Fleet Town 2 Ashford Town 2
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
It was good to be back at Fleet again. For reasons best known to the people at the FA who allocate non-league clubs to different leagues, Fleet Town, along with Godalming Town, were shoved into the Southern League Division One South West for last season. Well, they’re both back this year – at the expense of Thamesmead Town and Chatham Town – so the trip to Calthorpe Park, our shortest away trip in the league, was back on the roster.
This was always going to be a test for the boys. Fleet are a good side. It was just a few years ago that they were one of the whipping boys perennially struggling against relegation – like us – but former Spurs and England winger Andy Sinton has certainly turned them around since taking over as Manager. They finished fifth under Sinton in our division in 2006-7, and were then runners-up in their division last year. In August I actually fancied them to make a play-off position for the third successive season, but they made a fairly sticky start to the current campaign, and were in ninth place this morning – but closer inspection of that league table reveals that Fleet would actually be SECOND if they win the two games they have in hand of all the teams above them. They were unbeaten in their last seven league games, so were very much one of the teams in form.
That’s more than could be said about Ashford, coming into this game. With one win in the last eight, and only one goal in the last four, (and that a gift, after a defensive error), we were looking decidedly ropy. I’m not into encouraging pressure on the manager or any of the players when results aren’t good, but I wouldn’t be setting the scene for this match properly if I didn’t mention that Steve Lovell had been receiving his fair share of criticism since Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat at Merstham – and, with five wins in 17 games this season, and the team sinking to 14th place, there have been one or two suggestions among the supporters that he might not be the man to lead us to the play-offs in May. This was therefore a very important game for both Steve Lovell and his squad of players.
Well, I’m pleased to report that, although this was just a single point gained in Hampshire this afternoon, all seems to be on a much more even keel tonight. This was a much improved performance, and one which heartened the travelling coach-load of support from Ashford. It was just a shame that an equaliser from the home side in the fifth minute of injury time robbed the boys of what would have been a thoroughly deserved victory.
Part of the reason for the improvement might have been the fact that Steve Lovell sent out what many of us believe is his best starting line-up. Jimmy Bottle was back on the left wing, with Mitchell Sherwood starting on the right, and Ryan Briggs and Danny Lye was the central midfield pairing. (It’s true that Ashford tended to bypass the centre of midfield a little this afternoon, but this might have been understandable, given the employment of two wide players. Paul Jones and Claude Seanla is surely the best partnership option up front – the strong hold-up man and the sharp finisher – and Craig Wilkins and Sean Ray look an accomplished pairing in the centre of defence. Daniel Brathwaite was back at left-back today, after having been on his travels in midfield and at centre-half, with Jimmy Elford wearing the No. 2 shirt. To complete the “ideal eleven”, Josh Willis was in goal – Josh has out-performed Jamie Riley this season, and, since making his debut, he has only lost his place when having a genuine reason for being unavailable.
On the subs bench were Jamie Riley, Lee Hockey, Tony Browne (who’s had a good run on the right side of midfield this season) and Andy Doerr.
Ashford’s cause today was also helped considerably by the fact that we made a good start. As early as the third minute, Jimmy Elford played a low ball forward to Claude Seanla, who laid it off to Paul Jones. Jonah took a touch, to take the ball infield, and got in a low, left-footed shot, which was well saved by ‘keeper Dave Smalley. This was rather a sign of how things were to develop, as Smalley made a number of good saves this afternoon, and Ashford looked most dangerous when attacking down the right flank, with Claude, Jonah, Mitch Sherwood and Jimmy Elford combining well. We certainly went forward in numbers, when we had the ball, and looked likely to score – which is not something that could be said about the performance at Merstham on Tuesday.
On this occasion, Smalley’s save was at the expense of a corner, on the right, which was cleared, but only as far as Ryan Briggs, whose firm shot went straight at the ‘keeper. Fleet turned defence into attack, but made a mess of the assault, and lost the ball in midfield. Immediately, the ball was played upfield for Paul Jones to run on to, and Jonah was soon clear of the defence, with only the goalkeeper to beat. He rounded Smalley and struck the ball firmly into the empty net. It was a good striker’s goal, and Paul’s seventh of the season – which equals his total for last season.
It was all Ashford, playing in their Norwich City-style away kit, in the opening minutes, as the visitors didn’t let the home side get into the game. In the fifth minute, Ryan Briggs spread the ball wide to Jimmy Bottle, who was in hectares of space – note the modern, Euro-friendly terminology – on the left. Jimmy cut inside and got in a right-footed shot, but this was saved by goalkeeper Smalley. A minute later, Claude Seanla, starting with his back to goal in the “D”, turned and shot, but was well off target.
Fleet, playing in familiar colours of sky blue shirts, and navy blue shorts and sockies, did manage one attack during this early phase – in the eighth minute, James Field went smoothly, and unchallenged, through the Ashford midfield, and tried a long-range shot which crept past Josh Willis’s right-hand post. Nineteen year-old Josh must have got a touch, as a corner was awarded – but this came to nothing.
At the other end, in the tenth minute, Mitchell Sherwood took a throw-in on the right. He found Paul Jones, in the penalty area, who turned and shot, but tamely, and straight at the ‘keeper.
A feature of today’s game was that it was played, from start to finish, in steady rain. This meant that the entire crowd of 162 this afternoon could be found under the cover that was available. The main, medium-sized stand was the place to be for maximum dryness, but the majority of the intrepid Ashford Town coach party huddled beneath a very ramshackle shelter, made mostly from scaffolding poles, behind each goal. It was good to see a large Ashford Town FC flag in the midst of this gathering. A green & white cross of St George. A flag to die for. “Cry God for Harry ! Ashford, and St George !”.
It might well have been the rain-affected surface that caused Steve Lovell his first real moment of concern, in the 16th minute, when goalkeeper Josh Willis sustained an injury to his left thigh, which was certainly not related to a challenge. After some brief first aid, Josh tested his thigh with a gentle jog, but it was immediately obvious that he was unable to continue, so Jamie Riley was sent on to deputise. It was a good thing that we had a ‘keeper on the subs bench with plenty of first team experience – but it seems that the luckless Josh is doomed to not have an extended run in the team.
Ashford, playing up Calthorpe Park’s diagonal slope in the first half, continued to make the running. In the 25th minute, Jimmy Bottle chipped in a cross from the left, which found Mitch Sherwood at the far post. Mitch fluffed his initial attempt at goal, with his right foot, but still had time to have a second crack, this time with his left – which he pulled well wide. Three minutes later, Mitchell had another shot at goal, which was deflected wide, for a corner. This was taken by Ryan Briggs, on the right. Sean Ray got up well with the header, but Referee Eric Mackrell must have seen something fishy about the challenge, so blew up for a free-kick. (OK, so I’m still working on the act !).
On the half-hour mark, the Mackrell failed to spot a hand-ball by lively Fleet striker Nathan Smart in the Ashford area. Nevertheless, Mitchell Sherwood was there to put the ball behind for a corner, on the left. The resulting cross, a little worryingly, was allowed to travel all the way through the Ashford penalty area, before Sean Ray nodded the ball behind for another corner, on the right. This time it was Daniel Brathwaite who cleared the lines, with a header away.
Which reminds me that I have another entry to make to the Pink Report. Whilst the boys made a generally good showing today, wearing short-sleeved shirts on this cold and very wet afternoon, Daniel B was still caught wearing gloves in public. This is most disappointing. I’m not sure whether there will be an appropriate award at the end of the season, but, if there is, Brathers has accumulated enough Pink Points at this stage of the season to be streets ahead of his team-mates. Watch this space.
It was great to see Jimmy Bottle back, after missing him for five games following the opening up of his right eyebrow by a clash of heads against Chipstead. His pace on the left wing was a constant threat to Fleet, but there were one or two signs of “ring rust”. In the 33rd minute, he gave away a free-kick with a miss-timed tackle, but the resulting cross towards the penalty area was headed clear, to Claude Seanla on the half-way line. Claude turned and spread the ball wide to Jimmy, in space on the left, and suddenly Jimmy had a clear sight of goal – but lack of match practice showed again, as he pulled his shot across the face of goal.
Fleet gradually began to ease themselves into the game, and did look dangerous going forward. Smart Nathan showed good persistence to break through a couple of Ashford tackles, in the 35th minute, and struck his eventual shot against an Ashford arm, from close range - but there was never going to be a penalty awarded for that, (nor should there have been). The ball was still in the penalty area, but Jamie McClurg blasted it over the bar.
In the 36th minute, Daniel Brathwaite conceded a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area. This was taken by Fleet’s dead-ball specialist James Field. Faced by a four-man wall, Field chipped a shot to the near post, but Jamie Riley made a good save, pushing the ball behind, for a corner on the right. Jamie came out to claim the resulting cross, and seemed to have caught the ball cleanly, but then fumbled it, and dropped it – but an Ashford defender on the line cleared it as it span towards the line. The clearance only went to a player in a blue shirt, just outside the area, whose shot was well saved by Jamie, at the expense of another corner, this time on the left. There were groans from the home fans as the taker failed to clear the first defender with the corner, as there were two minutes later, when Daniel Brathwaite cleared another corner, with a near-post header.
Nevertheless, this was a good period of Fleet pressure, and Ashford desperately needed to get out of their own half. Eventually, they managed it, and it was a relief to have a throw-in, deep into the home side’s half of the slope, in the 40th minute. The ball was thrown to Jimmy Elford, who sent a left-footed cross into The Blues’ penalty area. Paul Jones got up to flick the ball goalwards with a back-header, but this was comfortably caught by David Smalley. A minute later, the ball broke to Jimmy Bottle, in the Fleet area, but his shot was blocked, and Ashford had a corner on the right. Sean Ray, still looking for his first goal of the season, got up well, with a downward header that was on target, and it appeared, from the stand, as if a defender’s foot had flicked a clearance over the bar, from inside the six-yard box – but nobody seemed to complain when a goal-kick was awarded.
In the 44th minute, just as the PA Announcer informed us that there would be three minutes of added time at the end of the first half, Ashford were awarded their first free-kick in a dangerous position of the match, for a foul on Claude Seanla. This was curled in by Dan Brathwaite, but there was anti-climax as the Lino flagged immediately for off-side. But Ashford went in at half time with a deserved 0-1 lead, and the travelling fans who had also witnessed the performance at Merstham on Tuesday night were very encouraged by the boys’ much improved showing.
Whilst Ashford played well in the first half, the same cannot really be said about the home side – but, as The Great Brian Clough once said: “They played as well as they were allowed to play, young man”. [ On the subject of great men, I heard on the telly, recently, that Peter Sillett still holds the Chelsea record for goals scored by a defender, and might get more mentions in the near future as John Terry closes in on his total. ] Anyway, Andy Sinton wasted no time in ringing the changes, as he replaced his two strikers, Jermaine Hamilton and Bernard Asante, with Mark Anderson and Eddie Smith.
As the rain continued to pour, Eddie Smith’s first contribution was to get clogged by Craig Wilkins, in the 51st minute – Wilko had lost the ball, on the halfway line, and was rightly yellow-carded for his late challenge.
Two minutes later, a high cross was sent into the Ashford penalty area, from the right, and Jamie Riley came for the ball and managed to finger-tip it away. The defence failed to clear the danger immediately, and the ball was bouncing around in the area – but then the referee noticed that Jamie was flat on his back in the six-yard box, so he had no choice but to halt play. This was a bit worrying, as the only other option was to use Lee Hockey as a makeshift goalkeeper – but Jamie was OK after treatment.
Ashford then had a period of good pressure. Jimmy Bottle won a corner, on the left, which was taken by the hard-working Ryan Briggs. His cross was cleared to the edge of the area, where Claude Seanla picked the ball up, turned and shot. His effort seemed to get momentarily stuck in the wet and the mud of the goalmouth, but eventually slid just past the post. There must have been a Fleet touch en route, though, as another corner was awarded. Briggo again swung the ball in from the left, into David Smalley’s six-yard box, but it rebounded off Sean Ray’s shin, and into the ‘keeper’s hands.
Fleet equalised, the first time, in the 63rd minute. This came about as a result of a free-kick awarded against Daniel Brathwaite – for pulling his man back, according to the Lino’s mime. From a position just to the right of centre, James Field sent in a high, curving cross. This appeared to be relatively harmless, but Steve Hemmings, almost facing his own goal, managed to get his head around the ball, to send his header goalwards. The ball crept just inside the post, and it was “game on”, at 1-1.
The game might have gone either way from this point, but it was Ashford who regained the lead, in the 76th minute – a minute after Andy Doerr had been sent on in place of Claude Seanla. It was a goal that involved both of Ashford’s wide men. Mitchell Sherwood sent in a long, looping cross, from wide on the right. Jimmy Bottle converged on the ball from the left wing, and timed his arrival perfectly, side-footing a volley low, into the net, from about ten yards out, for his first goal of the season. It was good to see Jimmy get on the score-sheet, on his return from injury – but, ironically, it appears that this injury prevented him from taking any further part in the game, as it seems that the hugs and kisses from his team-mates opened up his eyebrow again. He was immediately substituted for Tony Browne, before Fleet could kick off.
Andy Doerr – who should earn a few Pink Points for the white polo-necked vest he was wearing underneath his shirt – very nearly added to his impressive strike-rate as a substitute, in the 80th minute. Paul Jones ran on to a long through-ball, over the top, down the right wing. Jonah did well to catch up with the ball and deliver a good cross into the centre. Doerr timed his shot perfectly, but Smalley made a fantastic, point-blank save, to keep Fleet in the match.
The home side, who certainly looked stretched at the back as they pushed forward for an equaliser, had a free-kick, from about the same position as the one that had led to their goal, in the 83rd minute. Again it was James Field who sent in a high, looping cross. Jamie Riley used his finger tips to good effect, to intercept the cross, and then got back to make a good save, low at his near post, at the expense of a corner. This was lofted high, from the left, and Jamie was there again, diving low, and scooping the downward header away for another corner. Last season’s No.1 ‘keeper sometimes looked ungainly in making his saves, and is certainly still nowhere near his best, but he showed this afternoon that he hasn’t lost his ability as a shot-stopper.
Andy Sinton made his third and final substitution in the 85th minute, replacing Damien Smith, (one of three Smiths in the Fleet squad today), with Darren Campbell, but, as the playing surface got wetter, and players started slipping and sliding all over the place, Ashford appeared to remain in full control. Most of the closing minutes of the game, including an incredible six minutes of injury time conjured up by the Mackrell, were played in Fleet’s half of the field, with Ashford content to run down the clock. Unfortunately, there was one more attack left in the home side – this came with 95 minutes on the clock. A cross from the right found Eddie Smith, on the left side of the penalty area. Smith E took one touch, to control the ball, and then thumped the ball firmly into the far corner of the net, to preserve Fleet’s unbeaten run.
Although this was a real sickener, so late on, arguably the most important thing today was that the team’s performance was much improved – and this was against a very decent side. I overheard one Fleet fan, in the bar afterwards, say that he thought Ashford were the best side to come to Calthorpe Park this season – which is always a compliment. The challenge for Steve Lovell and the boys is now to maintain this level of form, consistently, over a period of time. If they can achieve that, then a place in the play-offs, at the end of the season, might still be a possibility.
It was one of those all-round team performances that made it difficult to nominate a Man of the Match – but Daniel Brathwaite just shaded it. He must have headed the ball clear a hundred times, and might almost be forgiven for wearing those gloves on this occasion.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Daniel Brathwaite
Sunday, 2 November 2008
Wednesday, 29 October 2008
Merstham v Ashford Town. Ryman Division One South. 28th of October 2008.
Merstham 1 Ashford Town 0
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
I don’t like to begin match reports with a meteorological bulletin – as there are currently more important issues to discuss – but we’ve already had a wide range of weather conditions in which to watch footy this season. For four consecutive away games, we’ve lounged in the sun at Imber Court, sheltered from a bitingly cold westerly in Great Wakering, sunbathed again at Hayes Lane and then, last night, frozen our balls off at the Moatside, Merstham. In fact, as we got into the car at 5pm yesterday, it was snowing in Milton Keynes. Not sleeting – snowing, with the largest snowflakes I’ve seen for a long time.
There was a constant mix of rain, snow and sleet for the outward and return journeys to Merstham, a small town that is squeezed into the angle between the M25 and M23 motorways, to the South of “La Périférique”. Worst hit by the elements was the Hertfordshire area, where the snow had clearly started to lay in the fields as we passed through on the way home. I later discovered that the scheduled match at Boreham Wood had been postponed because of “snow / flooded pitch”, whilst the game at Cheshunt was abandoned after 75 minutes.
Strangely, it stayed dry for the duration of our game – it was just bloody freezing. There was also little to warm our heart on the field, as this was a poor game of football – simply because both sides performed poorly, with errors from individuals all over the pitch. Merstham might have had an excuse of sorts, as their line-up was, according to one of their fans, a little depleted – they were certainly without their skipper, Craig Vernon – but Steve Lovell appeared to have the strongest side available to him. Josh Willis, who we must consider to be Ashford’s first-choice goalkeeper, (on the grounds that he has only missed games, since his debut, when he has been unavailable for some reason), was in goal. In a simple, 4-4-2 formation, we had Jimmy Elford at right-back, Daniel Brathwaite in his birth-position of left-back, and a central defensive pairing of captain Sean Ray and Folkestone Invicta refugee Craig Wilkins. Danny Lye returned in central defence, alongside the hard-working Ryan Briggs – with Anthony Hogg, who had been widely slated for his performance on Saturday, nowhere to be seen, (which may or may not be significant). As has become the norm recently, it was Tony Browne on the right side of midfield – playing wide, and well upfield – but Charlie Glyde started on the left, in place of the out-of-form Mitchell Sherwood. It’s been a strange season for Mitch – he started off with seven goals in the first seven games, but has failed to score since, and he was certainly due for a rest. Up front, there was Paul Jones and Claude Seanla – as good a pairing as any team could hope for at this level, but they failed to make an impression yesterday evening.
In fact, this was a 0-0 draw in all bar the scoreline – the home side sneaked off with the massive reward of all three points thanks to a defensive aberration by Jimmy Elford in the second half, which spoilt an otherwise very solid performance from Ashford’s back five. Nevertheless, this slight injustice shouldn’t mask the fact that we failed to make any impression on a Merstham side that was clearly not at its best. The Moatsiders are no mugs – they started the game in eighth place, one above us, and are enjoying their first season at this level of the pyramid thanks to a dominant performance in becoming Champions of the Combined Counties League in 2007-8 – but, to use a tired old expression, “we need to be beating these teams”, if we have ambitions to make the play-offs.
Merstham FC is one of a number of clubs that has risen to Step 4 status during the recent expansion of the base of the non-league football pyramid. Moatside is a tidy little ground, which is rather hemmed in on all sides of a square patch of land within a residential area whose streets and pavements provide just about the only car parking facility. There is an attractive, red-roofed clubhouse, and a new-looking stand with black and amber seats, on one side of the ground, and a dinky little standing-only stand behind one goal, and a much larger structure, with a roof extending for the width of the pitch, behind the other. They don’t get huge crowds here; the average so far this season is 146, and that includes last night’s attendance of 102. This is comfortably the smallest of the season for them, and it would have been very thin indeed if it had not been for another healthy turn-out of Ashford supporters.
The traveling fans did their level best to lift the team, with plenty of vocal support from behind the goal, but their efforts were unrewarded. Actually, there was no question of a lack of effort on the pitch being the issue. I can’t think of any of the lads who started not appearing to give 100% - and the three substitutes used by Steve Lovell entered the contest too late to make an impression. It was a lack of quality, or a lack of know-how, that was our undoing. As I’ve previously suggested, it was in Merstham’s half of the field that we were lacking, as the defence mostly looked secure, with Craig Wilkins, in his second game since signing from beleagured Folkestone, looking a class act on the ball. The only real moment of uncertainty at the back came in the second minute, when Josh Willis hesitated when coming out to intercept a long through-ball. This indecision allowed Kevin Lock to nip in between Josh and Daniel Brathwaite, getting to the ball before the ‘keeper, but his lob went just wide of the angle between post and bar. Josh’s momentum caused him to collide with the Merstham striker, just outside the area, but this resulted in nothing worse than a free-kick which came to nothing.
Both teams started at a fast pace, but both also favoured the early long ball during the opening quarter of an hour – so there was no attempt to blind each other with science last night. Unsurprisingly, given Ashford’s lack of real aerial presence up front, this resulted in few chances being created for the visitors, who turned out in their home strip of green & white, à la Hibernian, in contrast to Merstham’s amber & black striped shirts, black shorts and amber sockies. The other tactic employed by Ashford was to try to exploit Tony Browne’s pace down the right. There’s no doubt that the Brown Dog is a tremendous athlete, but he’s not a natural right-winger, and largely failed to provide the service required. The one occasion when he did succeed in putting in a dangerous cross, was in the fourth minute. A long-range one-two with Paul Jones provided him with some space down the right flank, and his cross found Claude Seanla, well beyond the far post. Claude attempted an ambitious volley, which would have been the Goal of the Season if it had gone in, but the ball went high and wide, and (not for the last time yesterday evening) ended up in somebody’s garden.
Danny Lye made a difference in midfield, on his return from injury. Although he probably tired a little, before being substituted in the 80th minute, he showed the ability to win the ball, both in the air and on the ground. In the 15th minute, as the Moatsiders looked to come forward, Danny won the ball with an excellent tackle, mid-way inside the home side’s half. He turned and carried it infield, and sent in a firm, left-footed shot; this was straight at ‘keeper Ian Chatfield, but the effort certainly injected some urgency into the team’s performance.
By this time, the game had settled down a little, and Ashford, in particular, were starting to pass the ball around. However, there was still no way through or around the Merstham defence, and, in the 31st minute, after two successive corners had come to nothing, the Moatsiders counter-attacked. This resulted in a hard shot being sent in from the right wing, but Josh did well to beat the ball away with his fists, Spanish goalie style.
The only other incident of note to report from the first half was a free-kick in a dangerous position just outside the penalty area for the home side. This came about when Kwabena Agyei – the spellchecker goes mad ! – latched onto a through-ball just ahead of Josh Willis, who had raced out of his area in an attempt to intercept. Agyei poked the ball past the ‘keeper, whose momentum caused him to collide with the big striker, resulting in a yellow card for Josh. On another day, the colour of the card might have been red, but I think the (Kentish) referee got this one right, (as he did most things last night), as there was no intention to commit a foul. This provided Merstham with the best opportunity of the half for either side, but it came to nothing, so the teams trooped in at the interval with the score at 0-0.
Merstham made one change at half time – Leon Wallace replaced Michael Morgan. I assume that this was due to injury, since Morgan looked to be the one man in stripes who might trouble the Ashford defence, showing a willingness to move forward with the ball. Something else that I noticed at the start of the second half was that there was one entry to be made to The Pink Report – and I’m ashamed to say that the man to put on report was one of ours. I don’t know how to put this, so I might as well come straight out with it – Daniel Brathwaite was wearing gloves. In fact, he was also wearing a dark blue, long-sleeved T-shirt under his footy shirt. It might be OK in the Premiership, but it’s not acceptable at this level, Daniel. I’ll keep you all posted on Daniel’s future conduct.
There continued to be very little created by either side, in the second half, with the most likely source of a goal appearing to be from a corner – if only because both sides had a whole succession of them. Merstham had three corners in succession, in the 51st minute – first from the left, then from the right and then from the left again. All three were taken by Kevin Lock - so there was no chance of him getting cold on a chill evening – but Ashford were strong in the centre of defence, and repelled each assault on the six-yard box. Merstham came closest with the third of these corners, which found Chris Boulter beyond the far post, but the tall centre-back hoofed the ball wide – into somebody’s garden.
Ashford’s main threat from corners was supplied by Charlie Glyde, who whipped in some dangerous left-footed crosses from the right. In the 54th minute, Charlie supplied a similar cross from a free-kick, from near the right touchline. This found Claude Seanla, in the penalty area, but Claude’s first-time shot was blocked. The ball fell to Paul Jones, but Jonah blasted wide from close range. We had another chance a minute later, when Danny Lye managed to get into the penalty area and on the end of a Daniel Brathwaite cross, but his glancing header went wide of the far post. (Actually, how often this season have we seen an Ashford Town midfielder have an attempt on goal, from inside the opposition’s penalty area, in open play ?!).
Both of our strikers worked hard tonight, but with nothing coming off for them, and, although I’ve seen reports that Paul Jones and Claude Seanla are beginning to develop an understanding, I didn’t see much evidence of that last night – in fact, to my untrained eye, they seemed to be playing too far apart. Paul was just a little ring-rusty, following his short break from the game to get married and go on honeymoon, but looked the more likely of the two to break the deadlock. In the 59th minute, he ran onto a through-ball from Ryan Briggs, in the inside-right channel, but planted his shot, from about twelve yards out, into the side-netting. Then, in the 61st minute, he led a break out of defence, in a move that also involved Tony Browne and Claude Seanla. This ended with the Merstham defence conceding a corner, on the right, and this was one of those that Charlie Glyde curled into the box, right under Ian Chatfield’s cross-bar. The tactic was obvious – to take advantage of Sean Ray’s powerful presence, in a dangerous area – so Steve Lovell can’t be accused of being shy about trying to “win ugly” ! On this occasion, Sean got on the end of the cross, but his downward header was blocked on the line, and cleared. Razor is still looking for his first goal of the season, having scored three goals last season.
A minute later, it all went wrong. Jimmy Elford, who had otherwise had a good game, put an attempted back-pass into the path of Kwabena Agyei, who calmly slotted the ball past Josh Willis, and into the far corner of the net. It was the moment that robbed us of the consolation of earning a point from a tepid, but fairly solid, performance. It was also the moment that sent us plunging to 14th place in the league table, with the two teams immediately behind us having games in hand, and that lifted Merstham up to fifth, which, on the balance of the results they have achieved so far this season, they thoroughly deserve.
Ashford tried hard to force an equaliser – and there were more corners – but never looked like beating the pink-shirted Ian Chatfield. Ryan Briggs attempted a long-range shot at him, in the 70th minute, and Tony Browne sent in a good, low shot, in the 76th minute, after Paul Jones had set the ball up for him, but Chatfield didn’t have to move far to make the save on both occasions. It was actually the home side that came closest to scoring a second goal, and this was an attempt of real quality by Kevin Lock. He moved with the ball through the midfield area, in the 77th minute, and hammered a shot, from just outside the area, which crashed against Josh Willis’s crossbar.
When they came, Steve Lovell’s substitutions appeared to be too late for any impact to be made. In the 80th minute, there was the double-substitution of James Humphries and Mitchell Sherwood for Danny Lye and Charlie Glyde, in a straight swap, in both cases; then, four minutes later, there was the replacement of full-back Jimmy Elford with a third striker in Andy Doerr. (Lee Hockey and Jamie Riley were the unused substitutes). The subs did, however, combine in the 85th minute, when James Humphries won the ball in the Merstham half, and found Andy Doerr – he then squared the ball to Claude Seanla, but Claude’s shot was deflected wide. It should also be said that Mitch Sherwood did make one telling run, down the left wing, with 90 minutes on the clock. He managed to put in a good cross, but this was headed behind, for a corner. The corner was taken short, to James Humphries, whose cross to the far post found Andy Doerr, who headed the ball down and into the danger zone. A goalmouth scramble followed, but no Ashford player was able to get a clear shot at goal.
Referee Wilde managed to find five minutes of stoppage time from somewhere, but we probably wouldn’t have scored if we’d had another fifteen. In my opinion, the illness has entered a new phase. Initially, Ashford’s problem was clearly one of a lack of consistency, but our recent record of one win in the last eight league games indicates that we’re now into a full-blown slump. In our four most recent matches, we’ve collected just two points, and the solitary goal has been the one handed to us on a plate by a comical gaff from an opposition goalie. We’re now 14 matches into a season in which we’ve managed just four league wins – so the play-offs are looking a long way off at the moment.
It was a hard job deciding on a Man of the Match. It was really a toss-up between the three defenders who hadn’t made a cock-up for Merstham’s goal – in fact, if there was a consolation to be had from the evening’s events, it was that Ashford looked to be pretty secure at the back, so that’s something to build upon. We went for Craig Wilkins, who looked classy and composed in everything he did. I should imagine that he’d come across as a commanding figure in a good team – the trouble is ………….
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Craig Wilkins
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
I don’t like to begin match reports with a meteorological bulletin – as there are currently more important issues to discuss – but we’ve already had a wide range of weather conditions in which to watch footy this season. For four consecutive away games, we’ve lounged in the sun at Imber Court, sheltered from a bitingly cold westerly in Great Wakering, sunbathed again at Hayes Lane and then, last night, frozen our balls off at the Moatside, Merstham. In fact, as we got into the car at 5pm yesterday, it was snowing in Milton Keynes. Not sleeting – snowing, with the largest snowflakes I’ve seen for a long time.
There was a constant mix of rain, snow and sleet for the outward and return journeys to Merstham, a small town that is squeezed into the angle between the M25 and M23 motorways, to the South of “La Périférique”. Worst hit by the elements was the Hertfordshire area, where the snow had clearly started to lay in the fields as we passed through on the way home. I later discovered that the scheduled match at Boreham Wood had been postponed because of “snow / flooded pitch”, whilst the game at Cheshunt was abandoned after 75 minutes.
Strangely, it stayed dry for the duration of our game – it was just bloody freezing. There was also little to warm our heart on the field, as this was a poor game of football – simply because both sides performed poorly, with errors from individuals all over the pitch. Merstham might have had an excuse of sorts, as their line-up was, according to one of their fans, a little depleted – they were certainly without their skipper, Craig Vernon – but Steve Lovell appeared to have the strongest side available to him. Josh Willis, who we must consider to be Ashford’s first-choice goalkeeper, (on the grounds that he has only missed games, since his debut, when he has been unavailable for some reason), was in goal. In a simple, 4-4-2 formation, we had Jimmy Elford at right-back, Daniel Brathwaite in his birth-position of left-back, and a central defensive pairing of captain Sean Ray and Folkestone Invicta refugee Craig Wilkins. Danny Lye returned in central defence, alongside the hard-working Ryan Briggs – with Anthony Hogg, who had been widely slated for his performance on Saturday, nowhere to be seen, (which may or may not be significant). As has become the norm recently, it was Tony Browne on the right side of midfield – playing wide, and well upfield – but Charlie Glyde started on the left, in place of the out-of-form Mitchell Sherwood. It’s been a strange season for Mitch – he started off with seven goals in the first seven games, but has failed to score since, and he was certainly due for a rest. Up front, there was Paul Jones and Claude Seanla – as good a pairing as any team could hope for at this level, but they failed to make an impression yesterday evening.
In fact, this was a 0-0 draw in all bar the scoreline – the home side sneaked off with the massive reward of all three points thanks to a defensive aberration by Jimmy Elford in the second half, which spoilt an otherwise very solid performance from Ashford’s back five. Nevertheless, this slight injustice shouldn’t mask the fact that we failed to make any impression on a Merstham side that was clearly not at its best. The Moatsiders are no mugs – they started the game in eighth place, one above us, and are enjoying their first season at this level of the pyramid thanks to a dominant performance in becoming Champions of the Combined Counties League in 2007-8 – but, to use a tired old expression, “we need to be beating these teams”, if we have ambitions to make the play-offs.
Merstham FC is one of a number of clubs that has risen to Step 4 status during the recent expansion of the base of the non-league football pyramid. Moatside is a tidy little ground, which is rather hemmed in on all sides of a square patch of land within a residential area whose streets and pavements provide just about the only car parking facility. There is an attractive, red-roofed clubhouse, and a new-looking stand with black and amber seats, on one side of the ground, and a dinky little standing-only stand behind one goal, and a much larger structure, with a roof extending for the width of the pitch, behind the other. They don’t get huge crowds here; the average so far this season is 146, and that includes last night’s attendance of 102. This is comfortably the smallest of the season for them, and it would have been very thin indeed if it had not been for another healthy turn-out of Ashford supporters.
The traveling fans did their level best to lift the team, with plenty of vocal support from behind the goal, but their efforts were unrewarded. Actually, there was no question of a lack of effort on the pitch being the issue. I can’t think of any of the lads who started not appearing to give 100% - and the three substitutes used by Steve Lovell entered the contest too late to make an impression. It was a lack of quality, or a lack of know-how, that was our undoing. As I’ve previously suggested, it was in Merstham’s half of the field that we were lacking, as the defence mostly looked secure, with Craig Wilkins, in his second game since signing from beleagured Folkestone, looking a class act on the ball. The only real moment of uncertainty at the back came in the second minute, when Josh Willis hesitated when coming out to intercept a long through-ball. This indecision allowed Kevin Lock to nip in between Josh and Daniel Brathwaite, getting to the ball before the ‘keeper, but his lob went just wide of the angle between post and bar. Josh’s momentum caused him to collide with the Merstham striker, just outside the area, but this resulted in nothing worse than a free-kick which came to nothing.
Both teams started at a fast pace, but both also favoured the early long ball during the opening quarter of an hour – so there was no attempt to blind each other with science last night. Unsurprisingly, given Ashford’s lack of real aerial presence up front, this resulted in few chances being created for the visitors, who turned out in their home strip of green & white, à la Hibernian, in contrast to Merstham’s amber & black striped shirts, black shorts and amber sockies. The other tactic employed by Ashford was to try to exploit Tony Browne’s pace down the right. There’s no doubt that the Brown Dog is a tremendous athlete, but he’s not a natural right-winger, and largely failed to provide the service required. The one occasion when he did succeed in putting in a dangerous cross, was in the fourth minute. A long-range one-two with Paul Jones provided him with some space down the right flank, and his cross found Claude Seanla, well beyond the far post. Claude attempted an ambitious volley, which would have been the Goal of the Season if it had gone in, but the ball went high and wide, and (not for the last time yesterday evening) ended up in somebody’s garden.
Danny Lye made a difference in midfield, on his return from injury. Although he probably tired a little, before being substituted in the 80th minute, he showed the ability to win the ball, both in the air and on the ground. In the 15th minute, as the Moatsiders looked to come forward, Danny won the ball with an excellent tackle, mid-way inside the home side’s half. He turned and carried it infield, and sent in a firm, left-footed shot; this was straight at ‘keeper Ian Chatfield, but the effort certainly injected some urgency into the team’s performance.
By this time, the game had settled down a little, and Ashford, in particular, were starting to pass the ball around. However, there was still no way through or around the Merstham defence, and, in the 31st minute, after two successive corners had come to nothing, the Moatsiders counter-attacked. This resulted in a hard shot being sent in from the right wing, but Josh did well to beat the ball away with his fists, Spanish goalie style.
The only other incident of note to report from the first half was a free-kick in a dangerous position just outside the penalty area for the home side. This came about when Kwabena Agyei – the spellchecker goes mad ! – latched onto a through-ball just ahead of Josh Willis, who had raced out of his area in an attempt to intercept. Agyei poked the ball past the ‘keeper, whose momentum caused him to collide with the big striker, resulting in a yellow card for Josh. On another day, the colour of the card might have been red, but I think the (Kentish) referee got this one right, (as he did most things last night), as there was no intention to commit a foul. This provided Merstham with the best opportunity of the half for either side, but it came to nothing, so the teams trooped in at the interval with the score at 0-0.
Merstham made one change at half time – Leon Wallace replaced Michael Morgan. I assume that this was due to injury, since Morgan looked to be the one man in stripes who might trouble the Ashford defence, showing a willingness to move forward with the ball. Something else that I noticed at the start of the second half was that there was one entry to be made to The Pink Report – and I’m ashamed to say that the man to put on report was one of ours. I don’t know how to put this, so I might as well come straight out with it – Daniel Brathwaite was wearing gloves. In fact, he was also wearing a dark blue, long-sleeved T-shirt under his footy shirt. It might be OK in the Premiership, but it’s not acceptable at this level, Daniel. I’ll keep you all posted on Daniel’s future conduct.
There continued to be very little created by either side, in the second half, with the most likely source of a goal appearing to be from a corner – if only because both sides had a whole succession of them. Merstham had three corners in succession, in the 51st minute – first from the left, then from the right and then from the left again. All three were taken by Kevin Lock - so there was no chance of him getting cold on a chill evening – but Ashford were strong in the centre of defence, and repelled each assault on the six-yard box. Merstham came closest with the third of these corners, which found Chris Boulter beyond the far post, but the tall centre-back hoofed the ball wide – into somebody’s garden.
Ashford’s main threat from corners was supplied by Charlie Glyde, who whipped in some dangerous left-footed crosses from the right. In the 54th minute, Charlie supplied a similar cross from a free-kick, from near the right touchline. This found Claude Seanla, in the penalty area, but Claude’s first-time shot was blocked. The ball fell to Paul Jones, but Jonah blasted wide from close range. We had another chance a minute later, when Danny Lye managed to get into the penalty area and on the end of a Daniel Brathwaite cross, but his glancing header went wide of the far post. (Actually, how often this season have we seen an Ashford Town midfielder have an attempt on goal, from inside the opposition’s penalty area, in open play ?!).
Both of our strikers worked hard tonight, but with nothing coming off for them, and, although I’ve seen reports that Paul Jones and Claude Seanla are beginning to develop an understanding, I didn’t see much evidence of that last night – in fact, to my untrained eye, they seemed to be playing too far apart. Paul was just a little ring-rusty, following his short break from the game to get married and go on honeymoon, but looked the more likely of the two to break the deadlock. In the 59th minute, he ran onto a through-ball from Ryan Briggs, in the inside-right channel, but planted his shot, from about twelve yards out, into the side-netting. Then, in the 61st minute, he led a break out of defence, in a move that also involved Tony Browne and Claude Seanla. This ended with the Merstham defence conceding a corner, on the right, and this was one of those that Charlie Glyde curled into the box, right under Ian Chatfield’s cross-bar. The tactic was obvious – to take advantage of Sean Ray’s powerful presence, in a dangerous area – so Steve Lovell can’t be accused of being shy about trying to “win ugly” ! On this occasion, Sean got on the end of the cross, but his downward header was blocked on the line, and cleared. Razor is still looking for his first goal of the season, having scored three goals last season.
A minute later, it all went wrong. Jimmy Elford, who had otherwise had a good game, put an attempted back-pass into the path of Kwabena Agyei, who calmly slotted the ball past Josh Willis, and into the far corner of the net. It was the moment that robbed us of the consolation of earning a point from a tepid, but fairly solid, performance. It was also the moment that sent us plunging to 14th place in the league table, with the two teams immediately behind us having games in hand, and that lifted Merstham up to fifth, which, on the balance of the results they have achieved so far this season, they thoroughly deserve.
Ashford tried hard to force an equaliser – and there were more corners – but never looked like beating the pink-shirted Ian Chatfield. Ryan Briggs attempted a long-range shot at him, in the 70th minute, and Tony Browne sent in a good, low shot, in the 76th minute, after Paul Jones had set the ball up for him, but Chatfield didn’t have to move far to make the save on both occasions. It was actually the home side that came closest to scoring a second goal, and this was an attempt of real quality by Kevin Lock. He moved with the ball through the midfield area, in the 77th minute, and hammered a shot, from just outside the area, which crashed against Josh Willis’s crossbar.
When they came, Steve Lovell’s substitutions appeared to be too late for any impact to be made. In the 80th minute, there was the double-substitution of James Humphries and Mitchell Sherwood for Danny Lye and Charlie Glyde, in a straight swap, in both cases; then, four minutes later, there was the replacement of full-back Jimmy Elford with a third striker in Andy Doerr. (Lee Hockey and Jamie Riley were the unused substitutes). The subs did, however, combine in the 85th minute, when James Humphries won the ball in the Merstham half, and found Andy Doerr – he then squared the ball to Claude Seanla, but Claude’s shot was deflected wide. It should also be said that Mitch Sherwood did make one telling run, down the left wing, with 90 minutes on the clock. He managed to put in a good cross, but this was headed behind, for a corner. The corner was taken short, to James Humphries, whose cross to the far post found Andy Doerr, who headed the ball down and into the danger zone. A goalmouth scramble followed, but no Ashford player was able to get a clear shot at goal.
Referee Wilde managed to find five minutes of stoppage time from somewhere, but we probably wouldn’t have scored if we’d had another fifteen. In my opinion, the illness has entered a new phase. Initially, Ashford’s problem was clearly one of a lack of consistency, but our recent record of one win in the last eight league games indicates that we’re now into a full-blown slump. In our four most recent matches, we’ve collected just two points, and the solitary goal has been the one handed to us on a plate by a comical gaff from an opposition goalie. We’re now 14 matches into a season in which we’ve managed just four league wins – so the play-offs are looking a long way off at the moment.
It was a hard job deciding on a Man of the Match. It was really a toss-up between the three defenders who hadn’t made a cock-up for Merstham’s goal – in fact, if there was a consolation to be had from the evening’s events, it was that Ashford looked to be pretty secure at the back, so that’s something to build upon. We went for Craig Wilkins, who looked classy and composed in everything he did. I should imagine that he’d come across as a commanding figure in a good team – the trouble is ………….
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Craig Wilkins
Sunday, 5 October 2008
Great Wakering Rovers v Ashford Town. FA Trophy Preliminary Round. 4th of October 2008.
Great Wakering Rovers 5 Ashford Town 3
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
The Preliminary Round of the FA Trophy - (1973 and all that). Away to Great Wakering Rovers. “What and where is Great Wakering ?”, I hear. It’s little more than a large village, just to the East of Southend-on-Mud, on the marshy flats between Southend and the North Sea. I don’t know when global warming is going to start to have an Impact on sea level in this part of the world, but, when it does, I should imagine that the good people of Great Wakering will have a ring-side seat – right at the front, (no puns intended).
That’s where it is geographically. In footy terms, Great Wakering is in the lower-middle region of Ryman Division One North – 15th, in fact. Given that Division One South is probably slightly the stronger of the two Divisions, this shouldn’t have been a daunting task for Ashford, currently lying in sixth place in the Southern Division. If we wanted a “formline” to this afternoon’s hosts, they drew 1-1 at home to Chatham Town on Tuesday, in front of a crowd of 67.
I don’t think I’m being disrespectful to Great Wakering Rovers when I describe them as a little club that has risen to Step 4 during the recent reorganisation of the non-league pyramid – just has Ashford Town, formerly a major power in the old Southern League, has been shuffled down in the opposite direction. Rovers didn’t even move up to the Essex Senior League until the 1992-3 season, and entered the Ryman League at the level of Division 3, when there was one, in 1999-2000. It was the 2002-3 season when the club rose to the heights of Ryman Division One North, which is where it is now, after having had a brief spell in Southern League Division One East.
Burroughs Park, doubtless named after the Club President, Roger Burroughs, is actually situated to the North of the village, on the clumsily-named Little Wakering Hall Lane, opposite some allotments. [ I used to have a large allotment – but I got fed up with it in the end, and concreted the whole lot. ] The venue largely reflects the humble recent history of the club, but it’s a tidy little ground. Seating is restricted to the red seats of one, small stand, but, with three steps of open terracing behind each goal, there is a larger stand on the opposite side which covers terracing that is raised to provide a view above the two dug-outs. This was the place to be this afternoon, as it provided shelter from the strong and chilly Westerly breeze – just a week after soaking up the warm sun on the terracing at Imber Court. The dug outs are very quaint little wooden structures, complete with a dinky ball rack, which looks like it’s been converted from a cattle trough.
So everyone looking forward to a competitive cup tie today – including another strong contingent of supporters from Ashford, thanks to the good offices of Supporters Club sponsors R & J Coaches. As today was all about the FA Trophy, I was actually not going to mention the League, but there were some significant aspects of Tuesday’s 2-3 defeat at home to Chipstead. First of all, Ashford’s dreadful performance in the first half in that game, after which they went in at half time trailing 0-3, having defended like a set of tarts, prompted Steve Lovell to revert to three-at-the-back for the second half – and the inside word was that he was going to employ the same defensive formation again this afternoon. Secondly, the legacy of one of the other major incidents from this game – the sickening clash of heads that left young Jimmy Bottle unconscious on the turf for a couple of minutes – meant that, unsurprisingly, he was not going to take any part in today’s game. I’m pleased to report, however, that James was present at Burroughs Park today, looking in good spirits and quite well, apart from a stitched gash along the length of his right eye-brow. The stitches are due to come out on Tuesday, after which he should again be available for selection.
In spite of several reasons to be depressed about Tuesday’s result, there was one shining silver lining that evening – the performance of new signing Claude Seanla, who scored twice on his Ashford debut. Stephane Claude Seanla – who is reported to prefer to be called “Claude”, but who is addressed as “Steph” by Steve Lovell and his team-mates – originates from the Ivory Coast, but has also been described as being Belgian by some sources. I hope that these details will become clearer in subsequent reports – but what we do know is that he comes to us from Barnet, having also played for Spurs Reserves, and one game for Watford’s first team. I can also report that today’s Man of the Match display by Claude, (as he will now be known, until further notice), confirmed that he’s a classy performer, and that he’s likely to contribute more goals to the Ashford cause in the future.
So the plan today was for a back three of Lee Hockey, Sean Ray and Daniel Brathwaite to play in front of Jamie Riley, (after Sean and Daniel had done such a great job in the centre of a back four in last Saturday’s 1-2 victory at Met Police), with a midfield five of (from left to right) Mitch Sherwood, Danny Lye, Ryan Briggs, Anthony Hogg and Tony Browne – although Hoggy, on his return to the team after a spell on the sidelines, started just behind the front two of Paul Jones and Claude Seanla, so it was really a 3-4-1-2 set-up. On the substitutes bench were Jimmy Elford, Charlie Glyde, Andy Doerr, Bradley Spice and sub goalie Josh Willis, so there was no sign today of Robbie Ryan.
One spurious observation is that Lee Hockey, who rarely stands very close to the razor – except Sean, of course - was barely recognisable today in clean-shaven form. Also, before I get on to the serious stuff, I must blow the whistle on Rovers’ No.11 Dan Jones, who was wearing gloves ! (In fact, I will continue to report on any similar girlish choices this season, including the wearing of tights, polo-necked vests and ear muffs – I shall call it “The Pink Report”). Thankfully, some of our lads made us proud to be Kentish, by wearing short-sleeved shirts, in spite of it being a cold, breezy day.
As has so often happened this season, Ashford made a bright start, passing the ball around, pressing forward, and certainly had the better of the opening quarter of an hour – but without sticking the ball in the net. In the opening minutes, beneath a clear, blue sky, Daniel Brathwaite sent in a long, hanging cross, into the Westerly that blew from right to left as Ashford attacked the goal at the Allotment end in the first half. Ryan Briggs rose to challenge for the ball, but Great Wakering goalie Richard McKinney punched clear. In the sixth minute, a cross from Mitchell Sherwood, from the left, found Claude Seanla in the centre, but the Ivorian showed that he was human, with a genuine air-shot - the ball broke to Danny Lye, who just about got the ball out from under his feet, but directed his shot straight at McKinney. A minute later, Lee Hockey sent in a long throw from close to the left corner flag, but it was a Rovers head that got to the ball first, and the home side had an opportunity for a break, in the form of Dan Jones. On this occasion, Jones, who was readily identifiable with his Mohawk hair-cut – this is commonly known as a “Mohican”, but the Mohican tribe actually shaved their head completely, and it was the Mohawk that left the central strip of hair – hit his shot, from outside the area, harmlessly high, but he was to prove a bloody nuisance to the Ashford defence for the remainder of the afternoon.
In the tenth minute, a good move involving Seanla, Paul Jones and Tony Browne, down the right, resulted in a corner for Ashford. This was swung in by Ryan Briggs. Sean Ray came flying in to meet the ball, but Danny Lye got his head to it first, and rather took the ball away from his skipper, and the chance was gone. In the 14th minute, Ashford were again having a good spell of possession, before the ball was given away, and Great Wakering broke forward. Again it was Dan Jones who led the break, down the left flank, and he sent a cross beyond the far post – this was headed back into the goalmouth, but was safely gathered by Jamie Riley.
Great Wakering, in green and white stripes, white shorts and green socks – rather like an Ashford Town strip of (I think) the early nineties – took the lead in the 17th minute. This can be partly put down to a defensive slip by Sean Ray, who attempted to head a lofted through-ball behind for a corner, but he failed to “find touch”. Dan Jones didn’t give up on this, and caught up with the ball near the by-line, crossing to the far post, where Neil Richmond was on hand to open the scoring.
Ashford tried to hit back immediately, when Paul Jones, now recovered from his mid-week bout of ‘flu, laid the ball off to Claude Seanla, but Claude’s long-range shot dribbled wide. The home side then took a 2-0 lead, with a second goal in three minutes – and this time Ashford’s defensive frailties were all too obvious. Lee Hockey had looked slow and nowhere near full fitness this afternoon – and the strapping on his right thigh merely confirmed this – and when, in the 19th minute, he found himself a little out of position upfield, and Great Wakering spread the ball out to Jimmy Webb on the left, Lee was visibly struggling to get back to cover. He never looked like making it, and Webb chipped the ball to the unmarked Neil Richmond, who easily headed the ball home, at the far post. So, once again, following similar occurrences against Crowborough Athletic, Corinthian-Casuals and Chipstead, Ashford had fallen behind to early goals against essentially limited sides. Quite simply, today we looked easy to score against – and it didn’t stop at two goals.
On the other hand, we often looked good going forward, and had our fair share of possession and opportunities throughout the game. In the 21st minute, a trip on Claude Seanla, as he was collecting a lay-off from Paul Jones, gave Ashford a free-kick in a dangerous position, just outside the penalty area – but the attempt at goal clipped the top of the four-man wall, and was cleared. Two minutes later, a deflected shot from Mitchell Sherwood, coming in from the left wing, resulted in a corner. This was swung into the Rovers penalty area, but, after some head tennis and a brief scramble, was cleared.
By this time, the experiment of playing three at the back had been abandoned, with Danny Lye dropping back into central defence alongside Sean Ray, and Anthony Hogg tending to play in front of the back four, instead of just behind the front two. Off the field, the traveling choir had continued to try to lift the Ashford team – but it occurred to me, at this point, that the away-day coach parties had so far witnessed five goals scored against Ashford, without reply.
In the 28th minute, Claude Seanla found himself twisting & turning inside the Rovers area, before laying the ball back to Anthony Hogg, who shot just over the bar. A minute later, Tony Browne, on the right, fed the ball down the line, to Claude, who found Paul Jones with a cross. Jonah made a good turn, and got in a shot, but this was deflected across the face of goal, and out for a corner - which came to nowt.
It was Great Wakering’s turn to put together a good move, in the 31st minute, down the right flank. Right-back Jack O’Connor, overlapping, collected a good return pass from Dan Jones – this gave him a clear sight of goal, but his shot was comfortably saved, at the near post, but Jamie Riley.
By the 37th minute, gathering pale grey clouds had completely obscured the sky, but there was some light relief for Ashford, as they pulled a goal back – and Claude Seanla was again the scorer. A cross by Tony Browne, from the right, found Anthony Hogg in the centre of the penalty area. Hoggy did well to lay the ball back to Seanla, teeing it up perfectly so that Claude could smash the ball, on the volley, into the net. This was a cleanly-struck finish, which had quality written all over it – but it only counted as one, so Ashford were still trailing 2-1.
Ashford could really have done with an equaliser before half time – but it wasn’t to be. There was, however, an awkward moment for Rovers’ ‘keeper Richard McKinney in the 40th minute. Ryan Briggs sent a deep cross into the Great Wakering goalmouth. McKinney called for it, but the ball kicked up at him as it bounced, and he had to hurriedly tip it over the bar. Briggo’s corner was cleared, but only as far as Mitchell Sherwood, just outside the penalty area – Mitch took two juggling touches, and then shot just over the bar. A minute from the interval, Daniel Brathwaite tried a long-range shot, which was well struck, but it went straight at McKinney.
So 2-1 it was at half time, but I thought that Ashford had shown enough quality going forward to suggest that there was every chance of a turnaround in the second half.
That hope, which springeth eternal, lasted until the second minute of the second half. Ashford enjoyed a period of good possession just after the restart, but that ended when Great Wakering picked up a loose ball in a fairly vacant central midfield. The ball was fed through to Neil Richmond, who was put through with a one-on-one with Jamie Riley. There wasn’t much that Jamie could do at this point, and Richmond calmly slotted the ball past him, low, into the corner of the net. This was Richmond’s hat-trick, and, in the context of the game, it meant that Ashford were once again chasing a two-goal deficit.
I was a little surprised that Steve Lovell hadn’t made changes at half-time – especially after he’d made three changes at half time on Tuesday – as the hastily rearranged back-four of Sean Ray and Danny Lye in the centre, and Daniel Brathwaite on the left, still had the obviously struggling Lee Hockey at right-back. With specialist No.2 Jimmy Elford on the bench, one possible change seemed obvious, but Steve stuck to the personnel and formation that had finished the first half, with Anthony Hogg still playing in front of the back four. Hockey certainly had his moments with the team going forward, and he linked up well with Paul Jones, in the 48th minute, releasing Jonah down the right. Making it to the by-line, the No.10 crossed the ball back to Anthony Hogg, whose header went straight at Richard McKinney, who seemed to have some sort of magnetism for the ball this afternoon.
In the 53rd minute, a long ball from about half-way, deep into the Ashford penalty area, seemed to be covered by Sean Ray – maybe the trajectory of the ball was altered by the stiff breeze, but it eluded his head, and was picked up by Neil Richmond, on the corner of the six-yard box. It looked odds-on that Richmond would score his fourth goal of the game, but his powerful shot went over the bar.
A minute later, a shot from Mitchell Sherwood, from an acute angle, was deflected behind for a corner – but the resulting cross, with the Westerly wind behind it, went over the gaggle of yellow-shirted Ashford players in the penalty area, and was cleared. By the 56th minute, the play was again at the other end, and Dan Jones showed yet another side of his talent, by launching a long throw into the Ashford penalty area, from near the left corner flag. (Maybe that was why he was wearing the poncy gloves ?). Rovers’ Jones certainly has a decent throw on him, every bit as long as Lee Hockey’s, and, throwing the ball into the wind, he reached the edge of the six-yard box. The ball was knocked down, and hat-trick hero Richmond ambitiously attempted to hook the ball into the net, but his effort was too high.
Great Wakering were, by now, playing some good, confident football, and, in the 59th minute, the Ashford back line again had problems with a long, high, diagonal ball. This time it went over the head of Lee Hockey, and fell to Jimmy Webb. Hockey managed to get back to cover, but it made little difference – with a great piece of skill, which Webb has probably learnt from watching Cristiano Ronaldo on the telly, he easily beat Lee, to find himself inside the Ashford penalty area. His shot was blocked, but the ball rebounded to Mark Cartlidge, (great name for a footballer !), whose long-range shot went just over the bar.
On the hour mark, Lee Hockey again had a chance to launch a long throw into the home side’s penalty area. This found the tall Anthony Hogg, who flicked the ball on to Claude Seanla, but this time Claude failed to connect cleanly with the ball, and sliced his shot wide. Lee soon had work to do at the other end, though, and, yet again, he failed to get his head to a high, wind-assisted, cross-field ball. I’m not sure whether Great Wakering practise this mode of delivery, but, every time such a ball eluded an Ashford defender, there was a green & white shirt waiting to collect it. This time it was Dan Jones who picked the ball up, on the left. He crossed the ball into the centre, and found Neil Richmond, who got up to send a looping header into the net. There was prolonged celebration, from the small, but noisy, section of Rovers supporters in the larger stand at the side of the pitch, of what they thought was Richmond’s fourth goal, but nobody had noticed the lino’s flag, which was raised for off-side.
This might have been a let-off for Ashford; I couldn’t tell, from where I was standing, whether it were a good decision or not – nor could Rovers’ Manager Ian O’Connell, or the Great Wakering market traders in the stand, but it didn’t stop the linesman from getting plenty of stick from them for the rest of the game. So, with the score remaining at 3-1 to the home side, Steve Lovell made his first substitution of the match, in the 65th minute, when he replaced Lee Hockey with striker Andy Doerr.
On 67 minutes, a foul on Claude Seanla presented Ashford with a free-kick, about 25 yards out and just to the right of centre. Anthony Hogg sent in a high cross which hung in the breeze. Sean Ray got on the end of this, well beyond the far post, but headed the ball straight into the hands of McKinney. A minute later, there was a free-kick from an almost identical position. Big Sean Ray again went up for this, but the ball went straight through to the goalkeeper.
In the 69th minute, Jamie Riley pulled off an excellent save, to keep Ashford in the cup tie. A cross from the right was met with a firm header, bang on target, from Dan Jones, but Jamie’s diving save with his left hand prevented it from going into the top corner of the net. Nevertheless, it was a corner to Rovers, on the left, which was swung into the goalmouth, but this was cleared, at the expense of a throw-in on the other side of the pitch. The home side continued to apply pressure on the Ashford defence, and soon won a corner on this right-hand side. The resulting cross was again cleared, but only as far as Neil Richmond, who was just outside the area. He sent in a low shot which went all the way into the far corner of the net. This time there was no denying Richmond his fourth goal of the match, and, at 4-1, the cup tie was surely now over.
As the grey clouds overhead darkened further, Steve Lovell reacted by making a second substitution – Charlie Glyde replaced Anthony Hogg, in the 71st minute. There was an almost immediate reaction to conceding the fourth goal, as the visitors pulled a goal back, in the 73rd minute. As the ball was played forward, Andy Doerr laid it off into the path of Claude Seanla. This was a deft touch by the substitute, putting Claude through on goal. The Ivorian just had the ‘keeper to beat, from about 16 yards, but he did it in the manner of a man who is used to scoring goals. There was no attempt to wrong-foot the goalie, or to slide it into the corner – Claude simply smashed the ball into the roof of the net, with as powerful a finish as you are ever likely to see. 4-2, then, and Monsieur Seanla had now scored all four of Ashford’s goals since making his debut, on Tuesday night, having also scored in both of his outings for the Reserves. That’s what is commonly known as “making an impact” !
Claude actually had chances to emulate Rovers’ Richmond, and score four himself this afternoon. With 15 minutes of normal time remaining, Tony Browne beat two players, from the right wing, and found Claude with a cross, but this time his shot was horribly sliced. The ball fell to Paul Jones, who was nearby, in the penalty area, but Jonah also sliced his effort, and it went wide.
Almost immediately, the play switched to the other end, with a high cross being sent into the Ashford penalty area. Jamie Riley came well out of his goal for this, fumbled the ball and fell, which left Dan Jones with an open goal at his mercy. Getting on the scoresheet would have been just reward for the Mohawk’s performance this afternoon, but he pulled his shot wide. It really should have been a fifth goal for the Rovers.
Ashford had a real chance to get back in the tie, in the 78th minute – and, if this one had gone in, the result just might have been different. Daniel Brathwaite did some good work, down the left flank, playing a one-two with Paul Jones. There was still plenty for Daniel to do, after he’d caught up with the ball near the by-line, but he managed to pull it back to Seanla, in the centre. Claude hit his shot well, but it hit the far post, rebounding to Tony Browne, who then blasted the ball over the bar, with his left foot, from about five yards out. It almost looked easier to score, and there were Ashford heads in hands all over the pitch, and in the crowd. Oh, Browne Dog !!
A minute later, Tony had a chance to redeem himself, but with a much less clear-cut opportunity, when he got on the end of a high, Ryan Briggs cross, but his firm header went wide.
Then, in the 81st minute, Great Wakering Rovers scored again. With a good turn, just outside the area, in a central position, Mark Cartlidge – careful with that knee ! – found Jimmy Webb, in space and unmarked, on the left. Webb had no trouble with hitting the ball high, into the net, past Jamie Riley.
A minute later, with the score 5-2 to the Rovers, Ian O’Connell replaced Neil Richmond with Billy Johnson, so that the No.10 could get a well-deserved ovation from the home supporters. Four goals, and one disallowed – which isn’t a bad afternoon’s work.
At the time, Ashford’s Charlie Glyde was preparing to take a corner, on the right – he eventually sent in a cross that went over Daniel Brathwaite’s head, and fell at the feet of Sean Ray. The big centre-back was unable to react quickly enough, however, and the ball rebounded off his shin, and was cleared. In the 84th minute, Sean and Daniel made a hash of playing the ball between them at the back, and, on losing possession, this gave Dan Jones the opportunity to attack down the right. He bore down on Ashford’s goal, but rather greedily blasted the ball over the bar.
Two minutes from time, Ashford scored the eighth, and final, goal of the game. Paul Jones did well to turn and run onto a through-ball, down the right flank. He crossed the ball into the centre, and there was Andy Doerr, getting in front of the defender, to turn the ball in. Richard McKinney got something onto it, but couldn’t prevent the goal. This was a good, striker’s finish, and Andy appears to be moving ahead of Bradley Spice in the pecking order of forwards. He certainly has an impressive strike-rate, having now scored twice, in 137 minutes on the pitch, this season – including his goal at the end of last season, his overall strike-rate for Ashford now stands at a goal every 103 minutes.
There was still time, and, incredibly, still opportunities, for Ashford to earn an unlikely replay – but not many teams concede five goals without losing, and it was not to be. With 90 minutes up, on my watch, the Browne Dog showed good persistence, over on the right, to give himself a shooting chance. His shot was on target, but Richard McKinney saved well, down at his near post. A minute into injury time, a long ball from Ashford’s back line went all the way through to Paul Jones, who turned and shot, but his firm strike was well saved by the ‘keeper. Then, into the third minute of stoppage time, Ryan Briggs cut in from the right wing, but McKinney again didn’t have to move very far to save his firm, left-footed shot.
Final score: 5-3 to Great Wakering Rovers, who will now go on to play fellow Ryman Division One North side Enfield Town, who won 1-5 at Godalming, in the next round.
A cold drizzle began as we got into the car, and the rain stayed with us all along the A127, around the M25 and up the M1. As we didn’t stay for a drink in the bar after the game, I can’t report on the mood of the travelling Ashford fans, but they must have been bitterly disappointed. There was so much anticipation and hope for a decent cup run in one of the major cups this season, and the Supporters’ Club has done a marvellous job in organising transport to the cup ties at Kingsmeadow, and now at Great Wakering – only to witness a defeat on both occasions. It was the size of the travelling contingent that was responsible for elevating today’s crowd into three figures – it was 112 – but the team let them down badly on this occasion. In a wider context, those of us who know non-league football understand that there are two types of supporters – one type is only prepared to go along and support a winning side, but these are the people that The Management needs to attract if the Club is to progress in the manner that is envisaged. A half-decent cup run would have done wonders to promote and accelerate the cause – but, yet again, it has failed to materialise.
Claude Seanla was a shoo-in for Man of the Match this afternoon, and he looks an invaluable acquisition. Paul Jones also worked extremely hard, as usual, but was always tightly marked, and Ryan Briggs was also a shining light in midfield – always wanting the ball, and striving to run the show. As mentioned before, we actually looked pretty good when going forward, but the defence was abysmal. Let’s not forget that this was a very ordinary side that we played against today – they’ve only managed to score ten goals in ten games in the league so far – but they made scoring against us look easy. I understand that the 0-3 scoreline at half time against Chipstead on Tuesday is being blamed on a “mad ten minutes” in defence – well, the vulnerability of the back five was apparent throughout the game here this afternoon, from the moment that Rovers went 1-0 up.
I wasn’t going to talk about the league campaign in this report, but, if we can’t hold our own against (with respect) the likes of Chipstead and Great Wakering Rovers, then there have to be doubts about our ability to achieve a top-five finish. Whatever the problems are in the defence, this simply isn’t good enough.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Claude Seanla
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
The Preliminary Round of the FA Trophy - (1973 and all that). Away to Great Wakering Rovers. “What and where is Great Wakering ?”, I hear. It’s little more than a large village, just to the East of Southend-on-Mud, on the marshy flats between Southend and the North Sea. I don’t know when global warming is going to start to have an Impact on sea level in this part of the world, but, when it does, I should imagine that the good people of Great Wakering will have a ring-side seat – right at the front, (no puns intended).
That’s where it is geographically. In footy terms, Great Wakering is in the lower-middle region of Ryman Division One North – 15th, in fact. Given that Division One South is probably slightly the stronger of the two Divisions, this shouldn’t have been a daunting task for Ashford, currently lying in sixth place in the Southern Division. If we wanted a “formline” to this afternoon’s hosts, they drew 1-1 at home to Chatham Town on Tuesday, in front of a crowd of 67.
I don’t think I’m being disrespectful to Great Wakering Rovers when I describe them as a little club that has risen to Step 4 during the recent reorganisation of the non-league pyramid – just has Ashford Town, formerly a major power in the old Southern League, has been shuffled down in the opposite direction. Rovers didn’t even move up to the Essex Senior League until the 1992-3 season, and entered the Ryman League at the level of Division 3, when there was one, in 1999-2000. It was the 2002-3 season when the club rose to the heights of Ryman Division One North, which is where it is now, after having had a brief spell in Southern League Division One East.
Burroughs Park, doubtless named after the Club President, Roger Burroughs, is actually situated to the North of the village, on the clumsily-named Little Wakering Hall Lane, opposite some allotments. [ I used to have a large allotment – but I got fed up with it in the end, and concreted the whole lot. ] The venue largely reflects the humble recent history of the club, but it’s a tidy little ground. Seating is restricted to the red seats of one, small stand, but, with three steps of open terracing behind each goal, there is a larger stand on the opposite side which covers terracing that is raised to provide a view above the two dug-outs. This was the place to be this afternoon, as it provided shelter from the strong and chilly Westerly breeze – just a week after soaking up the warm sun on the terracing at Imber Court. The dug outs are very quaint little wooden structures, complete with a dinky ball rack, which looks like it’s been converted from a cattle trough.
So everyone looking forward to a competitive cup tie today – including another strong contingent of supporters from Ashford, thanks to the good offices of Supporters Club sponsors R & J Coaches. As today was all about the FA Trophy, I was actually not going to mention the League, but there were some significant aspects of Tuesday’s 2-3 defeat at home to Chipstead. First of all, Ashford’s dreadful performance in the first half in that game, after which they went in at half time trailing 0-3, having defended like a set of tarts, prompted Steve Lovell to revert to three-at-the-back for the second half – and the inside word was that he was going to employ the same defensive formation again this afternoon. Secondly, the legacy of one of the other major incidents from this game – the sickening clash of heads that left young Jimmy Bottle unconscious on the turf for a couple of minutes – meant that, unsurprisingly, he was not going to take any part in today’s game. I’m pleased to report, however, that James was present at Burroughs Park today, looking in good spirits and quite well, apart from a stitched gash along the length of his right eye-brow. The stitches are due to come out on Tuesday, after which he should again be available for selection.
In spite of several reasons to be depressed about Tuesday’s result, there was one shining silver lining that evening – the performance of new signing Claude Seanla, who scored twice on his Ashford debut. Stephane Claude Seanla – who is reported to prefer to be called “Claude”, but who is addressed as “Steph” by Steve Lovell and his team-mates – originates from the Ivory Coast, but has also been described as being Belgian by some sources. I hope that these details will become clearer in subsequent reports – but what we do know is that he comes to us from Barnet, having also played for Spurs Reserves, and one game for Watford’s first team. I can also report that today’s Man of the Match display by Claude, (as he will now be known, until further notice), confirmed that he’s a classy performer, and that he’s likely to contribute more goals to the Ashford cause in the future.
So the plan today was for a back three of Lee Hockey, Sean Ray and Daniel Brathwaite to play in front of Jamie Riley, (after Sean and Daniel had done such a great job in the centre of a back four in last Saturday’s 1-2 victory at Met Police), with a midfield five of (from left to right) Mitch Sherwood, Danny Lye, Ryan Briggs, Anthony Hogg and Tony Browne – although Hoggy, on his return to the team after a spell on the sidelines, started just behind the front two of Paul Jones and Claude Seanla, so it was really a 3-4-1-2 set-up. On the substitutes bench were Jimmy Elford, Charlie Glyde, Andy Doerr, Bradley Spice and sub goalie Josh Willis, so there was no sign today of Robbie Ryan.
One spurious observation is that Lee Hockey, who rarely stands very close to the razor – except Sean, of course - was barely recognisable today in clean-shaven form. Also, before I get on to the serious stuff, I must blow the whistle on Rovers’ No.11 Dan Jones, who was wearing gloves ! (In fact, I will continue to report on any similar girlish choices this season, including the wearing of tights, polo-necked vests and ear muffs – I shall call it “The Pink Report”). Thankfully, some of our lads made us proud to be Kentish, by wearing short-sleeved shirts, in spite of it being a cold, breezy day.
As has so often happened this season, Ashford made a bright start, passing the ball around, pressing forward, and certainly had the better of the opening quarter of an hour – but without sticking the ball in the net. In the opening minutes, beneath a clear, blue sky, Daniel Brathwaite sent in a long, hanging cross, into the Westerly that blew from right to left as Ashford attacked the goal at the Allotment end in the first half. Ryan Briggs rose to challenge for the ball, but Great Wakering goalie Richard McKinney punched clear. In the sixth minute, a cross from Mitchell Sherwood, from the left, found Claude Seanla in the centre, but the Ivorian showed that he was human, with a genuine air-shot - the ball broke to Danny Lye, who just about got the ball out from under his feet, but directed his shot straight at McKinney. A minute later, Lee Hockey sent in a long throw from close to the left corner flag, but it was a Rovers head that got to the ball first, and the home side had an opportunity for a break, in the form of Dan Jones. On this occasion, Jones, who was readily identifiable with his Mohawk hair-cut – this is commonly known as a “Mohican”, but the Mohican tribe actually shaved their head completely, and it was the Mohawk that left the central strip of hair – hit his shot, from outside the area, harmlessly high, but he was to prove a bloody nuisance to the Ashford defence for the remainder of the afternoon.
In the tenth minute, a good move involving Seanla, Paul Jones and Tony Browne, down the right, resulted in a corner for Ashford. This was swung in by Ryan Briggs. Sean Ray came flying in to meet the ball, but Danny Lye got his head to it first, and rather took the ball away from his skipper, and the chance was gone. In the 14th minute, Ashford were again having a good spell of possession, before the ball was given away, and Great Wakering broke forward. Again it was Dan Jones who led the break, down the left flank, and he sent a cross beyond the far post – this was headed back into the goalmouth, but was safely gathered by Jamie Riley.
Great Wakering, in green and white stripes, white shorts and green socks – rather like an Ashford Town strip of (I think) the early nineties – took the lead in the 17th minute. This can be partly put down to a defensive slip by Sean Ray, who attempted to head a lofted through-ball behind for a corner, but he failed to “find touch”. Dan Jones didn’t give up on this, and caught up with the ball near the by-line, crossing to the far post, where Neil Richmond was on hand to open the scoring.
Ashford tried to hit back immediately, when Paul Jones, now recovered from his mid-week bout of ‘flu, laid the ball off to Claude Seanla, but Claude’s long-range shot dribbled wide. The home side then took a 2-0 lead, with a second goal in three minutes – and this time Ashford’s defensive frailties were all too obvious. Lee Hockey had looked slow and nowhere near full fitness this afternoon – and the strapping on his right thigh merely confirmed this – and when, in the 19th minute, he found himself a little out of position upfield, and Great Wakering spread the ball out to Jimmy Webb on the left, Lee was visibly struggling to get back to cover. He never looked like making it, and Webb chipped the ball to the unmarked Neil Richmond, who easily headed the ball home, at the far post. So, once again, following similar occurrences against Crowborough Athletic, Corinthian-Casuals and Chipstead, Ashford had fallen behind to early goals against essentially limited sides. Quite simply, today we looked easy to score against – and it didn’t stop at two goals.
On the other hand, we often looked good going forward, and had our fair share of possession and opportunities throughout the game. In the 21st minute, a trip on Claude Seanla, as he was collecting a lay-off from Paul Jones, gave Ashford a free-kick in a dangerous position, just outside the penalty area – but the attempt at goal clipped the top of the four-man wall, and was cleared. Two minutes later, a deflected shot from Mitchell Sherwood, coming in from the left wing, resulted in a corner. This was swung into the Rovers penalty area, but, after some head tennis and a brief scramble, was cleared.
By this time, the experiment of playing three at the back had been abandoned, with Danny Lye dropping back into central defence alongside Sean Ray, and Anthony Hogg tending to play in front of the back four, instead of just behind the front two. Off the field, the traveling choir had continued to try to lift the Ashford team – but it occurred to me, at this point, that the away-day coach parties had so far witnessed five goals scored against Ashford, without reply.
In the 28th minute, Claude Seanla found himself twisting & turning inside the Rovers area, before laying the ball back to Anthony Hogg, who shot just over the bar. A minute later, Tony Browne, on the right, fed the ball down the line, to Claude, who found Paul Jones with a cross. Jonah made a good turn, and got in a shot, but this was deflected across the face of goal, and out for a corner - which came to nowt.
It was Great Wakering’s turn to put together a good move, in the 31st minute, down the right flank. Right-back Jack O’Connor, overlapping, collected a good return pass from Dan Jones – this gave him a clear sight of goal, but his shot was comfortably saved, at the near post, but Jamie Riley.
By the 37th minute, gathering pale grey clouds had completely obscured the sky, but there was some light relief for Ashford, as they pulled a goal back – and Claude Seanla was again the scorer. A cross by Tony Browne, from the right, found Anthony Hogg in the centre of the penalty area. Hoggy did well to lay the ball back to Seanla, teeing it up perfectly so that Claude could smash the ball, on the volley, into the net. This was a cleanly-struck finish, which had quality written all over it – but it only counted as one, so Ashford were still trailing 2-1.
Ashford could really have done with an equaliser before half time – but it wasn’t to be. There was, however, an awkward moment for Rovers’ ‘keeper Richard McKinney in the 40th minute. Ryan Briggs sent a deep cross into the Great Wakering goalmouth. McKinney called for it, but the ball kicked up at him as it bounced, and he had to hurriedly tip it over the bar. Briggo’s corner was cleared, but only as far as Mitchell Sherwood, just outside the penalty area – Mitch took two juggling touches, and then shot just over the bar. A minute from the interval, Daniel Brathwaite tried a long-range shot, which was well struck, but it went straight at McKinney.
So 2-1 it was at half time, but I thought that Ashford had shown enough quality going forward to suggest that there was every chance of a turnaround in the second half.
That hope, which springeth eternal, lasted until the second minute of the second half. Ashford enjoyed a period of good possession just after the restart, but that ended when Great Wakering picked up a loose ball in a fairly vacant central midfield. The ball was fed through to Neil Richmond, who was put through with a one-on-one with Jamie Riley. There wasn’t much that Jamie could do at this point, and Richmond calmly slotted the ball past him, low, into the corner of the net. This was Richmond’s hat-trick, and, in the context of the game, it meant that Ashford were once again chasing a two-goal deficit.
I was a little surprised that Steve Lovell hadn’t made changes at half-time – especially after he’d made three changes at half time on Tuesday – as the hastily rearranged back-four of Sean Ray and Danny Lye in the centre, and Daniel Brathwaite on the left, still had the obviously struggling Lee Hockey at right-back. With specialist No.2 Jimmy Elford on the bench, one possible change seemed obvious, but Steve stuck to the personnel and formation that had finished the first half, with Anthony Hogg still playing in front of the back four. Hockey certainly had his moments with the team going forward, and he linked up well with Paul Jones, in the 48th minute, releasing Jonah down the right. Making it to the by-line, the No.10 crossed the ball back to Anthony Hogg, whose header went straight at Richard McKinney, who seemed to have some sort of magnetism for the ball this afternoon.
In the 53rd minute, a long ball from about half-way, deep into the Ashford penalty area, seemed to be covered by Sean Ray – maybe the trajectory of the ball was altered by the stiff breeze, but it eluded his head, and was picked up by Neil Richmond, on the corner of the six-yard box. It looked odds-on that Richmond would score his fourth goal of the game, but his powerful shot went over the bar.
A minute later, a shot from Mitchell Sherwood, from an acute angle, was deflected behind for a corner – but the resulting cross, with the Westerly wind behind it, went over the gaggle of yellow-shirted Ashford players in the penalty area, and was cleared. By the 56th minute, the play was again at the other end, and Dan Jones showed yet another side of his talent, by launching a long throw into the Ashford penalty area, from near the left corner flag. (Maybe that was why he was wearing the poncy gloves ?). Rovers’ Jones certainly has a decent throw on him, every bit as long as Lee Hockey’s, and, throwing the ball into the wind, he reached the edge of the six-yard box. The ball was knocked down, and hat-trick hero Richmond ambitiously attempted to hook the ball into the net, but his effort was too high.
Great Wakering were, by now, playing some good, confident football, and, in the 59th minute, the Ashford back line again had problems with a long, high, diagonal ball. This time it went over the head of Lee Hockey, and fell to Jimmy Webb. Hockey managed to get back to cover, but it made little difference – with a great piece of skill, which Webb has probably learnt from watching Cristiano Ronaldo on the telly, he easily beat Lee, to find himself inside the Ashford penalty area. His shot was blocked, but the ball rebounded to Mark Cartlidge, (great name for a footballer !), whose long-range shot went just over the bar.
On the hour mark, Lee Hockey again had a chance to launch a long throw into the home side’s penalty area. This found the tall Anthony Hogg, who flicked the ball on to Claude Seanla, but this time Claude failed to connect cleanly with the ball, and sliced his shot wide. Lee soon had work to do at the other end, though, and, yet again, he failed to get his head to a high, wind-assisted, cross-field ball. I’m not sure whether Great Wakering practise this mode of delivery, but, every time such a ball eluded an Ashford defender, there was a green & white shirt waiting to collect it. This time it was Dan Jones who picked the ball up, on the left. He crossed the ball into the centre, and found Neil Richmond, who got up to send a looping header into the net. There was prolonged celebration, from the small, but noisy, section of Rovers supporters in the larger stand at the side of the pitch, of what they thought was Richmond’s fourth goal, but nobody had noticed the lino’s flag, which was raised for off-side.
This might have been a let-off for Ashford; I couldn’t tell, from where I was standing, whether it were a good decision or not – nor could Rovers’ Manager Ian O’Connell, or the Great Wakering market traders in the stand, but it didn’t stop the linesman from getting plenty of stick from them for the rest of the game. So, with the score remaining at 3-1 to the home side, Steve Lovell made his first substitution of the match, in the 65th minute, when he replaced Lee Hockey with striker Andy Doerr.
On 67 minutes, a foul on Claude Seanla presented Ashford with a free-kick, about 25 yards out and just to the right of centre. Anthony Hogg sent in a high cross which hung in the breeze. Sean Ray got on the end of this, well beyond the far post, but headed the ball straight into the hands of McKinney. A minute later, there was a free-kick from an almost identical position. Big Sean Ray again went up for this, but the ball went straight through to the goalkeeper.
In the 69th minute, Jamie Riley pulled off an excellent save, to keep Ashford in the cup tie. A cross from the right was met with a firm header, bang on target, from Dan Jones, but Jamie’s diving save with his left hand prevented it from going into the top corner of the net. Nevertheless, it was a corner to Rovers, on the left, which was swung into the goalmouth, but this was cleared, at the expense of a throw-in on the other side of the pitch. The home side continued to apply pressure on the Ashford defence, and soon won a corner on this right-hand side. The resulting cross was again cleared, but only as far as Neil Richmond, who was just outside the area. He sent in a low shot which went all the way into the far corner of the net. This time there was no denying Richmond his fourth goal of the match, and, at 4-1, the cup tie was surely now over.
As the grey clouds overhead darkened further, Steve Lovell reacted by making a second substitution – Charlie Glyde replaced Anthony Hogg, in the 71st minute. There was an almost immediate reaction to conceding the fourth goal, as the visitors pulled a goal back, in the 73rd minute. As the ball was played forward, Andy Doerr laid it off into the path of Claude Seanla. This was a deft touch by the substitute, putting Claude through on goal. The Ivorian just had the ‘keeper to beat, from about 16 yards, but he did it in the manner of a man who is used to scoring goals. There was no attempt to wrong-foot the goalie, or to slide it into the corner – Claude simply smashed the ball into the roof of the net, with as powerful a finish as you are ever likely to see. 4-2, then, and Monsieur Seanla had now scored all four of Ashford’s goals since making his debut, on Tuesday night, having also scored in both of his outings for the Reserves. That’s what is commonly known as “making an impact” !
Claude actually had chances to emulate Rovers’ Richmond, and score four himself this afternoon. With 15 minutes of normal time remaining, Tony Browne beat two players, from the right wing, and found Claude with a cross, but this time his shot was horribly sliced. The ball fell to Paul Jones, who was nearby, in the penalty area, but Jonah also sliced his effort, and it went wide.
Almost immediately, the play switched to the other end, with a high cross being sent into the Ashford penalty area. Jamie Riley came well out of his goal for this, fumbled the ball and fell, which left Dan Jones with an open goal at his mercy. Getting on the scoresheet would have been just reward for the Mohawk’s performance this afternoon, but he pulled his shot wide. It really should have been a fifth goal for the Rovers.
Ashford had a real chance to get back in the tie, in the 78th minute – and, if this one had gone in, the result just might have been different. Daniel Brathwaite did some good work, down the left flank, playing a one-two with Paul Jones. There was still plenty for Daniel to do, after he’d caught up with the ball near the by-line, but he managed to pull it back to Seanla, in the centre. Claude hit his shot well, but it hit the far post, rebounding to Tony Browne, who then blasted the ball over the bar, with his left foot, from about five yards out. It almost looked easier to score, and there were Ashford heads in hands all over the pitch, and in the crowd. Oh, Browne Dog !!
A minute later, Tony had a chance to redeem himself, but with a much less clear-cut opportunity, when he got on the end of a high, Ryan Briggs cross, but his firm header went wide.
Then, in the 81st minute, Great Wakering Rovers scored again. With a good turn, just outside the area, in a central position, Mark Cartlidge – careful with that knee ! – found Jimmy Webb, in space and unmarked, on the left. Webb had no trouble with hitting the ball high, into the net, past Jamie Riley.
A minute later, with the score 5-2 to the Rovers, Ian O’Connell replaced Neil Richmond with Billy Johnson, so that the No.10 could get a well-deserved ovation from the home supporters. Four goals, and one disallowed – which isn’t a bad afternoon’s work.
At the time, Ashford’s Charlie Glyde was preparing to take a corner, on the right – he eventually sent in a cross that went over Daniel Brathwaite’s head, and fell at the feet of Sean Ray. The big centre-back was unable to react quickly enough, however, and the ball rebounded off his shin, and was cleared. In the 84th minute, Sean and Daniel made a hash of playing the ball between them at the back, and, on losing possession, this gave Dan Jones the opportunity to attack down the right. He bore down on Ashford’s goal, but rather greedily blasted the ball over the bar.
Two minutes from time, Ashford scored the eighth, and final, goal of the game. Paul Jones did well to turn and run onto a through-ball, down the right flank. He crossed the ball into the centre, and there was Andy Doerr, getting in front of the defender, to turn the ball in. Richard McKinney got something onto it, but couldn’t prevent the goal. This was a good, striker’s finish, and Andy appears to be moving ahead of Bradley Spice in the pecking order of forwards. He certainly has an impressive strike-rate, having now scored twice, in 137 minutes on the pitch, this season – including his goal at the end of last season, his overall strike-rate for Ashford now stands at a goal every 103 minutes.
There was still time, and, incredibly, still opportunities, for Ashford to earn an unlikely replay – but not many teams concede five goals without losing, and it was not to be. With 90 minutes up, on my watch, the Browne Dog showed good persistence, over on the right, to give himself a shooting chance. His shot was on target, but Richard McKinney saved well, down at his near post. A minute into injury time, a long ball from Ashford’s back line went all the way through to Paul Jones, who turned and shot, but his firm strike was well saved by the ‘keeper. Then, into the third minute of stoppage time, Ryan Briggs cut in from the right wing, but McKinney again didn’t have to move very far to save his firm, left-footed shot.
Final score: 5-3 to Great Wakering Rovers, who will now go on to play fellow Ryman Division One North side Enfield Town, who won 1-5 at Godalming, in the next round.
A cold drizzle began as we got into the car, and the rain stayed with us all along the A127, around the M25 and up the M1. As we didn’t stay for a drink in the bar after the game, I can’t report on the mood of the travelling Ashford fans, but they must have been bitterly disappointed. There was so much anticipation and hope for a decent cup run in one of the major cups this season, and the Supporters’ Club has done a marvellous job in organising transport to the cup ties at Kingsmeadow, and now at Great Wakering – only to witness a defeat on both occasions. It was the size of the travelling contingent that was responsible for elevating today’s crowd into three figures – it was 112 – but the team let them down badly on this occasion. In a wider context, those of us who know non-league football understand that there are two types of supporters – one type is only prepared to go along and support a winning side, but these are the people that The Management needs to attract if the Club is to progress in the manner that is envisaged. A half-decent cup run would have done wonders to promote and accelerate the cause – but, yet again, it has failed to materialise.
Claude Seanla was a shoo-in for Man of the Match this afternoon, and he looks an invaluable acquisition. Paul Jones also worked extremely hard, as usual, but was always tightly marked, and Ryan Briggs was also a shining light in midfield – always wanting the ball, and striving to run the show. As mentioned before, we actually looked pretty good when going forward, but the defence was abysmal. Let’s not forget that this was a very ordinary side that we played against today – they’ve only managed to score ten goals in ten games in the league so far – but they made scoring against us look easy. I understand that the 0-3 scoreline at half time against Chipstead on Tuesday is being blamed on a “mad ten minutes” in defence – well, the vulnerability of the back five was apparent throughout the game here this afternoon, from the moment that Rovers went 1-0 up.
I wasn’t going to talk about the league campaign in this report, but, if we can’t hold our own against (with respect) the likes of Chipstead and Great Wakering Rovers, then there have to be doubts about our ability to achieve a top-five finish. Whatever the problems are in the defence, this simply isn’t good enough.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Claude Seanla
Sunday, 28 September 2008
Metropolitan Police v Ashford Town. Ryman Division One South. 27th of September 2008.
Metropolitan Police 1 Ashford Town 2
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
The Fixtures Fairy was really kind to Ashford Town for this season. It’s not just the big game at home to Folkestone Invicta on the day after Boxing Day that he or she has given us – it’s a fixtures list that couldn’t have been more ideal if we’d picked it ourselves. Six pretty easy fixtures to start off with, to ease ourselves into the season, then, before the real tests against the division’s top teams, three rather more challenging games against teams who are likely to be around the outskirts of the play-offs come the end of the season: Dulwich Hamlet, Burgess Hill Town and today’s opponents, the Metropolitan Police.
I’ve long felt that results against these three would provide us with a benchmark of roughly where we are with this season’s team, and the fact that Ashford “only” managed a draw against the first two had given rise to the nagging doubt that the current squad is well short of being able to compete with the Kingstonians and the Cray Wandererses of our little pond - so a victory at Imber Court this afternoon was crucially important for morale. That certainly seemed to be the case as the Ashford players celebrated the win, with the dozen or so fans behind the Police goal, at the final whistle. They looked like players that realise that they haven’t quite made everything click yet, and that today’s win was an important step forward. It was certainly noticeable that the lads looked more impressive all round in the sixteen minutes during which they were in front today, and this 1-2 victory will have given them a lot of reassurance.
The performance itself ? Probably no better than “solid”, or “OK” – but this was certainly an excellent result, against a team that was previously unbeaten in the league, and at a venue where we rarely come away with much. In fact, this is my sixth match report against this opposition, and the first time that I’ve been able to report on a victory !
Imber Court is a unique venue among the Ryman Division One South grounds, being part of the Metropolitan Police’s Sports Club complex, in East Molesey, which also includes a swimming pool, a cricket pitch, a gymnasium and fitness centre, and various bars and function facilities. The footy ground within this campus is always immaculate, with a small number of blue, plastic seats in a main stand that is probably about medium-sized for this level. There is shallow, covered terracing for the whole width of the pitch at one end, with the other two sides of the rectangle open to the elements – and, with warm, sunny conditions prevailing for the duration of our visit, these were the places to be this afternoon.
As well as the weather being perfect, the pitch looked superb, with its broad, green stripes – and it was no surprise to see the Imber Court groundsman presented with an award for top groundsman in Ryman Division One South, before the start of the match.
So conditions were ideal, and the players of both teams did it justice, by playing quick, passing football, right from the off - but chances were very thin on the ground for the first quarter of an hour. Tony Browne tried a snap shot from outside the penalty area, in the eleventh minute, that was so high and wide of the target that it looked like he was aiming for the ‘plane that was taking off from Heathrow, in the background – and Scott Forrester was off target with a quick turn and shot, a minute later.
With opening honours fairly even, the first incident of note came in the 14th minute. Craig Carley – The Met’s ace goal-scorer last season, who was surprisingly quiet this afternoon – was unnecessarily late on Sean Ray, after Razor had cleared the ball upfield. What particularly incensed the Ashford skipper was that Referee Dave Bushell, a Uriah Rennie look-alike, was “ball watching”, and so completely missed the incident. Seconds later, as Ray and Carley both chased a ball that went out for a throw-in, Sean couldn’t resist levelling things up with a kick at the home side’s 2007-8 Player of the Season. There was no chance of the referee missing this one, so a card was inevitable – and it might well have been red, instead of yellow.
In the 16th minute, Ashford had their second corner of the game, after Gary Drewett headed a long cross behind, to safety. The corner was swung in, from the left, and diminutive goalkeeper Mo Maan (that’s not a typo) flapped and missed. The ball fell nicely for Daniel Brathwaite, in space, in the area, but his side-footed effort was blocked by one of several boys in blue on the goal-line.
After a pale glimmer of a chance for both teams – Scott Forrester’s first-time, hooked shot went straight into the hands of Jamie Riley, in the 18th minute, and Bradley Spice couldn’t quite get his head to a long, searching cross from Robbie Ryan, in the 22nd minute – Ashford had their best chance of the half, in the 23rd minute. Daniel Brathwaite took a free-kick on the left side of the pitch, just in front of the shaded main stand. Sean Ray managed to get completely free of his marker, but nodded the ball wide from about six yards out. Razor should probably have done better – and it’s a little surprising that he hasn’t got himself on the score-sheet yet, having scored three times last season, and a few more in pre-season friendlies.
Ray and Brathwaite were once again paired up in central defence, flanked by Dubliner Robbie Ryan on the left, and Jimmy Elford on the right. Jamie Riley retained his place in goal, after his Man of the Match performance on his return to the side at Burgess Hill on Tuesday. The midfield quartet, from right to left, was Tony Browne, Ryan Briggs, Danny Lye and Mitchell Sherwood, with Paul Jones and Bradley Spice spearheading a 4-4-2 formation. In fact, this was basically the same settled side that has been turning out since the 5-0 league victory at home to Leatherhead, four games ago – so, if the boys are under-performing a little at the moment, it’s not down to a lack of continuity.
On the substitutes’ bench were two players who had a run out in the Reserves’ 5-3 victory at home to Deal Reserves in mid-week: Lee Hockey and Andy Doerr. Charlie Glyde also played in that game, but was absent today – the others on the bench being Jimmy Bottle, Anthony Hogg and goalkeeper Josh Willis.
Young Josh was undoubtedly unfortunate to lose his place in the starting line-up, having kept two clean sheets in the three games in which he has played, but Steve Lovell probably had little choice but to stick with Riley, after his performance on Tuesday. After looking decidedly over-weight and lethargic during the defeat at Corinthian-Casuals, Jamie looked closer to being back to his best this afternoon – but there was just the one howler, in the 28th minute. He invariably appears to be unflustered when dealing with back-passes, but, on this occasion, he might have been a little too relaxed, when he side-footed the ball straight to Scott Forrester, who was closing him down. Time appeared to hold its breath as the two men stood alone, about three yards apart, in the middle of the Ashford penalty area. Forrester had little to aim at, and attempted to force the ball under Riley’s body, as the ‘keeper came to narrow the angle even further. This time the goalie won the duel, parrying the ball with his legs, before it lodged safely under his backside. (Somebody then unkindly suggested that it might take several minutes to find the ball – but this does no justice to Jamie’s efforts to regain full fitness).
In the 33rd minute, Bradley Spice, who mostly looked the part up front today, but without reward, won a free-kick, on the edge of the penalty area. Faced with a four-man wall – five, including Danny Lye – Bradley took the kick himself, but hit the ball straight into the thin blue line. Two minutes later, Sean Ray effected one of many defensive headers in the first half, and found Daniel Brathwaite, who began to bring the ball out of defence. Daniel had plenty of space ahead of him, and a number of options, but he inexplicably gave the ball straight to Rob George. Suddenly, a counter-attack was on, and the ball was spread out to the right. As a cross was whipped into the centre, Scott Forrester leapt high, meeting the ball on the run, and did everything possible to head the ball into the top corner of the net – but Jamie Riley made a brilliant, one-handed save.
Two minutes later, however, Riley was beaten, and had to be helped out by Jimmy Elford’s goal-line clearance. A corner on the right, which followed a Robbie Ryan block, was hit low, picking out Craig Carley, in the penalty area. Carley’s angled shot would have opened the scoring if Elford had not been stationed next to the far post.
Any space on the flanks that Ashford found in the first half tended to involve Tony Browne, on the right, but Mitchell Sherwood finally had a chance to run at The Met’s right-back, in the 40th minute. He fed the ball infield, to Bradley Spice, who immediately returned the pass, putting Mitch through on goal, just inside the penalty area, but the covering tackle was made, at the expense of a corner. This was taken by Ryan Briggs, with a high, looping delivery. Bradley Spice and Sean Ray converged on the ball at the far post, but the Lino, a John Cumberbatch look-alike with his designer dreadlocks, flagged for a foul. Sherwood had another chance to attack from the left, in the 43rd minute, and found Paul Jones, in a central position; Jonah tried a shot, aiming for the far corner of the net, but Maan made a good, diving save.
As news filtered through that Asa Hall, one of Ashford’s loan stars of the 2006-7 season, had scored for Luton Town, the Match Day Announcer announced that there would be a minimum of three minutes of added time at the end of the half. Referee Bushell blew for half-time after only two added minutes – the second time that such a nonsense has occurred this season – so the players trooped off with the score at 0-0. That was probably a true reflection of the first 45 minutes; it had been an even half between what looked to be two evenly-matched teams. Both goalkeepers had made one outstanding save, and both sides had squandered at least one clear-cut chance to score.
There was no going off to the bar at half time. Today was a day for sunbathing on the terrace, enjoying what’s left of a brief, and unexpected, Indian Summer – but it wasn’t long before the home side re-emerged to its traditional fanfare of “I fought the Law, and the Law won”.
Well, some doubt was cast on whether the Law was going to win on this particular occasion, when Ashford took the lead, in the 49th minute. As the ball was played into the Police Box, there was a short session of head tennis, before the ball found Ryan Briggs, just inside the penalty area. The ball was still at an awkward height, but Briggs still managed to direct a hooked shot on target. It looked as if Mo Maan had saved well once again, but he could do no more than palm the ball into the corner of the net.
Ashford’s lead, alas, lasted for no more than nine minutes, for, in the 58th minute, The Police equalised. Shortly after Paul Jones had become the second yellow-shirted player to be shown a yellow card – this time for persistent infringements, apparently – Craig Carley showed good strength to latch onto a clearance. His long-range shot was blocked by the legs of an Ashford defender, but the ball ran loose to Scott Forrester, who was free in the penalty area, to the left of goal. Forrester, whose five league goals at the start of the match were bettered only by Kingstonian’s Bobby Traynor, Godalming’s Kenny Ojukwa and our own Mitchell Sherwood, slotted the ball past Jamie Riley, for his sixth. The Ashford defence turned and looked towards John Cumberbatch, hoping for an off-side decision, but his flag stayed down and the goal was given.
On the hour mark, Bradley Spice spread the ball wide to Mitchell Sherwood, on the left. Mitch cut inside right-back Tommy Moorhouse, and sent in a low, right-footed shot, but this was straight at the ‘keeper, who made a comfortable save. In the 65th minute, shortly after The Met’s perennial Manager, Jim Cooper, had made the game’s first substitution, replacing James Greenaway with Stephen Goddard, Sherwood was off on a run again, this time crossing the field, from left to right. He eventually fed the ball through to Paul Jones, who, typically, showed great body strength, to maintain possession of the ball, in the home side’s penalty area. Battling his way to the by-line, he pulled the ball back to Bradley Spice, but a defender’s boot got there first. The action soon switched to the other end of the pitch, with Gary Drewett, this time, running into space, down the right wing. He was tracked all the way by the superb Robbie Ryan, who ended the sortie with an excellent tackle.
The game was now really beginning to open up, with Mitchell Sherwood, in particular, finding space down the left. A good Ashford move, in the 71st minute, ended with Tony Browne doing well to win a corner, on the left. There was a delay before Ryan Briggs could take the kick, whilst Police Captain Steve Sutherland received treatment, and Mo Maan did well to catch Briggo’s cross as it was swung in towards the near post, but managed to carry the ball over the line. Another corner, then, but the Ref blew for a foul on the ‘keeper, just as another Briggs cross was entering the six-yard box.
Steve Lovell made his only substitution of the match in the 78th minute – Andy Doerr replacing Bradley Spice, who had worked hard, and showed one or two good touches, but has only scored in one game so far this season, having appeared in all eleven to date. This substitution proved to be an inspired decision by the Ashford Manager, as Doerr was soon to score the winning goal, but first there was some defending to do. Danny Lye was penalised for a late tackle on Gary Drewett, in the 79th minute, and Steve Sargent – a great name for a Metropolitan Police regular – sent in a deep cross, from the right, but the dreadlocked head of Daniel Brathwaite put the ball out for a corner. Jamie Riley cleared the resulting cross, from the left, with a firm punch.
Ashford’s winner came in the 83rd minute, and stemmed from a free-kick awarded for Gary Drewett’s late tackle on Mitch Sherwood. This was taken by Robbie Ryan, from a position close to the left touchline, just inside the Police half. Robbie sent the ball low and hard to Andy Doerr, who was deep inside the penalty area, with his back to goal. In spite of being tightly marked, Andy managed to roll his marker, turn and hit the ball into the corner of the net with his left foot. This must have meant a lot to the lad, who, still only 23, is continiuing his recovery from a reportedly very nasty broken leg, which kept him on the sidelines for about a year. So far, he has been restricted to substitute appearances, but it’s good to see him emulate Ryan Briggs in this game, by getting himself off the mark for the season.
Looking a little further ahead, Doerr’s goal was good news for Steve Lovell in the context of him knowing that he’ll need to do without the services of Paul Jones up front, when the man who is very much the leader of the attack gets married in two weeks’ time. On that subject, soon after Ashford had taken the lead, Paul went down like a sack of spuds when he was hit in the second-worst place for a man who’s soon to be wed – he took the ball full in the face, but was OK after treatment.
Ashford managed to keep possession for the majority of the five minutes, plus two minutes of injury time, that remained, but there was still some defending to do. Danny Lye became the third Ashford player to receive a yellow card, when his “defending” was a little late, on Sam Robinson in central midfield, in the 87th minute. Then, a minute later, the Met Police almost scored. The in-form Scott Forrester got up well, on the far side of the penalty area, to head a long cross down and into the goalmouth. From my vantage point at half-way, it looked as if the ball had actually bounced along the goal line, but it was hoofed away to safety. Well into the second minute of injury time, Robbie Ryan rose to head away a long throw into the penalty area; the ball actually hit the top of the corner flag, so it was a toss-up as to whether it should be a throw-in or a corner, but John Cumberbatch flagged for a corner. Met ‘keeper Mo Maan went up for this, in spite of the fact that most players in the penalty area towered over him, but it was to no avail, and Ashford collected the three points.
With several of the other teams in our division playing in the Second Qualifying Round of the FA Cup (dammit), this victory lifted Ashford up to sixth – but the exuberant celebration of the win by the boys in yellow and green said a lot more about how much they, as a squad, needed this boost to their confidence and belief.
There were more reasons to be cheerful when news came through from The Homelands that the Reserves had beaten Dover Reserves 3-0. Any victory against a Dover side is, of course, like nectar, but possibly more significant was the word that new signing Claude Senna, a striker, had played another blinder, on his second start for the Ressies. Having scored one, made two and had one disallowed against Deal Town Reserves in mid-week, Senna scored one and made two this afternoon, and is said to have looked extremely impressive. The expectation is that he’ll now go straight into the First Team squad for the home game against Chipstead, next Tuesday.
Senna’s arrival provides healthy competition for places up front, and, in truth, the addition of a class player is just what the team needs at the moment, to freshen things up, and to add a little bit of added momentum. Candidates for Man of the Match were the usual suspects, and I hardly need to mention them by name: Robbie Ryan, Ryan Briggs, Paul Jones, Sean Ray and Daniel Brathwaite all played well. I disagree with several observers who say that Daniel looks out of place in central defence, as he seemed to look the part today, and also has the pace to perform occasional full-back duties, and the skill to bring the ball out of defence and distribute the ball. There wasn’t much in it between the five, but Robbie Ryan just edged it on this occasion.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Robbie Ryan
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
The Fixtures Fairy was really kind to Ashford Town for this season. It’s not just the big game at home to Folkestone Invicta on the day after Boxing Day that he or she has given us – it’s a fixtures list that couldn’t have been more ideal if we’d picked it ourselves. Six pretty easy fixtures to start off with, to ease ourselves into the season, then, before the real tests against the division’s top teams, three rather more challenging games against teams who are likely to be around the outskirts of the play-offs come the end of the season: Dulwich Hamlet, Burgess Hill Town and today’s opponents, the Metropolitan Police.
I’ve long felt that results against these three would provide us with a benchmark of roughly where we are with this season’s team, and the fact that Ashford “only” managed a draw against the first two had given rise to the nagging doubt that the current squad is well short of being able to compete with the Kingstonians and the Cray Wandererses of our little pond - so a victory at Imber Court this afternoon was crucially important for morale. That certainly seemed to be the case as the Ashford players celebrated the win, with the dozen or so fans behind the Police goal, at the final whistle. They looked like players that realise that they haven’t quite made everything click yet, and that today’s win was an important step forward. It was certainly noticeable that the lads looked more impressive all round in the sixteen minutes during which they were in front today, and this 1-2 victory will have given them a lot of reassurance.
The performance itself ? Probably no better than “solid”, or “OK” – but this was certainly an excellent result, against a team that was previously unbeaten in the league, and at a venue where we rarely come away with much. In fact, this is my sixth match report against this opposition, and the first time that I’ve been able to report on a victory !
Imber Court is a unique venue among the Ryman Division One South grounds, being part of the Metropolitan Police’s Sports Club complex, in East Molesey, which also includes a swimming pool, a cricket pitch, a gymnasium and fitness centre, and various bars and function facilities. The footy ground within this campus is always immaculate, with a small number of blue, plastic seats in a main stand that is probably about medium-sized for this level. There is shallow, covered terracing for the whole width of the pitch at one end, with the other two sides of the rectangle open to the elements – and, with warm, sunny conditions prevailing for the duration of our visit, these were the places to be this afternoon.
As well as the weather being perfect, the pitch looked superb, with its broad, green stripes – and it was no surprise to see the Imber Court groundsman presented with an award for top groundsman in Ryman Division One South, before the start of the match.
So conditions were ideal, and the players of both teams did it justice, by playing quick, passing football, right from the off - but chances were very thin on the ground for the first quarter of an hour. Tony Browne tried a snap shot from outside the penalty area, in the eleventh minute, that was so high and wide of the target that it looked like he was aiming for the ‘plane that was taking off from Heathrow, in the background – and Scott Forrester was off target with a quick turn and shot, a minute later.
With opening honours fairly even, the first incident of note came in the 14th minute. Craig Carley – The Met’s ace goal-scorer last season, who was surprisingly quiet this afternoon – was unnecessarily late on Sean Ray, after Razor had cleared the ball upfield. What particularly incensed the Ashford skipper was that Referee Dave Bushell, a Uriah Rennie look-alike, was “ball watching”, and so completely missed the incident. Seconds later, as Ray and Carley both chased a ball that went out for a throw-in, Sean couldn’t resist levelling things up with a kick at the home side’s 2007-8 Player of the Season. There was no chance of the referee missing this one, so a card was inevitable – and it might well have been red, instead of yellow.
In the 16th minute, Ashford had their second corner of the game, after Gary Drewett headed a long cross behind, to safety. The corner was swung in, from the left, and diminutive goalkeeper Mo Maan (that’s not a typo) flapped and missed. The ball fell nicely for Daniel Brathwaite, in space, in the area, but his side-footed effort was blocked by one of several boys in blue on the goal-line.
After a pale glimmer of a chance for both teams – Scott Forrester’s first-time, hooked shot went straight into the hands of Jamie Riley, in the 18th minute, and Bradley Spice couldn’t quite get his head to a long, searching cross from Robbie Ryan, in the 22nd minute – Ashford had their best chance of the half, in the 23rd minute. Daniel Brathwaite took a free-kick on the left side of the pitch, just in front of the shaded main stand. Sean Ray managed to get completely free of his marker, but nodded the ball wide from about six yards out. Razor should probably have done better – and it’s a little surprising that he hasn’t got himself on the score-sheet yet, having scored three times last season, and a few more in pre-season friendlies.
Ray and Brathwaite were once again paired up in central defence, flanked by Dubliner Robbie Ryan on the left, and Jimmy Elford on the right. Jamie Riley retained his place in goal, after his Man of the Match performance on his return to the side at Burgess Hill on Tuesday. The midfield quartet, from right to left, was Tony Browne, Ryan Briggs, Danny Lye and Mitchell Sherwood, with Paul Jones and Bradley Spice spearheading a 4-4-2 formation. In fact, this was basically the same settled side that has been turning out since the 5-0 league victory at home to Leatherhead, four games ago – so, if the boys are under-performing a little at the moment, it’s not down to a lack of continuity.
On the substitutes’ bench were two players who had a run out in the Reserves’ 5-3 victory at home to Deal Reserves in mid-week: Lee Hockey and Andy Doerr. Charlie Glyde also played in that game, but was absent today – the others on the bench being Jimmy Bottle, Anthony Hogg and goalkeeper Josh Willis.
Young Josh was undoubtedly unfortunate to lose his place in the starting line-up, having kept two clean sheets in the three games in which he has played, but Steve Lovell probably had little choice but to stick with Riley, after his performance on Tuesday. After looking decidedly over-weight and lethargic during the defeat at Corinthian-Casuals, Jamie looked closer to being back to his best this afternoon – but there was just the one howler, in the 28th minute. He invariably appears to be unflustered when dealing with back-passes, but, on this occasion, he might have been a little too relaxed, when he side-footed the ball straight to Scott Forrester, who was closing him down. Time appeared to hold its breath as the two men stood alone, about three yards apart, in the middle of the Ashford penalty area. Forrester had little to aim at, and attempted to force the ball under Riley’s body, as the ‘keeper came to narrow the angle even further. This time the goalie won the duel, parrying the ball with his legs, before it lodged safely under his backside. (Somebody then unkindly suggested that it might take several minutes to find the ball – but this does no justice to Jamie’s efforts to regain full fitness).
In the 33rd minute, Bradley Spice, who mostly looked the part up front today, but without reward, won a free-kick, on the edge of the penalty area. Faced with a four-man wall – five, including Danny Lye – Bradley took the kick himself, but hit the ball straight into the thin blue line. Two minutes later, Sean Ray effected one of many defensive headers in the first half, and found Daniel Brathwaite, who began to bring the ball out of defence. Daniel had plenty of space ahead of him, and a number of options, but he inexplicably gave the ball straight to Rob George. Suddenly, a counter-attack was on, and the ball was spread out to the right. As a cross was whipped into the centre, Scott Forrester leapt high, meeting the ball on the run, and did everything possible to head the ball into the top corner of the net – but Jamie Riley made a brilliant, one-handed save.
Two minutes later, however, Riley was beaten, and had to be helped out by Jimmy Elford’s goal-line clearance. A corner on the right, which followed a Robbie Ryan block, was hit low, picking out Craig Carley, in the penalty area. Carley’s angled shot would have opened the scoring if Elford had not been stationed next to the far post.
Any space on the flanks that Ashford found in the first half tended to involve Tony Browne, on the right, but Mitchell Sherwood finally had a chance to run at The Met’s right-back, in the 40th minute. He fed the ball infield, to Bradley Spice, who immediately returned the pass, putting Mitch through on goal, just inside the penalty area, but the covering tackle was made, at the expense of a corner. This was taken by Ryan Briggs, with a high, looping delivery. Bradley Spice and Sean Ray converged on the ball at the far post, but the Lino, a John Cumberbatch look-alike with his designer dreadlocks, flagged for a foul. Sherwood had another chance to attack from the left, in the 43rd minute, and found Paul Jones, in a central position; Jonah tried a shot, aiming for the far corner of the net, but Maan made a good, diving save.
As news filtered through that Asa Hall, one of Ashford’s loan stars of the 2006-7 season, had scored for Luton Town, the Match Day Announcer announced that there would be a minimum of three minutes of added time at the end of the half. Referee Bushell blew for half-time after only two added minutes – the second time that such a nonsense has occurred this season – so the players trooped off with the score at 0-0. That was probably a true reflection of the first 45 minutes; it had been an even half between what looked to be two evenly-matched teams. Both goalkeepers had made one outstanding save, and both sides had squandered at least one clear-cut chance to score.
There was no going off to the bar at half time. Today was a day for sunbathing on the terrace, enjoying what’s left of a brief, and unexpected, Indian Summer – but it wasn’t long before the home side re-emerged to its traditional fanfare of “I fought the Law, and the Law won”.
Well, some doubt was cast on whether the Law was going to win on this particular occasion, when Ashford took the lead, in the 49th minute. As the ball was played into the Police Box, there was a short session of head tennis, before the ball found Ryan Briggs, just inside the penalty area. The ball was still at an awkward height, but Briggs still managed to direct a hooked shot on target. It looked as if Mo Maan had saved well once again, but he could do no more than palm the ball into the corner of the net.
Ashford’s lead, alas, lasted for no more than nine minutes, for, in the 58th minute, The Police equalised. Shortly after Paul Jones had become the second yellow-shirted player to be shown a yellow card – this time for persistent infringements, apparently – Craig Carley showed good strength to latch onto a clearance. His long-range shot was blocked by the legs of an Ashford defender, but the ball ran loose to Scott Forrester, who was free in the penalty area, to the left of goal. Forrester, whose five league goals at the start of the match were bettered only by Kingstonian’s Bobby Traynor, Godalming’s Kenny Ojukwa and our own Mitchell Sherwood, slotted the ball past Jamie Riley, for his sixth. The Ashford defence turned and looked towards John Cumberbatch, hoping for an off-side decision, but his flag stayed down and the goal was given.
On the hour mark, Bradley Spice spread the ball wide to Mitchell Sherwood, on the left. Mitch cut inside right-back Tommy Moorhouse, and sent in a low, right-footed shot, but this was straight at the ‘keeper, who made a comfortable save. In the 65th minute, shortly after The Met’s perennial Manager, Jim Cooper, had made the game’s first substitution, replacing James Greenaway with Stephen Goddard, Sherwood was off on a run again, this time crossing the field, from left to right. He eventually fed the ball through to Paul Jones, who, typically, showed great body strength, to maintain possession of the ball, in the home side’s penalty area. Battling his way to the by-line, he pulled the ball back to Bradley Spice, but a defender’s boot got there first. The action soon switched to the other end of the pitch, with Gary Drewett, this time, running into space, down the right wing. He was tracked all the way by the superb Robbie Ryan, who ended the sortie with an excellent tackle.
The game was now really beginning to open up, with Mitchell Sherwood, in particular, finding space down the left. A good Ashford move, in the 71st minute, ended with Tony Browne doing well to win a corner, on the left. There was a delay before Ryan Briggs could take the kick, whilst Police Captain Steve Sutherland received treatment, and Mo Maan did well to catch Briggo’s cross as it was swung in towards the near post, but managed to carry the ball over the line. Another corner, then, but the Ref blew for a foul on the ‘keeper, just as another Briggs cross was entering the six-yard box.
Steve Lovell made his only substitution of the match in the 78th minute – Andy Doerr replacing Bradley Spice, who had worked hard, and showed one or two good touches, but has only scored in one game so far this season, having appeared in all eleven to date. This substitution proved to be an inspired decision by the Ashford Manager, as Doerr was soon to score the winning goal, but first there was some defending to do. Danny Lye was penalised for a late tackle on Gary Drewett, in the 79th minute, and Steve Sargent – a great name for a Metropolitan Police regular – sent in a deep cross, from the right, but the dreadlocked head of Daniel Brathwaite put the ball out for a corner. Jamie Riley cleared the resulting cross, from the left, with a firm punch.
Ashford’s winner came in the 83rd minute, and stemmed from a free-kick awarded for Gary Drewett’s late tackle on Mitch Sherwood. This was taken by Robbie Ryan, from a position close to the left touchline, just inside the Police half. Robbie sent the ball low and hard to Andy Doerr, who was deep inside the penalty area, with his back to goal. In spite of being tightly marked, Andy managed to roll his marker, turn and hit the ball into the corner of the net with his left foot. This must have meant a lot to the lad, who, still only 23, is continiuing his recovery from a reportedly very nasty broken leg, which kept him on the sidelines for about a year. So far, he has been restricted to substitute appearances, but it’s good to see him emulate Ryan Briggs in this game, by getting himself off the mark for the season.
Looking a little further ahead, Doerr’s goal was good news for Steve Lovell in the context of him knowing that he’ll need to do without the services of Paul Jones up front, when the man who is very much the leader of the attack gets married in two weeks’ time. On that subject, soon after Ashford had taken the lead, Paul went down like a sack of spuds when he was hit in the second-worst place for a man who’s soon to be wed – he took the ball full in the face, but was OK after treatment.
Ashford managed to keep possession for the majority of the five minutes, plus two minutes of injury time, that remained, but there was still some defending to do. Danny Lye became the third Ashford player to receive a yellow card, when his “defending” was a little late, on Sam Robinson in central midfield, in the 87th minute. Then, a minute later, the Met Police almost scored. The in-form Scott Forrester got up well, on the far side of the penalty area, to head a long cross down and into the goalmouth. From my vantage point at half-way, it looked as if the ball had actually bounced along the goal line, but it was hoofed away to safety. Well into the second minute of injury time, Robbie Ryan rose to head away a long throw into the penalty area; the ball actually hit the top of the corner flag, so it was a toss-up as to whether it should be a throw-in or a corner, but John Cumberbatch flagged for a corner. Met ‘keeper Mo Maan went up for this, in spite of the fact that most players in the penalty area towered over him, but it was to no avail, and Ashford collected the three points.
With several of the other teams in our division playing in the Second Qualifying Round of the FA Cup (dammit), this victory lifted Ashford up to sixth – but the exuberant celebration of the win by the boys in yellow and green said a lot more about how much they, as a squad, needed this boost to their confidence and belief.
There were more reasons to be cheerful when news came through from The Homelands that the Reserves had beaten Dover Reserves 3-0. Any victory against a Dover side is, of course, like nectar, but possibly more significant was the word that new signing Claude Senna, a striker, had played another blinder, on his second start for the Ressies. Having scored one, made two and had one disallowed against Deal Town Reserves in mid-week, Senna scored one and made two this afternoon, and is said to have looked extremely impressive. The expectation is that he’ll now go straight into the First Team squad for the home game against Chipstead, next Tuesday.
Senna’s arrival provides healthy competition for places up front, and, in truth, the addition of a class player is just what the team needs at the moment, to freshen things up, and to add a little bit of added momentum. Candidates for Man of the Match were the usual suspects, and I hardly need to mention them by name: Robbie Ryan, Ryan Briggs, Paul Jones, Sean Ray and Daniel Brathwaite all played well. I disagree with several observers who say that Daniel looks out of place in central defence, as he seemed to look the part today, and also has the pace to perform occasional full-back duties, and the skill to bring the ball out of defence and distribute the ball. There wasn’t much in it between the five, but Robbie Ryan just edged it on this occasion.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Robbie Ryan
Monday, 15 September 2008
Kingstonian v Ashford Town. FA Cup First Qualifying Round. 14th of September 2008.
Kingstonian 3 Ashford Town 0
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
History was made today, in as much a this was the first time I’ve been to a footy match on a Sunday. It meant that there was much rushing around in the morning, getting ready for church and everything – for the record, I prayed for a 2-2 draw, and then victory in the replay – but all in all it made a pleasant change. The reason for the change to the week-end routine was that Kingstonian’s landlords, AFC Wimbledon, had a home fixture on the Saturday, so the Ks got second knockings. There was a crowd of 3,039 to see The (new) Dons, (not to be confused with the former FA Cup winners who now play in Bletchley, Milton Keynes), beat Maidenhead United 3-1 in the Conference South. Today’s attendance of 401, Kingstonian’s best so far this season, hardly compares with that, but the fact that this figure was boosted considerably by two minibus loads of Ashford Town supporters made for a good atmosphere. I can’t remember the last time the Supporters’ Club organised transport for an away match, but let’s hope it’s not the last time.
Always a pleasure to come to Kingsmeadow – a proper, Conference-standard football ground, with plenty of good parking, a main stand that provides covered, seated accommodation along the full length of the pitch on one side, and an immaculate, bowling green-style pitch. A timely reminder, of course, that Kingstonian were in the Conference proper just a few years ago, so are a very big fish at this level. The glory days of winning the FA Trophy two seasons running, (in 1999 and 2000), before making it to the FOURTH Round of the FA Cup in 2001, must seem a long way away now. In those days, Kingsmeadow was theirs, but now they are tenants to their former lodgers. It must be fairly galling to have to sleep in the box room, whilst young, upwardly-mobile Roger not only sleeps with your wife, but also uses your home as a base whilst pursuing his thriving career.
Kingstonian certainly seem to be in the process of launching a serious push for promotion this year. Having finished seventh last season, (one place above Ashford), they currently lie second in Ryman Division One South, (with Ashford fifth), and are unbeaten, after six games. Given that Ashford had had a fairly easy set of fixtures up to this point, there are some who will have regarded this as one of the first trials of strength between two teams who look certain to be fighting it out for promotion this season. Personally, I regarded this as being no more than a side issue – for this is the FA Cup. THE Cup, and the only thing that really mattered was which of the two teams would make it through to the Second Qualifying Round draw.
Everything was set fair today for great cup-tie. A lovely, sunny September afternoon, and two apparently evenly-matched sides. The Ashford players must certainly have been full of confidence - and the crowd of green-clad fans, outside the bar in the sunshine before the game, full of optimism – coming off a 5-0 demolition of Leatherhead on Tuesday. Manager Steve Lovell also had virtually a full squad of fit players to choose from, so he was able to select the team that was successful in midweek. Josh Willis retained his place in goal, with a back four of Jimmy Elford, Sean Ray, Daniel Brathwaite and Robbie Ryan. Danny Lye again partnered Ryan Briggs in central midfield, with Mitchell Sherwood and Tony Browne on either side, whilst Paul Jones and Bradley Spice were up front, in a 4-4-2 formation. As it’s the FA Cup, both sides were mob-handed with seven subs each; for Ashford there were Jamie Riley, Lee Hockey, Charlie Glyde, James Humphreys, Andy Doerr, Jimmy Bottle and Anthony Hogg.
So this was virtually the whole of Ashford’s first team squad on parade today – the one, notable exception being Mark Lovell, who was hobbling around Kingsmeadow today on crutches, and with a heavily-bound knee. The news from Mark was that he has an appointment in October for a scan. He was cheerfully optimistic, but it sounds like it’ll be several weeks yet before he’s back pushing for a place in the team.
Two items of note in the Kingstonian line-up, the first being the presence of danger man Bobby Traynor up front – but also, on the beverages menu, they had Jon Coke at No.2 and Jamie Beer at No.7. (You just couldn’t make it up, could you ?).
Ashford certainly started this cup tie on the front foot; we dominated for the first ten minutes, and just about shaded the first half, both territorially and in terms of possession. In the second minute, Paul Jones, inside the Ks’ penalty area, with his back to goal, accepted a throw-in from Tony Browne; he laid the ball back to Jimmy Elford, but the full-back disappointingly curled his shot over the bar. Then in the fifth minute, Danny Lye was given enough time and space, on the edge of the area, in which to control the ball on his chest, turn and shoot, but this effort also sailed over the bar.
Daniel Brathwaite looked like he’d been playing in central defence all his life this afternoon, and he also showed glimpses of his passing ability. In the eighth minute, he sent a superb, diagonal pass out to the left, to Mitchell Sherwood, but, after Mitch’s cross into the area, the ball refused to settle for a yellow-shirted striker. Ashford tried again, from the left, and Robbie Ryan’s cross almost found Tony Browne, on the right side of the penalty area, but The Brown Dog was just beaten to it by a defender. This resulted in a corner, on the left, but this was cleared – as were two throw-ins from the left flank – so this early period of dominance failed to deliver a goal.
Ashford, playing in yellow & green in the style of Norwich City (and Godalming Town), were very unlucky, in the eleventh minute, not to be awarded a free-kick just inside the Ks’ penalty area, when ‘keeper Luke Garrard inexplicably picked up a backpass, with Bradley Spice bearing down on him. The reaction from Spice and the Ashford bench was one of utter disbelief as both Referee John Rowbury and the Lino failed to spot the obvious hand-ball. Spice and Jones both worked tremendously hard up front today, and Bradley did well to win a corner, on the right, in the 15th minute. This was swung in, towards the far post, by Ryan Briggs, but Kingstonian’s tall striker, Carl Wilson-Denis, got his head to the ball first.
The visitors had plenty of opportunities to get the ball into the danger area from free-kicks today. In the 18th minute, Max Hustwick was penalised for holding Paul Jones, and Jimmy Elford, from about five yards inside the Ks’ half, floated the ball long, towards Sean Ray, but Razor’s header went well over the bar. Two minutes later, Nick Rundell clattered Tony Browne late, having arrived second when challenging for the ball in the air. This provided Ryan Briggs with the opportunity to put in a cross from a dangerous position, but he hit the ball straight into the defensive wall.
In the 21st minute, it was Briggo’s turn to commit a foul, on slippery left-winger Dean Lodge. Tommy Williams’s free-kick, from the left, was cleared, but Lodge was soon on the ball again, when the play was spread out to him near the left touchline. He cut inside Jimmy Elford, moving swiftly infield, and let fly with a firm, right-footed shot, but this went just a couple of feet over the bar. A minute later, Tony Browne got a public rollicking from Ryan Briggs when his rather careless pass to him went astray, and presented Simon Huckle with the gift of possession, but the Kingstonian midfielder pulled his first-time shot horribly wide.
The play was much more end-to-end now, and, in the 25th minute, Kingstonian, wearing black shorts and sockies with their famous red & white hooped shirts, had a throw-in on the right, deep inside the Ashford half. The ball again failed to settle for the attacking side, and, after a brief scramble, ran through to Josh Willis. In the 27th minute, Danny Lye was late on Simon Huckle, in central midfield, but the free-kick delivered by Nick Rundell went all the way through the Ashford area, for a goal-kick.
Kingstonian’s opening goal, in the 28th minute, came from their first clear-cut chance, but it was an extremely well crafted goal, and beautifully finished, so nobody in the visitors’ camp could have any complaints. Carl Wilson-Denis created space for himself on the right, after playing an excellent one-two with Bobby Traynor, and Tommy Williams rose well to head his cross into the far corner of the net.
Nineteen year-old Josh Willis had little chance with the goal, but, in spite of making some good saves today, there were occasions when he looked a shade vulnerable – not least when there were signs that he is yet to establish an understanding with some of the defenders in front of him. One such occasion came in the 31st minute. Daniel Brathwaite, quite rightly, allowed the ball to run to Willis, who had clearly called for him to do so, but Jamie Beer nipped in with an interception. As Beer caught up with the ball near the by-line, he had evidently clipped Josh on the way through, as the ‘keeper was curled up, holding his head, on the edge of the area. It didn’t suit some partisan Kingstonians behind the goal, but the referee had no choice but to halt the game.
There were even more complaints after the ref restarted the game by dropping the ball at Sean Ray’s feet and Razor kicked for touch, Rugby Union style, deep into the Ks’ half of the field. Nevertheless, the home side was immediately back on the attack, and won a corner, on the right, in the 33rd minute – their first corner of the game. This was taken by Tommy Williams, who pulled the ball back to Bobby Traynor, near the corner of the penalty area. Traynor, currently the leading scorer in Ryman Division One South, with seven goals, chipped the ball in towards the far post, and there was again a hint of confusion, as Jimmy Elford headed the ball off the line, a split-second before Josh Willis could punch clear.
In the 35th minute, Bradley Spice won a corner, on the right. With the big centre-backs up for the cross, it was full-backs Jimmy Elford and Robbie Ryan who were left on the half-way line, watching the back door. As Ryan Briggs’s corner was cleared, the ball was picked up by the pacy and skilful Dean Lodge. The winger carried the ball almost to the edge of the Ashford penalty area, but he was shadowed all the time by Robbie Ryan, who eventually snuffed out the break with a good tackle. A minute later, it was Mitch Sherwood, back defending, who blocked an attempted cross, at the expense of a corner. The resulting cross, from the right, was sent in deep, beyond the far post, where Sean Ray headed behind for another corner, this time on the left. Not for the only time this afternoon, there was a sense that the home side was trying to test Ashford’s young ‘keeper, as Simon Huckle curled the ball right underneath Josh Willis’s crossbar, but Josh came through the test on this occasion, and punched clear. As Dean Lodge picked the ball up on the right wing, Bradley Spice was penalised for a slightly over-enthusiastic tackle, clearly taking the man first. This time, it was Robbie Ryan who was there to head clear the resulting, in-swinging cross.
Ashford were, by this time, not launching attacks with the regularity they had done early in the half, but Mitchell Sherwood, whose golden start to the season has brought him seven goals in as many matches, had the visitors’ best chance of the game in the 38th minute. Paul Jones, who had himself scored four in the previous four matches, picked up a clearance from defence, and showed all his strength and experience to hold the ball up down the right flank. He eventually pulled the ball back to Tony Browne, whose chip to the far post found Sherwood virtually unmarked, but Mitch planted his header straight into the arms of Luke Garrard. Three minutes later, the ex-Sittingbourne man had another opportunity, when Jimmy Elford fed the ball through to him, in the inside-right position. Mitchell showed that his confidence is high at the moment, when he turned towards goal and struck the ball hard, from a fairly acute angle, but Garrard did well, at his near post, to beat the ball behind for a corner. The ‘keeper did well again when he cleared Ryan Briggs’s corner with a good punch.
At the other end, Dean Lodge broke down the left wing, but his attempted cross was cut out by Jimmy Elford, giving Kingstonian a corner. This was sent long, beyond the far post, and Sean Ray was there to head clear. The ball fell to Bradley Spice, but the momentary chance of a quick counter-attack was ended by a foul by Lodge.
With a minute remaining before the break, a good turn and cross by Bradley Spice sent the ball curling behind the home side’s defence, and it required a hurried, hoiked clearance, for a corner, to save the situation. As the corner, from the left, was swung into the penalty area, there were some appeals for a penalty for hand-ball, but this never looked like being given, and Kingstonian went into the interval 1-0 up. So the game had so far lived up to pre-match expectations of being a closely-fought cup-tie between two evenly-matched teams.
Ashford had a chance to hit back just three minutes into the second half, when the ball broke to Tony Browne, on the right side of the Ks’ penalty area, but Brown Dog lashed his shot into the top of the side-netting. I couldn’t see how close it was, from my viewing angle, but there were several Ashford players with their hands on their head. Two minutes later, seconds after Referee Rowbury had missed a transparently obvious double hand-ball by Paul Jones, Bradley Spice had a shot deflected behind for a corner, on the right. This was taken by Ryan Briggs, but Luke Garrard again showed his quality, with a sound catch.
Kingstonian’s Carl Wilson-Denis spoilt what was otherwise a very satisfactory day out for him by getting himself a yellow card, for showing heated dissent at the Lino, simply because a throw-in decision went against him. Nevertheless, this was probably soon forgotten, as Kingstonian put the cup-tie to bed with two goals in four minutes – and it was Carl Three Names who got the first of these. Again, this was a well-made goal. A good ball inside the right full-back by Bobby Traynor, in the 53rd minute, sent Dean Lodge into the Ashford penalty area. After an unnecessary step-over, Lodge sent in a short cross to Wilson-Denis, in the centre, who tucked the ball in, from close range.
A minute later, still urged on by the sizable and vocal mob of travelling supporters, Ashford had a good situation, just outside the Kingstonian area, after Adam Thompson had fouled Paul Jones. Ryan Briggs crossed the free-kick in, from the left, and Daniel Brathwaite stooped low, to direct a looping header on target, but this went straight to Luke Garrard. Almost immediately, play switched to the other end, and Dean Lodge, beavering away, burst into the Ashford area from the left wing, but then seemed to be caught in two minds as he appeared to pass the ball out for a goal-kick.
The decisive, third goal came in the 56th minute. A Simon Huckle shot was deflected wide for a corner, on the left, off Daniel Brathwaite. Once again, it was time to test the young goalie, as the ball was swung into the goal mouth. Up went centre-half Max Hustwick, and, with a glancing header, planted the ball in the net, from no distance at all.
So that’s how a competitive game of football soon became a procession. Heads didn’t go down on the Ashford side, and the day-trippers behind the goal didn’t err in their support and encouragement, but it was just a little disappointing how soon the team seemed to run out of ideas – and it was then more likely that the home side would extend the lead, than it was for Ashford to close the gap. In the 58th minute, it was that man Dean Lodge who provided the danger once again; picking the ball up as it was spread out wide to the left, he got to the by-line, and crossed the ball from a tight angle. Josh Willis cut out the cross with a diving interception, and then pounced on the ball as it rolled gently towards the feet of Sean Ray.
A minute later, a turn and a hoiked shot by Bradley Spice went wide. Soon after, Ryan Briggs picked out Paul Jones with a cross-field pass. Jonah took the ball on his chest, and carried the ball to a central position. One thing I’ve noticed about Paul Jones is that, when he’s battled away without success for about an hour or so, he’s inclined to take the attitude that he’ll bloody well do the job on his own, and it seemed obvious that he was looking for a shot at goal on this occasion. He’d made it almost to the edge of the penalty area when he struck the ball, but his effort went across the face of goal, and wide of the far post.
It was Kingstonian Manager Alan Dowson who was first to make a substitution; he put Jon Neal on in place of Carl Wilson-Denis – a striker for a striker – just after the hour mark, and it wasn’t long before the Ks were on the attack again. The ball was spread wide to Jon Coke, on the right, in the 62nd minute. Coke had the bottle to take on Mitchell Sherwood, and went around Mitch before delivering a good cross. Three Kingstonian players converged on the ball and had a go at getting a touch, before Tony Browne hooked the ball clear. A minute later, Josh Willis had to be alert as an attempted shot, from just outside the area, was completely miscued, and spiralled, spinning, into the air. The ball really could have gone anywhere, but it went precisely where Josh didn’t want it to go – just behind the defence, and about to drop onto the six-yard line, before the ‘keeper came out to punch it clear.
There was a nasty-looking incident in the 64th minute, when Daniel Brathwaite – hair like Whoopi Goldberg, face of an angel – went down with a yell, clutching his face. After some treatment, Daniel was OK to continue, but it did give all of the players the opportunity for a drinks break, on what was still a warm, sunny afternoon - as Jimmy Bottle warmed up on the touchline.
Jimmy had to wait for his chance to make a difference, however, as Steve Lovell persisted with his starting eleven. Ashford’s next chance came in the 67th minute. A free-kick awarded for a foul on Robbie Ryan, for not very much, it seemed, gave Daniel Brathwaite the opportunity to cross the ball from the left. He delivered the ball to beyond the far post, where Sean Ray, who is yet to get himself on the scoresheet this season, got up well, and headed the ball down at the feet of Luke Garrard. This might have been an awkward moment for a lesser ‘keeper, but Garrad was untroubled, and got down to it well. Two minutes later, Paul Jones and Bradley Spice tried to link up, but Adam Thompson came across to cover. Soon after, a Jimmy Elford cross was met by the head of Danny Lye, in the centre, but Danny’s effort went well wide. Ashford put a good passing move together in the 71st minute. This ended with Robbie Ryan putting in a measured cross, from near the left touchline, towards the far post. It was again Danny Lye who got up to meet the cross, but his downward header went wide of the post.
So plenty of forward momentum from the visitors, and no shortage of effort, as the players reacted to the encouragement from the supporters, and the supporters responded to the players, but Luke Garrard and the Kingstonian defence were barely troubled. It’s not absolutely true to say that Ashford had run out of ideas – in fact, Steve Lovell had quite a big idea, in the 71st minute, although it smacked a little of desperation, in the context of a 3-0 scoreline. He took off Bradley Spice, sent big Sean Ray up to join the attack, replacing him with Lee Hockey, took right-back Jimmy Elford off, leaving a three-man back line, pushed Mitchell Sherwood forward to join Paul Jones and Razor, and put Jimmy Bottle on, down the left. If you’ve been following all this, you’ll realise that Steve’s final throw of the dice was to revert to a 3-4-3 formation, with Sean Ray’s role up front a rather obvious one. In fact, it was probably a little too obvious, and failed to make an impact on the game. Ray won his fair share of aerial challenges, but the key, obviously, was for him to provide knock-downs for the other two strikers, and this failed to materialise.
Jimmy Bottle, however, was straight into the action, off on a run down the left wing, in the 72nd minute. He managed to get a cross in, but this was headed behind for a corner, on the left. This was also cleared, but only as far as Mitch Sherwood, who was some way outside the penalty area. The way things have been going for Mitch lately, it would have been no surprise to see the ball fly into the top corner of the net from his right boot, but, although he struck it sweetly, like a man in form, his effort went just over the bar.
Kingstonian made their second substitution – Dean Lodge, their best player this afternoon, being replaced by Phil Williams – in the 73rd minute, as Ashford continued to press forward. With 15 minutes remaining, Mitch Sherwood fed the ball forward to Paul Jones, just inside the Ks’ area. Jonah went down under pressure from two defenders, but there was little chance of a penalty being awarded.
There was some confusion when Steve Lovell made his final substitution, in the 78th minute. The idea was to bring off No.7 Tony Browne, and send on Andy Doerr, wearing the No.18 shirt, but the absence of a No.18 number board meant that numbers 1, 8 and 7 were held up. This caused No.8 Danny Lye to come across to the touchline, thinking he’d been summoned – but it was soon sorted out, and Andy Doerr entered the fray for his usual cameo appearance. This is the fourth time that Andy, still on the road to recovery after a serious injury, has come on as a sub this season, and his longest stint has been one of 17 minutes – although he did get 90 minutes under his belt for the Ressies in midweek.
A minute later, Kingstonian completed the comings and goings by replacing Tommy Williams with Neil Lampton. Either side of this substitution, Ashford had two, almost identical, attempts at making the Sean Ray Plan work. On both occasions, Daniel Brathwaite launched a long ball from about the half-way line, looking for the skipper’s head, in the vicinity of the far post, but neither effort produced the desired result.
Of course, the downside to being adventurous with a 3-4-3 line-up is the possibility of being exposed at the back, and today’s victors had several chances to increase their lead, (although this would, by common consent, have flattered them). With fully ten minutes remaining, two of the Ks’ substitutes, Phil Williams and Neil Lampton, combined in a counter-attack, against Ashford’s back three. This ended with Lampton chipping the ball towards the far post, but the cross-cum-shot went just wide.
Soon after, there was another despairing solo effort from Paul Jones. Picking the ball up just inside the Kingstonian half, he turned and carried it forward, through the midfield area. He tried a low, long-range shot, but Garrard made a comfortable save, going down to his right. In the 82nd minute, Lee Hockey took a long throw, on the right – no doubt the introduction of this additional weapon was part of Steve’s big idea for Plan B – and this was headed behind by Nick Rundell, for a corner. Unfortunately, Ryan Briggs wasted this opportunity when he failed to beat the first defender. A minute later, the fresh legs of Phil Williams took him on a run down the left wing, and he won a corner on that side – but the resulting cross came off centre-half Max Hustwick, for a goal-kick.
Danny Lye picked up a needless yellow card, with five minutes remaining, when he was rather late in making an aerial challenge – but the booking was clearly for the accumulation of infringements, rather than for any malicious intent.
By this time, the sun, which had shone for most of the afternoon, had sunk behind thin cloud, but Ashford continued to have the majority of possession. When Kingstonian did get the ball back, however, star man Bobby Traynor, who had been very quiet for 87 minutes, reminded us all of his presence with what would have been an excellent goal. The Ks relieved some pressure with an up & under into the Ashford half. Traynor chased after this, and caught up with the ball just outside the Ashford penalty area. With a defender at his back, he turned and his looping shot hit the base of the far post, with Josh Willis beaten.
At the other end, Andy Doerr did manage an attempt at goal, a couple of minutes before the end of normal time; breaking through a tackle, he aimed a shot from well outside the area, but the ball swerved away, high and wide.
As this was an FA Cup tie, we were deprived of an announcement of how many minutes of injury time were to be played. In the event, Mr Rowbury added on three and a half minutes, and this only served to provide the home team with further opportunities to extend their already unassailable lead – (not that they could resist the temptation to run the clock down by keeping possession of the ball by the corner flag !). In the 91st minute, Phil Williams bore down on Lee Hockey, who stood his ground on the edge of the penalty area. Williams slipped the ball past Lee, who, predictably, tripped his man. It was almost as predictable that he got a yellow card for his troubles. The free-kick was hit with plenty of pace and venom, beating the yellow & green defensive wall, but Josh Willis did well to beat the ball away.
As a final chorus of “Nuts & Bolts, Nuts & Bolts” resonated in the Malden air, with 93 minutes on my watch, a shot by Jon Neal was blocked by Daniel Brathwaite, inside the Ashford penalty area. The ball fell to Bobby Traynor, whose snap shot was well saved by Josh Willis, who certainly played his part in keeping the goal total down to three.
The match ended with a brief flurry of Kingstonian corners, and a 3-0 scoreline that few people could really argue with. The home side had had this game wrapped up before the hour mark, with three beautifully-taken goals, and they will be the ones watching the usual web-sites for the cup draw around about lunch-time on Monday.
This was a very disappointing anti-climax for the bus loads of travelling supporters – who were rightly applauded by some of the players at the final whistle – as this is another “cup run” that has fizzled out prematurely. To return to the earlier theme about this game being seen as an early trial of strength between two promotion hopefuls, it is, of course, difficult not to compare ourselves with today’s opponents. Obviously, Kingstonian are a very good side, who must be one of the contenders for the championship this season. It’s hard to escape that fact that they brushed a virtually full-strength Ashford Town aside fairly comfortably this afternoon, but I don’t think we’re as far behind them as the bare result suggests. We looked to be a good, cohesive unit, with good players all over the pitch, who were comfortable on the ball, but it’s a little worrying that we barely threatened to break through the Ks’ defence, after having at least as much possession as the winning side.
The decision for MK Man of the Match was not an easy one – nobody had an outstanding game, and, equally, nobody can be blamed for having had a stinker. The nod went to Daniel Brathwaite, who just about looked our best player this afternoon, in spite of being blamed in some quarters for Kingstonian’s first goal. Strangely, his main rivals for the award, in a 3-0 defeat, were defenders Sean Ray and the flawless Robbie Ryan, neither of whom appeared to do a great deal wrong. A mention should also be given to the two strikers, Paul Jones and Bradley Spice, who both worked extremely hard – particularly the uncomplaining Jones, who at times appeared to be carrying the yoke on his own, not getting the support he deserves from his team-mates.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Daniel Brathwaite
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
History was made today, in as much a this was the first time I’ve been to a footy match on a Sunday. It meant that there was much rushing around in the morning, getting ready for church and everything – for the record, I prayed for a 2-2 draw, and then victory in the replay – but all in all it made a pleasant change. The reason for the change to the week-end routine was that Kingstonian’s landlords, AFC Wimbledon, had a home fixture on the Saturday, so the Ks got second knockings. There was a crowd of 3,039 to see The (new) Dons, (not to be confused with the former FA Cup winners who now play in Bletchley, Milton Keynes), beat Maidenhead United 3-1 in the Conference South. Today’s attendance of 401, Kingstonian’s best so far this season, hardly compares with that, but the fact that this figure was boosted considerably by two minibus loads of Ashford Town supporters made for a good atmosphere. I can’t remember the last time the Supporters’ Club organised transport for an away match, but let’s hope it’s not the last time.
Always a pleasure to come to Kingsmeadow – a proper, Conference-standard football ground, with plenty of good parking, a main stand that provides covered, seated accommodation along the full length of the pitch on one side, and an immaculate, bowling green-style pitch. A timely reminder, of course, that Kingstonian were in the Conference proper just a few years ago, so are a very big fish at this level. The glory days of winning the FA Trophy two seasons running, (in 1999 and 2000), before making it to the FOURTH Round of the FA Cup in 2001, must seem a long way away now. In those days, Kingsmeadow was theirs, but now they are tenants to their former lodgers. It must be fairly galling to have to sleep in the box room, whilst young, upwardly-mobile Roger not only sleeps with your wife, but also uses your home as a base whilst pursuing his thriving career.
Kingstonian certainly seem to be in the process of launching a serious push for promotion this year. Having finished seventh last season, (one place above Ashford), they currently lie second in Ryman Division One South, (with Ashford fifth), and are unbeaten, after six games. Given that Ashford had had a fairly easy set of fixtures up to this point, there are some who will have regarded this as one of the first trials of strength between two teams who look certain to be fighting it out for promotion this season. Personally, I regarded this as being no more than a side issue – for this is the FA Cup. THE Cup, and the only thing that really mattered was which of the two teams would make it through to the Second Qualifying Round draw.
Everything was set fair today for great cup-tie. A lovely, sunny September afternoon, and two apparently evenly-matched sides. The Ashford players must certainly have been full of confidence - and the crowd of green-clad fans, outside the bar in the sunshine before the game, full of optimism – coming off a 5-0 demolition of Leatherhead on Tuesday. Manager Steve Lovell also had virtually a full squad of fit players to choose from, so he was able to select the team that was successful in midweek. Josh Willis retained his place in goal, with a back four of Jimmy Elford, Sean Ray, Daniel Brathwaite and Robbie Ryan. Danny Lye again partnered Ryan Briggs in central midfield, with Mitchell Sherwood and Tony Browne on either side, whilst Paul Jones and Bradley Spice were up front, in a 4-4-2 formation. As it’s the FA Cup, both sides were mob-handed with seven subs each; for Ashford there were Jamie Riley, Lee Hockey, Charlie Glyde, James Humphreys, Andy Doerr, Jimmy Bottle and Anthony Hogg.
So this was virtually the whole of Ashford’s first team squad on parade today – the one, notable exception being Mark Lovell, who was hobbling around Kingsmeadow today on crutches, and with a heavily-bound knee. The news from Mark was that he has an appointment in October for a scan. He was cheerfully optimistic, but it sounds like it’ll be several weeks yet before he’s back pushing for a place in the team.
Two items of note in the Kingstonian line-up, the first being the presence of danger man Bobby Traynor up front – but also, on the beverages menu, they had Jon Coke at No.2 and Jamie Beer at No.7. (You just couldn’t make it up, could you ?).
Ashford certainly started this cup tie on the front foot; we dominated for the first ten minutes, and just about shaded the first half, both territorially and in terms of possession. In the second minute, Paul Jones, inside the Ks’ penalty area, with his back to goal, accepted a throw-in from Tony Browne; he laid the ball back to Jimmy Elford, but the full-back disappointingly curled his shot over the bar. Then in the fifth minute, Danny Lye was given enough time and space, on the edge of the area, in which to control the ball on his chest, turn and shoot, but this effort also sailed over the bar.
Daniel Brathwaite looked like he’d been playing in central defence all his life this afternoon, and he also showed glimpses of his passing ability. In the eighth minute, he sent a superb, diagonal pass out to the left, to Mitchell Sherwood, but, after Mitch’s cross into the area, the ball refused to settle for a yellow-shirted striker. Ashford tried again, from the left, and Robbie Ryan’s cross almost found Tony Browne, on the right side of the penalty area, but The Brown Dog was just beaten to it by a defender. This resulted in a corner, on the left, but this was cleared – as were two throw-ins from the left flank – so this early period of dominance failed to deliver a goal.
Ashford, playing in yellow & green in the style of Norwich City (and Godalming Town), were very unlucky, in the eleventh minute, not to be awarded a free-kick just inside the Ks’ penalty area, when ‘keeper Luke Garrard inexplicably picked up a backpass, with Bradley Spice bearing down on him. The reaction from Spice and the Ashford bench was one of utter disbelief as both Referee John Rowbury and the Lino failed to spot the obvious hand-ball. Spice and Jones both worked tremendously hard up front today, and Bradley did well to win a corner, on the right, in the 15th minute. This was swung in, towards the far post, by Ryan Briggs, but Kingstonian’s tall striker, Carl Wilson-Denis, got his head to the ball first.
The visitors had plenty of opportunities to get the ball into the danger area from free-kicks today. In the 18th minute, Max Hustwick was penalised for holding Paul Jones, and Jimmy Elford, from about five yards inside the Ks’ half, floated the ball long, towards Sean Ray, but Razor’s header went well over the bar. Two minutes later, Nick Rundell clattered Tony Browne late, having arrived second when challenging for the ball in the air. This provided Ryan Briggs with the opportunity to put in a cross from a dangerous position, but he hit the ball straight into the defensive wall.
In the 21st minute, it was Briggo’s turn to commit a foul, on slippery left-winger Dean Lodge. Tommy Williams’s free-kick, from the left, was cleared, but Lodge was soon on the ball again, when the play was spread out to him near the left touchline. He cut inside Jimmy Elford, moving swiftly infield, and let fly with a firm, right-footed shot, but this went just a couple of feet over the bar. A minute later, Tony Browne got a public rollicking from Ryan Briggs when his rather careless pass to him went astray, and presented Simon Huckle with the gift of possession, but the Kingstonian midfielder pulled his first-time shot horribly wide.
The play was much more end-to-end now, and, in the 25th minute, Kingstonian, wearing black shorts and sockies with their famous red & white hooped shirts, had a throw-in on the right, deep inside the Ashford half. The ball again failed to settle for the attacking side, and, after a brief scramble, ran through to Josh Willis. In the 27th minute, Danny Lye was late on Simon Huckle, in central midfield, but the free-kick delivered by Nick Rundell went all the way through the Ashford area, for a goal-kick.
Kingstonian’s opening goal, in the 28th minute, came from their first clear-cut chance, but it was an extremely well crafted goal, and beautifully finished, so nobody in the visitors’ camp could have any complaints. Carl Wilson-Denis created space for himself on the right, after playing an excellent one-two with Bobby Traynor, and Tommy Williams rose well to head his cross into the far corner of the net.
Nineteen year-old Josh Willis had little chance with the goal, but, in spite of making some good saves today, there were occasions when he looked a shade vulnerable – not least when there were signs that he is yet to establish an understanding with some of the defenders in front of him. One such occasion came in the 31st minute. Daniel Brathwaite, quite rightly, allowed the ball to run to Willis, who had clearly called for him to do so, but Jamie Beer nipped in with an interception. As Beer caught up with the ball near the by-line, he had evidently clipped Josh on the way through, as the ‘keeper was curled up, holding his head, on the edge of the area. It didn’t suit some partisan Kingstonians behind the goal, but the referee had no choice but to halt the game.
There were even more complaints after the ref restarted the game by dropping the ball at Sean Ray’s feet and Razor kicked for touch, Rugby Union style, deep into the Ks’ half of the field. Nevertheless, the home side was immediately back on the attack, and won a corner, on the right, in the 33rd minute – their first corner of the game. This was taken by Tommy Williams, who pulled the ball back to Bobby Traynor, near the corner of the penalty area. Traynor, currently the leading scorer in Ryman Division One South, with seven goals, chipped the ball in towards the far post, and there was again a hint of confusion, as Jimmy Elford headed the ball off the line, a split-second before Josh Willis could punch clear.
In the 35th minute, Bradley Spice won a corner, on the right. With the big centre-backs up for the cross, it was full-backs Jimmy Elford and Robbie Ryan who were left on the half-way line, watching the back door. As Ryan Briggs’s corner was cleared, the ball was picked up by the pacy and skilful Dean Lodge. The winger carried the ball almost to the edge of the Ashford penalty area, but he was shadowed all the time by Robbie Ryan, who eventually snuffed out the break with a good tackle. A minute later, it was Mitch Sherwood, back defending, who blocked an attempted cross, at the expense of a corner. The resulting cross, from the right, was sent in deep, beyond the far post, where Sean Ray headed behind for another corner, this time on the left. Not for the only time this afternoon, there was a sense that the home side was trying to test Ashford’s young ‘keeper, as Simon Huckle curled the ball right underneath Josh Willis’s crossbar, but Josh came through the test on this occasion, and punched clear. As Dean Lodge picked the ball up on the right wing, Bradley Spice was penalised for a slightly over-enthusiastic tackle, clearly taking the man first. This time, it was Robbie Ryan who was there to head clear the resulting, in-swinging cross.
Ashford were, by this time, not launching attacks with the regularity they had done early in the half, but Mitchell Sherwood, whose golden start to the season has brought him seven goals in as many matches, had the visitors’ best chance of the game in the 38th minute. Paul Jones, who had himself scored four in the previous four matches, picked up a clearance from defence, and showed all his strength and experience to hold the ball up down the right flank. He eventually pulled the ball back to Tony Browne, whose chip to the far post found Sherwood virtually unmarked, but Mitch planted his header straight into the arms of Luke Garrard. Three minutes later, the ex-Sittingbourne man had another opportunity, when Jimmy Elford fed the ball through to him, in the inside-right position. Mitchell showed that his confidence is high at the moment, when he turned towards goal and struck the ball hard, from a fairly acute angle, but Garrard did well, at his near post, to beat the ball behind for a corner. The ‘keeper did well again when he cleared Ryan Briggs’s corner with a good punch.
At the other end, Dean Lodge broke down the left wing, but his attempted cross was cut out by Jimmy Elford, giving Kingstonian a corner. This was sent long, beyond the far post, and Sean Ray was there to head clear. The ball fell to Bradley Spice, but the momentary chance of a quick counter-attack was ended by a foul by Lodge.
With a minute remaining before the break, a good turn and cross by Bradley Spice sent the ball curling behind the home side’s defence, and it required a hurried, hoiked clearance, for a corner, to save the situation. As the corner, from the left, was swung into the penalty area, there were some appeals for a penalty for hand-ball, but this never looked like being given, and Kingstonian went into the interval 1-0 up. So the game had so far lived up to pre-match expectations of being a closely-fought cup-tie between two evenly-matched teams.
Ashford had a chance to hit back just three minutes into the second half, when the ball broke to Tony Browne, on the right side of the Ks’ penalty area, but Brown Dog lashed his shot into the top of the side-netting. I couldn’t see how close it was, from my viewing angle, but there were several Ashford players with their hands on their head. Two minutes later, seconds after Referee Rowbury had missed a transparently obvious double hand-ball by Paul Jones, Bradley Spice had a shot deflected behind for a corner, on the right. This was taken by Ryan Briggs, but Luke Garrard again showed his quality, with a sound catch.
Kingstonian’s Carl Wilson-Denis spoilt what was otherwise a very satisfactory day out for him by getting himself a yellow card, for showing heated dissent at the Lino, simply because a throw-in decision went against him. Nevertheless, this was probably soon forgotten, as Kingstonian put the cup-tie to bed with two goals in four minutes – and it was Carl Three Names who got the first of these. Again, this was a well-made goal. A good ball inside the right full-back by Bobby Traynor, in the 53rd minute, sent Dean Lodge into the Ashford penalty area. After an unnecessary step-over, Lodge sent in a short cross to Wilson-Denis, in the centre, who tucked the ball in, from close range.
A minute later, still urged on by the sizable and vocal mob of travelling supporters, Ashford had a good situation, just outside the Kingstonian area, after Adam Thompson had fouled Paul Jones. Ryan Briggs crossed the free-kick in, from the left, and Daniel Brathwaite stooped low, to direct a looping header on target, but this went straight to Luke Garrard. Almost immediately, play switched to the other end, and Dean Lodge, beavering away, burst into the Ashford area from the left wing, but then seemed to be caught in two minds as he appeared to pass the ball out for a goal-kick.
The decisive, third goal came in the 56th minute. A Simon Huckle shot was deflected wide for a corner, on the left, off Daniel Brathwaite. Once again, it was time to test the young goalie, as the ball was swung into the goal mouth. Up went centre-half Max Hustwick, and, with a glancing header, planted the ball in the net, from no distance at all.
So that’s how a competitive game of football soon became a procession. Heads didn’t go down on the Ashford side, and the day-trippers behind the goal didn’t err in their support and encouragement, but it was just a little disappointing how soon the team seemed to run out of ideas – and it was then more likely that the home side would extend the lead, than it was for Ashford to close the gap. In the 58th minute, it was that man Dean Lodge who provided the danger once again; picking the ball up as it was spread out wide to the left, he got to the by-line, and crossed the ball from a tight angle. Josh Willis cut out the cross with a diving interception, and then pounced on the ball as it rolled gently towards the feet of Sean Ray.
A minute later, a turn and a hoiked shot by Bradley Spice went wide. Soon after, Ryan Briggs picked out Paul Jones with a cross-field pass. Jonah took the ball on his chest, and carried the ball to a central position. One thing I’ve noticed about Paul Jones is that, when he’s battled away without success for about an hour or so, he’s inclined to take the attitude that he’ll bloody well do the job on his own, and it seemed obvious that he was looking for a shot at goal on this occasion. He’d made it almost to the edge of the penalty area when he struck the ball, but his effort went across the face of goal, and wide of the far post.
It was Kingstonian Manager Alan Dowson who was first to make a substitution; he put Jon Neal on in place of Carl Wilson-Denis – a striker for a striker – just after the hour mark, and it wasn’t long before the Ks were on the attack again. The ball was spread wide to Jon Coke, on the right, in the 62nd minute. Coke had the bottle to take on Mitchell Sherwood, and went around Mitch before delivering a good cross. Three Kingstonian players converged on the ball and had a go at getting a touch, before Tony Browne hooked the ball clear. A minute later, Josh Willis had to be alert as an attempted shot, from just outside the area, was completely miscued, and spiralled, spinning, into the air. The ball really could have gone anywhere, but it went precisely where Josh didn’t want it to go – just behind the defence, and about to drop onto the six-yard line, before the ‘keeper came out to punch it clear.
There was a nasty-looking incident in the 64th minute, when Daniel Brathwaite – hair like Whoopi Goldberg, face of an angel – went down with a yell, clutching his face. After some treatment, Daniel was OK to continue, but it did give all of the players the opportunity for a drinks break, on what was still a warm, sunny afternoon - as Jimmy Bottle warmed up on the touchline.
Jimmy had to wait for his chance to make a difference, however, as Steve Lovell persisted with his starting eleven. Ashford’s next chance came in the 67th minute. A free-kick awarded for a foul on Robbie Ryan, for not very much, it seemed, gave Daniel Brathwaite the opportunity to cross the ball from the left. He delivered the ball to beyond the far post, where Sean Ray, who is yet to get himself on the scoresheet this season, got up well, and headed the ball down at the feet of Luke Garrard. This might have been an awkward moment for a lesser ‘keeper, but Garrad was untroubled, and got down to it well. Two minutes later, Paul Jones and Bradley Spice tried to link up, but Adam Thompson came across to cover. Soon after, a Jimmy Elford cross was met by the head of Danny Lye, in the centre, but Danny’s effort went well wide. Ashford put a good passing move together in the 71st minute. This ended with Robbie Ryan putting in a measured cross, from near the left touchline, towards the far post. It was again Danny Lye who got up to meet the cross, but his downward header went wide of the post.
So plenty of forward momentum from the visitors, and no shortage of effort, as the players reacted to the encouragement from the supporters, and the supporters responded to the players, but Luke Garrard and the Kingstonian defence were barely troubled. It’s not absolutely true to say that Ashford had run out of ideas – in fact, Steve Lovell had quite a big idea, in the 71st minute, although it smacked a little of desperation, in the context of a 3-0 scoreline. He took off Bradley Spice, sent big Sean Ray up to join the attack, replacing him with Lee Hockey, took right-back Jimmy Elford off, leaving a three-man back line, pushed Mitchell Sherwood forward to join Paul Jones and Razor, and put Jimmy Bottle on, down the left. If you’ve been following all this, you’ll realise that Steve’s final throw of the dice was to revert to a 3-4-3 formation, with Sean Ray’s role up front a rather obvious one. In fact, it was probably a little too obvious, and failed to make an impact on the game. Ray won his fair share of aerial challenges, but the key, obviously, was for him to provide knock-downs for the other two strikers, and this failed to materialise.
Jimmy Bottle, however, was straight into the action, off on a run down the left wing, in the 72nd minute. He managed to get a cross in, but this was headed behind for a corner, on the left. This was also cleared, but only as far as Mitch Sherwood, who was some way outside the penalty area. The way things have been going for Mitch lately, it would have been no surprise to see the ball fly into the top corner of the net from his right boot, but, although he struck it sweetly, like a man in form, his effort went just over the bar.
Kingstonian made their second substitution – Dean Lodge, their best player this afternoon, being replaced by Phil Williams – in the 73rd minute, as Ashford continued to press forward. With 15 minutes remaining, Mitch Sherwood fed the ball forward to Paul Jones, just inside the Ks’ area. Jonah went down under pressure from two defenders, but there was little chance of a penalty being awarded.
There was some confusion when Steve Lovell made his final substitution, in the 78th minute. The idea was to bring off No.7 Tony Browne, and send on Andy Doerr, wearing the No.18 shirt, but the absence of a No.18 number board meant that numbers 1, 8 and 7 were held up. This caused No.8 Danny Lye to come across to the touchline, thinking he’d been summoned – but it was soon sorted out, and Andy Doerr entered the fray for his usual cameo appearance. This is the fourth time that Andy, still on the road to recovery after a serious injury, has come on as a sub this season, and his longest stint has been one of 17 minutes – although he did get 90 minutes under his belt for the Ressies in midweek.
A minute later, Kingstonian completed the comings and goings by replacing Tommy Williams with Neil Lampton. Either side of this substitution, Ashford had two, almost identical, attempts at making the Sean Ray Plan work. On both occasions, Daniel Brathwaite launched a long ball from about the half-way line, looking for the skipper’s head, in the vicinity of the far post, but neither effort produced the desired result.
Of course, the downside to being adventurous with a 3-4-3 line-up is the possibility of being exposed at the back, and today’s victors had several chances to increase their lead, (although this would, by common consent, have flattered them). With fully ten minutes remaining, two of the Ks’ substitutes, Phil Williams and Neil Lampton, combined in a counter-attack, against Ashford’s back three. This ended with Lampton chipping the ball towards the far post, but the cross-cum-shot went just wide.
Soon after, there was another despairing solo effort from Paul Jones. Picking the ball up just inside the Kingstonian half, he turned and carried it forward, through the midfield area. He tried a low, long-range shot, but Garrard made a comfortable save, going down to his right. In the 82nd minute, Lee Hockey took a long throw, on the right – no doubt the introduction of this additional weapon was part of Steve’s big idea for Plan B – and this was headed behind by Nick Rundell, for a corner. Unfortunately, Ryan Briggs wasted this opportunity when he failed to beat the first defender. A minute later, the fresh legs of Phil Williams took him on a run down the left wing, and he won a corner on that side – but the resulting cross came off centre-half Max Hustwick, for a goal-kick.
Danny Lye picked up a needless yellow card, with five minutes remaining, when he was rather late in making an aerial challenge – but the booking was clearly for the accumulation of infringements, rather than for any malicious intent.
By this time, the sun, which had shone for most of the afternoon, had sunk behind thin cloud, but Ashford continued to have the majority of possession. When Kingstonian did get the ball back, however, star man Bobby Traynor, who had been very quiet for 87 minutes, reminded us all of his presence with what would have been an excellent goal. The Ks relieved some pressure with an up & under into the Ashford half. Traynor chased after this, and caught up with the ball just outside the Ashford penalty area. With a defender at his back, he turned and his looping shot hit the base of the far post, with Josh Willis beaten.
At the other end, Andy Doerr did manage an attempt at goal, a couple of minutes before the end of normal time; breaking through a tackle, he aimed a shot from well outside the area, but the ball swerved away, high and wide.
As this was an FA Cup tie, we were deprived of an announcement of how many minutes of injury time were to be played. In the event, Mr Rowbury added on three and a half minutes, and this only served to provide the home team with further opportunities to extend their already unassailable lead – (not that they could resist the temptation to run the clock down by keeping possession of the ball by the corner flag !). In the 91st minute, Phil Williams bore down on Lee Hockey, who stood his ground on the edge of the penalty area. Williams slipped the ball past Lee, who, predictably, tripped his man. It was almost as predictable that he got a yellow card for his troubles. The free-kick was hit with plenty of pace and venom, beating the yellow & green defensive wall, but Josh Willis did well to beat the ball away.
As a final chorus of “Nuts & Bolts, Nuts & Bolts” resonated in the Malden air, with 93 minutes on my watch, a shot by Jon Neal was blocked by Daniel Brathwaite, inside the Ashford penalty area. The ball fell to Bobby Traynor, whose snap shot was well saved by Josh Willis, who certainly played his part in keeping the goal total down to three.
The match ended with a brief flurry of Kingstonian corners, and a 3-0 scoreline that few people could really argue with. The home side had had this game wrapped up before the hour mark, with three beautifully-taken goals, and they will be the ones watching the usual web-sites for the cup draw around about lunch-time on Monday.
This was a very disappointing anti-climax for the bus loads of travelling supporters – who were rightly applauded by some of the players at the final whistle – as this is another “cup run” that has fizzled out prematurely. To return to the earlier theme about this game being seen as an early trial of strength between two promotion hopefuls, it is, of course, difficult not to compare ourselves with today’s opponents. Obviously, Kingstonian are a very good side, who must be one of the contenders for the championship this season. It’s hard to escape that fact that they brushed a virtually full-strength Ashford Town aside fairly comfortably this afternoon, but I don’t think we’re as far behind them as the bare result suggests. We looked to be a good, cohesive unit, with good players all over the pitch, who were comfortable on the ball, but it’s a little worrying that we barely threatened to break through the Ks’ defence, after having at least as much possession as the winning side.
The decision for MK Man of the Match was not an easy one – nobody had an outstanding game, and, equally, nobody can be blamed for having had a stinker. The nod went to Daniel Brathwaite, who just about looked our best player this afternoon, in spite of being blamed in some quarters for Kingstonian’s first goal. Strangely, his main rivals for the award, in a 3-0 defeat, were defenders Sean Ray and the flawless Robbie Ryan, neither of whom appeared to do a great deal wrong. A mention should also be given to the two strikers, Paul Jones and Bradley Spice, who both worked extremely hard – particularly the uncomplaining Jones, who at times appeared to be carrying the yoke on his own, not getting the support he deserves from his team-mates.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Daniel Brathwaite
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