winfield, Tom Scorer, Jordan Harris
and the out of favour Luke Cuthbert.
Like
the majority of those in attendance, I have little idea of who was playing for
Holmesdale, and, due to the absence of any information or announcements, I make
no apologies for this report appearing to be rather Ashford-orientated.
The
two Holmesdale players I did recognise, however, were by far their outstanding
performers – Luke Coleman, the former Ashford Town striker (seven goals at a
rate of a goal every 196 minutes) and the home side’s captain today, and
much-travelled class act Rikki Cable, who scored a hat-trick and could very
easily have had more goals.
After
the early Ashford pressure, Cable created the chance that very nearly gave his
side the lead, in the 13th minute. Twisting and turning in and
around the Ashford penalty area, he eventually sent in a cross that was met by
the head of his mate with a No.7 on his back. This was a looping header that
didn’t appear to be very dangerous, and Joe Mant was rather a spectator as the
ball dipped over his head – so Joe was probably relieved to collect the ball as
it rebounded off the crossbar and bounced into his arms.
To
illustrate the fine line that exists between success and failure, Ashford
United took the lead just a minute later. This was a game in which neither side
emerged with much credit, in terms of overall team play, but the afternoon was
saved by a few moments of individual brilliance. One of these was produced by
Stuart Zanone, with a solo effort that gave his side the lead. Being fed the
ball inside the Holmesdale penalty area, Zanone turned, manoeuvred the ball
onto his right foot and easily slotted the ball into the net, beating the
‘keeper at his near post.
It’s
been a relatively quiet week for Stuart, after drawing a blank on Tuesday
night, but he has still, now, scored 17 goals in his last nine matches.
So
all was set fair, for the visitors, with a deserved lead, after a dominant
start to the game – but Ashford somehow found themselves behind, within three
minutes. Luke Coleman sent in a cross from the right, within a minute of Zanone’s
opener, and this was met with a volley from some bloke with a No.11 on his
back. Again, this was a looping effort, which Joe Mant could not get anywhere
near, and, once again, the ball rebounded off the crossbar – but, this time,
Rikki Cable was waiting in the six-yard box, and took a touch to control the
ball before sticking it in the net.
In
the 17th minute, Cable had the ball at his feet, on the right flank,
and was faced by Danny Lye, who had somehow found himself in the left-back
position. The Cable Guy turned Danny inside out with a couple of dummied
crosses, and progressed as far as the corner of the Ashford penalty area. From
there, he unleashed a cracking, low shot which found the net just inside the
far post. This was a brilliant goal, giving the goalkeeper no chance, and not
many of the thousands of goals that Rikki must have scored will have been
better.
A
minute later, Danny Lye was again having to play left-backs. When his man beat
him, he clipped him, probably more out of frustration at the game situation as
anything else. Nevertheless, the right-winger was past him, and away – but,
under the gaze of the Referees’ Assessor nearby, the ref stopped the game anyway,
and showed Danny the yellow card. The Assessor scribbled a note. Soon after, in
the 22nd minute, Gary Clarke was the victim of a rather innocuous
trip, just inside his own half, but the offender received what we might refer
to as an Assessor Proximity Card. Two minutes later, Clarke was clattered from
behind, very late, but no yellow card was shown – at which point the ref
started to look a proper Charlie. (I accept that these Assessors do an
important job, but I really wish they’d go to matches disguised as trees or
something).
Chances
continued to be created at both ends of the pitch, in what was a thoroughly
entertaining game. In the 25th minute, Stuart Zanone ran onto a
through-ball out of defence, in the inside-right position. With just the goalkeeper
to beat, Stuart attempted an accurate chip, rather than going for power, but
the goalie did well to put the ball behind for a corner. In the 28th
minute, Luke Coleman received the ball on the edge of the Ashford area; he also
concentrated on accuracy, and was unfortunate to see his low, curling effort
rebound off the foot of Joe Mant’s far post. Luke had another chance, from a
similar, inside-left, position, in the 36th minute, after some good
work by the home side down the left flank, but, this time, he blasted the ball
well over the bar.
Stuart
Zanone blotted his copybook, slightly, in the 37th minute, when he
picked up a really daft yellow card. The goalkeeper had come out of his goal to
pick up a loose ball, and Stuart, for no conceivable gain, tapped his ankle and
brought him down. Given the referee’s frame of mind, this afternoon, this was
only going to have one consequence.
With
five minutes to go to half time, the home side had a chance to go further
ahead, when the ball was fed through to Rikki Cable. There were appeals to the
lino for offside, but to no avail, as Cable squared the ball to the unknown
No.11 – who sliced a first-time shot high and wide. Three minutes later, Darren
Marsden, who looked impressive in midfield, for Ashford, split the home defence
with an excellent ball inside the right-back, putting Kieran Byrne clean
through on goal. It would have been an appropriate goal if Kieran had scored,
on the eve of Byrne’s Night, but he sliced his shot wide. Soon after, Byrnsie
had an opportunity from a free-kick, on the right, on the very edge of the
Holmesdale penalty area, after Gary Mickelborough had been brought down, but
his curling effort went straight at the ‘keeper.
The
last action of the first half saw Ashford on the break, with a slick, one-touch
move involving Darren Marsden and Andy Irvine, which put Stuart Zanone in on
goal. Stuart was rather worried out of it by the defence, and the ‘keeper was
able to clear, before the ref put the whistle to his lips – (where else ?) –
and blew for half time.
So
the players and officials and the Assessor all trooped off for a well-deserved
break.
The
early part of the second half was, in contrast, fairly scrappy and
“stop-start”. The flow of the game was not helped by a soft and slippery pitch,
but the main impediment to football was the continuing litany of bookings.
Darren Marsden was the first one to see yellow in this half – in the 47th
minute - after he rather left his foot in after a tackle. This was an easy
decision for the referee to make, and it was probably the correct one, if only for
the sake of consistency, but it didn’t really justify the brief player melée
that followed. Five minutes later, Liam Whiting, who looked impressive
throughout, did something similar, and also received a yellow card. Soon after,
Andy Irvine was slightly late with a tackle, which was met with some brief
retaliation from his “victim” – after which the ref took time out to give the
players a lengthy lecture. Kieran Byrne was booked, in the 57th
minute, for a tiny push, when he was basically trying to make a little room for
himself – but his fate was sealed once the lino had started to furiously wave
his flag.
Smoke
rose from the Assessor’s clipboard.
Neither
side was actually threatening to create a chance, at this stage, until Ashford
produced their best move of the game, in the 61st minute. After Gary
Mickelborough had won a corner, on the right, he took the kick himself, and he
worked it well with Darren Marsden. Marsden then combined well with Andy
Irvine, with a neat one-two, with Irvine finishing things with a shot that flew
just wide of post and bar. This was Irvs’ last act in the game, as Paul
Chambers immediately replaced him with Lee Winfield. The resulting reshuffle
saw Liam Whiting switch to left-back, with Kieran Byrne pushing forward into
the left side of midfield.
Holmedale’s
third goal was scored in the 70th minute, and there was an element
of controversy about it. Lee Winfield gave away a fairly silly free-kick, after
an off-the-ball trip, well inside his own half. As the Ashford defence faced up
to the free-kick, Joe Mant tapped his boots against the foot of his right-hand
post, which is what many ‘keepers do, in order to clean the mud from between
his studs. Rikki Cable spotted this, and took the kick quickly, slotting the
ball inside the opposite post. Inevitably, the Ashford players pursued the
referee with their protests, but to no avail. This was certainly a lesson for
Joe to file away in his memory bank - and it completed a fairly miserable week
for him.
Tom
Scorer came on as a replacement for Gary Mickelborough, in the 75th
minute, and, a minute later, there was a chance for Kieran Byrne. This was
instigated by Liam Whiting, who did well to win the ball, on the left side of
the field. Byrne turned, inside the Holmesdale penalty area, transferring the
ball onto his (weaker) right foot, and his shot went well over the bar. Another
side of Liam’s qualities were seen in the 81st minute, after the
home side counter-attacked with a flowing break, after a period of Ashford
pressure. Luke Coleman found himself through on goal, with only Joe Mant to
beat. Joe got something on the Holmesdale skipper’s effort on goal, but the
ball appeared to be rolling over the line, for what would surely be the winning
goal, before Whiting, running back, cleared the ball off the line.
At
the time, this incident didn’t appear to have changed the destination of the
three points, as Ashford has shown few signs of being able to find the quality
to be able to get on terms, but that changed when Darren Marsden scored a
textbook goal that was almost annoying in its simplicity. Pat Kingwell had made
two or three attempts to carry the ball out of defence, as the second half
progressed, and he went on one of these raids in the 83rd minute.
The lighthouse centre-half laid the ball off to Stuart Zanone, who slotted a
pass through to Marsden, who was making a run in the inside-left channel. With
only the ‘keeper to beat, Darren found the net with the minimum of fuss, for
his third goal for Ashford, in his eighth appearance.
Paul
Chambers then replaced Kieran Byrne with Buster Smissen, in the 86th
minute, and this decision paid an immediate dividend, as Smissen hit the
Ashford equaliser soon after. The goal came from a corner on the right, which
was played, through a crowded penalty area, to the far post. Whether it was
Buster on the end of this cross, side-footing a volley from the corner of the
six-yard box, or he applied the final touch to the ball close in, I am not
sure, but he was certainly credited with his 14th goal for Ashford,
to maintain his excellent strike rate.
At
this point, the momentum was very much with Ashford, and, as they continued to
press forward, it seemed that it was the visitors who would be the more likely
to grab a winner. But, in the 88th minute, it appeared that this
engrossing game had yet another twist, as a quick kick-out from the Holmesdale ‘keeper
set Luke Coleman clean through on goal. There were shades of Geoff Hurst’s “They
think it’s all over” goal in 1966, as Luke burst clear and slammed the ball into
the net. Unfortunately for him, the lino had already flagged for offside.
There
were many present, from both sides, who were convinced that the goal should
have stood, and there was plenty of talk about this in the bar afterwards, but
I am sure that the lino’s decision was correct. This is because the Assessor in
the stand called the decision straight away. “Offside ! Yes, well done !”, he said, as soon as the
ball had been played.
Holmesdale
can still consider themselves to have been unlucky, however, as some officials
would not have spotted the offside.
And
worse was to come for our hosts, as, in the first minute of added time, Ashford
scored their third goal in nine minutes, to turn the match around. Shortly
after Tom Scorer had curled a shot straight at the ‘keeper, the visitors were back
on the attack, with Darren Marsden again being put through in the inside-left
position. He showed good composure to curl the ball around the advancing
goalie, and hit the same post that Luke Coleman had struck in the first half –
but, this time, the football Gods decided that the ball would rebound into the
net, and Marsden had his second goal of the game, securing the three points for
Ashford.
