Chatham Town 0 Ashford Town 0
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
Thirteen games now gone in the season, at the start of this one, and Ryman Division One South was starting to take shape – and I think it’s probably significant that the bottom six teams in the table were also the bottom six teams in the Current Form table, and very much the sides that, on recent form, we’d expect to be involved in the relegation scrap: that’s Chipstead, Horsham YMCA, Eastbourne Town, Walton Casuals, Whitstable Town and, I’m afraid, Ashford Town. If the league table didn’t convince ourselves of that, then Ashford’s previous two performances certainly should have done – at Horsham YMCA, two Tuesdays ago, we were able to compete on equal terms, and were just edged out 2-1; at Walton & Hersham, in mid-week, we were out-matched by a mid-table team, unable to manage a single shot on target.
However, one glimmer of hope I’ve managed to detect is that Ashford’s away form, with the lads having lost every single game away from The Homelands, bar one, is far worse than our home form, since our home record is actually three wins and two draws from six matches. What dawned on me recently was that no fewer than NINE of the last twelve matches, including today’s at Maidstone Road, have been away – so we must have a few at Fortress Homelands to come !
It was certainly good to be back at Chatham, after The Chats’ ridiculous one-year exile in Ryman Division One North, and they’ve made a great start this season, lying in sixth place this morning – which has not been entirely surprising, since the signing of the excellent Brendan Cass, from Dartford, in the Summer. Looking through some old match reports, I noticed that there is just one man who played in all four matches at Maidstone Road between these sides, in the 2002-3, 2003-4, 2006-7 and 2007-8 seasons - I’ll spill the beans as to who it was, at the end of the report.
First news from the Ashford camp concerned a change in Physio. There had been rumours in mid-week that Alan Orsbourne, who has been our Sponge Man in recent weeks, was so exhausted from running on and off to attend to Mark Lovell on Tuesday – first it was Mark’s ankle, then it was his face, then it was his knee, etc. – that he would have to have a lie-down this week-end. There were also counter-rumours that Steve Lovell was planning to use Alan in a man-to-man marking role, following Mark around the pitch, with his bag. In the end, neither was the case, as Alan was due to attend a physio course – so in stepped Rachel Long, who is one of the so-called Physy Fillies, a group of trainee physiotherapists at Canterbury Hospital. Unfortunately, we never had the chance to see Rachel in her faster paces, but she’s an attractive, leggy filly, with a kind head and plenty of bone.
Long Rachel has arrived just in time, as it’s all about groins in the Ashford dressing room at the moment. Paul Jones continues to suffer from wedding-related fatigue in that area, and ‘keeper Seb Barton, Man of the Match on Tuesday, picked up an injury, towards the end of that game, that has also been diagnosed as a groin problem. As if that weren’t enough, Darren Ibrahim also has a groin injury, but was still preferred, in goal, to Dan Mason, which must be interpreted as a major vote of confidence from Manager Steve Lovell. It’s impossible to know the extent of the injury, but it was serious enough for Toby Ashmore to take all of Darren’s goal-kicks this afternoon.
The other injury blow for Ashford Town was that, as expected, top-scorer Joe Fuller had not recovered from the knock that forced him to come off after 20 minutes against Walton & Hersham – in fact, he was limping around the ground this afternoon every bit as feelingly as he had limped to his car at Stompond Lane on Tuesday. That left us distinctly short of strikers, but it’s quite likely that Steve Lovell would, in any case, have opted for the 4-3-1-2 formation, with son Mark “in the hole”, that served Ashford pretty well in the second half of the Walton game.
With our only available recognised striker playing just behind the front two, it was a couple of wingers who played up front: Mitchell Sherwood and Nicholas Frederick Smith. The midfield three were the experienced Ryan Briggs and Danny Lye, with Ross Morley operating on the right; the back four in front of Darren Ibrahim were Carl Harrold, Toby Ashmore, Lee Hockey and Gravesend loanee Steve “Geordie” Springett.
There were some interesting names on the bench, including three who had featured in the Reserves’ 0-2 defeat at home to Hythe Reserves on Wednesday – these were Dan Mason, Ronnie Dolan and Dan Scorer. It was good to see the elder of the two Scorer brothers involved again; the last time we saw Dan was when he went down with a freak knee injury, just 16 minutes after coming on as a substitute in the opening game of the season, at Croydon Athletic. Bryan Pearce was also on the bench, as defensive cover, but I was a bit surprised to see Jamie Forshaw, our other loanee from Gravesend, named as a substitute.
We arrived in good time today, so there was the opportunity to go to the bar and watch fellow Step 4 club Paulton Rovers playing at home to Norwich City in the First Round of the FA Cup. Paulton’s participation at this stage of the competition reminds us of what we ourselves can achieve – Lest We Forget, to use a phrase that has been well-used this week-end – but it was also good to see a team playing in Ashford Town’s away strip score seven goals away from home.
One of the major questions of the day was whether the team playing in yellow & green at Maidstone Road this afternoon could improve on Tuesday’s effort, by actually managing a shot on target during the 90 minutes. Well, this question was answered within the first 90 seconds, when a pot-shot from Mark Lovell, from outside the penalty area, was comfortably saved by Dean Ruddy, in the Chatham goal. This was the cue for something else that was missing on Tuesday – the first chorus from the travelling Ashford fans, who had arrived in Chatham in good voice, and in good numbers, considering that there was no Supporters’ Club coach available today.
Shortly after Mark Lovell’s triumphant shot on target, the home side counter-attacked at the other end, with a long cross, from the right, looking for Brendan Cass. The Chats’ No.9 got up for the header, which was also on target, but Darren Ibrahim made a good catch. Moving into the second minute of the game, Ashford had a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area. This was crossed to the far post by Ryan Briggs; Danny Lye got up well, and his downward header forced Ruddy Dean to make a good diving save, low to his right.
So this was a bright start from the visitors, and they looked a different side to the one that we had seen at Walton. Everyone seemed up for this one, and Mark Lovell, in particular, was an inspirational force, dropping short to collect the ball from the midfield and defence, and showing a lovely touch. From the outset, it was clear that Steve & Hugo weren’t setting out to blind the opposition with science. Short of numbers in midfield, we were never going to try to pass them to death. The idea was to release the ball early from the back, using the pace of the two lads up front, and to look for the aerial prowess of Danny Lye and Mark Lovell at set pieces. This was all very positive, as far as I was concerned. Ashford had a plan – and it looked like we might have the tools to make something happen.
There wasn’t much between the two sides in the early part of the game, or throughout the game, for that matter – certainly no evidence of the twelve league positions that separated the teams at the start of the day – with both having good situations, through corners and long throws. The first incident of real note, however, came in the 16th minute, when Mitchell Sherwood clearly barged Dean Ruddy, after the Chatham ‘keeper had taken the ball. It was an incident that Mitch might have got away with on another day, but, with the dreaded Referees’ Assessor in the stand, Mr Hicks was always going to demonstrate who was boss, and waved a yellow card.
I’m not sure what the Assessor thought of Craig Hicks’ overall performance, but the players were sometimes frustrated by what seemed to be a fairly esoteric interpretation of the advantage rule, and Steve Lovell clearly thought that he was a bit over-keen on blowing up for free-kicks, remarking: “Has he got a new whistle for his birthday ?”. For the record, the total count was 14 free-kicks awarded for fouls against Ashford, and 18 awarded against Chatham; (thanks, Rob & Tim, for the stats).
One of those free-kicks was awarded to Ashford in the 34th minute, and, for once, Ryan Briggs went for goal, from just outside the penalty area. Whilst our set-pieces on Tuesday tended to be awful, Briggo got this one right on target, curling his shot into the top right-hand corner of Dean Ruddy’s goal, but the ‘keeper once again made a good save. Seconds later, Lee Hockey sent one of several long throws into the Chatham area, but these refused to fall to an Ashford player this afternoon. (In fact, to coin a footballing phrase, we had about as much “second ball” as Adolf Hitler today).
The ball did, however, break Ashford’s way in the 38th minute. Carl Harrold sent a high, looping ball into the home side’s penalty box. Dean Ruddy, Mitchell Sherwood and a Chatham defender waited for the ball to come down, and, somehow, the Chatham pair made a mess of this. The ball fell to Mitch, who had little time in which to react, and his instinctive shot was blocked.
So the first half ended all square, at 0-0, thanks to an energetic team performance, and some uncomplicated defending (particularly from Toby Ashmore), by the visitors.
The home side had a dangerous-looking free-kick situation, as early as the second minute of the second half, after Toby Ashmore appeared to have been unlucky to have been penalised for what looked to be an excellent challenge – but Matthew Solly’s low shot was cleared. Then ,a minute later, a Lee Hockey long throw, from near the left corner flag, was headed clear at the near post, and, finally, fell to an Ashford Town player, waiting on the edge of the area – unfortunately, the player was a defender, and Steve Springett’s left-footed effort was hopelessly ill-directed.
In the 50th minute, a foul by Danny Lye, (who, as usual, tested the boundaries with the referee), on Ray Powell led to the first appearance of a Physio on the field, and so we discovered that Chatham’s sponge bearer was also a lady. The resulting free-kick, about 25 yards out, just to the right of centre, was crossed in by Justin Ascheri, but Brendan Cass’s glancing header went just wide of the target.
Cass was in the thick of it again, in the 54th minute, when he appeared to go down under a challenge from Toby Ashmore. Well, Toby must have thought that this was an example of what the bureaucrats at You Wafer refer to as “simulation”, as he reacted angrily; there was a squaring-up session, which quickly led to both teams congregating in the Ashford penalty area to join in the discussion. After a lengthy consultation with his Lino, Craig Hicks showed Toby a yellow card. Three minutes later, the same card was out again – this time it was waved at Chatham’s James Lyons, for a really daft deliberate hand-ball, on the half-way line.
The free-kick for the hand-ball was pinged in by Ryan Briggs towards the far post, where it was cleared for a corner, on the left. Again, Briggo launched the ball into the goalmouth, where Dean Ruddy was fouled by Danny Lye as he rose to catch the ball. Again, there were a few fairly direct words exchanged between the players. In the 61st minute, Danny Lye finally ran out of rope, and he was yellow-carded for a foul on Brendan Cass. It was a fairly regulation Lyesy foul, so the card must have been for persistent offending. The resulting free-kick, taken by Ashley Probets, went straight through to Darren Ibrahim.
Two minutes later, the well-worn whistle was blown for a “foot-up” offence in the vicinity of Nick Smith, on the half-way line. Steve Springett pumped the ball to the edge of the Chatham area, where Danny Lye got up to win a header; Lye’s flick on found Mark Lovell, who helped the ball on to Nick Smith, who hooked a shot over the bar.
It’s probably a measure of how well Ashford’s eleven men were playing that Steve Lovell made no substitutions at all in the match - Chats Manager Alex O’Brien, however, used all three subs, starting with Thomas Davey, for James Lyons, in the 69th minute – and, as the second half wore on, there were some green shoots of hope that a solid defensive performance from the visitors might actually produce a goal. In the 73rd minute, a fairly typical long hoof from defence, this time by Lee Hockey, was successfully chased down by Nick Smith, who caught up with the ball near to the corner flag, on the right. Smudge was surrounded by three Chats defenders, who, between them, committed a foul. The resulting free-kick was swung in towards the far post by Steve Springett. Mark Lovell, who had had a quieter second half, was definitely pushed as he closed in on the cross, but the ref had already blown up for an infringement by an Ashford player. Then, in the 77th minute, Ashford actually created a chance from open play, and, unusually, it came when one of our boys got to the by-line and crossed the ball from one of the flanks. On this occasion, it was Ross Morley who showed an impressive turn of pace, down the right, but a Chatham defender managed to put the ball behind for a corner before Mark Lovell could get on the end of the cross. The corner, from the left, was met by Steve Springett, who had made a great run into the box, but he couldn’t keep the ball down, and his header went well over the bar.
In the 79th minute, a ridiculous free-kick award to the home side gave Matthew Solly the opportunity to put the ball into the Ashford penalty area. His cross was cleared as far as David Hall, but he shot well wide.
The most significant of Alex O’Brien’s substitutions came with just ten minutes of normal time remaining, when he replaced Justin Ascheri with Byron Walker, in a like-for-like swap up front. Walker made an immediate impact, picking the ball up near the right touchline, just inside the Ashford half – he turned and went off on a run which took him past three Ashford players, before the third of these, Lee Hockey, hacked him down. Yellow card to Lee !
We then witnessed the pivotal incident of the game, from the resulting free-kick. The difference between gaining a well-deserved point and going away frustrated and empty-handed hinged on this. Mark Green took the kick, swinging the ball to the far post. This was bundled away, but broke to where Brendan Cass was lurking, around about the penalty spot. Now the mark of a top-class striker is the ability to hit the target with that one chance, even though he might have been very quiet for the rest of the game. Cass certainly proved himself worthy of being spoken about in these terms, when he swivelled and shot in one motion. Thankfully, Darren Ibrahim was also equal to the test, and flung himself to his left, to make a brilliant save. It was the only time that Darren was really asked a serious question this afternoon, and he wasn’t found wanting.
Whilst, in retrospect, Darren’s save effectively secured the point, the action was certainly not over. In the 86th minute, Lee Barnett became Chatham’s third substitute, replacing David Hall, and, a minute later, Ray Powell was booked for a foul on Nick Smith, deep inside The Chats’ half. Ryan Briggs hit the resulting free-kick towards the far post, but Dean Ruddy was able to punch clear, conceding a throw-in, near the right corner flag. Predictably, this led to another Lee Hockey long throw. Whilst Lee’s initial effort was cleared, the ball came straight back to him, whereupon he sent in a good cross, which was met with a glancing header by Danny Lye, but this went straight at the ‘keeper.
Generally, though, it was the home side on top, boosted by the pace and skill of Byron Walker, in the closing stages, and there was certainly plenty more work for the Ashford defence to do. Walker was certainly looking threatening, in the 90th minute, when Toby Ashmore attempted to muscle him off the ball. Unfortunately for Toby, he did so with his elbow raised and his arm quite a long way from his body, and made contact with his much smaller opponent right in front of the linesman. Referee Craig Hicks was also right on the spot, so it was inevitable that Ashmore was about to make the short, but early, trip to the dressing-room in the large, whitewashed building behind Darren Ibrahim’s goal. It was really just a question of whether the ref would show Toby a straight red card, or a second yellow card in the match. Mr Hicks opted for the latter. There really wasn’t time for Steve Lovell to reorganise the side, so it was left to the remaining ten men to hold out until the final whistle – starting with avoiding conceding a goal from the resulting free-kick. Fittingly, it was Lee Hockey who headed clear Mark Green’s cross.
I use the word “fittingly” because it was very much the Ashford defenders who were the heroes this afternoon. Both Lee Hockey and Toby Ashmore put in a tremendous shift today, although Lee did also make a number of errors, and Toby blotted his copy book by getting sent off. He will certainly be missed, as he has, at times, looked Sean Rayesque in central defence this season, and he’ll be hard to replace when his suspension kicks in. Darren Ibrahim put in a flawless performance this afternoon, and must be feeling triumphant in making an important contribution to Ashford’s first clean sheet of the season, but the real credit should go to the men in front of him, who restricted an on-form Chatham Town to just that one clear chance that fell to Brendan Cass. Of course, the acknowledgement for this should go to the whole team, but the other man who stood out in defence today was Steve Springett, and he was our MK Man of the Match.
So a point each – and a point that lifted Chatham to fifth in the division, but, ironically, caused Ashford to move down a place, to third-bottom, thanks to Chipstead’s 2-4 victory in the relegation six-pointer at Eastbourne Town. However, the league position hardly matters. What was important today was that Ashford discovered that, with an all-round team effort, they could comfortably hold one of the form teams in the division. Whilst I think that our well-documented problem with the goalkeeping position is far from being solved, defending well all over the pitch and restricting the opposition to very few, if any, chances is a good way of minimising the impact.
[ The answer to the little teaser I posed earlier on – it was John Whitehouse, who played in goal for Ashford in the first two of those games, and then for Chatham in the other two. ]
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Steve Springett
Sunday, 8 November 2009
Sunday, 18 October 2009
Bognor Regis Town v Ashford Town. FA Trophy First Qualifying Round. 17th of October 2009.
Bognor Regis Town 3 Ashford Town 1
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
Today was FA Trophy day. (You’ll notice that I naturally think of our association with cup competitions as being one-off events, rather than a connected series of games which other clubs’ fans refer to as “a cup run”). Anyway, the point is that I love the cup competitions, and had been looking forward to this match since the draw was made, back in July – mainly because it does what cup competitions are supposed to do, i.e. provide us with the chance to go to a different ground, and see our lads up against opposition from a different division. Since there is only the one venue on the league circuit this year that I am yet to visit – that’s Ramsgate – this was a particularly interesting fixture. Evidently, there were others from Ashford who had the same view, since there was a decent coach-load of away supporters here today.
For the second time this season, we began a cup campaign against a team that was bottom of another division. In the FA Cup, we started with a home tie against Mile Oak, who were bottom of the Sussex League at the time, (and still are !). Bognor Regis Town are currently in last place in the Ryman Premier, with five points, and only six goals, from eleven matches. More than that, they were actually relegated from the Conference South last season, so The Rocks are showing distinct signs of being a club in free-fall – dropping like a stone, maybe. I don’t know what the story is with Bognor Regis Town Football Club, but I gathered, before the game, that they have a very young side here at Nyewood Lane here at the moment – (and quite a talented-looking bunch of lads, as it turned out, which was much too good for Ashford Town this afternoon).
Well, with the visitors lying fifth-bottom of Ryman Division One South this morning, there was no chance of either Manager spoiling this cup-tie by taking it too lightly, as both Steve Lovell and Darin Killpartrick had every reason for wanting to win this game today, to give their struggling team some confidence and momentum. For Steve, of course, it was a case of wanting to build upon the hard-fought 2-1 victory over Eastbourne Town, in the league, on Wednesday – although the last time he was able to say that, after the 3-2 home victory over Whyteleafe, his team followed up with 5-1 and 4-0 defeats away from home.
Actually, although the start to this season has been pretty dire all round, Ashford’s away form has been noticeably worse than our home form – compare P6 W0 D1 L5, with P5 W3 D1 L1. In fact, we’ve won our last three home games, you know, scoring eleven goals in the process !
The real problem this season – and you don’t need to be Carol Vorderman to work this out – has been our inability to prevent sides from scoring. Before the 2-1 win on Wednesday, Ashford had conceded AT LEAST TWO GOALS in every league match, which simply ain’t good enough. The Management is acutely aware of the issue, of course – and most of us have taken it as read that one of the three players that Steve Lovell has been talking about signing, over the past fortnight, must surely be a goalkeeper. So far, there have been two new arrivals – a couple of young, month-long loan signings from Conference Club Gravesend & Northfleet. When one of them was named as Steve Springett, those of us with more than enough grey hair just assumed that, with a surname like that, he must be a ‘keeper. (For younger readers, brothers Ron and Peter Springett both played in goal for both QPR and Sheffield Wednesday, when both teams were good, with Ron playing for England 33 times !). Young Steve, alas, is actually not a goalie – although he is a tall, and useful-looking, defender, who played at left-back this afternoon. His mate, Jamie Forshaw, is an attacking wide player, but he was absent today, because Gravesend didn’t want him cup-tied.
No, I’m afraid there was no sign of a new Ashford goalkeeper here today – just Darren Ibrahim. Much worse news was that Ressies’ ‘keeper Dan Mason was absent this afternoon – and I heard no explanation for his absence – meaning that we went into the game without a sub goalie on the bench.
Given that Darren had conceded six goals in his two games to date, and the team had let in 22 goals in six away games before today, things already were not looking good. Shall I get all the bad news over with first ? Well, just about the first person we saw when entering the ground was Paul Jones. Now, it’s always good to see Paul – but we didn’t want to see our best player wandering around the outside of the pitch, in a track-suit, just five minutes before kick-off ! I’m afraid that Jonah’s delicate groin, which has plagued his footballing career ever since his recent marriage – (or is it the other way round ?) – was troubling him again. Actually, he described it as being more “the underneath bit”, or under-carriage – but I don’t want to go there ! Let’s just say that the Supporters’ Club should consider buying the Joneses a television.
It might have been Jonah’s absence, or merely a desire to prevent the lads from being over-run by a team that might just be too much for them, but Steve Lovell sent the team out in an unfamiliar 4-4-1-1 formation, with Joe Fuller leading the attack and Ross Morley supporting, just behind him. Skipper Danny Lye and Ryan Briggs were in the centre of the most experienced midfield that we can put out, with Mitchell Sherwood on the left and Luke Coleman on the right. With loanee John Guest having returned to Dartford, and Bryan Pearce having apparently disappeared in a Huff, (which is a little-known Hungarian car), it was once again the central pairing of Jon Ralph and Toby Ashmore, flanked by Steve Springett on the left, and Carl Harrold on the right.
Very ominously, I thought, the subs bench looked decidedly threadbare – just the three bums on seats, and two of them with fitness doubts about them: Mark Lovell, who hadn’t played since that horrible knee injury sustained in the first game of last season, Nick Smith, who had been absent with what has been described as quite a serious viral illness, and Lee Hockey. We really had to keep our fingers crossed that nothing happened to the fitness of Darren Ibrahim during the game – and it must be said that Darren again looked decidedly podgy as he lined up for the obligatory FA Handshake Dance prior to kick-off.
If we were apprehensive as to how this cup tie was going to turn out, our worst fears were confirmed very early on, as Bognor Regis looked a superior outfit from the kick-off. I was reminded of the match against Ashford Town (Middlesex) in pre-season, as, once again, the opposition looked taller, fitter and more athletic than our boys. In short, we looked out-gunned and out-classed – but the boys never took a backward step, or let their heads drop, and there was nothing that happened during this game that they should be ashamed of.
The first serious question to be answered came in the second minute of the match, when the umpteenth skilful right-winger to play against us this season – this time it was the quick and lively Sam Tucknott – attacked down the right. Could we possibly have a left-back in the side capable of preventing a cross from being delivered ? Well, this time, Steve Springett did the job superbly, and made the block, at the expense of a corner. Result ! However, the cross from the corner did come into the Ashford penalty area, and was met by Gary Norgate, one of two tall strikers on duty for the home side today. Norgate’s header was straight at Darren Ibrahim, and this should have been an easy, confidence-building take for Darren, but he rather patted the ball down in front of him, and was a little fortunate that it didn’t fall to an opposition player.
An additional problem for Darren was that, playing against a team from a higher level, he actually had a small knot of opposition supporters behind the goal, to highlight any moments of uncertainty, instead of the usual two men and a dog we see in Ryman Division One South.
Other differences at Nyewood Lane ? Well, this was definitely a proper football ground, with some covering for spectators on all four sides of the pitch – although the main stand, which provided a “worm’s eye view”, was nothing to write home about. Other reminders that we were at the home of a club from a higher level were the electronic scoreboard at one end of the ground – eat your heart out, Croydon Athletic ! - and the employment of a fully-uniformed mascot, (Rocky the Bear !).Oh, and it was a tenner each for us to get into the ground, and that didn’t include entry to the main stand.
From a footballing point of view, the main feature of the ground was the fact that it housed a large pitch, with a smooth, level surface, and the home side made full use of the facility, moving the ball quickly around the pitch. Joe Fuller and Ross Morley were made to work very hard for the first five minutes, chasing after the ball, from one side to the other. Already, it was looking like it might be a very long, and potentially painful, afternoon. (To add insult to possible injury, Bognor had the gall to play in those classic Ashford Town colours of white shirts, green shorts and white socks - meaning that our boys had to play in the yellow shirts and sockies of the away kit, and the white shorts of the home strip).
It was almost all Bognor Regis during the first half hour, with several chances being created. In the fourth minute, a typically fast-moving attack, using the full width of the pitch, ended with a cross from the right, with Gary Norgate again getting his head to the ball, but his rather looping header sailed well over the bar. In the eleventh minute, a Carl Harrold tackle put the ball out for a corner, on the left. This, like almost all of the free-kicks and corners, was taken by The Rocks’ 34 year-old skipper Michael Birmingham – very much the home side’s Midfield General, and comfortably the oldest player in the team. This time, he hit the corner low, and fairly gently, to the near post – but Darren still managed to collect it with a slight fumble, much to the delight of his cheer leaders behind the goal.
In the 15th minute – and the scoreboard behind the goal that Darren was defending very helpfully displayed the time – Jon Ralph was penalised, just outside the penalty area, for holding his man. The free-kick was touched square, into the path of Lewis Ide, whose pile-driving shot, from about 30 yards out, went just wide. In the 16th minute, a rugby-style hoof up the touchline by Carl Harrold finally afforded Ashford the chance to spend some time in Bognor’s half ! And it got better ! A minute later, Mitch Sherwood, with his first touch of the ball, went on a run down the left flank. He went past two players, and managed to get his cross in, but Joe Fuller’s side-footed effort on goal was blocked. Generally, though, this was a brief respite in a half that the home side dominated – but the Ashford defence stood firm, and, with one or two sound takes, Darren Ibrahim began to look more settled goal.
However, The Rocks had their best chance to date in the 27th minute, when left-back Billy Franks sent in a curling cross to Gary Norgate, at the far post, but Norgate headed wastefully wide. On the half-hour mark, Franks spread the ball wide to Sam Tucknott, who had, by now, switched to the left wing; he cut inside, past Carl Harrold, and sent a low shot wide of the far post.
Ryan Briggs had a speculative, long-range shot in the 31st minute, which went straight at Anthony Ender, in the Bognor goal. Then, a minute later, Ashford put together their first recognisable passing movement of the game, and Lo !, they looked, for the first time, to have a foot-hold in the game. Soon after, in the 37th minute, Luke Coleman carried the ball down the right flank, before finding Ross Morley with a square ball; Ross flicked the ball up and volleyed a firm shot just wide of the goal.
In the 40th minute, Sam Tucknott, who was persevering on the left side of the field, cut inside, past Carl Harrold again, and into the Ashford penalty area – but Toby Ashmore, who is proving to be a revelation at the heart of our defence, was there to hack the ball clear. At the other end, as the scoreboard registered the 45th minute, home goalie Anthony Ender had a rare call to action, and very nearly made a mess of it. Coming out of his goal, almost to the right touchline, he found that Ross Morley had just beaten him to the ball. As Ender opted to turn and retreat towards the unguarded net, the Ashford bench implored Ross to have a shot at goal, but the 21 year-old’s long-range chip, from an acute angle, failed to find the target.
So very few worthwhile chances for the visitors in the first half – but the main point of it all was that the team had held out against clearly superior opposition, and going in at half time all square would have enabled Steve Lovell to sit them down and prepare them to begin the second half with something to hold on to. Unfortunately, there were still a couple of minutes of injury time to be played, and it was during this time that the home side finally broke through. A good, slick series of passes on and around the edge of the Ashford penalty area ended with Jason Prior running onto a short through-ball, into the penalty area. He had no problem in sliding the ball under Darren Ibrahim, and it was 1-0. It has to be said that a Bognor goal had appeared to be fairly inevitable, but the timing of the goal was cruel, psychologically, and it changed how both sides were to approach the second half.
Steve Lovell’s first reaction was to abandon the 4-4-1-1 formation, and go for a more orthodox 4-4-2, with Luke Coleman joining Joe Fuller up front. He also made a substitution at half time, bringing on Nicholas Frederick Smith for Ryan Briggs. The consequent reshuffle saw Ross Morley dropping back to central midfield, with Mitch Sherwood moving across to the right side, to enable Nick Smith to take up his usual position on the left. I don’t know whether the replacement of Ryan Briggs was due to a fitness issue or to something tactical – but this is the third time in the last four games that Briggo has been hauled off with all, or the majority, of the second half remaining. He certainly didn’t appear to be having a particularly poor game out there this afternoon.
There was no change in the general balance of play, however, as it was, once again, all Bognor, with their players usually able to go past the Ashford lads at will. Having to replace impressive left-back Billy Franks with Ruben French, in the 50th minute, due to injury, was no more than a minor inconvenience to them, and The Bogs extended their lead in the 54th minute. This looked to be an extremely well-taken goal by Lewis Ide, who is on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion. He seemed to place his looping, curling shot, from outside the area, into the far, top corner of the net. “Beware the Ides of Bognor !” I expect that, whenever Darren Ibrahim concedes a goal that involves the ball going over his head, there will be someone who points to his height and/or his fitness, but I don’t think he had any chance with this one.
Just two minutes after Ide’s goal, there was the worrying sight, with so little cover on the bench, of Toby Ashmore down in a heap, on the edge of his own penalty area – whilst, at the same time, Danny Lye was telling the Ashford bench that his hamstring had “gone”. Toby got up OK, but the skipper clearly couldn’t continue, so he was replaced by Lee Hockey, in the 57th minute. I thought that this might pose an interesting conundrum in terms of how the side would now be reshaped, with Lee being primarily a centre-half – but he slipped straight into Lye’s central midfield position. This reminded me that this very versatile player actually performed this role a few times for Clive Walker (I think).
One thing that Mr Hockey can certainly do is tackle – which is something we need in the centre of midfield at the moment – and Lewis Ide found this out, in the 59th minute, when Lee put in a bone-crunching, but fair, challenge on him. This required some treatment from the Bognor Physio, but Ide was able to continue.
Another thing that Lee brings to the team is an excellent long throw, and this was instrumental in Ashford’s goal, which came in the 64th minute. In fact, we should rewind just a little further – Ashford’s goal actually stemmed from a very sloppy piece of play by a couple of Rocks’ defenders. With no Ashford player anywhere near them, one carelessly miss-placed a pass into touch – and, on another day, this apparently innocuous incident might have proved to be the turning-point in a game in which the home side had been in total command. Hockey’s long throw, fully 20 yards from the left corner flag, sailed over the main group of players in the penalty area, and ended up at the feet of Nick Smith, who was just inside the six-yard box. Facing the corner flag, Nick back-heeled the ball into the centre, and the Bognor defence cleared the ball as far as Mitch Sherwood, on the edge of the area. Mitchell rather miss-hit his shot on goal, but Joe Fuller was there to turn the ball past Anthony Ender, and just inside the far post. This was Joe’s fifth goal of the season, and it confirmed his status as Ashford’s leading goal scorer so far this season.
There was no immediate panic in the Bognor ranks, however, and the home side was soon constructing an attack, in the 67th minute. This ended with Gary Norgate crossing the ball for his strike partner Jason Prior, who easily got up above the Ashford defence and placed his header into the top corner of the net – except that this was to be the finest moment of Darren Ibrahim’s short Ashford Town career, as he dived, full-length, to tip the ball just over the bar. Prior then headed Michael Birmingham’s resulting corner just over.
Ashford went forward just two minutes later, but, this time, it was not just an attempt to relieve some pressure from the hard-pressed defence – this time, there was a measured purpose to the move, no doubt motivated by the belief that, at 2-1, we might just salvage something from the game. The danger to the home side came in the form of Mitch Sherwood, on the right, who put in a good cross to the near post, where Jon Ralph bent low for a headed attempt at goal – but the ball was deflected behind, for a corner. I was partially unsighted by Steve Lovell and Hugo Langton, who were standing in their technical area, but, judging by the way Jon Ralph was holding his head, this must have been close.
Ralphy was involved in another close shave, in the 71st minute, but this time at the other end. A good Bognor attack down the right, almost inevitably centring on Sam Tucknott, resulted in a cross that Ralph very nearly deflected into his own net, at the near post, but Darren Ibrahim again did wonderfully well to keep the ball out.
The happiest moment of the match for the travelling fans, and the warmest cheer, came in the 72nd minute, when Mark Lovell made a long-awaited reappearance, replacing Luke Coleman. Mark just managed 65 minutes of the opening game of last season before injuring his knee, and it was great to see him back on the pitch, after an absence of some 14 months. Mark actually looked to me to be fitter and leaner than he was when I last saw him in an Ashford shirt – which was during the 2007-8 season. He immediately showed what we’ve been missing, getting up to win several headers, and getting flick-ons, but it was the home side that looked the most likely to score the next goal.
The Rocks had two good free-kick situations. First, in the 73rd minute, Jon Ralph was penalised for having an arm on Gary Norgate’s shoulder, but Michael Birmingham’s curling chip, from the right of the penalty area, was well caught by Darren Ibrahim. Then, in the 77th minute, a late tackle by Toby Ashmore conceded a free-kick just outside the area, in a fairly central position. Michael Birmingham was faced with a defensive wall of five yellow shirts, and curled his shot straight at Darren Ibrahim, who gathered the ball safely.
The late challenge that led to the free-kick actually earnt Toby a yellow card – his first of the season. This was a fairly straightforward decision for Referee O’Brien, in spite of some believing that this was a little harsh, given that it was a first offence, and a tackle that had no maliciousness intent. Generally, though, after having been fairly critical of Mr O’Brien for some aspects of his performance in our match against the Met Police, earlier in the season, I’m pleased to say that I thought he had a pretty good game today. He was always on the spot, and seemed to get most decisions right.
Ashford created another chance, in the 82nd minute, when Mitchell Sherwood fed the ball through to Joe Fuller, inside the penalty area, but Joe’s low, diagonal shot was well saved by the home ‘keeper. A minute later, The Rocks put the cup tie to bed, with a third goal, and this was a simply-constructed goal which rather typifies how easy we are to score against at times. Sam Tucknott carried the ball into the Ashford half, and fed the ball down the right flank, to substitute Louie Castles, who had replaced Richard Greenfield in the 61st minute. Castles sent in a low, square cross to Jason Prior, who was waiting in the centre of the Ashford Town penalty area, and easily side-footed the ball past Ibrahim.
So that was it, in terms of major goal-scoring opportunities – although Mark Lovell did manage a weak, long-range shot in the 86th minute, which went wide, and Louie Castles was just too high with a turn & shot in the 89th minute. In fact, the main issue for what remained of the game concerned whether the referee would dish out any more cards, and of which colour, as things did begin to get a little feisty towards the end. Nick Smith was the chief culprit in yellow and white, as the niggling relationship that he and right-back James Crane had been developing erupted in a nose-to-nose confrontation in the 90th minute – but this was nothing serious, and Mr O’Brien sorted things out with a brief chat.
The main flash-point came deep into injury time – I can’t say precisely how deep, as the clock on the electric scoreboard was obviously programmed to stop at “90”, but it must have been getting on for the 94th minute of the game when Lee Hockey was determinedly snapping in tackles at the heels of Gary Norgate. The Bognor No.10 clearly took exception to Lee’s attempts to win the ball, (which were not thought worthy of conceding a free-kick), and there was the obligatory session of squaring up. I wouldn’t dignify Norgate’s effort with the term “punch”, but he certainly raised his left hand, or arm, to cause Lee to fall to the ground, so this was certainly worth a sending-off. As usual, Mr O’Brien was no more than a few yards away, and he also had the bottle to whip out the red card. There’s nothing more uplifting, or more amusing, than seeing an opposition player getting sent off – but this was at the cost of Lee Hockey picking up his second yellow card of the season.
So that modicum of mirth concluded our trip to the sea-side, which was probably the highlight of our brief involvement in the major cups for the 2009-10 season. It doesn’t really matter that our boys couldn’t cope with this Bognor Regis side. What really matters now – as any Hull City or Portsmouth supporter will tell you – is that we are competitive, and pick up league points, against the teams that are at our level, and, on the evidence of the opening 12 games of the season, that’s the lower half of Ryman Division One South.
I must give a mention to Ashford’s back four today, as I thought they all played well. Toby Ashmore isn’t the fleetest of foot, and Jon Ralph isn’t the tallest, but I’ve been quite impressed by what I’ve seen of both of them this season. Carl Harrold did well again, having been given a difficult job to do in looking after Bognor winger Sam Tucknott for most of the game, and Steve Springett looks a good loan signing – he certainly seems to know what he’s doing, and looked the Ashford player least likely to give the ball away today. Joe Fuller has a good touch, and made a good fist of playing the lone striker’s role in the first half – and, of course, he stuck the ball away the first chance he got ! MK Man of the Match, though, went to Ross Morley – largely for sheer effort. This was another tigerish display from Ross. Although, as usual, he faded a little in the second half, he never stopped running.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Ross Morley
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
Today was FA Trophy day. (You’ll notice that I naturally think of our association with cup competitions as being one-off events, rather than a connected series of games which other clubs’ fans refer to as “a cup run”). Anyway, the point is that I love the cup competitions, and had been looking forward to this match since the draw was made, back in July – mainly because it does what cup competitions are supposed to do, i.e. provide us with the chance to go to a different ground, and see our lads up against opposition from a different division. Since there is only the one venue on the league circuit this year that I am yet to visit – that’s Ramsgate – this was a particularly interesting fixture. Evidently, there were others from Ashford who had the same view, since there was a decent coach-load of away supporters here today.
For the second time this season, we began a cup campaign against a team that was bottom of another division. In the FA Cup, we started with a home tie against Mile Oak, who were bottom of the Sussex League at the time, (and still are !). Bognor Regis Town are currently in last place in the Ryman Premier, with five points, and only six goals, from eleven matches. More than that, they were actually relegated from the Conference South last season, so The Rocks are showing distinct signs of being a club in free-fall – dropping like a stone, maybe. I don’t know what the story is with Bognor Regis Town Football Club, but I gathered, before the game, that they have a very young side here at Nyewood Lane here at the moment – (and quite a talented-looking bunch of lads, as it turned out, which was much too good for Ashford Town this afternoon).
Well, with the visitors lying fifth-bottom of Ryman Division One South this morning, there was no chance of either Manager spoiling this cup-tie by taking it too lightly, as both Steve Lovell and Darin Killpartrick had every reason for wanting to win this game today, to give their struggling team some confidence and momentum. For Steve, of course, it was a case of wanting to build upon the hard-fought 2-1 victory over Eastbourne Town, in the league, on Wednesday – although the last time he was able to say that, after the 3-2 home victory over Whyteleafe, his team followed up with 5-1 and 4-0 defeats away from home.
Actually, although the start to this season has been pretty dire all round, Ashford’s away form has been noticeably worse than our home form – compare P6 W0 D1 L5, with P5 W3 D1 L1. In fact, we’ve won our last three home games, you know, scoring eleven goals in the process !
The real problem this season – and you don’t need to be Carol Vorderman to work this out – has been our inability to prevent sides from scoring. Before the 2-1 win on Wednesday, Ashford had conceded AT LEAST TWO GOALS in every league match, which simply ain’t good enough. The Management is acutely aware of the issue, of course – and most of us have taken it as read that one of the three players that Steve Lovell has been talking about signing, over the past fortnight, must surely be a goalkeeper. So far, there have been two new arrivals – a couple of young, month-long loan signings from Conference Club Gravesend & Northfleet. When one of them was named as Steve Springett, those of us with more than enough grey hair just assumed that, with a surname like that, he must be a ‘keeper. (For younger readers, brothers Ron and Peter Springett both played in goal for both QPR and Sheffield Wednesday, when both teams were good, with Ron playing for England 33 times !). Young Steve, alas, is actually not a goalie – although he is a tall, and useful-looking, defender, who played at left-back this afternoon. His mate, Jamie Forshaw, is an attacking wide player, but he was absent today, because Gravesend didn’t want him cup-tied.
No, I’m afraid there was no sign of a new Ashford goalkeeper here today – just Darren Ibrahim. Much worse news was that Ressies’ ‘keeper Dan Mason was absent this afternoon – and I heard no explanation for his absence – meaning that we went into the game without a sub goalie on the bench.
Given that Darren had conceded six goals in his two games to date, and the team had let in 22 goals in six away games before today, things already were not looking good. Shall I get all the bad news over with first ? Well, just about the first person we saw when entering the ground was Paul Jones. Now, it’s always good to see Paul – but we didn’t want to see our best player wandering around the outside of the pitch, in a track-suit, just five minutes before kick-off ! I’m afraid that Jonah’s delicate groin, which has plagued his footballing career ever since his recent marriage – (or is it the other way round ?) – was troubling him again. Actually, he described it as being more “the underneath bit”, or under-carriage – but I don’t want to go there ! Let’s just say that the Supporters’ Club should consider buying the Joneses a television.
It might have been Jonah’s absence, or merely a desire to prevent the lads from being over-run by a team that might just be too much for them, but Steve Lovell sent the team out in an unfamiliar 4-4-1-1 formation, with Joe Fuller leading the attack and Ross Morley supporting, just behind him. Skipper Danny Lye and Ryan Briggs were in the centre of the most experienced midfield that we can put out, with Mitchell Sherwood on the left and Luke Coleman on the right. With loanee John Guest having returned to Dartford, and Bryan Pearce having apparently disappeared in a Huff, (which is a little-known Hungarian car), it was once again the central pairing of Jon Ralph and Toby Ashmore, flanked by Steve Springett on the left, and Carl Harrold on the right.
Very ominously, I thought, the subs bench looked decidedly threadbare – just the three bums on seats, and two of them with fitness doubts about them: Mark Lovell, who hadn’t played since that horrible knee injury sustained in the first game of last season, Nick Smith, who had been absent with what has been described as quite a serious viral illness, and Lee Hockey. We really had to keep our fingers crossed that nothing happened to the fitness of Darren Ibrahim during the game – and it must be said that Darren again looked decidedly podgy as he lined up for the obligatory FA Handshake Dance prior to kick-off.
If we were apprehensive as to how this cup tie was going to turn out, our worst fears were confirmed very early on, as Bognor Regis looked a superior outfit from the kick-off. I was reminded of the match against Ashford Town (Middlesex) in pre-season, as, once again, the opposition looked taller, fitter and more athletic than our boys. In short, we looked out-gunned and out-classed – but the boys never took a backward step, or let their heads drop, and there was nothing that happened during this game that they should be ashamed of.
The first serious question to be answered came in the second minute of the match, when the umpteenth skilful right-winger to play against us this season – this time it was the quick and lively Sam Tucknott – attacked down the right. Could we possibly have a left-back in the side capable of preventing a cross from being delivered ? Well, this time, Steve Springett did the job superbly, and made the block, at the expense of a corner. Result ! However, the cross from the corner did come into the Ashford penalty area, and was met by Gary Norgate, one of two tall strikers on duty for the home side today. Norgate’s header was straight at Darren Ibrahim, and this should have been an easy, confidence-building take for Darren, but he rather patted the ball down in front of him, and was a little fortunate that it didn’t fall to an opposition player.
An additional problem for Darren was that, playing against a team from a higher level, he actually had a small knot of opposition supporters behind the goal, to highlight any moments of uncertainty, instead of the usual two men and a dog we see in Ryman Division One South.
Other differences at Nyewood Lane ? Well, this was definitely a proper football ground, with some covering for spectators on all four sides of the pitch – although the main stand, which provided a “worm’s eye view”, was nothing to write home about. Other reminders that we were at the home of a club from a higher level were the electronic scoreboard at one end of the ground – eat your heart out, Croydon Athletic ! - and the employment of a fully-uniformed mascot, (Rocky the Bear !).Oh, and it was a tenner each for us to get into the ground, and that didn’t include entry to the main stand.
From a footballing point of view, the main feature of the ground was the fact that it housed a large pitch, with a smooth, level surface, and the home side made full use of the facility, moving the ball quickly around the pitch. Joe Fuller and Ross Morley were made to work very hard for the first five minutes, chasing after the ball, from one side to the other. Already, it was looking like it might be a very long, and potentially painful, afternoon. (To add insult to possible injury, Bognor had the gall to play in those classic Ashford Town colours of white shirts, green shorts and white socks - meaning that our boys had to play in the yellow shirts and sockies of the away kit, and the white shorts of the home strip).
It was almost all Bognor Regis during the first half hour, with several chances being created. In the fourth minute, a typically fast-moving attack, using the full width of the pitch, ended with a cross from the right, with Gary Norgate again getting his head to the ball, but his rather looping header sailed well over the bar. In the eleventh minute, a Carl Harrold tackle put the ball out for a corner, on the left. This, like almost all of the free-kicks and corners, was taken by The Rocks’ 34 year-old skipper Michael Birmingham – very much the home side’s Midfield General, and comfortably the oldest player in the team. This time, he hit the corner low, and fairly gently, to the near post – but Darren still managed to collect it with a slight fumble, much to the delight of his cheer leaders behind the goal.
In the 15th minute – and the scoreboard behind the goal that Darren was defending very helpfully displayed the time – Jon Ralph was penalised, just outside the penalty area, for holding his man. The free-kick was touched square, into the path of Lewis Ide, whose pile-driving shot, from about 30 yards out, went just wide. In the 16th minute, a rugby-style hoof up the touchline by Carl Harrold finally afforded Ashford the chance to spend some time in Bognor’s half ! And it got better ! A minute later, Mitch Sherwood, with his first touch of the ball, went on a run down the left flank. He went past two players, and managed to get his cross in, but Joe Fuller’s side-footed effort on goal was blocked. Generally, though, this was a brief respite in a half that the home side dominated – but the Ashford defence stood firm, and, with one or two sound takes, Darren Ibrahim began to look more settled goal.
However, The Rocks had their best chance to date in the 27th minute, when left-back Billy Franks sent in a curling cross to Gary Norgate, at the far post, but Norgate headed wastefully wide. On the half-hour mark, Franks spread the ball wide to Sam Tucknott, who had, by now, switched to the left wing; he cut inside, past Carl Harrold, and sent a low shot wide of the far post.
Ryan Briggs had a speculative, long-range shot in the 31st minute, which went straight at Anthony Ender, in the Bognor goal. Then, a minute later, Ashford put together their first recognisable passing movement of the game, and Lo !, they looked, for the first time, to have a foot-hold in the game. Soon after, in the 37th minute, Luke Coleman carried the ball down the right flank, before finding Ross Morley with a square ball; Ross flicked the ball up and volleyed a firm shot just wide of the goal.
In the 40th minute, Sam Tucknott, who was persevering on the left side of the field, cut inside, past Carl Harrold again, and into the Ashford penalty area – but Toby Ashmore, who is proving to be a revelation at the heart of our defence, was there to hack the ball clear. At the other end, as the scoreboard registered the 45th minute, home goalie Anthony Ender had a rare call to action, and very nearly made a mess of it. Coming out of his goal, almost to the right touchline, he found that Ross Morley had just beaten him to the ball. As Ender opted to turn and retreat towards the unguarded net, the Ashford bench implored Ross to have a shot at goal, but the 21 year-old’s long-range chip, from an acute angle, failed to find the target.
So very few worthwhile chances for the visitors in the first half – but the main point of it all was that the team had held out against clearly superior opposition, and going in at half time all square would have enabled Steve Lovell to sit them down and prepare them to begin the second half with something to hold on to. Unfortunately, there were still a couple of minutes of injury time to be played, and it was during this time that the home side finally broke through. A good, slick series of passes on and around the edge of the Ashford penalty area ended with Jason Prior running onto a short through-ball, into the penalty area. He had no problem in sliding the ball under Darren Ibrahim, and it was 1-0. It has to be said that a Bognor goal had appeared to be fairly inevitable, but the timing of the goal was cruel, psychologically, and it changed how both sides were to approach the second half.
Steve Lovell’s first reaction was to abandon the 4-4-1-1 formation, and go for a more orthodox 4-4-2, with Luke Coleman joining Joe Fuller up front. He also made a substitution at half time, bringing on Nicholas Frederick Smith for Ryan Briggs. The consequent reshuffle saw Ross Morley dropping back to central midfield, with Mitch Sherwood moving across to the right side, to enable Nick Smith to take up his usual position on the left. I don’t know whether the replacement of Ryan Briggs was due to a fitness issue or to something tactical – but this is the third time in the last four games that Briggo has been hauled off with all, or the majority, of the second half remaining. He certainly didn’t appear to be having a particularly poor game out there this afternoon.
There was no change in the general balance of play, however, as it was, once again, all Bognor, with their players usually able to go past the Ashford lads at will. Having to replace impressive left-back Billy Franks with Ruben French, in the 50th minute, due to injury, was no more than a minor inconvenience to them, and The Bogs extended their lead in the 54th minute. This looked to be an extremely well-taken goal by Lewis Ide, who is on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion. He seemed to place his looping, curling shot, from outside the area, into the far, top corner of the net. “Beware the Ides of Bognor !” I expect that, whenever Darren Ibrahim concedes a goal that involves the ball going over his head, there will be someone who points to his height and/or his fitness, but I don’t think he had any chance with this one.
Just two minutes after Ide’s goal, there was the worrying sight, with so little cover on the bench, of Toby Ashmore down in a heap, on the edge of his own penalty area – whilst, at the same time, Danny Lye was telling the Ashford bench that his hamstring had “gone”. Toby got up OK, but the skipper clearly couldn’t continue, so he was replaced by Lee Hockey, in the 57th minute. I thought that this might pose an interesting conundrum in terms of how the side would now be reshaped, with Lee being primarily a centre-half – but he slipped straight into Lye’s central midfield position. This reminded me that this very versatile player actually performed this role a few times for Clive Walker (I think).
One thing that Mr Hockey can certainly do is tackle – which is something we need in the centre of midfield at the moment – and Lewis Ide found this out, in the 59th minute, when Lee put in a bone-crunching, but fair, challenge on him. This required some treatment from the Bognor Physio, but Ide was able to continue.
Another thing that Lee brings to the team is an excellent long throw, and this was instrumental in Ashford’s goal, which came in the 64th minute. In fact, we should rewind just a little further – Ashford’s goal actually stemmed from a very sloppy piece of play by a couple of Rocks’ defenders. With no Ashford player anywhere near them, one carelessly miss-placed a pass into touch – and, on another day, this apparently innocuous incident might have proved to be the turning-point in a game in which the home side had been in total command. Hockey’s long throw, fully 20 yards from the left corner flag, sailed over the main group of players in the penalty area, and ended up at the feet of Nick Smith, who was just inside the six-yard box. Facing the corner flag, Nick back-heeled the ball into the centre, and the Bognor defence cleared the ball as far as Mitch Sherwood, on the edge of the area. Mitchell rather miss-hit his shot on goal, but Joe Fuller was there to turn the ball past Anthony Ender, and just inside the far post. This was Joe’s fifth goal of the season, and it confirmed his status as Ashford’s leading goal scorer so far this season.
There was no immediate panic in the Bognor ranks, however, and the home side was soon constructing an attack, in the 67th minute. This ended with Gary Norgate crossing the ball for his strike partner Jason Prior, who easily got up above the Ashford defence and placed his header into the top corner of the net – except that this was to be the finest moment of Darren Ibrahim’s short Ashford Town career, as he dived, full-length, to tip the ball just over the bar. Prior then headed Michael Birmingham’s resulting corner just over.
Ashford went forward just two minutes later, but, this time, it was not just an attempt to relieve some pressure from the hard-pressed defence – this time, there was a measured purpose to the move, no doubt motivated by the belief that, at 2-1, we might just salvage something from the game. The danger to the home side came in the form of Mitch Sherwood, on the right, who put in a good cross to the near post, where Jon Ralph bent low for a headed attempt at goal – but the ball was deflected behind, for a corner. I was partially unsighted by Steve Lovell and Hugo Langton, who were standing in their technical area, but, judging by the way Jon Ralph was holding his head, this must have been close.
Ralphy was involved in another close shave, in the 71st minute, but this time at the other end. A good Bognor attack down the right, almost inevitably centring on Sam Tucknott, resulted in a cross that Ralph very nearly deflected into his own net, at the near post, but Darren Ibrahim again did wonderfully well to keep the ball out.
The happiest moment of the match for the travelling fans, and the warmest cheer, came in the 72nd minute, when Mark Lovell made a long-awaited reappearance, replacing Luke Coleman. Mark just managed 65 minutes of the opening game of last season before injuring his knee, and it was great to see him back on the pitch, after an absence of some 14 months. Mark actually looked to me to be fitter and leaner than he was when I last saw him in an Ashford shirt – which was during the 2007-8 season. He immediately showed what we’ve been missing, getting up to win several headers, and getting flick-ons, but it was the home side that looked the most likely to score the next goal.
The Rocks had two good free-kick situations. First, in the 73rd minute, Jon Ralph was penalised for having an arm on Gary Norgate’s shoulder, but Michael Birmingham’s curling chip, from the right of the penalty area, was well caught by Darren Ibrahim. Then, in the 77th minute, a late tackle by Toby Ashmore conceded a free-kick just outside the area, in a fairly central position. Michael Birmingham was faced with a defensive wall of five yellow shirts, and curled his shot straight at Darren Ibrahim, who gathered the ball safely.
The late challenge that led to the free-kick actually earnt Toby a yellow card – his first of the season. This was a fairly straightforward decision for Referee O’Brien, in spite of some believing that this was a little harsh, given that it was a first offence, and a tackle that had no maliciousness intent. Generally, though, after having been fairly critical of Mr O’Brien for some aspects of his performance in our match against the Met Police, earlier in the season, I’m pleased to say that I thought he had a pretty good game today. He was always on the spot, and seemed to get most decisions right.
Ashford created another chance, in the 82nd minute, when Mitchell Sherwood fed the ball through to Joe Fuller, inside the penalty area, but Joe’s low, diagonal shot was well saved by the home ‘keeper. A minute later, The Rocks put the cup tie to bed, with a third goal, and this was a simply-constructed goal which rather typifies how easy we are to score against at times. Sam Tucknott carried the ball into the Ashford half, and fed the ball down the right flank, to substitute Louie Castles, who had replaced Richard Greenfield in the 61st minute. Castles sent in a low, square cross to Jason Prior, who was waiting in the centre of the Ashford Town penalty area, and easily side-footed the ball past Ibrahim.
So that was it, in terms of major goal-scoring opportunities – although Mark Lovell did manage a weak, long-range shot in the 86th minute, which went wide, and Louie Castles was just too high with a turn & shot in the 89th minute. In fact, the main issue for what remained of the game concerned whether the referee would dish out any more cards, and of which colour, as things did begin to get a little feisty towards the end. Nick Smith was the chief culprit in yellow and white, as the niggling relationship that he and right-back James Crane had been developing erupted in a nose-to-nose confrontation in the 90th minute – but this was nothing serious, and Mr O’Brien sorted things out with a brief chat.
The main flash-point came deep into injury time – I can’t say precisely how deep, as the clock on the electric scoreboard was obviously programmed to stop at “90”, but it must have been getting on for the 94th minute of the game when Lee Hockey was determinedly snapping in tackles at the heels of Gary Norgate. The Bognor No.10 clearly took exception to Lee’s attempts to win the ball, (which were not thought worthy of conceding a free-kick), and there was the obligatory session of squaring up. I wouldn’t dignify Norgate’s effort with the term “punch”, but he certainly raised his left hand, or arm, to cause Lee to fall to the ground, so this was certainly worth a sending-off. As usual, Mr O’Brien was no more than a few yards away, and he also had the bottle to whip out the red card. There’s nothing more uplifting, or more amusing, than seeing an opposition player getting sent off – but this was at the cost of Lee Hockey picking up his second yellow card of the season.
So that modicum of mirth concluded our trip to the sea-side, which was probably the highlight of our brief involvement in the major cups for the 2009-10 season. It doesn’t really matter that our boys couldn’t cope with this Bognor Regis side. What really matters now – as any Hull City or Portsmouth supporter will tell you – is that we are competitive, and pick up league points, against the teams that are at our level, and, on the evidence of the opening 12 games of the season, that’s the lower half of Ryman Division One South.
I must give a mention to Ashford’s back four today, as I thought they all played well. Toby Ashmore isn’t the fleetest of foot, and Jon Ralph isn’t the tallest, but I’ve been quite impressed by what I’ve seen of both of them this season. Carl Harrold did well again, having been given a difficult job to do in looking after Bognor winger Sam Tucknott for most of the game, and Steve Springett looks a good loan signing – he certainly seems to know what he’s doing, and looked the Ashford player least likely to give the ball away today. Joe Fuller has a good touch, and made a good fist of playing the lone striker’s role in the first half – and, of course, he stuck the ball away the first chance he got ! MK Man of the Match, though, went to Ross Morley – largely for sheer effort. This was another tigerish display from Ross. Although, as usual, he faded a little in the second half, he never stopped running.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Ross Morley
Sunday, 27 September 2009
Corinthian-Casuals v Ashford Town. Ryman Division One South. 26th of September 2009.
Corinthian-Casuals 5 Ashford Town 1
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
Last Saturday’s deserved 3-2 victory at home to Whyteleafe was hugely important to Steve Lovell’s developing Ashford Town side. Having made steady improvement – admittedly from a very low baseline - through the first five games of the campaign, it was important for the boys to register their first league win, both to lift the team off the bottom of the table, and to give themselves the belief that they can compete at this level.
It’s therefore extremely disappointing and deflating to have to report that, this afternoon, I witnessed what I think was our worst performance of the season. This was a massive step backwards. It also appeared to be a hugely dispiriting experience for the exasperated management team of Steve Lovell and Hugo Langton. The overwhelming vibe from the dug-out appeared to be that the players were reflecting nothing of what had been worked on in training during the week – unless, of course, hopeful, 50/50 punts up-field were all part of this afternoon’s game plan.
For the second away trip running – following the FA Cup exit at Leatherhead, two weeks ago – this was a glorious, sunny, late-Summer afternoon, ruined by the result of the match. It was such a shame for the mostly cheerful, and always optimistic, contingent of away followers, who had once again made it possible for a Supporters’ Club coach to be put on. Having endured a ghastly, congested journey into South London, spirits were thoroughly dampened by the time the team trooped in 4-0 down at half time.
I dare say that the majority of them will be back on the coach for next Saturday’s trip to Merstham – Mothers and proper football supporters tend to be like that – but surely we all deserve better than this ! None of us are expecting a challenge for the championship this year, but it’s ridiculous to have sand kicked in our face by a team that, famously, is run on an entirely amateur basis, in that it neither pays its players, nor provides them with match day expenses.
I don’t think that the reduction in the players’ wage-bill, in comparison with last season, can be used as an excuse. This was a Saturday on which Hythe Town, of the Kent League, fought out an honourable 2-2 draw with Woking in the FA Cup; Walton Casuals (rubbish ground, average home attendance of 115) progressed to the Third Qualifying Round of the same competition; Godalming Town (very modest ground, average home attendance of 131) went to the top of our division; Thamesmead Town (desperate ground, average home attendance of 61) won 4-0, to remain in 4th position in Ryman Division One North. I could go on !
I have deliberately not used patronising expressions about today’s hosts, such as “the likes of Corinthian-Casuals”, as this appears to be a better Casuals side to those in recent times that have flirted with relegation to Step 5. They certainly seem to have put together a decent forward line, with Jamal Carr looking particularly impressive, on the right wing. It’s actually a shame that the club has such meagre support. The official attendance was 106, but I’m sure that there couldn’t have been many more than 60 in the ground – the convention appears to be that all season ticket holders are deemed to have “gone through the turnstiles”, even if they didn’t turn up for the game – and the overwhelming majority of these were Ashford Town supporters.
The facilities at King George’s Field are in no way imposing. There is a neat clubhouse, with a brown-tiled roof, and red, plastic seats, three deep, extending for about half the length of the pitch on one side. This seating is covered with a narrow, corrugated roof, and there is a similar shelter for some brief terracing at each end. The other side of the ground is open, with a lawn, some five yards wide, behind the dug-outs, bordered by a wooden fence. One thing which was different this year, though – and this was particularly striking – was the pitch, which was magnificent. It was flat and flawless, and looked every bit as good as any that I’ve seen this season. One face I recognised in the crowd was that of Mickey Stewart, the former Surrey and England batsman, and Coach of Surrey, and Father of Alec. Mickey is a Vice-President of Corinthian-Casuals, and used to play for the team, as what used to be called an Outside Right – although he’d probably prefer to be remembered as an ex-Charlton Athletic winger. Now aged 77, Mickey must have looked at the pitch and thought he was back at The Oval !
The happiest piece of team news for the travelling Ashford Town supporters – at least initially – was that Darren Ibrahim had at last been given the chance to start a game in goal. Darren has been the perennial under-study, to a few first-choice ‘keepers now, in spite of looking pretty competent in pre-season friendlies, so it was good to see that his patience had finally been rewarded. Darren gets his chance due to the knee injury suffered by Scott Chalmers-Stevens – who clearly couldn’t even keep a clean sheet on his wedding night – in the 95th minute of the home victory against Whyteleafe. Darren actually made his home debut by occupying the six-yard box for the final two minutes of that game, but this was his first real opportunity to impress.
Unfortunately, the 21 year-old had a nightmare, particularly in the first half.
Ashford actually started the game pretty much in control, and Darren didn’t actually see the ball until the eighth minute. The home side, playing in their traditional colours of pink and chocolate halves, with dark blue shorts and sockies, just had a couple of long throws from Wayne Finney to show for their efforts in the opening minutes, and both of these were headed away from the Ashford goalmouth by John Guest; the visitors just had the one promising free-kick situation during this time, but this came to nothing.
The change of goalkeeper was the only real surprise in the Ashford line-up – although Luke Coleman once again had to make do with a place on the bench, with Joe Fuller partnering Paul Jones up front. The midfield consisted of Mitchell Sherwood on the right, Nick Smith on the left and Ryan Briggs and Ross Morley in the centre. It was good to see young Carl Harrold at right-back; John Guest and Bryan Pearce resumed their partnership in central defence, with skipper Danny Lye again filling in as a makeshift left-back. (It’s probably Sod’s Law that, every time that Steve Lovell has put Danny Lye in at left-back, he’s had a very accomplished right-winger to deal with !).
There was a full complement of subs on the Ashford bench: Reserves’ goalie Dan Mason filled Danny Ibrahim’s berth in the dug-out, and he was joined by Luke Coleman, Kevin Swaisland, Jon Ralph and Toby Ashmore. Lee Hockey was also at the ground, in spite of not making the final XVI, as were Nick & Mark Lovell. Mark feels very close to being back to full fitness, after over a year on the sidelines, and is hopeful of having some involvement in next Saturday’s game, at Merstham.
The home side’s first real attack came in the 15th minute. A long, diagonal ball was hit out of defence, and chased to near the corner flag, on the Corinthian-Casuals’ left. Although Bryan Pearce went across to cover, he couldn’t prevent the cross from being delivered. Much worse was the fact that Jamal Carr, unmarked in the penalty area, was able to get on the end of this cross, and easily powered a header past Darren Ibrahim, who had little chance.
Ashford responded to this early set-back with a good move, down the right, in the 18th minute. This involved Mitch Sherwood, Paul Jones and Carl Harrold, and culminated with young Carl putting in a low cross from the by-line; goalkeeper Matt Mann looked a little uncertain, but managed to palm the ball away from the in-coming Ashford attackers – and the ball was scrambled away. Two minutes later, there was the only really controversial incident of the half, when Referee Wilde rather “bottled” what should have been a straight-forward penalty decision in Ashford’s favour. Mitchell Sherwood attacked the right side of the home side’s penalty area, and was clearly tripped as he went past the defender. The Lino rightly flagged for the foul, but the referee awarded a free-kick, a fraction outside the penalty area, when he really should have seen that the offence occurred at least a couple of feet inside the box. Ryan Briggs hit the free-kick low, into the heart of the penalty area, but this was easily cleared by the defence.
Ashford continued to have more of the ball during the first 30 minutes, but without being able to create a recognisable chance. They also appeared to be getting less than the rub of the green with the referee’s decisions, which added to the frustration on the Ashford bench. In spite of the visitors’ possession, Corinthian-Casuals showed themselves to be quick and dangerous on the break. In the 26th minute, the home side rapidly turned defence into attack, with Jamal Carr down the right wing. He sent in a cross which went deep into the Ashford penalty area, but the yellow-shirted defence scraped the ball behind for a corner, on the left. The resulting cross was flicked on at the near post, and Danny Lye had to nod the ball clear for another corner, this time on the opposite side; this time, it was John Guest who rose to head the corner clear.
The visitors’ fortunes really began to sag from the 31st minute, when Corinthian-Casuals went 2-0 up. There seemed to be little danger when Glenn Boosey had the ball, in space, in the middle of the Ashford half – that was until Boosey lobbed the ball over Darren Ibrahim’s head, and into the net. It was a well-struck shot from the Casuals’ No.10, but it was a bit worrying to see young Darren beaten from that distance.
These worries were compounded in the 35th minute, when Ibrahim again appeared to be beaten with ease. This time, it was direct from a free-kick, on the right, about level with the edge of the 18-yard box, and some five yards in from the touchline. Darren isn’t the tallest of ‘keepers, but, whether it was his lack of height or poor positioning, Kane Sargeant was able to hit the ball, with a fairly low trajectory, straight into the far corner of the net.
Darren had another slightly dodgy moment, in the 44th minute, when he came to collect a long throw from Wayne Finney, on the left, only to drop the ball, before being reprieved when the referee awarded him a free-kick. However, there was nothing that the young ‘keeper could do about Corinthian-Casuals’ fourth goal, which came in the third minute of first-half injury time – it should also be said that, whereas the first three goals looked to be very soft goals to concede, this one was superbly made, and very well taken. It all began when Mitch Sherwood lost the ball, deep inside the home side’s half. A long, first-time ball out of defence was well controlled by Saheed Sankoh, on the run. He squared the ball to Jamal Carr, who again showed a deft controlling touch, before hitting the ball firmly past Ibrahim.
So, for the second time this season – in only their seventh league game – Ashford found themselves 4-0 down at half time, with Steve Lovell having to face up to a difficult team talk ! There were no real positives during this half. Seemingly incapable of putting a constructive move together, we looked very easy to score against. It’s possible that the match might have panned out a little differently if we’d been awarded that penalty, just five minutes after Casuals had taken a 1-0 lead, but it’s difficult to see how we would have stopped the home side from scoring those goals.
The second-half performance was a little better – and Darren had a relatively quiet time of it, in the Ashford goal – and it began with a substitution. Toby Ashmore replaced Nicholas Frederick Smith – this might have been due to a poor first-half performance from Nick, but might equally have been a legacy of the heavy knock he took, in the 39th minute, when challenging for a ball in the air with goalkeeper Matt Mann. Anyway, the reshuffle saw Toby making his first appearance of his second spell at Ashford, at right-back, with Carl Harrold moving forward to the right side of midfield, and Mitch Sherwood moving over to the left side.
The visitors did most of the early pressing in the second half, no doubt with the Manager’s half-time words still buzzing in their ears, and had a promising situation when Corinthian-Casuals’ right-back Scott Hassell handled the ball inside his own half, in the 48th minute – but, as so often, Ryan Briggs’ free-kick was a little slow and “floaty”, and it was a defender’s head that won the ball in the area. A minute later, Paul Jones did manage to win the ball in the air, flicking on a clearance from Darren Ibrahim, and finding John Guest, who had taken up a forward position. The loanee from Dartford laid the ball back to Carl Harrold, whose cross-cum-shot, on the volley, went harmlessly across the face of Matt Mann’s goal. The boys were showing some spirit, but it wasn’t enough to raise a chorus from the knot of Ashford town supporters behind the goal, who were now very quiet, and looked a pretty dejected lot.
In the 52nd minute, Jamal Carr was tripped by Danny Lye, and stayed on the ground for quite some time – which is entirely understandable, given that he was being attended to by Casuals’ gorgeous, blonde Physio, Loreen Woodward, whose Summer outfit for 2009 is a skimpy, brown top, with straps almost invisible against her gently curved, sun-tanned shoulders, and what looked to be spray-on, black track-suit bottoms. “How do you get into those?”, asked an Ashford fan in the bar, after the game. “Well, you can start by buying me a drink”, she said. (Actually, I made that last bit up).
In spite of Ashford’s determined start to the second half, when Corinthian-Casuals did have the ball going forward, they looked far more likely to score. A quick, cross-field move, on the edge of the Ashford penalty area, in the 56th minute, found Kane Sargeant, (with his lime green boots), in space, on the left edge of the box. Sargeant squared the ball back to Glenn Boosey, in the centre, and his well-struck, left-foot shot screamed just wide of the angle of post & bar.
At the other end – where the ball was, for much of the time – Ashford continued to struggle to produce anything incisive, with only two long-range efforts from Ross Morley, from clearances from corners, in the 63rd and 64th minutes, to show for their efforts. Both of these shots were blocked by the home defence – but this was, at least, an encouraging sign of life.
In the 65th minute, Steve Lovell made what I believe were two hugely significant substitutions. He took off both Ryan Briggs and Mitchell Sherwood. These were certainly not changes made for tactical reasons, for reasons of injury or to rest the players for future games. Instead, I had the distinct impression that the Manager had finally lost patience with the pair. Mitch and Briggo are among the handful of first team regulars from last season to have stuck with the Club, but neither has shown any real form for several months now. In Briggs’ case, this has serious consequences for the team, as he is the play maker in the middle of the pitch, and the experienced head alongside Ross Morley. When he fails to deliver, the whole team performance suffers. Briggo also tends to take the majority of corners and free-kicks, and his looping style of delivery probably requires more pace and “whip” to really trouble defences. Mitch Sherwood has been struggling for confidence for quite a while now. Although I’ve seen him put in one or two good shifts in terms of his defensive responsibilities, he now seems to lack any conviction at all when in a situation of being able to attack defenders.
Lovell replaced the two with Luke Coleman and Kevin Swaisland. This meant – “and here’s the science bit, so concentrate” – that Swaisland joined Paul Jones up front, Joe Fuller dropped back into central midfield and The Coleman replaced Sherwood in the wide left-midfield position. This left Ashford with a fairly young and inexperienced midfield quartet of Harrold, Fuller, Morley and Coleman, but the change worked immediately, with the two men involved in the double-substitution combining to pull a goal back, in the 68th minute. Paul Jones spread the ball out to Coleman, who had pulled out wide, to the touchline. Lukey checked inside, transferring the ball onto his right foot, and sent a good, teasing cross into the Corinthian-Casuals penalty area. This immediately asked questions of goalkeeper Matt Mann, and, as he came out to collect the ball on the first bounce, Kevin Swaisland nipped in ahead of him, and deflected the ball into the net. It appeared to me to be a good, striker’s goal, but there was a prolonged protest to the referee and linesman from the entire Corinthian-Casuals team, in spite of the game having been sewn up long ago – and this was the sort of protest you tend only to see when there has been a hand-ball, or something, that is obvious to everyone but the officials. Of course, that wouldn’t stand up in a Court of Law, but I’m pretty sure that there was something unsatisfactory about Kevin Swaisland’s first goal for the Club.
Anyway, as Mickey Stewart might have said on many occasions, to a batsman protesting that the umpire had been wrong in giving him out, when walking back to the pavilion: “Look in the ‘papers tomorrow, Son”. By hook or by crook, it was now 4-1.
Almost immediately, the home side’s Manager, Brian Adamson, made a double-substitution of his own, replacing Glenn Boosey and Scott Corbett with Wes Harrison and Carlton Murray-Price. Soon after, in the 73rd minute, Adamson made his final substitution, when throwing on Dale Hennessey in place of Kane Sargeant. A minute later, Maradona Swaisland was deservedly booked for a late tackle.
The overall improvement in Ashford Town’s performance in the second half can be marked by the fact that Darren Ibrahim was largely unemployed – and it wasn’t until the 77th minute that he was really called into action. A curling cross from right-back Scott Hassell found Wes Harrision, unmarked, at the far post. Darren came out to face the danger, but Harrison’s control let him down, and the ball rolled beyond the goal line, for a goal-kick. Ibrahim actually made his one and only save of the match in the 78th minute. Joe Fuller lost the ball in central midfield, and a good one-two between Harrison and Jamal Carr took Harrison clean through the Ashford defence – before Darren did well to save with his legs. This save was greeted with an ironic cheer from the Ashford fans at the opposite end of the ground – which is unusual, as they’re generally more supportive than that, but it did rather capture the mood of the moment.
In the 85th minute, there was a rare flash of enterprise and class from Luke Coleman, as he turned, some 30 yards from goal, and hit a firm shot that was heading for the roof of the net, before Matt Mann did well to tip the ball over the bar. It has to be said that this was very much an isolated incident, as the visitors made little impression on the Casuals’ defence, but Ashford very nearly had the consolation of “winning” the second half. Unfortunately, their collective incompetence resurfaced, in the 88th minute, when a long ball found Carlton Murray-Price, in acres of space, in the “D”. The substitute controlled the ball immediately, and comfortably slotted it past Darren Ibrahim, for 5-1, leaving John Guest and Bryan Pearce looking at each other, arms wide apart, debating who should have been picking the man up. This fifth goal meant that the Casuals matched the score line that they achieved at The Homelands, back in April.
Guest was then involved in a couple of incidents late on. In the 90th minute, Luke Coleman found him with a low corner, on the right, but he fired his shot over the bar; then, in the second minute of stoppage time, he was back in defence putting pressure on Jamal Carr, on the angle of the six-yard box, after Carr had got himself on the end of another good, flowing Corinthian-Casuals move, only to side-foot the ball wide.
It was very hard to name a defender as Man of the Match after a 5-1 defeat, but John Guest still managed to shine out as our best player on the pitch this afternoon, even if he wouldn’t have been foot-perfect out there. His only serious rival for MoM was Paul Jones, who was, as usual, a strong focus for the attack. I also feel that I should mention the two substitutes, Luke Coleman and Kevin Swaisland, who did make a difference when they came on, in addition to combining for Ashford’s only goal.
Eastbourne Town’s 0-1 victory at Whyteleafe this afternoon puts Ashford back into the relegation zone – second-bottom, above Chipstead. We’ve been there before, of course, on more than one occasion, and quite recently – but most of us are getting sick of it now. We should really be competing with the likes of Tonbridge Angels, and Margate, and Maidstone United, in the Ryman Premier – not being embarrassed by village teams and amateur sides in this division. The roadshow moves on, next Saturday, to Merstham – little ground, population of 7,385, average crowd of 150, third in the division.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
John Guest
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
Last Saturday’s deserved 3-2 victory at home to Whyteleafe was hugely important to Steve Lovell’s developing Ashford Town side. Having made steady improvement – admittedly from a very low baseline - through the first five games of the campaign, it was important for the boys to register their first league win, both to lift the team off the bottom of the table, and to give themselves the belief that they can compete at this level.
It’s therefore extremely disappointing and deflating to have to report that, this afternoon, I witnessed what I think was our worst performance of the season. This was a massive step backwards. It also appeared to be a hugely dispiriting experience for the exasperated management team of Steve Lovell and Hugo Langton. The overwhelming vibe from the dug-out appeared to be that the players were reflecting nothing of what had been worked on in training during the week – unless, of course, hopeful, 50/50 punts up-field were all part of this afternoon’s game plan.
For the second away trip running – following the FA Cup exit at Leatherhead, two weeks ago – this was a glorious, sunny, late-Summer afternoon, ruined by the result of the match. It was such a shame for the mostly cheerful, and always optimistic, contingent of away followers, who had once again made it possible for a Supporters’ Club coach to be put on. Having endured a ghastly, congested journey into South London, spirits were thoroughly dampened by the time the team trooped in 4-0 down at half time.
I dare say that the majority of them will be back on the coach for next Saturday’s trip to Merstham – Mothers and proper football supporters tend to be like that – but surely we all deserve better than this ! None of us are expecting a challenge for the championship this year, but it’s ridiculous to have sand kicked in our face by a team that, famously, is run on an entirely amateur basis, in that it neither pays its players, nor provides them with match day expenses.
I don’t think that the reduction in the players’ wage-bill, in comparison with last season, can be used as an excuse. This was a Saturday on which Hythe Town, of the Kent League, fought out an honourable 2-2 draw with Woking in the FA Cup; Walton Casuals (rubbish ground, average home attendance of 115) progressed to the Third Qualifying Round of the same competition; Godalming Town (very modest ground, average home attendance of 131) went to the top of our division; Thamesmead Town (desperate ground, average home attendance of 61) won 4-0, to remain in 4th position in Ryman Division One North. I could go on !
I have deliberately not used patronising expressions about today’s hosts, such as “the likes of Corinthian-Casuals”, as this appears to be a better Casuals side to those in recent times that have flirted with relegation to Step 5. They certainly seem to have put together a decent forward line, with Jamal Carr looking particularly impressive, on the right wing. It’s actually a shame that the club has such meagre support. The official attendance was 106, but I’m sure that there couldn’t have been many more than 60 in the ground – the convention appears to be that all season ticket holders are deemed to have “gone through the turnstiles”, even if they didn’t turn up for the game – and the overwhelming majority of these were Ashford Town supporters.
The facilities at King George’s Field are in no way imposing. There is a neat clubhouse, with a brown-tiled roof, and red, plastic seats, three deep, extending for about half the length of the pitch on one side. This seating is covered with a narrow, corrugated roof, and there is a similar shelter for some brief terracing at each end. The other side of the ground is open, with a lawn, some five yards wide, behind the dug-outs, bordered by a wooden fence. One thing which was different this year, though – and this was particularly striking – was the pitch, which was magnificent. It was flat and flawless, and looked every bit as good as any that I’ve seen this season. One face I recognised in the crowd was that of Mickey Stewart, the former Surrey and England batsman, and Coach of Surrey, and Father of Alec. Mickey is a Vice-President of Corinthian-Casuals, and used to play for the team, as what used to be called an Outside Right – although he’d probably prefer to be remembered as an ex-Charlton Athletic winger. Now aged 77, Mickey must have looked at the pitch and thought he was back at The Oval !
The happiest piece of team news for the travelling Ashford Town supporters – at least initially – was that Darren Ibrahim had at last been given the chance to start a game in goal. Darren has been the perennial under-study, to a few first-choice ‘keepers now, in spite of looking pretty competent in pre-season friendlies, so it was good to see that his patience had finally been rewarded. Darren gets his chance due to the knee injury suffered by Scott Chalmers-Stevens – who clearly couldn’t even keep a clean sheet on his wedding night – in the 95th minute of the home victory against Whyteleafe. Darren actually made his home debut by occupying the six-yard box for the final two minutes of that game, but this was his first real opportunity to impress.
Unfortunately, the 21 year-old had a nightmare, particularly in the first half.
Ashford actually started the game pretty much in control, and Darren didn’t actually see the ball until the eighth minute. The home side, playing in their traditional colours of pink and chocolate halves, with dark blue shorts and sockies, just had a couple of long throws from Wayne Finney to show for their efforts in the opening minutes, and both of these were headed away from the Ashford goalmouth by John Guest; the visitors just had the one promising free-kick situation during this time, but this came to nothing.
The change of goalkeeper was the only real surprise in the Ashford line-up – although Luke Coleman once again had to make do with a place on the bench, with Joe Fuller partnering Paul Jones up front. The midfield consisted of Mitchell Sherwood on the right, Nick Smith on the left and Ryan Briggs and Ross Morley in the centre. It was good to see young Carl Harrold at right-back; John Guest and Bryan Pearce resumed their partnership in central defence, with skipper Danny Lye again filling in as a makeshift left-back. (It’s probably Sod’s Law that, every time that Steve Lovell has put Danny Lye in at left-back, he’s had a very accomplished right-winger to deal with !).
There was a full complement of subs on the Ashford bench: Reserves’ goalie Dan Mason filled Danny Ibrahim’s berth in the dug-out, and he was joined by Luke Coleman, Kevin Swaisland, Jon Ralph and Toby Ashmore. Lee Hockey was also at the ground, in spite of not making the final XVI, as were Nick & Mark Lovell. Mark feels very close to being back to full fitness, after over a year on the sidelines, and is hopeful of having some involvement in next Saturday’s game, at Merstham.
The home side’s first real attack came in the 15th minute. A long, diagonal ball was hit out of defence, and chased to near the corner flag, on the Corinthian-Casuals’ left. Although Bryan Pearce went across to cover, he couldn’t prevent the cross from being delivered. Much worse was the fact that Jamal Carr, unmarked in the penalty area, was able to get on the end of this cross, and easily powered a header past Darren Ibrahim, who had little chance.
Ashford responded to this early set-back with a good move, down the right, in the 18th minute. This involved Mitch Sherwood, Paul Jones and Carl Harrold, and culminated with young Carl putting in a low cross from the by-line; goalkeeper Matt Mann looked a little uncertain, but managed to palm the ball away from the in-coming Ashford attackers – and the ball was scrambled away. Two minutes later, there was the only really controversial incident of the half, when Referee Wilde rather “bottled” what should have been a straight-forward penalty decision in Ashford’s favour. Mitchell Sherwood attacked the right side of the home side’s penalty area, and was clearly tripped as he went past the defender. The Lino rightly flagged for the foul, but the referee awarded a free-kick, a fraction outside the penalty area, when he really should have seen that the offence occurred at least a couple of feet inside the box. Ryan Briggs hit the free-kick low, into the heart of the penalty area, but this was easily cleared by the defence.
Ashford continued to have more of the ball during the first 30 minutes, but without being able to create a recognisable chance. They also appeared to be getting less than the rub of the green with the referee’s decisions, which added to the frustration on the Ashford bench. In spite of the visitors’ possession, Corinthian-Casuals showed themselves to be quick and dangerous on the break. In the 26th minute, the home side rapidly turned defence into attack, with Jamal Carr down the right wing. He sent in a cross which went deep into the Ashford penalty area, but the yellow-shirted defence scraped the ball behind for a corner, on the left. The resulting cross was flicked on at the near post, and Danny Lye had to nod the ball clear for another corner, this time on the opposite side; this time, it was John Guest who rose to head the corner clear.
The visitors’ fortunes really began to sag from the 31st minute, when Corinthian-Casuals went 2-0 up. There seemed to be little danger when Glenn Boosey had the ball, in space, in the middle of the Ashford half – that was until Boosey lobbed the ball over Darren Ibrahim’s head, and into the net. It was a well-struck shot from the Casuals’ No.10, but it was a bit worrying to see young Darren beaten from that distance.
These worries were compounded in the 35th minute, when Ibrahim again appeared to be beaten with ease. This time, it was direct from a free-kick, on the right, about level with the edge of the 18-yard box, and some five yards in from the touchline. Darren isn’t the tallest of ‘keepers, but, whether it was his lack of height or poor positioning, Kane Sargeant was able to hit the ball, with a fairly low trajectory, straight into the far corner of the net.
Darren had another slightly dodgy moment, in the 44th minute, when he came to collect a long throw from Wayne Finney, on the left, only to drop the ball, before being reprieved when the referee awarded him a free-kick. However, there was nothing that the young ‘keeper could do about Corinthian-Casuals’ fourth goal, which came in the third minute of first-half injury time – it should also be said that, whereas the first three goals looked to be very soft goals to concede, this one was superbly made, and very well taken. It all began when Mitch Sherwood lost the ball, deep inside the home side’s half. A long, first-time ball out of defence was well controlled by Saheed Sankoh, on the run. He squared the ball to Jamal Carr, who again showed a deft controlling touch, before hitting the ball firmly past Ibrahim.
So, for the second time this season – in only their seventh league game – Ashford found themselves 4-0 down at half time, with Steve Lovell having to face up to a difficult team talk ! There were no real positives during this half. Seemingly incapable of putting a constructive move together, we looked very easy to score against. It’s possible that the match might have panned out a little differently if we’d been awarded that penalty, just five minutes after Casuals had taken a 1-0 lead, but it’s difficult to see how we would have stopped the home side from scoring those goals.
The second-half performance was a little better – and Darren had a relatively quiet time of it, in the Ashford goal – and it began with a substitution. Toby Ashmore replaced Nicholas Frederick Smith – this might have been due to a poor first-half performance from Nick, but might equally have been a legacy of the heavy knock he took, in the 39th minute, when challenging for a ball in the air with goalkeeper Matt Mann. Anyway, the reshuffle saw Toby making his first appearance of his second spell at Ashford, at right-back, with Carl Harrold moving forward to the right side of midfield, and Mitch Sherwood moving over to the left side.
The visitors did most of the early pressing in the second half, no doubt with the Manager’s half-time words still buzzing in their ears, and had a promising situation when Corinthian-Casuals’ right-back Scott Hassell handled the ball inside his own half, in the 48th minute – but, as so often, Ryan Briggs’ free-kick was a little slow and “floaty”, and it was a defender’s head that won the ball in the area. A minute later, Paul Jones did manage to win the ball in the air, flicking on a clearance from Darren Ibrahim, and finding John Guest, who had taken up a forward position. The loanee from Dartford laid the ball back to Carl Harrold, whose cross-cum-shot, on the volley, went harmlessly across the face of Matt Mann’s goal. The boys were showing some spirit, but it wasn’t enough to raise a chorus from the knot of Ashford town supporters behind the goal, who were now very quiet, and looked a pretty dejected lot.
In the 52nd minute, Jamal Carr was tripped by Danny Lye, and stayed on the ground for quite some time – which is entirely understandable, given that he was being attended to by Casuals’ gorgeous, blonde Physio, Loreen Woodward, whose Summer outfit for 2009 is a skimpy, brown top, with straps almost invisible against her gently curved, sun-tanned shoulders, and what looked to be spray-on, black track-suit bottoms. “How do you get into those?”, asked an Ashford fan in the bar, after the game. “Well, you can start by buying me a drink”, she said. (Actually, I made that last bit up).
In spite of Ashford’s determined start to the second half, when Corinthian-Casuals did have the ball going forward, they looked far more likely to score. A quick, cross-field move, on the edge of the Ashford penalty area, in the 56th minute, found Kane Sargeant, (with his lime green boots), in space, on the left edge of the box. Sargeant squared the ball back to Glenn Boosey, in the centre, and his well-struck, left-foot shot screamed just wide of the angle of post & bar.
At the other end – where the ball was, for much of the time – Ashford continued to struggle to produce anything incisive, with only two long-range efforts from Ross Morley, from clearances from corners, in the 63rd and 64th minutes, to show for their efforts. Both of these shots were blocked by the home defence – but this was, at least, an encouraging sign of life.
In the 65th minute, Steve Lovell made what I believe were two hugely significant substitutions. He took off both Ryan Briggs and Mitchell Sherwood. These were certainly not changes made for tactical reasons, for reasons of injury or to rest the players for future games. Instead, I had the distinct impression that the Manager had finally lost patience with the pair. Mitch and Briggo are among the handful of first team regulars from last season to have stuck with the Club, but neither has shown any real form for several months now. In Briggs’ case, this has serious consequences for the team, as he is the play maker in the middle of the pitch, and the experienced head alongside Ross Morley. When he fails to deliver, the whole team performance suffers. Briggo also tends to take the majority of corners and free-kicks, and his looping style of delivery probably requires more pace and “whip” to really trouble defences. Mitch Sherwood has been struggling for confidence for quite a while now. Although I’ve seen him put in one or two good shifts in terms of his defensive responsibilities, he now seems to lack any conviction at all when in a situation of being able to attack defenders.
Lovell replaced the two with Luke Coleman and Kevin Swaisland. This meant – “and here’s the science bit, so concentrate” – that Swaisland joined Paul Jones up front, Joe Fuller dropped back into central midfield and The Coleman replaced Sherwood in the wide left-midfield position. This left Ashford with a fairly young and inexperienced midfield quartet of Harrold, Fuller, Morley and Coleman, but the change worked immediately, with the two men involved in the double-substitution combining to pull a goal back, in the 68th minute. Paul Jones spread the ball out to Coleman, who had pulled out wide, to the touchline. Lukey checked inside, transferring the ball onto his right foot, and sent a good, teasing cross into the Corinthian-Casuals penalty area. This immediately asked questions of goalkeeper Matt Mann, and, as he came out to collect the ball on the first bounce, Kevin Swaisland nipped in ahead of him, and deflected the ball into the net. It appeared to me to be a good, striker’s goal, but there was a prolonged protest to the referee and linesman from the entire Corinthian-Casuals team, in spite of the game having been sewn up long ago – and this was the sort of protest you tend only to see when there has been a hand-ball, or something, that is obvious to everyone but the officials. Of course, that wouldn’t stand up in a Court of Law, but I’m pretty sure that there was something unsatisfactory about Kevin Swaisland’s first goal for the Club.
Anyway, as Mickey Stewart might have said on many occasions, to a batsman protesting that the umpire had been wrong in giving him out, when walking back to the pavilion: “Look in the ‘papers tomorrow, Son”. By hook or by crook, it was now 4-1.
Almost immediately, the home side’s Manager, Brian Adamson, made a double-substitution of his own, replacing Glenn Boosey and Scott Corbett with Wes Harrison and Carlton Murray-Price. Soon after, in the 73rd minute, Adamson made his final substitution, when throwing on Dale Hennessey in place of Kane Sargeant. A minute later, Maradona Swaisland was deservedly booked for a late tackle.
The overall improvement in Ashford Town’s performance in the second half can be marked by the fact that Darren Ibrahim was largely unemployed – and it wasn’t until the 77th minute that he was really called into action. A curling cross from right-back Scott Hassell found Wes Harrision, unmarked, at the far post. Darren came out to face the danger, but Harrison’s control let him down, and the ball rolled beyond the goal line, for a goal-kick. Ibrahim actually made his one and only save of the match in the 78th minute. Joe Fuller lost the ball in central midfield, and a good one-two between Harrison and Jamal Carr took Harrison clean through the Ashford defence – before Darren did well to save with his legs. This save was greeted with an ironic cheer from the Ashford fans at the opposite end of the ground – which is unusual, as they’re generally more supportive than that, but it did rather capture the mood of the moment.
In the 85th minute, there was a rare flash of enterprise and class from Luke Coleman, as he turned, some 30 yards from goal, and hit a firm shot that was heading for the roof of the net, before Matt Mann did well to tip the ball over the bar. It has to be said that this was very much an isolated incident, as the visitors made little impression on the Casuals’ defence, but Ashford very nearly had the consolation of “winning” the second half. Unfortunately, their collective incompetence resurfaced, in the 88th minute, when a long ball found Carlton Murray-Price, in acres of space, in the “D”. The substitute controlled the ball immediately, and comfortably slotted it past Darren Ibrahim, for 5-1, leaving John Guest and Bryan Pearce looking at each other, arms wide apart, debating who should have been picking the man up. This fifth goal meant that the Casuals matched the score line that they achieved at The Homelands, back in April.
Guest was then involved in a couple of incidents late on. In the 90th minute, Luke Coleman found him with a low corner, on the right, but he fired his shot over the bar; then, in the second minute of stoppage time, he was back in defence putting pressure on Jamal Carr, on the angle of the six-yard box, after Carr had got himself on the end of another good, flowing Corinthian-Casuals move, only to side-foot the ball wide.
It was very hard to name a defender as Man of the Match after a 5-1 defeat, but John Guest still managed to shine out as our best player on the pitch this afternoon, even if he wouldn’t have been foot-perfect out there. His only serious rival for MoM was Paul Jones, who was, as usual, a strong focus for the attack. I also feel that I should mention the two substitutes, Luke Coleman and Kevin Swaisland, who did make a difference when they came on, in addition to combining for Ashford’s only goal.
Eastbourne Town’s 0-1 victory at Whyteleafe this afternoon puts Ashford back into the relegation zone – second-bottom, above Chipstead. We’ve been there before, of course, on more than one occasion, and quite recently – but most of us are getting sick of it now. We should really be competing with the likes of Tonbridge Angels, and Margate, and Maidstone United, in the Ryman Premier – not being embarrassed by village teams and amateur sides in this division. The roadshow moves on, next Saturday, to Merstham – little ground, population of 7,385, average crowd of 150, third in the division.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
John Guest
Saturday, 12 September 2009
Leatherhead v Ashford Town. FA Cup First Qualifying Round. 12th of September 2009.
Leatherhead 2 Ashford Town 0
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
This might have been a simply wonderful day. Kent beat Middlesex by ten wickets in the cricket, to all but wrap up their Championship, Your Milton Keynes Correspondent backed the St Leger winner at 14-1, we had a very decent lunch in The Running Horse, Leatherhead’s oldest public house, and we were blessed with a lovely, warm, sunny day on which to watch a game of football. I suppose the shine was rather taken off the afternoon by the result here at Fetcham Grove – not that the Ashford lads let anyone down today, as they looked solid, and put in a performance well worthy of earning a replay, but they were dumped out of the FA Cup at this Preliminary Round stage by two goals in the last six minutes of a pretty even cup tie.
Before going into a description of the match, I really am inclined to dwell on the weather. I just know that there will be plenty of occasions to come during the season when I’ll be donning the thermals and the scarf and the woolly hat, and I’ll still be freezing my crown jewels off at some God-forsaken gaff ground. Today, though, was a day for basking in the sun, in a T-shirt – and green, green Fetcham Grove is about the ideal venue for doing this. Located in a park, near the centre of Leatherhead, this tree-lined stadium has a sloping, grassy bank on two sides of the pitch, and it is possible, as some did, to sit at the top of either of these banks, leaning against the concrete perimeter wall, with a good, elevated view of the game, enjoying the aroma of freshly-mown grass. In fact, it was almost too hot on this sun-facing far side this afternoon, so, in the second half, we sought refuge in the low, narrow stand which extends for the whole length of the opposite side of the pitch.
It was not easy to predict the outcome of this one - even allowing for the fact that the form book can be rendered redundant in the FA Cup. Whilst Ashford Town had beaten Leatherhead three times last season – including a 1-5 victory here at Fetcham Grove in the League, and a 3-2 victory at The Homelands at the same stage of the FA Cup – both clubs have undergone substantial changes in personnel.
Steve Lovell has been operating with a small squad this season, but the silver lining to this is that it has encouraged him to maintain a level of stability with his team selection. He actually named a starting eleven that was unchanged from the side that earnt a well-deserved point at the Met Police last Saturday – but then Paul Jones pulled out, as he was experiencing problems with his groin, (a not uncommon trait for a newly-wed), so the tippex was administered to the team-sheet, and Joe Fuller moved up to partner Luke Coleman up front. There was the same midfield quartet that performed so well at Imber Court, of Mitchell Sherwood, Ryan Briggs, Ross Morley and Nick Smith. There was also the same back four in front of Scott Chalmers-Stevens – which lacks a specialist full-back – of Lee Hockey, Bryan Pearce, John Guest and Skipper Danny Lye. The absence of a proper full-back was to prove an issue, since Leatherhead carried considerable threat from the flanks in the form of Kevin Terry on the left, and Josh Smith on the right, but Danny Lye certainly made a good fist of what is a fairly unfamiliar role for him.
The substitutes’ bench was plenty crowded enough, even without Joe Fuller’s bum, and additional seats had to be sent for – this is because of the regulation that seven subs can be named in FA Cup games. Ashford’s bench included two players returning from a one-game suspension, in striker Kevin Swaisland and right-back Carl Harrold, one returning from injury, in left-back Ryan Norman, plus John Ralph, Toby Ashmore and ‘keeper Darren Ibrahim, who were all on bench duty at Imber Court.
This was not a game of many chances, but it began with what was an open, entertaining first half hour, with both teams sporadically getting the ball down and trying to play football. There was nothing particularly frantic, or high-paced, about the play, but there appeared to be a certain care-free attitude on the field, which seems to distinguish cup games from league football.
It was the visitors, playing in their “Norwich City” strip, with the home side in their famous green shirts, white shorts and green sockies, who had the first sight of goal, in the fourth minute. A trademark long throw by Lee Hockey was won, in the Leatherhead penalty area, by Joe Fuller. His touch found Mitchell Sherwood, outside the penalty area, but Mitch’s left-foot shot went just wide of the post. First chance for The Tanners came in the eighth minute, when a deep cross from the left eluded everyone in the Ashford goalmouth, and found the impressive Josh Smith on the right edge of the area. Smith took one touch to control the ball, and sent in a good, low shot – this was straight at Scott Chalmers-Stevens, but the ‘keeper got down well to save and hang on to the ball.
There were plenty of corners, and throw-ins high up the pitch, at both ends, during the first 30 minutes, but it must be said that the majority were at the end that Ashford were defending. Although Scott Chalmers-Stevens was the busier of the two ‘keepers, neither goal was seriously threatened during this period. The home side’s only shot at goal was a long-range effort from Hassan Nyang, in the 26th minute, which went well wide, whilst Luke Coleman put a first-time lob just wide, after running onto a long Chalmers-Stevens clearance, in the 21st minute.
Unfortunately, the spotlight gradually focused away from the football, and onto Referee Stephen Child, beginning, in the 28th minute, with a lengthy debate he had with Tanners Manager Mick Sullivan over his decision to stop the game due to an apparent head injury. This chat dragged on for rather a long time, and, just four minutes later, Child held up proceedings to have a long discussion with Danny Lye and Ryan Briggs. Just prior to this conversation, Ashford had had a half-chance, which stemmed from a corner that was won by Luke Coleman, on the left. Ryan Briggs took this one short, to Joe Fuller, who returned the pass to give Briggo a better angle; the resulting cross to the far post was headed clear by the Leatherhead defence, as far as Ross Morley, whose shot from outside the area was sliced wide.
A much better opportunity was presented to Ashford “on a plate”, in the 34th minute. The home side’s back five were making rather a meal of passing the ball amongst themselves, before ‘keeper Craig Bradshaw made a complete hash of a clearance. The ball went straight to Joe Fuller, who was presented with a one-on-one, with Bradshaw a few yards in front of him, on the edge of his 18-yard box. Joe did the right thing by side-stepping the goalie and shooting for goal, but, by this time, a defender had got back to cover, and cleared off the line.
The Referee, observed by the dreaded Assessor, in the stand, again took centre stage, in the 37th minute, when he booked Bryan Pearce for a tackle made right in front of the Leatherhead bench. I must say that my view of the tackle itself was obscured by the brick dug-out, with its grey, corrugated roof, but the reaction from the Ashford players near to the incident seemed to indicate that the yellow card might have been a little harsh.
The home side did threaten the Ashford goal in the dying minutes of the first half. In the 44th minute, Joshua Smith made it to the by-line, inside the penalty area, but his cross was headed clear. Then, inside the third minute of injury time at the end of the half, The Tanners finally put together a move that penetrated the Ashford defence. Former Banstead Athletic winger Kevin Terry played a neat one-two with Hassan Nyang, the return pass nutmegging an Ashford defender, which took him into the visitors’ penalty area. Terry’s initial cross found its way back to him, upon which he side-footed the ball into the far corner of the net – but the lino’s flag was raised for offside. That was the final action of the first half, so the teams went it at half time with the score remaining at 0-0.
[ ………. and during the Intermission, I will take the opportunity to apologise to Mr O’Brien, who refereed the Met Police game last Saturday. I mentioned in my report on the game that he blew up for full time when the ball was out of play, which I described as being contrary to regulations – as he points out, it isn’t, so I stand corrected. ]
During the opening minutes of the second half, the home side seemed strangely low-key, but they had the first recognisable chance after the interval. This came about after an Ashford attack, featuring a Lee Hockey long-throw, had broken down, in the 51st minute. Suddenly, the breaking Leatherhead forwards had a two v two situation with the Ashford defence. This ended with Josh Smith being put through on goal, but he side-footed a shot just wide of the post – but was flagged off-side, in any case.
Two minutes later, Ashford had a throw-in, deep inside the Leatherhead half. This was taken by Danny Lye, who threw the ball to Nick Smith, who had come short. Smudge returned the ball to his captain, who measured a cross into the home side’s goalmouth; Mitch Sherwood came steaming in, but his powerful header went well wide of the target.
This was never a violent game, but there was some punishment dished out by the referee during the second half, starting with a yellow card for Leatherhead’s Gabriel Emechete, for a blatant, and totally unnecessary, chopping down of Joe Fuller, in the centre circle, in the 55th minute. A minute later, the Ashford defence was breached, and it’s amazing that the home side didn’t open the scoring. Once again, it was the wide men who did the damage. Good work by Kevin Terry, attacking the Ashford penalty area from the left, resulted in a good cross, which led to a scramble in the goalmouth. The ball fell to Josh Smith, who was only denied by a desperate lunge by an Ashford defender, from close range.
It’s impossible to tell whether it was because of the ease with which Terry was able to get the ball into the Ashford area, but Steve Lovell almost immediately replaced Lee Hockey with Carl Harrold. At the same time, Leatherhead Manager Mick Sullivan made a double-substitution, sending on Marc Elston in place of Josh Smith on the right wing, and striker Tony Cuff in place of Gabriel Enechete.
Shortly after Nick Smith had headed a Mitch Sherwood cross wide of goal, having done well to get above his marker, on the hour mark, the two Tanners substitutes combined well, down the right wing. This resulted in a cross finding the prolific Tommy Hutchings, in the middle of the Ashford penalty area – he was in “Position A”, about 15 yards out, but his control let him down, and the ball ran away from him. Nevertheless, the ball broke to the diminutive Marc Elston, outside the area, whose hard, low shot was well saved by Scott Chalmers-Stevens.
In the 63rd minute, a good tackle by Nick Smith enabled him to rob the ball from Elston, and he fed John Guest (of all people) with a ball inside the right-back. Guest put in a good cross, but the ball refused to settle for Luke Coleman, in the six-yard box. Sullivan then made his third and final substitution, in the 67th minute, replacing striker Dominic O’Shea with Kwabena Agyei, in a like-for-like swap – but it was Ashford who had the next attempt at goal, just a minute later. This featured a one-two between Joe Fuller and Luke Coleman, which put Lukey through on goal, but this time it was the visitors’ turn to be caught offside. (By the reaction and body language of the players, however, I suspect that it wasn’t a particularly close-run thing).
The next man to be yellow-carded was Leatherhead substitute Tony Cuff; this was for a blatant foul on Nick Smith, just as the Ashford No.11 was about to break forward. Ryan Briggs curled the resulting free-kick high into the Tanners’ penalty area, but the referee immediately saw an infringement by an Ashford player.
Steve Lovell made his second substitution, in the 77th minute, when he replaced Luke Coleman with Kevin Swaisland. Whilst Swaisland’s Kent County League background, with Bearsted, doesn’t exactly match up to Lukey’s CV, which has Gravesend & Northfleet on it, it must be said that Kevin did actually make a difference up front, getting his head to several balls that were pumped forward. The Coleman, on the other hand, wasn’t delivering today.
There was a half chance for Ashford in the 79th minute. Joe Fuller won a corner on the left. This was taken by Ryan Briggs, but was cleared as far as Ross Morley, on the far side. Ross crossed the ball back into the danger area, and John Guest got up well, but could do no better than to head the ball up in the air, and over the bar. Four minutes later, Ryan Norman came on for the hard-working Nick Smith, for Ashford’s final substitution.
It was at about this time that my mind wandered from the immediate cup tie in hand, and I considered the bigger picture of how the Ashford team and squad was shaping up. Although Leatherhead had had the better chances, and Craig Bradshaw, in the home goal, didn’t have a save to make, I reflected that the lads had matched what is probably a good, mid-table yardstick pretty well – and that, following the previous good showing against the Metropolitan Police, we should be OK for at least a solid mid-table league position this season. Well inside the last ten minutes, with the cup tie looking set to finish as a goal-less draw, I also mused over the importance of the team’s first clean sheet of the season – and this was about the time that it all slipped away, and Ashford conceded the first of two late goals.
The first of these came in the 84th minute, when Kev Terry was put through, in the inside-left channel. He got to the Ashford by-line, and, in spite of defenders’ appeals that the ball had gone out of play, pulled the ball back, and substitute Marc Elston was there to turn it into the net. This appeared to be a rather ominous turn of events, since, although the lads had looked solid this afternoon, they rarely looked like scoring.
The second goal, which came in the 88th minute, was far more contentious, as it came on the heels of a strong penalty appeal for Ashford. Again, I must invoke the Wenger Amendment, as I didn’t see the incident – in fact, I didn’t even know what the appeal was for, until a couple of the Ashford fans behind the Leatherhead goal, who were close to the incident, informed me that there was a fairly obvious push, which Referee Child should have seen. Instead, I had my eyes on the subsequent Leatherhead break, which was led by Marc Elston. He beat Bryan Pearce, and then Carl Harrold, around about the halfway line – and suddenly the remaining Ashford defender was out-numbered three to one. The ball was carried forward, and then squared to Tommy Hutchings, in the penalty area. Hutchings had loads of time and space, and it looked odds-on that he was going to score his fourth goal of the season, but Scott Chalmers-Stevens made a brilliant save. The fact that the ball broke to Hassan Nyang, who made no mistake in slamming the ball into the roof of the net, means that this great piece of goalkeeping will probably be overlooked in the final analysis – which is a shame, as Scott generally had a solid game this afternoon.
So that was that as far as deciding which team was going to enter Monday’s draw for the Second Qualifying Round – but the saga of the penalty appeal didn’t end there. Before the game was restarted, Mitch Sherwood was booked for continuing to press the (now rather futile) case for a penalty. The Ashford bench was also fairly animated – so animated that Assistant Manager Hugo Langton was sent off, ordered to leave the dug-out and graze on the grassy bank on the far side.
The home side was almost presented with a third goal – which really would have flattered them – in the 93rd minute. The Ashford defence appeared to go AWOL as a ball was fed through to Marc Elston – and Scott Chalmers-Stevens started to come out of his goal, and then changed his mind. It looked like a golden opportunity for Elston to score his second goal, but he somehow trod on the ball, and Ryan Norman did a good job in tidying up, dribbling the ball to safety.
Finally, there was a yellow card for one of the Ashford players in the 94th minute, for something he said to the referee whilst waiting for a corner to be taken, as the visitors really started to lose their discipline – I thought it might have been Kevin Swaisland who was cautioned, but there is a school of thought that it might have been John Guest.
So, in the context of the cup tie, Leatherhead had avenged their defeat at The Homelands at this stage of the FA Cup last season, and Ashford’s fans had to come to terms with the umpteenth consecutive season without a “cup run” in this wonderful competition. Returning to that bigger picture again, this was another encouraging showing from Steve Lovell’s team – and the priority now must be to build on this, and to make progress in the league. It really is a case of achieving those “little victories” – the first clean sheet, and then the first league win. The next stop along that road will be the home game against Whyteleafe, next Saturday, but the trip to Worthing the following week will have to wait – Worthing went to Croydon Athletic today and got a 0-1 victory, so, unlike Ashford Town, they’re still very much in the FA Cup.
Once again, the issue of Man of the Match wasn’t clear-cut. I thought that Joe Fuller looked the part in attack, showing quite a few good touches, but his efforts were ultimately in vain; all of the midfield worked hard; both centre-backs did some important work, particularly in the second half, and Danny Lye did OK at left-back – but the nod went to Bryan Pearce on this occasion.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Bryan Pearce
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
This might have been a simply wonderful day. Kent beat Middlesex by ten wickets in the cricket, to all but wrap up their Championship, Your Milton Keynes Correspondent backed the St Leger winner at 14-1, we had a very decent lunch in The Running Horse, Leatherhead’s oldest public house, and we were blessed with a lovely, warm, sunny day on which to watch a game of football. I suppose the shine was rather taken off the afternoon by the result here at Fetcham Grove – not that the Ashford lads let anyone down today, as they looked solid, and put in a performance well worthy of earning a replay, but they were dumped out of the FA Cup at this Preliminary Round stage by two goals in the last six minutes of a pretty even cup tie.
Before going into a description of the match, I really am inclined to dwell on the weather. I just know that there will be plenty of occasions to come during the season when I’ll be donning the thermals and the scarf and the woolly hat, and I’ll still be freezing my crown jewels off at some God-forsaken gaff ground. Today, though, was a day for basking in the sun, in a T-shirt – and green, green Fetcham Grove is about the ideal venue for doing this. Located in a park, near the centre of Leatherhead, this tree-lined stadium has a sloping, grassy bank on two sides of the pitch, and it is possible, as some did, to sit at the top of either of these banks, leaning against the concrete perimeter wall, with a good, elevated view of the game, enjoying the aroma of freshly-mown grass. In fact, it was almost too hot on this sun-facing far side this afternoon, so, in the second half, we sought refuge in the low, narrow stand which extends for the whole length of the opposite side of the pitch.
It was not easy to predict the outcome of this one - even allowing for the fact that the form book can be rendered redundant in the FA Cup. Whilst Ashford Town had beaten Leatherhead three times last season – including a 1-5 victory here at Fetcham Grove in the League, and a 3-2 victory at The Homelands at the same stage of the FA Cup – both clubs have undergone substantial changes in personnel.
Steve Lovell has been operating with a small squad this season, but the silver lining to this is that it has encouraged him to maintain a level of stability with his team selection. He actually named a starting eleven that was unchanged from the side that earnt a well-deserved point at the Met Police last Saturday – but then Paul Jones pulled out, as he was experiencing problems with his groin, (a not uncommon trait for a newly-wed), so the tippex was administered to the team-sheet, and Joe Fuller moved up to partner Luke Coleman up front. There was the same midfield quartet that performed so well at Imber Court, of Mitchell Sherwood, Ryan Briggs, Ross Morley and Nick Smith. There was also the same back four in front of Scott Chalmers-Stevens – which lacks a specialist full-back – of Lee Hockey, Bryan Pearce, John Guest and Skipper Danny Lye. The absence of a proper full-back was to prove an issue, since Leatherhead carried considerable threat from the flanks in the form of Kevin Terry on the left, and Josh Smith on the right, but Danny Lye certainly made a good fist of what is a fairly unfamiliar role for him.
The substitutes’ bench was plenty crowded enough, even without Joe Fuller’s bum, and additional seats had to be sent for – this is because of the regulation that seven subs can be named in FA Cup games. Ashford’s bench included two players returning from a one-game suspension, in striker Kevin Swaisland and right-back Carl Harrold, one returning from injury, in left-back Ryan Norman, plus John Ralph, Toby Ashmore and ‘keeper Darren Ibrahim, who were all on bench duty at Imber Court.
This was not a game of many chances, but it began with what was an open, entertaining first half hour, with both teams sporadically getting the ball down and trying to play football. There was nothing particularly frantic, or high-paced, about the play, but there appeared to be a certain care-free attitude on the field, which seems to distinguish cup games from league football.
It was the visitors, playing in their “Norwich City” strip, with the home side in their famous green shirts, white shorts and green sockies, who had the first sight of goal, in the fourth minute. A trademark long throw by Lee Hockey was won, in the Leatherhead penalty area, by Joe Fuller. His touch found Mitchell Sherwood, outside the penalty area, but Mitch’s left-foot shot went just wide of the post. First chance for The Tanners came in the eighth minute, when a deep cross from the left eluded everyone in the Ashford goalmouth, and found the impressive Josh Smith on the right edge of the area. Smith took one touch to control the ball, and sent in a good, low shot – this was straight at Scott Chalmers-Stevens, but the ‘keeper got down well to save and hang on to the ball.
There were plenty of corners, and throw-ins high up the pitch, at both ends, during the first 30 minutes, but it must be said that the majority were at the end that Ashford were defending. Although Scott Chalmers-Stevens was the busier of the two ‘keepers, neither goal was seriously threatened during this period. The home side’s only shot at goal was a long-range effort from Hassan Nyang, in the 26th minute, which went well wide, whilst Luke Coleman put a first-time lob just wide, after running onto a long Chalmers-Stevens clearance, in the 21st minute.
Unfortunately, the spotlight gradually focused away from the football, and onto Referee Stephen Child, beginning, in the 28th minute, with a lengthy debate he had with Tanners Manager Mick Sullivan over his decision to stop the game due to an apparent head injury. This chat dragged on for rather a long time, and, just four minutes later, Child held up proceedings to have a long discussion with Danny Lye and Ryan Briggs. Just prior to this conversation, Ashford had had a half-chance, which stemmed from a corner that was won by Luke Coleman, on the left. Ryan Briggs took this one short, to Joe Fuller, who returned the pass to give Briggo a better angle; the resulting cross to the far post was headed clear by the Leatherhead defence, as far as Ross Morley, whose shot from outside the area was sliced wide.
A much better opportunity was presented to Ashford “on a plate”, in the 34th minute. The home side’s back five were making rather a meal of passing the ball amongst themselves, before ‘keeper Craig Bradshaw made a complete hash of a clearance. The ball went straight to Joe Fuller, who was presented with a one-on-one, with Bradshaw a few yards in front of him, on the edge of his 18-yard box. Joe did the right thing by side-stepping the goalie and shooting for goal, but, by this time, a defender had got back to cover, and cleared off the line.
The Referee, observed by the dreaded Assessor, in the stand, again took centre stage, in the 37th minute, when he booked Bryan Pearce for a tackle made right in front of the Leatherhead bench. I must say that my view of the tackle itself was obscured by the brick dug-out, with its grey, corrugated roof, but the reaction from the Ashford players near to the incident seemed to indicate that the yellow card might have been a little harsh.
The home side did threaten the Ashford goal in the dying minutes of the first half. In the 44th minute, Joshua Smith made it to the by-line, inside the penalty area, but his cross was headed clear. Then, inside the third minute of injury time at the end of the half, The Tanners finally put together a move that penetrated the Ashford defence. Former Banstead Athletic winger Kevin Terry played a neat one-two with Hassan Nyang, the return pass nutmegging an Ashford defender, which took him into the visitors’ penalty area. Terry’s initial cross found its way back to him, upon which he side-footed the ball into the far corner of the net – but the lino’s flag was raised for offside. That was the final action of the first half, so the teams went it at half time with the score remaining at 0-0.
[ ………. and during the Intermission, I will take the opportunity to apologise to Mr O’Brien, who refereed the Met Police game last Saturday. I mentioned in my report on the game that he blew up for full time when the ball was out of play, which I described as being contrary to regulations – as he points out, it isn’t, so I stand corrected. ]
During the opening minutes of the second half, the home side seemed strangely low-key, but they had the first recognisable chance after the interval. This came about after an Ashford attack, featuring a Lee Hockey long-throw, had broken down, in the 51st minute. Suddenly, the breaking Leatherhead forwards had a two v two situation with the Ashford defence. This ended with Josh Smith being put through on goal, but he side-footed a shot just wide of the post – but was flagged off-side, in any case.
Two minutes later, Ashford had a throw-in, deep inside the Leatherhead half. This was taken by Danny Lye, who threw the ball to Nick Smith, who had come short. Smudge returned the ball to his captain, who measured a cross into the home side’s goalmouth; Mitch Sherwood came steaming in, but his powerful header went well wide of the target.
This was never a violent game, but there was some punishment dished out by the referee during the second half, starting with a yellow card for Leatherhead’s Gabriel Emechete, for a blatant, and totally unnecessary, chopping down of Joe Fuller, in the centre circle, in the 55th minute. A minute later, the Ashford defence was breached, and it’s amazing that the home side didn’t open the scoring. Once again, it was the wide men who did the damage. Good work by Kevin Terry, attacking the Ashford penalty area from the left, resulted in a good cross, which led to a scramble in the goalmouth. The ball fell to Josh Smith, who was only denied by a desperate lunge by an Ashford defender, from close range.
It’s impossible to tell whether it was because of the ease with which Terry was able to get the ball into the Ashford area, but Steve Lovell almost immediately replaced Lee Hockey with Carl Harrold. At the same time, Leatherhead Manager Mick Sullivan made a double-substitution, sending on Marc Elston in place of Josh Smith on the right wing, and striker Tony Cuff in place of Gabriel Enechete.
Shortly after Nick Smith had headed a Mitch Sherwood cross wide of goal, having done well to get above his marker, on the hour mark, the two Tanners substitutes combined well, down the right wing. This resulted in a cross finding the prolific Tommy Hutchings, in the middle of the Ashford penalty area – he was in “Position A”, about 15 yards out, but his control let him down, and the ball ran away from him. Nevertheless, the ball broke to the diminutive Marc Elston, outside the area, whose hard, low shot was well saved by Scott Chalmers-Stevens.
In the 63rd minute, a good tackle by Nick Smith enabled him to rob the ball from Elston, and he fed John Guest (of all people) with a ball inside the right-back. Guest put in a good cross, but the ball refused to settle for Luke Coleman, in the six-yard box. Sullivan then made his third and final substitution, in the 67th minute, replacing striker Dominic O’Shea with Kwabena Agyei, in a like-for-like swap – but it was Ashford who had the next attempt at goal, just a minute later. This featured a one-two between Joe Fuller and Luke Coleman, which put Lukey through on goal, but this time it was the visitors’ turn to be caught offside. (By the reaction and body language of the players, however, I suspect that it wasn’t a particularly close-run thing).
The next man to be yellow-carded was Leatherhead substitute Tony Cuff; this was for a blatant foul on Nick Smith, just as the Ashford No.11 was about to break forward. Ryan Briggs curled the resulting free-kick high into the Tanners’ penalty area, but the referee immediately saw an infringement by an Ashford player.
Steve Lovell made his second substitution, in the 77th minute, when he replaced Luke Coleman with Kevin Swaisland. Whilst Swaisland’s Kent County League background, with Bearsted, doesn’t exactly match up to Lukey’s CV, which has Gravesend & Northfleet on it, it must be said that Kevin did actually make a difference up front, getting his head to several balls that were pumped forward. The Coleman, on the other hand, wasn’t delivering today.
There was a half chance for Ashford in the 79th minute. Joe Fuller won a corner on the left. This was taken by Ryan Briggs, but was cleared as far as Ross Morley, on the far side. Ross crossed the ball back into the danger area, and John Guest got up well, but could do no better than to head the ball up in the air, and over the bar. Four minutes later, Ryan Norman came on for the hard-working Nick Smith, for Ashford’s final substitution.
It was at about this time that my mind wandered from the immediate cup tie in hand, and I considered the bigger picture of how the Ashford team and squad was shaping up. Although Leatherhead had had the better chances, and Craig Bradshaw, in the home goal, didn’t have a save to make, I reflected that the lads had matched what is probably a good, mid-table yardstick pretty well – and that, following the previous good showing against the Metropolitan Police, we should be OK for at least a solid mid-table league position this season. Well inside the last ten minutes, with the cup tie looking set to finish as a goal-less draw, I also mused over the importance of the team’s first clean sheet of the season – and this was about the time that it all slipped away, and Ashford conceded the first of two late goals.
The first of these came in the 84th minute, when Kev Terry was put through, in the inside-left channel. He got to the Ashford by-line, and, in spite of defenders’ appeals that the ball had gone out of play, pulled the ball back, and substitute Marc Elston was there to turn it into the net. This appeared to be a rather ominous turn of events, since, although the lads had looked solid this afternoon, they rarely looked like scoring.
The second goal, which came in the 88th minute, was far more contentious, as it came on the heels of a strong penalty appeal for Ashford. Again, I must invoke the Wenger Amendment, as I didn’t see the incident – in fact, I didn’t even know what the appeal was for, until a couple of the Ashford fans behind the Leatherhead goal, who were close to the incident, informed me that there was a fairly obvious push, which Referee Child should have seen. Instead, I had my eyes on the subsequent Leatherhead break, which was led by Marc Elston. He beat Bryan Pearce, and then Carl Harrold, around about the halfway line – and suddenly the remaining Ashford defender was out-numbered three to one. The ball was carried forward, and then squared to Tommy Hutchings, in the penalty area. Hutchings had loads of time and space, and it looked odds-on that he was going to score his fourth goal of the season, but Scott Chalmers-Stevens made a brilliant save. The fact that the ball broke to Hassan Nyang, who made no mistake in slamming the ball into the roof of the net, means that this great piece of goalkeeping will probably be overlooked in the final analysis – which is a shame, as Scott generally had a solid game this afternoon.
So that was that as far as deciding which team was going to enter Monday’s draw for the Second Qualifying Round – but the saga of the penalty appeal didn’t end there. Before the game was restarted, Mitch Sherwood was booked for continuing to press the (now rather futile) case for a penalty. The Ashford bench was also fairly animated – so animated that Assistant Manager Hugo Langton was sent off, ordered to leave the dug-out and graze on the grassy bank on the far side.
The home side was almost presented with a third goal – which really would have flattered them – in the 93rd minute. The Ashford defence appeared to go AWOL as a ball was fed through to Marc Elston – and Scott Chalmers-Stevens started to come out of his goal, and then changed his mind. It looked like a golden opportunity for Elston to score his second goal, but he somehow trod on the ball, and Ryan Norman did a good job in tidying up, dribbling the ball to safety.
Finally, there was a yellow card for one of the Ashford players in the 94th minute, for something he said to the referee whilst waiting for a corner to be taken, as the visitors really started to lose their discipline – I thought it might have been Kevin Swaisland who was cautioned, but there is a school of thought that it might have been John Guest.
So, in the context of the cup tie, Leatherhead had avenged their defeat at The Homelands at this stage of the FA Cup last season, and Ashford’s fans had to come to terms with the umpteenth consecutive season without a “cup run” in this wonderful competition. Returning to that bigger picture again, this was another encouraging showing from Steve Lovell’s team – and the priority now must be to build on this, and to make progress in the league. It really is a case of achieving those “little victories” – the first clean sheet, and then the first league win. The next stop along that road will be the home game against Whyteleafe, next Saturday, but the trip to Worthing the following week will have to wait – Worthing went to Croydon Athletic today and got a 0-1 victory, so, unlike Ashford Town, they’re still very much in the FA Cup.
Once again, the issue of Man of the Match wasn’t clear-cut. I thought that Joe Fuller looked the part in attack, showing quite a few good touches, but his efforts were ultimately in vain; all of the midfield worked hard; both centre-backs did some important work, particularly in the second half, and Danny Lye did OK at left-back – but the nod went to Bryan Pearce on this occasion.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Bryan Pearce
Sunday, 6 September 2009
Metropolitan Police v Ashford Town. Ryman Division One South. 5th of September 2009.
Metropolitan Police 2 Ashford Town 2
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
The corresponding fixture last season was fairly early on in that campaign, and was a trial of strength between two teams that were very much expected to be in the shake-up for promotion. These expectations were largely justified, with the Metropolitan Police losing out in the Play-off Final, and Ashford Town flying as high as second place, before the well-documented Boardroom strife caused our challenge to hit the buffers. Early in the current season, however, both sides have made an uncertain start. After four games each, today’s hosts were this morning in 13th place, with a win, a defeat and two draws; Ashford, as we know, started the game in bottom place, with a single point, (gained, curiously, against top-of-the-table Godalming Town).
I’d still expect The Met to be challenging at the top before long, since they are going through something of an early-season injury crisis at the moment. I read somewhere that they recently had (I think) seven first-team players missing through injury, including star striker Craig Carley – it was some relief for us to see that Carley was only named as a substitute this afternoon. Another man currently on the casualty list is ex-Ashford Town defender Nicky Humphrey, who, in spite of warming up on the excellent pitch at Imber Court before the game, is still sidelined with a broken foot. But there were still two former Ashford players in The Blues’ line-up: left-back Nathan Simpson, who played in a couple of games in the 2007-8 season, and Craig Wilkins, who looked classy and composed in the centre of the home team’s defence this afternoon.
It’s hard to predict how far Ashford will climb the table this season. This is a team, and a squad, that is still very much under construction, and one of the joys of this campaign will be to see how the players develop, both collectively and individually, at this level. Performances in the four league games to date have been steadily improving, and last Sunday’s 6-1 win against a weak side in Mile Oak, of the Sussex League, was a very timely and welcome confidence booster. This victory featured a 36-minute hat-trick from substitute Luke Coleman, whose return, after a loan spell at The Homelands in the 2006-7 season, is also extremely welcome. Dropping down from Conference club Gravesend & Northfleet – (I refuse to use the “E” word) – Luke must surely form a formidable striking partnership with Paul Jones. In fact, once Mark Lovell returns from his long-term injury, and assuming that he can regain peak form and fitness, Ashford Town could probably claim to have the best trio of strikers in the division.
No sign, alas, of Mark in Ashford’s colours yet, though – he was in the stand today, with brother Nick. It was probably not difficult for Steve Lovell to name Luke Coleman alongside Paul Jones up front today, meaning that Joe Fuller dropped to the substitutes bench. The midfield quartet consisted of Ryan Briggs and Ross Morley in the middle, with Mitch Sherwood on the right and Nick Smith on the left. In defence, there was the return of the ever-popular Danny Lye, although this was the first time I’d seen him playing at left-back ! Bryan Pearce and the on-loan John Guest resumed their partnership in the centre of defence, with Lee Hockey, at right-back, completing what was arguably a four-man line of centre-halves. Significantly, it was Danny Lye, not Ryan Briggs, who wore the Captain’s armband this afternoon. Danny is the only member of the current squad to have played alongside Luke Coleman in an Ashford Town side – this was at home to Fleet Town, in the league, during the 2006-7 season, when his 18-minute stint represented his only appearance during that campaign; Luke also came on as a substitute in that game, putting in a 31-minute shift.
Scott Chalmers-Stevens was again in goal. A rather thin-looking bench – (in terms of numbers, not shape of its inhabitants) – consisted of reserve goalie Darren Ibrahim, Jon Ralph, Toby Ashmore and Joe Fuller. Our Chairman was allegedly on holiday in the The Canaries – which was probably quite appropriate, as his team took on The Boys in Blue, wearing the canary yellow away strip, with green shorts.
There’s plenty to look forward to when coming to Imber Court. One of the features of the day out is lunch at “The Weir” Public House, on the banks of the Thames, just a stone’s throw from where Walton Casuals beat Corinthian-Casuals 1-0 this afternoon. Another pleasure is the fact that the game is invariably played on an excellent pitch, and today was no exception. The Groundsman here won the award for the best pitch in the division last season – and, although I haven’t seen Steve Hackett’s Homelands pitch this year, he’ll have to go some to beat what we saw this afternoon !
There were also pretty much ideal conditions for us supporters - the afternoon was warm and windless, but with light cloud cover, to preclude the need to squint against the bright sun – and the knot of some fifteen Ashford supporters that cheered the team on from the terraces had yet to take up their position behind the Police goal, when the visitors had their first clear chance of the afternoon. In fact, the now-familiar chorus of “I fought the Law, and the Law won” had barely died down, when Paul Jones jinked past a defender and let fly with a decent, low shot, which was well saved by goalkeeper Mo Maan.
Ashford showed their tactical hand early on, when Lee Hockey came across to the right side to launch a couple of long throws into the penalty area, both aiming for the head of Danny Lye, within the first five minutes, but neither attack bore fruit. There was also some evidence that the opposition was also targeting Danny Lye, probably recognising the fact that left-back is not his natural position, since much of the danger from the home side came from the right flank, mostly through Craig Brown and Dwaine Clarke. As early as the sixth minute, Clarke bore down on Lye, bringing the ball in from the right touchline, and approaching the penalty area – on this occasion, the Ashford Skipper was equal to the task, blocking the ball well, at the expense of a corner, which Scott Three Names punched clear, but it was crosses from this flank that plagued the Ashford defence for much of the first half.
The first real sign that the visitors were vulnerable to this line of attack came in the twelfth minute. There seemed to be little danger as a long cross was launched into the Ashford penalty area, from the far right, but Gary Drewett rose well above the defence, and Scott Chalmers-Stevens needed to make a diving save at the foot of his right-hand post, to stop the Police from taking the lead. It was a little puzzling to see our defence dominated in the air so readily, given that the back four was not particularly lacking in height this afternoon.
A minute later, Drewett began another attempt to attack the Ashford goal from the right, when he spread the ball wide to Dwaine Clarke, with Danny Lye a little out of position. Clarke, who had a touch of class and arrogance about him, cut inside, getting the ball onto his left foot, but his attempted shot was deflected well over the bar. The resulting corner, from the right, was cleared, but the ball was chipped back into the Ashford goalmouth, and Craig Wilkins’ attempted overhead kick was always going straight up in the air. (It was strange to see Wilko marking Paul Jones, his strike-partner for much of last season).
The home side continued to show a keenness to get the ball into wide areas, and, in the 15th minute, Mitch Sherwood had to adopt a “safety first” policy when heading a long cross, again from the right, behind for a corner – but the Ashford defence held out. In fact, it was the visitors who took the lead, in the 22nd minute. The Police appeared to be a little lax in allowing the ball to be fed through to an Ashford player, deep inside their penalty area; the ball was squared to Luke Coleman, whose shot deflected off a defender’s foot and looped over goalkeeper Maan. The spinning ball might well have made it into the goal before the ‘keeper had time to recover and claw it away, but Nick Smith was, in any case, there to make sure, heading the ball across the line, from close range.
Unfortunately, the home side responded with an equaliser almost immediately, in the 24th minute, and it was no surprise that it was Ashford’s clear vulnerability to aerial attack that was the cause. A free-kick near the corner flag, on the right – awarded after a foul by Nick Smith – was bent in, left-footed, by Dwaine Clarke. The ball appeared to bounce off one of a bunch of Ashford players at the far post, and fell kindly for midfielder Rob Smith, who had no problem in turning the ball into the net, from about six yards out. It was a soft-looking goal to concede, from a cross that didn’t appear to be particularly threatening, and I suspect that a good, dominant goalkeeper would have come and dealt with the situation.
On the half-hour mark, Danny Lye again did well to block a cross from right-winger Craig Brown. The resulting corner, again swung in by the left foot of Clarke, was flicked on by Gary Drewett, again causing a little chaos in the heart of the Ashford penalty area, but the ball was cleared. Two minutes later, there was some relief for the Ashford defence, when Mitch Sherwood launched a first-time clearance into the path of Paul Jones, who, at full pace, controlled the bouncing ball with his head, before pulling a low shot wide of goal.
Whilst Nick Smith was quite conspicuous pushing forward, on the left, much of Mitchell Sherwood’s best work was in defence, but he did have an opportunity to put in a cross in the 35th minute – but this deflected off Nathan Simpson’s hand, for a corner, in spite of one or two hopeful (and unjustified) claims for a penalty. The resulting corner, on the right, was sent deep into the Met Police penalty area, aiming for John Guest and Lee Hockey, who had gone up for the set-piece; the ball seemed to ricochet between them, and fell for Danny Lye, who blasted his shot well over the bar.
The Blues then frustrated the supporters they had among the crowd of 126 with a couple of very sloppy pieces of football. First, in the 38th minute, James Greenaway gave the ballaway when he, quite inexplicably, passed the ball out for a throw-in. This almost proved to be costly, since Danny Lye found Paul Jones, on the edge of the penalty area, with the throw. Jonah turned, and then ran with the ball on the edge of the area, before letting go with a powerful shot from inside the “D”. Mo Maan, in the Police goal, was well positioned enough to prevent the ball from going in, but I don’t think he knew much about it, as it seemed more a case of him being hit by the ball, than him making a save. The incident that followed, in the 41st minute, did not lead to an Ashford scoring chance, but it was more embarrassing – pure comedy, in fact. A through-ball intended for Paul Jones was allowed to run harmlessly into The Met’s half of the field, since all concerned realised that Paul was trotting back from an offside position. Maan therefore had all the time in the world in which to come out to pick the ball up, near the far touchline, and launch the ball into the Ashford half. Whilst gently dribbling the ball forward, looking for movement up front, Maan carelessly let the ball roll out of play – and had to scamper back into his goal, in the direction of the laughter that was emanating from the narrow terracing behind.
However, (and staying on the subject of goalkeeping calamities), it was the home side that should have had the last laugh of the first half, as a lack of assertiveness in the Ashford six-yard box really should have led to the Police going ahead. After Ross Morley had pulled a long-range shot tamely wide of goal, in the 44th minute, The Blues attacked down the left wing, with Dwaine Clarke. Clarke beat Mitch Sherwood on his outside, but Mitch recovered well, and managed to put the ball behind for a corner. This was floated up to the far post, and, with Chalmers-Stevens not dealing with the threat, Craig Wilkins had virtually a free header, which he put wide, from close range. He should’ve scored.
On the whole, I thought that Ashford deserved to go in at the interval all square at 1-1. The midfield had worked tremendously hard in the first 45 minutes, with the tigerish Ross Morley looking particularly impressive – although he began to look very tired in the second half, and faded. Nick Smith also put in a good shift – I’ve seen Nick a few times now, and I’m convinced that he’s going to be a good player for us – and the experienced hands, Ryan Briggs and Mitch Sherwood, both performed much better than they sometimes have of late. Both of the strikers worked tremendously hard up front, and, given their quality, I could see them scoring in the second half. The trouble was, as I mused over what I had seen of our shaky Back Five in the first half, I thought we might need to score at least three goals in order to get a point !
I didn’t have to wait long for my worst fears to be realised, as The Rozzers took the lead almost as soon as the second half had kicked off – with many of the Ashford Town coach party still consuming the last of the prawn sandwiches. Judging by the way that right-back Lee Gledhill raced upfield to take a throw-in, I should imagine that The Met’s Manager, Jim Cooper, had got his team well stoked up during the interval. Gledhill threw the ball down the right touchline, a cross was sent in, to the far post, and James Greenaway rose well above the Ashford defence, to head the ball into the net, for a very simple goal.
In fairness to our troops at the back, as the second half wore on, John Guest and Bryan Pearce did come more into their own, and made some important defensive contributions. Scott Chalmers-Stevens also did better in the final 44 minutes than he had done in the first 46 – but this might be expected of a ‘keeper who lists Watford, Rushden & Diamonds, Mansfield Town, Margate and Dover Athletic on his CV.
The amount of pain endured as a result of conceding a second goal was mitigated by the fact that the home side’s lead was short-lived. In the 49th minute, shortly after Danny Lye had been very harshly penalised for a foul on Dwaine Clarke, Ashford broke out of defence. Paul Jones did well to latch onto the ball, and hold it up, down the right channel. He pulled the ball back to Ross Morley, arriving in the area, who fairly smashed the ball into the top far corner of the net, for his first goal for the Club.
Although there was a tangible improvement in Ashford’s defence in the second half, there was still an awkward moment in the 52nd minute, when Lee Hockey and John Guest faffed around with a ball that they really should have cleared – the ball broke to James Greenaway, who cut inside, onto his right foot, before putting in a very tame shot which was comfortably saved by Scott Chalmers-Stevens.
In the 55th minute, a long-range shot from Ross Morley was blocked, and spun into the path of Paul Jones, whose weak shot seemed pretty harmless, but it required a diving save from Maan to turn it around the far post. A minute later, there was the only really nasty challenge in the entire contest, when Craig Brown went in very hard, and very late, with a tackle from behind on Nick Smith. I don’t know what prompted the assault, but Brown thoroughly deserved at least the yellow card that he received from Referee O’Brien. From the resulting Ryan Briggs free-kick, the ball broke to Ross Morley, whose shot from even further out than his previous attempt broke, in turn, into the path of Luke Coleman, who sliced his shot wide.
As the game approached the hour mark, with the score standing at 2-2, a new element crept into the game – whilst there was never any nastiness, the game became niggly, and tempers became frayed, largely due to a weak performance by Referee O’Brien. Throughout the game, he had been rather fussy in awarding free-kicks for what seemed to be minor instances of physical contact, and this rather played against the strengths of some of Ashford’s more muscular players, such as Paul Jones and Danny Lye. The Ashford captain openly showed dissent, in the 58th minute, after O’Brien had penalised Bryan Pearce for a little shove in the back which Gary Drewett rather made the most of. Lye was given quite a stern talking-to by the Ref, before Dwaine Clarke’s free-kick, which he chipped over a two-man wall, was punched clear by Chalmers-Stevens.
Two minutes later, rising tensions boiled over, when Drewett put in a late challenge on Danny Lye, and got rather the worst of a clash of heads. This was the cue for a 21-man confrontation in the middle of the pitch – Police ‘keeper Mo Maan raced all the way from his goal ! The result of all this was that Bryan Pearce was shown a yellow card, which could only have been for the forcefulness of his debating style, and Drewett got a yellow for the original challenge. Ryan Briggs floated the resulting free-kick into the penalty area. The ball broke to Paul Jones, whose shot was deflected wide for a corner, which was cleared.
In the 63rd minute, Jim Cooper made the first of the game’s substitutions; this was a double substitution, with Marcus Moody replacing Nathan Simpson, and Craig Carley coming on for Dwaine Clarke. The latter swap appeared to be very much a mixed blessing, since Clarke had traumatised the Ashford defence with his curling, left-footed deliveries into the box, and he looked to be their best player this afternoon, but Carley is very much the Met Police’s main man – habitually one of the division’s top goal scorers. One curiosity about Carley’s appearance today was that he went onto the field of play with his head heavily bandaged – and that’s the first time I’ve seen that happen. (Presumably, his absence from the starting line-up was due to having stitches in a head wound).
Regardless of Carley’s introduction, the next chance came at the other end of the pitch – and this was pure “Route One” stuff from Ashford. I’ve no silly objections to what some self-proclaimed football purists refer to as “Route One”, as I believe that, if you have the players who can get the job done, then it’s a valid way of trying to score a goal. On this occasion, Scott Chalmers- Stevens attempted to exploit Paul Jones’s pace and strength, with a clearance that penetrated deep into the Met Police half. Allowing the ball to bounce once, Jonah latched onto it inside the opposition penalty area, but his first-time, left-foot shot went over the bar.
With Dwaine Clarke off the field, the home side’s dead-ball kicks were mostly taken by the right-footed Rob Smith. He made space for himself on the edge of the Ashford penalty area, and got a low shot on target, in the 73rd minute, but Three Names saved, going down to his left – before Smith was himself substituted, a minute later, being replaced by James Evans.
In the 75th minute, Ashford were awarded a free-kick, well inside their own half, after Paul Jones had received a shove in the back from Police Captain Steve Sutherland. This was launched deep into the home side’s penalty area, and Nick Smith and Ryan Briggs combined well together, on the left, enabling Briggo to send a cross into the danger area. Surprisingly, it was the tall figure of John Guest that got on the end of this cross, around about the penalty spot, but the Lino on the far side was flagging for offside.
As the game entered the final quarter of an hour, I think that fatigue began to creep in, as the Ashford players appeared to have given their all. Steve Lovell certainly hasn’t been “sub happy” so far this season, and today he decided to maintain faith in the eleven that had settled into the job of holding on to the one point, rather than introducing fresh legs – but I reckon that Steve could sense that the boys were running out of petrol, as he was far more vocal than usual, imploring his team to “dig in”. I suspect that the home team also got a bit tired and ragged in the closing stages, as the game opened up, with corners at both ends of the pitch. Either side might have snatched the three points, late on, and perhaps the best chance fell to Lee Hockey. In the 82nd minute, Paul Jones did well to win a corner, on the right. As usual, the cross was repelled by the Police defence, demonstrating their general superiority in the air, but the ball was whipped back into The Blues’ area. Lee Hockey was there, at the near post, with a free header, and he really should have at least hit the target.
Steve Lovell finally made his first, and only, substitution, in the 85th minute, replacing Luke Coleman with Joe Fuller. I was a bit surprised by this, since, although Luke didn’t have a particularly good game, it was Paul Jones who looked to have absolutely run himself into the ground, and could barely put one leg in front of the other.
The game continued to flow from end to end, right to the final whistle, with The Met’s best chance of a late winner coming when Craig Carley sent in a powerful, long-range shot, which was well parried by Chalmers-Stevens, in the 87th minute – but the score remained at 2-2. Referee O’Brien also continued to make some strange decisions up until the end of the match, and I think he finally lost confidence in what he was doing – which was demonstrated by the fact that he blew for full time whilst the ball was “dead”, which is contrary to the laws of the game. I think that Mr O’Brien couldn’t get off the field quick enough – but there was still time for The Squeaky Girls to give him some valuable customer feedback, which I am sure he will take on board.
So this was a hard-earned, and well-deserved, point for an improving Ashford side – and a point that we often didn’t look likely to get, which made it all the sweeter ! This is the sixth consecutive season that I’ve come to see us play at Imber Court, and matches here are invariably tight: the previous five scorelines had been 3-2, 2-1, 2-1, 1-1 and 1-2. The draw still leaves us at the bottom of the table, now with two points, but I am sure that we won’t remain in that position for much longer. In spite of the current list of injuries, I reckon that today’s hosts are still a good yardstick for the better teams in this division, and Steve Lovell’s inexperienced side, at this level, matched them pretty well. I’m a veteran of several relegation-haunted seasons, but I don’t expect this season to be one of them.
It was a close thing for Man of the Match. It was very tempting to give the award to Paul Jones, for sheer, tireless effort, but it was the battling midfield quartet that impressed me most this afternoon. Ross Morley had stood out during the first half, and lashed in a great goal, but the nod went to Mitch Sherwood this time, largely for doing a great job defensively.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Mitchell Sherwood
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
The corresponding fixture last season was fairly early on in that campaign, and was a trial of strength between two teams that were very much expected to be in the shake-up for promotion. These expectations were largely justified, with the Metropolitan Police losing out in the Play-off Final, and Ashford Town flying as high as second place, before the well-documented Boardroom strife caused our challenge to hit the buffers. Early in the current season, however, both sides have made an uncertain start. After four games each, today’s hosts were this morning in 13th place, with a win, a defeat and two draws; Ashford, as we know, started the game in bottom place, with a single point, (gained, curiously, against top-of-the-table Godalming Town).
I’d still expect The Met to be challenging at the top before long, since they are going through something of an early-season injury crisis at the moment. I read somewhere that they recently had (I think) seven first-team players missing through injury, including star striker Craig Carley – it was some relief for us to see that Carley was only named as a substitute this afternoon. Another man currently on the casualty list is ex-Ashford Town defender Nicky Humphrey, who, in spite of warming up on the excellent pitch at Imber Court before the game, is still sidelined with a broken foot. But there were still two former Ashford players in The Blues’ line-up: left-back Nathan Simpson, who played in a couple of games in the 2007-8 season, and Craig Wilkins, who looked classy and composed in the centre of the home team’s defence this afternoon.
It’s hard to predict how far Ashford will climb the table this season. This is a team, and a squad, that is still very much under construction, and one of the joys of this campaign will be to see how the players develop, both collectively and individually, at this level. Performances in the four league games to date have been steadily improving, and last Sunday’s 6-1 win against a weak side in Mile Oak, of the Sussex League, was a very timely and welcome confidence booster. This victory featured a 36-minute hat-trick from substitute Luke Coleman, whose return, after a loan spell at The Homelands in the 2006-7 season, is also extremely welcome. Dropping down from Conference club Gravesend & Northfleet – (I refuse to use the “E” word) – Luke must surely form a formidable striking partnership with Paul Jones. In fact, once Mark Lovell returns from his long-term injury, and assuming that he can regain peak form and fitness, Ashford Town could probably claim to have the best trio of strikers in the division.
No sign, alas, of Mark in Ashford’s colours yet, though – he was in the stand today, with brother Nick. It was probably not difficult for Steve Lovell to name Luke Coleman alongside Paul Jones up front today, meaning that Joe Fuller dropped to the substitutes bench. The midfield quartet consisted of Ryan Briggs and Ross Morley in the middle, with Mitch Sherwood on the right and Nick Smith on the left. In defence, there was the return of the ever-popular Danny Lye, although this was the first time I’d seen him playing at left-back ! Bryan Pearce and the on-loan John Guest resumed their partnership in the centre of defence, with Lee Hockey, at right-back, completing what was arguably a four-man line of centre-halves. Significantly, it was Danny Lye, not Ryan Briggs, who wore the Captain’s armband this afternoon. Danny is the only member of the current squad to have played alongside Luke Coleman in an Ashford Town side – this was at home to Fleet Town, in the league, during the 2006-7 season, when his 18-minute stint represented his only appearance during that campaign; Luke also came on as a substitute in that game, putting in a 31-minute shift.
Scott Chalmers-Stevens was again in goal. A rather thin-looking bench – (in terms of numbers, not shape of its inhabitants) – consisted of reserve goalie Darren Ibrahim, Jon Ralph, Toby Ashmore and Joe Fuller. Our Chairman was allegedly on holiday in the The Canaries – which was probably quite appropriate, as his team took on The Boys in Blue, wearing the canary yellow away strip, with green shorts.
There’s plenty to look forward to when coming to Imber Court. One of the features of the day out is lunch at “The Weir” Public House, on the banks of the Thames, just a stone’s throw from where Walton Casuals beat Corinthian-Casuals 1-0 this afternoon. Another pleasure is the fact that the game is invariably played on an excellent pitch, and today was no exception. The Groundsman here won the award for the best pitch in the division last season – and, although I haven’t seen Steve Hackett’s Homelands pitch this year, he’ll have to go some to beat what we saw this afternoon !
There were also pretty much ideal conditions for us supporters - the afternoon was warm and windless, but with light cloud cover, to preclude the need to squint against the bright sun – and the knot of some fifteen Ashford supporters that cheered the team on from the terraces had yet to take up their position behind the Police goal, when the visitors had their first clear chance of the afternoon. In fact, the now-familiar chorus of “I fought the Law, and the Law won” had barely died down, when Paul Jones jinked past a defender and let fly with a decent, low shot, which was well saved by goalkeeper Mo Maan.
Ashford showed their tactical hand early on, when Lee Hockey came across to the right side to launch a couple of long throws into the penalty area, both aiming for the head of Danny Lye, within the first five minutes, but neither attack bore fruit. There was also some evidence that the opposition was also targeting Danny Lye, probably recognising the fact that left-back is not his natural position, since much of the danger from the home side came from the right flank, mostly through Craig Brown and Dwaine Clarke. As early as the sixth minute, Clarke bore down on Lye, bringing the ball in from the right touchline, and approaching the penalty area – on this occasion, the Ashford Skipper was equal to the task, blocking the ball well, at the expense of a corner, which Scott Three Names punched clear, but it was crosses from this flank that plagued the Ashford defence for much of the first half.
The first real sign that the visitors were vulnerable to this line of attack came in the twelfth minute. There seemed to be little danger as a long cross was launched into the Ashford penalty area, from the far right, but Gary Drewett rose well above the defence, and Scott Chalmers-Stevens needed to make a diving save at the foot of his right-hand post, to stop the Police from taking the lead. It was a little puzzling to see our defence dominated in the air so readily, given that the back four was not particularly lacking in height this afternoon.
A minute later, Drewett began another attempt to attack the Ashford goal from the right, when he spread the ball wide to Dwaine Clarke, with Danny Lye a little out of position. Clarke, who had a touch of class and arrogance about him, cut inside, getting the ball onto his left foot, but his attempted shot was deflected well over the bar. The resulting corner, from the right, was cleared, but the ball was chipped back into the Ashford goalmouth, and Craig Wilkins’ attempted overhead kick was always going straight up in the air. (It was strange to see Wilko marking Paul Jones, his strike-partner for much of last season).
The home side continued to show a keenness to get the ball into wide areas, and, in the 15th minute, Mitch Sherwood had to adopt a “safety first” policy when heading a long cross, again from the right, behind for a corner – but the Ashford defence held out. In fact, it was the visitors who took the lead, in the 22nd minute. The Police appeared to be a little lax in allowing the ball to be fed through to an Ashford player, deep inside their penalty area; the ball was squared to Luke Coleman, whose shot deflected off a defender’s foot and looped over goalkeeper Maan. The spinning ball might well have made it into the goal before the ‘keeper had time to recover and claw it away, but Nick Smith was, in any case, there to make sure, heading the ball across the line, from close range.
Unfortunately, the home side responded with an equaliser almost immediately, in the 24th minute, and it was no surprise that it was Ashford’s clear vulnerability to aerial attack that was the cause. A free-kick near the corner flag, on the right – awarded after a foul by Nick Smith – was bent in, left-footed, by Dwaine Clarke. The ball appeared to bounce off one of a bunch of Ashford players at the far post, and fell kindly for midfielder Rob Smith, who had no problem in turning the ball into the net, from about six yards out. It was a soft-looking goal to concede, from a cross that didn’t appear to be particularly threatening, and I suspect that a good, dominant goalkeeper would have come and dealt with the situation.
On the half-hour mark, Danny Lye again did well to block a cross from right-winger Craig Brown. The resulting corner, again swung in by the left foot of Clarke, was flicked on by Gary Drewett, again causing a little chaos in the heart of the Ashford penalty area, but the ball was cleared. Two minutes later, there was some relief for the Ashford defence, when Mitch Sherwood launched a first-time clearance into the path of Paul Jones, who, at full pace, controlled the bouncing ball with his head, before pulling a low shot wide of goal.
Whilst Nick Smith was quite conspicuous pushing forward, on the left, much of Mitchell Sherwood’s best work was in defence, but he did have an opportunity to put in a cross in the 35th minute – but this deflected off Nathan Simpson’s hand, for a corner, in spite of one or two hopeful (and unjustified) claims for a penalty. The resulting corner, on the right, was sent deep into the Met Police penalty area, aiming for John Guest and Lee Hockey, who had gone up for the set-piece; the ball seemed to ricochet between them, and fell for Danny Lye, who blasted his shot well over the bar.
The Blues then frustrated the supporters they had among the crowd of 126 with a couple of very sloppy pieces of football. First, in the 38th minute, James Greenaway gave the ballaway when he, quite inexplicably, passed the ball out for a throw-in. This almost proved to be costly, since Danny Lye found Paul Jones, on the edge of the penalty area, with the throw. Jonah turned, and then ran with the ball on the edge of the area, before letting go with a powerful shot from inside the “D”. Mo Maan, in the Police goal, was well positioned enough to prevent the ball from going in, but I don’t think he knew much about it, as it seemed more a case of him being hit by the ball, than him making a save. The incident that followed, in the 41st minute, did not lead to an Ashford scoring chance, but it was more embarrassing – pure comedy, in fact. A through-ball intended for Paul Jones was allowed to run harmlessly into The Met’s half of the field, since all concerned realised that Paul was trotting back from an offside position. Maan therefore had all the time in the world in which to come out to pick the ball up, near the far touchline, and launch the ball into the Ashford half. Whilst gently dribbling the ball forward, looking for movement up front, Maan carelessly let the ball roll out of play – and had to scamper back into his goal, in the direction of the laughter that was emanating from the narrow terracing behind.
However, (and staying on the subject of goalkeeping calamities), it was the home side that should have had the last laugh of the first half, as a lack of assertiveness in the Ashford six-yard box really should have led to the Police going ahead. After Ross Morley had pulled a long-range shot tamely wide of goal, in the 44th minute, The Blues attacked down the left wing, with Dwaine Clarke. Clarke beat Mitch Sherwood on his outside, but Mitch recovered well, and managed to put the ball behind for a corner. This was floated up to the far post, and, with Chalmers-Stevens not dealing with the threat, Craig Wilkins had virtually a free header, which he put wide, from close range. He should’ve scored.
On the whole, I thought that Ashford deserved to go in at the interval all square at 1-1. The midfield had worked tremendously hard in the first 45 minutes, with the tigerish Ross Morley looking particularly impressive – although he began to look very tired in the second half, and faded. Nick Smith also put in a good shift – I’ve seen Nick a few times now, and I’m convinced that he’s going to be a good player for us – and the experienced hands, Ryan Briggs and Mitch Sherwood, both performed much better than they sometimes have of late. Both of the strikers worked tremendously hard up front, and, given their quality, I could see them scoring in the second half. The trouble was, as I mused over what I had seen of our shaky Back Five in the first half, I thought we might need to score at least three goals in order to get a point !
I didn’t have to wait long for my worst fears to be realised, as The Rozzers took the lead almost as soon as the second half had kicked off – with many of the Ashford Town coach party still consuming the last of the prawn sandwiches. Judging by the way that right-back Lee Gledhill raced upfield to take a throw-in, I should imagine that The Met’s Manager, Jim Cooper, had got his team well stoked up during the interval. Gledhill threw the ball down the right touchline, a cross was sent in, to the far post, and James Greenaway rose well above the Ashford defence, to head the ball into the net, for a very simple goal.
In fairness to our troops at the back, as the second half wore on, John Guest and Bryan Pearce did come more into their own, and made some important defensive contributions. Scott Chalmers-Stevens also did better in the final 44 minutes than he had done in the first 46 – but this might be expected of a ‘keeper who lists Watford, Rushden & Diamonds, Mansfield Town, Margate and Dover Athletic on his CV.
The amount of pain endured as a result of conceding a second goal was mitigated by the fact that the home side’s lead was short-lived. In the 49th minute, shortly after Danny Lye had been very harshly penalised for a foul on Dwaine Clarke, Ashford broke out of defence. Paul Jones did well to latch onto the ball, and hold it up, down the right channel. He pulled the ball back to Ross Morley, arriving in the area, who fairly smashed the ball into the top far corner of the net, for his first goal for the Club.
Although there was a tangible improvement in Ashford’s defence in the second half, there was still an awkward moment in the 52nd minute, when Lee Hockey and John Guest faffed around with a ball that they really should have cleared – the ball broke to James Greenaway, who cut inside, onto his right foot, before putting in a very tame shot which was comfortably saved by Scott Chalmers-Stevens.
In the 55th minute, a long-range shot from Ross Morley was blocked, and spun into the path of Paul Jones, whose weak shot seemed pretty harmless, but it required a diving save from Maan to turn it around the far post. A minute later, there was the only really nasty challenge in the entire contest, when Craig Brown went in very hard, and very late, with a tackle from behind on Nick Smith. I don’t know what prompted the assault, but Brown thoroughly deserved at least the yellow card that he received from Referee O’Brien. From the resulting Ryan Briggs free-kick, the ball broke to Ross Morley, whose shot from even further out than his previous attempt broke, in turn, into the path of Luke Coleman, who sliced his shot wide.
As the game approached the hour mark, with the score standing at 2-2, a new element crept into the game – whilst there was never any nastiness, the game became niggly, and tempers became frayed, largely due to a weak performance by Referee O’Brien. Throughout the game, he had been rather fussy in awarding free-kicks for what seemed to be minor instances of physical contact, and this rather played against the strengths of some of Ashford’s more muscular players, such as Paul Jones and Danny Lye. The Ashford captain openly showed dissent, in the 58th minute, after O’Brien had penalised Bryan Pearce for a little shove in the back which Gary Drewett rather made the most of. Lye was given quite a stern talking-to by the Ref, before Dwaine Clarke’s free-kick, which he chipped over a two-man wall, was punched clear by Chalmers-Stevens.
Two minutes later, rising tensions boiled over, when Drewett put in a late challenge on Danny Lye, and got rather the worst of a clash of heads. This was the cue for a 21-man confrontation in the middle of the pitch – Police ‘keeper Mo Maan raced all the way from his goal ! The result of all this was that Bryan Pearce was shown a yellow card, which could only have been for the forcefulness of his debating style, and Drewett got a yellow for the original challenge. Ryan Briggs floated the resulting free-kick into the penalty area. The ball broke to Paul Jones, whose shot was deflected wide for a corner, which was cleared.
In the 63rd minute, Jim Cooper made the first of the game’s substitutions; this was a double substitution, with Marcus Moody replacing Nathan Simpson, and Craig Carley coming on for Dwaine Clarke. The latter swap appeared to be very much a mixed blessing, since Clarke had traumatised the Ashford defence with his curling, left-footed deliveries into the box, and he looked to be their best player this afternoon, but Carley is very much the Met Police’s main man – habitually one of the division’s top goal scorers. One curiosity about Carley’s appearance today was that he went onto the field of play with his head heavily bandaged – and that’s the first time I’ve seen that happen. (Presumably, his absence from the starting line-up was due to having stitches in a head wound).
Regardless of Carley’s introduction, the next chance came at the other end of the pitch – and this was pure “Route One” stuff from Ashford. I’ve no silly objections to what some self-proclaimed football purists refer to as “Route One”, as I believe that, if you have the players who can get the job done, then it’s a valid way of trying to score a goal. On this occasion, Scott Chalmers- Stevens attempted to exploit Paul Jones’s pace and strength, with a clearance that penetrated deep into the Met Police half. Allowing the ball to bounce once, Jonah latched onto it inside the opposition penalty area, but his first-time, left-foot shot went over the bar.
With Dwaine Clarke off the field, the home side’s dead-ball kicks were mostly taken by the right-footed Rob Smith. He made space for himself on the edge of the Ashford penalty area, and got a low shot on target, in the 73rd minute, but Three Names saved, going down to his left – before Smith was himself substituted, a minute later, being replaced by James Evans.
In the 75th minute, Ashford were awarded a free-kick, well inside their own half, after Paul Jones had received a shove in the back from Police Captain Steve Sutherland. This was launched deep into the home side’s penalty area, and Nick Smith and Ryan Briggs combined well together, on the left, enabling Briggo to send a cross into the danger area. Surprisingly, it was the tall figure of John Guest that got on the end of this cross, around about the penalty spot, but the Lino on the far side was flagging for offside.
As the game entered the final quarter of an hour, I think that fatigue began to creep in, as the Ashford players appeared to have given their all. Steve Lovell certainly hasn’t been “sub happy” so far this season, and today he decided to maintain faith in the eleven that had settled into the job of holding on to the one point, rather than introducing fresh legs – but I reckon that Steve could sense that the boys were running out of petrol, as he was far more vocal than usual, imploring his team to “dig in”. I suspect that the home team also got a bit tired and ragged in the closing stages, as the game opened up, with corners at both ends of the pitch. Either side might have snatched the three points, late on, and perhaps the best chance fell to Lee Hockey. In the 82nd minute, Paul Jones did well to win a corner, on the right. As usual, the cross was repelled by the Police defence, demonstrating their general superiority in the air, but the ball was whipped back into The Blues’ area. Lee Hockey was there, at the near post, with a free header, and he really should have at least hit the target.
Steve Lovell finally made his first, and only, substitution, in the 85th minute, replacing Luke Coleman with Joe Fuller. I was a bit surprised by this, since, although Luke didn’t have a particularly good game, it was Paul Jones who looked to have absolutely run himself into the ground, and could barely put one leg in front of the other.
The game continued to flow from end to end, right to the final whistle, with The Met’s best chance of a late winner coming when Craig Carley sent in a powerful, long-range shot, which was well parried by Chalmers-Stevens, in the 87th minute – but the score remained at 2-2. Referee O’Brien also continued to make some strange decisions up until the end of the match, and I think he finally lost confidence in what he was doing – which was demonstrated by the fact that he blew for full time whilst the ball was “dead”, which is contrary to the laws of the game. I think that Mr O’Brien couldn’t get off the field quick enough – but there was still time for The Squeaky Girls to give him some valuable customer feedback, which I am sure he will take on board.
So this was a hard-earned, and well-deserved, point for an improving Ashford side – and a point that we often didn’t look likely to get, which made it all the sweeter ! This is the sixth consecutive season that I’ve come to see us play at Imber Court, and matches here are invariably tight: the previous five scorelines had been 3-2, 2-1, 2-1, 1-1 and 1-2. The draw still leaves us at the bottom of the table, now with two points, but I am sure that we won’t remain in that position for much longer. In spite of the current list of injuries, I reckon that today’s hosts are still a good yardstick for the better teams in this division, and Steve Lovell’s inexperienced side, at this level, matched them pretty well. I’m a veteran of several relegation-haunted seasons, but I don’t expect this season to be one of them.
It was a close thing for Man of the Match. It was very tempting to give the award to Paul Jones, for sheer, tireless effort, but it was the battling midfield quartet that impressed me most this afternoon. Ross Morley had stood out during the first half, and lashed in a great goal, but the nod went to Mitch Sherwood this time, largely for doing a great job defensively.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Mitchell Sherwood
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