ARCHIVE: Grantham Town v Ashford Town. Doc Martens Division 1 East. 2000-1 season.

GRANTHAM TOWN   6       ASHFORD TOWN      1

From your Milton Keynes correspondent

So it’s happened yet again at Ashford Town - we’ve lost a good manager, and a promising first team squad has wandered off with him.

It was looking pretty optimistic when I filed my previous match report, on the Witney game, when Tommy Sampson’s team came away with a 3-1 win, to continue a good run of results. It’s all changed now, though - we’re back to Square One. In fact, it’s worse than that : Square One can only begin in the summer, when the rebuilding process begins. In the mean time, the Club’s faced with the dour prospect of fulfilling what’s left of this season’s fixtures, with basically a pool of young boys from the reserves, and one or two players drafted in from the Kent League, to draw upon. The inclusion of Peter “Ashford ‘til I die” McRobert in the starting line-up on Easter Monday - at the age of nearly FIFTY - confirmed the Dads’ Army nature of the current squad. Just the old men and young boys left, in the village, to protect the women and children !  Of course, there are many silly jokes that I can make at this stage (which would probably be based around Corporal Jones, zimmer frames etc.), but I’d rather pay tribute to Peter for his loyalty to the Club and his indomitable spirit in turning out at such an age. I wonder if he’s the oldest player to play for Ashford Town ?!  Of course, he breaks his own appearance record for the Club - technically, this is now his 23rd season as an Ashford player !

 Not surprisingly, then, the new era, under a bloke called Tim Thorogood, hasn’t started too well in terms of results : played 9, drawn 2, lost 7. But let’s not be too negative here. Let’s not dismiss lightly what Mr Thorogood HAS done for the Club. He’s paid off all those debts !  I know that we’ve never been able to actually SEE these debts, so they’re never at the forefront of a supporter’s mind, but they’ve certainly been a millstone around the Club’s neck for several years now. Obviously, what all fans want is a successful team on the field, but anyone who thinks that there’s not a close link between what happens on and off the pitch is deluding themself.

One current problem which Mr Thorogood will be hoping to see sort itself out is the falling attendence levels at The Homelands - in fact, they’ve been in free-fall since his arrival : 180 against Corby on Grand National Day, 159 against the Isle of Wight, and then a distressing 108 on Thursday against Burnham. Of course, he’ll be hoping that the crowds will flock back come the new season, but there is a history of non-league clubs losing their support once they go to an out-of-town location. Just ask the people at Witney Town, which has this week been put on the market !

I wonder if that crowd of 108 is the lowest attendance ever for a league game at Ashford - or whether the 180 that turned up for the Corby game might be the lowest for a Saturday league game ?!  This crowd would have been almost claustrophobic at Corby, though. They have recorded the lowest league gate so far this season - only 29, a few weeks back !  Speaking of records, there was one in particular that I thought might be broken during the course of this week - the dreaded biggest-ever defeat !  Currently, the biggest hammering Ashford Town has ever suffered is 8-0, at the hands of Crawley Town in 1964 (I was but a lad !). With a sequence of matches against the likes of Hastings, Chelmsford, Rothwell and Grantham, all within the space of eight days, and with the Home Guard on patrol, I was fearing the worst !  So far, though, our brave lads have been keeping the scores “respectable” - Chelmsford came pretty close to the record rout on Easter Monday, beating us 6-0, but the other lot could both score only three each.

So what about Grantham Town ?  Obviously a big club in non-league circles - once managed by Martin O’Neill (yes, THE Martin O’Neill !), and probably only paying a brief visit to our level of the pyramid. With promotion straight back to the Premier Division still just a possibility, there was definitely the prospect of a major shellacking - maybe we’d even see something akin to the Retreat from Moscow by 4.30pm !  Nevertheless, bravely on we would march, and I was looking forward to the trip to Lincolnshire.

In fact, I’d been looking forward to this match all season, mainly because I knew that Grantham had a lovely facility up there, with a proper, modern footy stadium. A cut above some of the cow sheds that pass for stands at some grounds at this level. I had a look via the Grantham Town web-site’s “Stadium Tour”, and it’s clearly the best ground in our division this year. We certainly won’t get this sort of luxury when we’re in the Kent League. (Sorry, that just sort of slipped out !).

It’s also nice to go to these grounds that have plenty of car parking spaces, and are easy to get to. Grantham is right on the A1, so, from Milton Keynes, all we need to do is to skirt around the South side of Bedford, on the new by-pass, join the A1 at Wyboston, and then it’s straight up the road from there. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of looking at a road atlas, and thought that it would be quicker to go up the M1 as far as Nottingham, and then cut across on the A52. That meant that I did something that I’ve never done before - I arrived late for a footy match !  Leaving the house at 1.20pm, we eventually shambled through the turnstiles at 3.05pm. If this were the Daily Telegraph I’d be sacked !.

I asked the first person I came across what the score was : “One - nil to Grantham”, was the reply.

“No surprise there, then !”, I said, still hacked off and embarrassed at having missed the start.

I made my way to the touchline to see that the game had already fallen into an inevitable pattern - Grantham, in their Newcastle United strip, in possession, in the Ashford half. In fact, everyone was in the Ashford half, and that was just about how it stayed for the next 40 minutes. Not that our heroes had decided to adopt totally negative tactics - Steve Smith and an overweight Scott McRobert stayed up front, meaning that the home side had to leave three back for most of the time. It’s just that, every time the Ashford defence cleared its lines, Grantham won the ball and came back with another attack. (Of course, you would expect our hosts to be fairly tight at the back - the town that gave us the inventor of Thatcherism was surely not going to give much away !). It was also immediately obvious that, as feared, this really was men against boys - Grantham were clearly bigger, and stronger, and faster, and more experienced than our lads.

Just as inevitably, Ashford’s new goalie, Dan Noden, was the immediate focus of attention, if only because the ball was constantly going in his direction. I’d seen him described in an opposition’s web-site recently as being “fat and s***e” (I’ve added my own asterisks here, as I know that Steve Monk would edit it out anyway - let’s just say that the word rhymes with “fight”, and isn’t very complimentary !). Now I’m not one to judge a book by its cover, or to make unkind remarks about someone’s physical appearance, but there’s nothing like a tubby goalkeeper for making a team look like a pub side, and that, I’m afraid, was the first impression that I got. (In case Daniel’s Mum’s reading this, I should say that he actually had a reasonable game, so please read on, Mrs Noden).

So it was all Grantham, but it wasn’t until the 15th minute that the home side actually created another clear-cut chance. Their play-maker in midfield, Lee Marshall, was put clean through on goal, with only Noden to beat, but Dan came out and saved with his feet. A minute later, though, the ‘keeper was not so impressive, as he came for a cross and failed to collect, only for Grantham No.9 Ranshaw to head wide - he should’ve done better. Two minutes later, the same player was again off-target, heading just over from a corner, and then, soon after, found himself unmarked in the penalty area, only to tap the ball tamely to Noden in the Ashford goal.

And so the attacks rained in, one after another. At one stage it looked a bit like the film “Zulu”, except that the young boys holding the fort were wearing green shirts, instead of red tunics. In truth, if the home side had been a bit sharper in front of goal, then they could have been well on their way to that record score, so it was probably something of a (small) moral victory for Ashford’s youngsters that, after 20 minutes, the score was still only 1-0, with the home supporters starting to get on the team’s back a little for not adding to the total.

But The Greens nearly gave them some help after 22 minutes, when Paul Hobbs and Aaron O’Leary started to faff around with the ball along the back line - O’Leary got caught in possession, and the defence was lucky to scramble the ball behind for a corner. The cross from the corner was headed clear by Dave Peachey, who’d looked very promising in an occasional striking role under Tommy Sampson, but who was today employed on the right side of midfield, not straying far from the right touchline.

Grantham soon came back, though, and, after 27 minutes, it was Lee Marshall who again found himself in space in the Ashford area, but his curled shot was rather tame, and, in any case, went just wide.

The breakthrough came again for the home side on the 33 minute mark. Aaron O’Leary, playing as an orthodox left-back in the first half (having looked impressive in central midfield at Stamford early on in the season), was easily done for power and pace on his outside (which rather summed up the difference between the two sides) - the cross from the by-line was virtually rolled along the Ashford goal line, and right-back Paul Hobbs, running back, could do nothing but drill the ball into the corner of his own net.

Three minutes later, Grantham extended the lead to 3-0, a more accurate reflection of their superiority in the first half, when ex-league striker Gary Bull latched onto a through ball lobbed over the Ashford defence. With only the ‘keeper to beat, Bull slotted the ball home with a great deal of ease, giving the impression that he could have scored in his sleep.

And guess what ?!  After 38 minutes, we won a corner !  The move leading to the corner was started by young defender Tom Binks, who looked the one class act in the Ashford side - always balanced and composed, and looking like he knew where he should be at any given time. The cross came in from the left, and, although Mario Ziccardi in the Grantham goal failed to collect, the ball was headed clear. (Sorry for the anti-climax, but I can only report what happens !). 

A minute before half-time, and the ball was again in the Ashford penalty area, with Grantham centre-forward Ranshaw. He twisted and turned to make some space, and eventually laid the ball off to Bull, whose shot curled just past the top-left angle of the goal - Dan Noden could only stand and watch.

So 3-0 at half-time, and a chance to look around the South Kesteven Stadium, a local authority owned venue that has excellent athletics facilities, as well as a footy pitch. There are two sizeable stands, one on each side. The main stand, which houses the boardroom and dressing rooms, provides two tiers of seating; on the other side, there’s an all-standing stand, which is where the core of the Grantham fans gathers. Being open at both ends, and having an eight-lane athletics track around the pitch, I can imagine that it gets a bit wind-swept and parky in the winter, so it’s probably just as well that it was a fine, mild afternoon (especially as I’d contrived to leave my coat at home !). With a crowd of 361 in (a disappointing figure for the hosts, but just 8 short of our highest home gate this season), the stadium looked fairly empty, but the home supporters created quite a good atmosphere. (On the subject of atmosphere, we were sat next to probably the only man in the country to still own one of those old-fashioned football rattles - now how unlucky is that ?!).

Grantham trotted out, in a neat line, ready to begin the second half - it was some time before our boys emerged, but they eventually wandered out from the dressing room area. Ashford immediately made two substitutions (Peter McRobert doing the honours with the numbers boards, and looking, as he had done throughout the match, to be the man in charge on the bench) : youngsters Holt and Anderson replacing McRobert Jnr and Peter Magri.

Ashford came more into the game in the early part of the second half - the Grantham fans gave their team some stick for, as they thought, taking their foot off the pedal a bit, but surely the Ashford lads deserved some credit. In fact, we had the first real chance of the half, a shot from our No.11 (I don’t know who it was, but it certainly wasn’t Scott Thomas, as it said in the programme) being deflected for a corner. Steve Smith took the kick on the left-hand side, right-footed, but ‘keeper Ziccardi took a comfortable catch. (OK, so it was no big deal in the context of the game, or of the season, but I’m trying to give the impression that there was a contest going on out there !).

A minute later there was a rather strange incident. Gary Bull picked the ball up mid-way inside the Ashford half, and dribbled the ball all the way out to the far touch-line, where he appeared to be fouled by an Ashford defender. The linesman on the far side flagged, and everyone stopped - the ref. allowed play to continue, so Bull continued his run, almost unopposed, as far as the six-yard box, but his shot, from an acute angle, was saved by Noden, low down at the foot of the near post.

After 53 minutes, Ashford were again on the attack. No. 9 Steve Smith collected the ball just outside the Grantham penalty area, from a firm pass from the far touch-line, held the ball up, made space, turned and shot just wide of the home goal. It didn’t cause too much alarm among the home supporters, but it was typical of Smith’s hard-working contribution throughout the match. Steve returned to The Homelands following Tommy Sampson’s resignation, at the end of February, having walked out on the Club a few weeks into the season to join Sheppey, in the Kent League. He’s clearly felt that he’s been given too few chances in the first team, by a succession of Ashford managers - it remains to be seen whether he’ll have a role to play in the future under the new regime.

The boys had one or two little sniffs at goal during this period - a weak shot straight at the goalie from Smith, after 56 minutes, and a free-kick on the right-hand corner of the Grantham penalty area two minutes later - but “normal service” was resumed in the 62nd minute. The home side made a break, with Gary Bull and balding substitute Dave Taylor, which had the Ashford defence all at sea. Eventually, though, they managed to scramble the ball away to the left edge of the box, only for a cross to come in, which Taylor headed neatly into the net, from close range. It was a clinical finish which suggested that Taylor had been scoring goals all his life, and Noden, who had been getting stick from the home crowd all match, again had no chance.

Half-way through the half, Ashford made the sixth, and final, substitution of the game. Dave Peachey, who had looked fairly ineffective in his midfield role, having impressed as a striker all season, made way for Jonathan Thorogood. (That’s certainly what it sounded like over the loadspeaker. Don’t ask me if he’s any relation, as I don’t know !).

Seventy minutes gone, and Grantham, four goals to the good, came forward once again with Dave Taylor. He was stopped in his tracks by an obvious trip, on the edge of the area, by an Ashford defender, but the referee - standing all of two yards away - gave nothing more than a corner. The corner kick, swung in from the right, found a Grantham head deep in the penalty area - the ball was then flicked on by a second Grantham head, before Noden rose well to tip the ball over the bar.

Five minutes later, the Ashford defence committed another foul on the edge of the area - this time, the free-kick was given. Tom Binks was the guilty party, challenging from behind, but taking the man before the ball. With the green wall in place, the kick was squared to Lee Marshall, whose low, hard shot somehow deflected off an Ashford boot and spun over the bar for a corner. That was lucky, as the ball could have gone anywhere, but the boys’ let-off was short-lived, as Dave Taylor scored from the resulting corner, with another crisp, accurate header into the corner of the net. 5-0 !

By now, the game had reverted to the one-way traffic that those of us who could bear to look had witnessed in the first half, but it must be said that all of the Ashford players kept on trying throughout. Grantham, too, kept on pressing, clearly seeing the opportunity to improve their goal difference, just in case the Isle of Wight make a mess of the games they have in hand of them.

Taylor really should have increased the difference by one, and claimed a personal hat-trick for himself, when he burst into the six-yard area after 78 minutes, but he pulled his shot across the face of goal. He had another near thing a minute later - a corner found him unmarked on the edge of the six yard box, in a central position, but his shot, straight at the ‘keeper, was parried by Noden. Gary Bull, following up, tried to sneak the loose ball into the goal from an acute angle, but hit the post.

With six minutes of normal time left, Ashford again conceded a free-kick on the edge of the area, for a “foot up” offence - which seemed a fair enough decision. Three Grantham players took plenty of time to discuss elaborate plans for what they were going to do with this set-piece. In the end, though, they must have confused themselves, as a delicate chip fell into an empty space, nowhere near a striped shirt, and the ball was easily cleared.

Whilst the game was played in a good spirit throughout, there was, out of the blue, one flash-point after 86 minutes. This involved a squaring-up session between Paul Hobbs and Dave Taylor on the far side. Nothing too serious - probably the sort of thing that Roy Keane does every time he sees his Granny - but there was obviously something upsetting the pair of them. It looked like some coloured cards were going to be flashed around, but, after a lengthy lecture, the pair shook hands, and the ref. was able to keep his own “clean sheet”.

The sixth Grantham goal came out of almost nothing - and, although I’ve been going out of my way to be nice to Daniel Noden in this report, I’m afraid I have to say that this was one that really should have been saved. Basically, the ball sat up for Lee Marshall mid-way into the Ashford half - Marshall volleyed it, and, although he caught it fairly cleanly, Noden should have done better than merely deflect the ball into the corner of the net.

So an anxious look at my watch - three minutes to go, and the “Gingerbreads” needed just two goals to equal Crawley’s feat of scoring eight goals against us !  But it was Ashford who were on the attack a minute later, and we won a free-kick for an innocuous sort of a challenge on the left, a few yards from the corner flag. Steve Smith came across to take it, and must’ve thought he was Gary McAllister (except a foot shorter, and with a full head of hair) !  Seeing that the Grantham ‘keeper was out of position, expecting a cross, Smith curled the ball around the near post, into the net, with Ziccardi able only to get a finger-tip to the ball, en route. Nothing more than a consolation goal, of course, but a deserved one, in view of the effort that the team had put in over the 90 minutes, in spite of being thoroughly out-gunned and out-classed. It also means, of course, that Steve Smith has now scored four of the five goals (the other one being a Tom Binks penalty) that Ashford have managed since the departure of Tommy Sampson and his team, so that is certainly something for the new regime to think about !

The goal obviously gave the boys some encouragement, as they came forward looking for a second, but 6-1 was to be the final score. It was nice, though, to see Aaron O’Leary sprinting over to take a throw-in in the dying seconds !

So the expected shellacking did in fact materialise, although our brave lads stuck to the task of damage limitation pretty well. In the context of the season, Grantham Town had improved their goal difference considerably, just as their promotion rivals, Chelmsford and the IoW, had also done recently, but I reckon they’ve a bit too much to do this year. So I expect, and hope, that we’ll be making the trip to Grantham again next season. I just hope, as we all do, that we’ll be able to put out a proper first team, so that next time we can give them a run for their money.

Ashford United v Sutton Athletic. Kent Invicta League. 10th of December 2011.

Ashford United 1 Sutton Athletic 0
Byrne 7

From Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent

Ashford United’s final game before Christmas 2011, in this, the Club’s inaugural year – and just my second sight of the boys. There might have been the temptation for me to think that I had rather missed the show, and that the season was already effectively over – with Ashford now eliminated from all three cup competitions, and in 13th position in the 16-club league, all of 19 points behind leaders Bly Spartans. However, the announcement, on Thursday, of two high-profile signings changed all that ! Mo Takaloo from Deal Town, and Roy Guiver from Folkestone Invicta. This was a clear sign of intent from Tony Betteridge and his management team that they are not prepared to simply fulfill fixtures for the remainder of the season, and that they are still determined to pursue the new club’s objective of gaining promotion to the Kent League Premier Division at the first attempt, if at all possible.

Mohammed Takalobigashi is the more eye-catching of the two signings. Of Iranian extraction, and brother of both welterweight boxer Mehrdad and hip hop artist Rocky (better known to the world as Mic Righteous), Mo has been a proven goal scorer for the likes of Margate (in what is now the Blue Square Premier), Ramsgate, Maidstone United and Hythe Town. When a player with that sort of pedigree signs for a club that is at several levels below where he has played in the past, it is never certain that he will replicate his previous form – but Mo looked fit today, and motivated, and showed his obvious ability in being able to hold the ball up, and link up with other players.

The signing of Roy Guiver is arguably less spectacular, but thoroughly logical, in my view. Eye-witness accounts this season have suggested that Ashford’s young squad has lacked experience on the pitch in general, and needed, in particular, a really powerful aerial presence in both penalty boxes. Roy is strong, and can play as a centre-forward or as a centre-half, and would appear to be able to provide the perfect support for the talented youngsters that we have in these positions. Having made a place on Folkestone’s bench his own, in recent seasons, the move also seems to make sense for the player. Roy played in Ashford’s defence, this afternoon, and played a full part in achieving a pretty rare clean sheet. Regardless of how Mr Guiver’s spell at Homelands pans out, he is likely to have a decent stud career ahead of him, when he finally hangs up his boots. At the end of the month, he is due to become Neil Cugley’s son-in-law. With that genetic background, the future Mrs Guiver will probably produce a few decent defenders among her progeny. If she is successful as a broodmare, then let’s hope that a few of those defenders turn out in the green & white, in years to come.

Here is today’s full line-up: - 1. Billy Rice, 2. Sam Conlon, 3. Richard Quigley, 4. Ben Jordan, 5. Roy Guiver, 6. Ollie Finch (capt.), 7. Liam Whiting, 8. Jack Albin, 9. Tom Scorer, 10. Mohammed Takalobigashi (better known in our world as Mo Takaloo), 11. Kieran Byrne. Subs.: 12. Dan Morrison, 14. Gary Lockyer, 15. Liam Walsh, 16. Peter Williams, 17. (GK) Mo Munden.

It was cold today – very cold – but as beautiful a day as we could hope for in December. Clear, blue sky, and not a breath of wind – with spectators on the far side having the familiar problem of shading their eyes against the setting sun in the first half. The Homelands pitch looked beautifully green, with barely a blade of mud visible, and was, as usual, a credit to groundsman Steve Hackett. The unusually mild weather has been kind to Steve so far this season, but Thursday’s heavy rain meant that he had had to work fairly hard on the surface to get it up to scratch, following Wednesday’s U-18 match against Gillingham.

It was good to see so many friendly and familiar faces at the game, today – the usual advert for cosmetic surgery, behind the goal, of course, (and I don’t exclude myself from that, lads). There was a decent turn-out of 120, given the expected losses to the competing charms of Christmas shopping, and the fact that Ashford United had come into this game on the back of four straight defeats.

Sutton Athletic were always likely to provide a decent test, this afternoon, starting the game two places above Ashford – three points ahead, having played a game more. They turned out today in black & white stripes, black shorts and white sockies, so that anyone watching the match on the telly might have thought it was Hibernian v Grimsby Town. My biggest gripe about the visitors’ kit, however, was that the blue numbers on the back of the striped shirts were almost impossible to decipher – and I felt almost as sorry for Gary Kirton, who was on PA duty today, as I did for myself !

Such difficulties in identifying visiting players were less of an issue in the opening moments, since it was the home side that made the early running. In the sixth minute, Tom Scorer, partnering Mo Takaloo in a new-look strike pairing, sent in a good cross from the right, presenting Kieran Byrne with a simple chance in the centre, from about six yards out, but Ashford’s No.11 fluffed his attempted side-footed finish. Kieran did, however, make amends, just a minute later, when he scored what turned out to be the winning goal. His curling, left-footed free-kick from the right was aimed towards Sam Conlon, who was bearing down on the near post. Both Sam and Sutton ‘keeper Dean James failed to make contact with the ball, to give Byrne his sixth goal of the season. Incredibly, five of these have been direct from a free-kick, with the other being a penalty !

The goal was initially credited, over the PA, to Sam Conlon – but this was soon corrected by a combination of Conlon’s honesty in admitting that he had not got a touch, and the wonders of modern communications technology. In spite of wearing the No.2 shirt for Ashford this afternoon, young Sam actually played on the wide-right of midfield. He looked pretty comfortable both in his attacking role, and with his defensive responsibilities. I wasn’t consciously looking for a Man of the Match – but I probably wouldn’t have looked further than Sam.

That said, Mo Takaloo, predictably, showed enough, on his debut, to confirm that he was the most accomplished player on the pitch. As well as carrying out his duties as link-up man, he showed some good skills when in possession in the penalty area. A typical example came in the eleventh minute, (shortly after Billy Rice, in the Ashford goal, had palmed away a goal-bound downward header, after a Sutton corner). Mo received the ball with his back to goal, and was readily able to turn and shoot – but his tame shot went straight at the visiting ‘keeper. Six minutes later, he executed a similar turn-and-shot, and this time James had to make a good save, diving to his right.

Just prior to this chance, Takaloo had shown a different side to his game, when he riled Sutton’s William Roomes with an outrageously late tackle which went unpunished by Referee Scott Waters. It looked like the “relationship” between the two players was going to turn into one of the game’s sub-plots, when they were tangling with each other just a few moments later. It looked like Ashford’s new man was doing some holding, and a clearly less-than-happy Roomes appeared to lash out with his hand. This caused Scott to issue the first yellow card of the match – which he probably would have done even if an FA Assessor had not been sitting in the stand.

In the 23rd minute, Kieran Byrne had a chance to add to his tally of direct free-kick goals, when he lined up the ball in a central position, not far outside the Sutton penalty area – but his shot went just wide of the angle of post and bar. In truth, this was not a game in which Ashford created a great number of chances, and it was a little disappointing that they never quite got hold of the match, and failed to really impose themselves on the opposition. In fact, although Ashford looked to have the better players, there was little or nothing between the sides, and Sutton Athletic had periods in which they looked the more purposeful and forward-going side.

Although the home back four generally looked solid in the face of Sutton’s attempts at equalising, they had goalkeeper Billy Rice to thank for preserving the clean sheet, in the 26th minute. This came about as a result of a good move, and a good through-ball, from the Dartford-based outfit, and Ashford’s veteran ‘keeper did well to save with his feet. Shortly after, on two separate occasions, a long ball easily penetrated the Ashford defence, but, on both occasions, a home defender was there to save the situation with a strong tackle.

There was a different look to the second half. The sun had long gone down, the floodlights were on and a yellow moon rose above the leafless trees on the far side of the ground – but, in spite of Richard Quigley blazing a shot just over the bar in the opening minutes of the half, it was still Sutton Athletic who had the majority of possession, looking determined to get on level terms.

In the 51st minute, Billy Rice did well to cleanly collect a corner, from the right, and then, three minutes later, Sutton’s Joe Horlock blasted a free-kick goalwards, only to see it deflected over the bar by Ashford’s green & white defensive wall. The resulting corner, from the left, was headed clear. I’m at a loss to explain why the free-kick had been awarded – and Roy Guiver was probably equally confused, as he marked his return to Ashford with a yellow card for dissent.

As the visitors made their first substitution, in the 57th minute, there were calls of “Lift it, Lift it” from an Ashford player – and this was certainly what was required.

On the hour mark, the home side actually had a chance to score out of nothing, after Tom Scorer robbed a Sutton defender. Tom carried the ball into the penalty area, and pulled it back to Takaloo – but Mo’s rather weak shot was easily saved. A minute later, however, Ashford came to life with their best move of the match – and this began with Takaloo picking the ball up on the halfway line. He played a one-two with Kieran Byrne, and then fed the ball forward to Tom Scorer. Tom pulled the ball back, this time to Liam Whiting, who had time to take a touch before aiming a firm shot that went just over the bar. This was to be Tom Scorer’s final meaningful contribution of the day, as his injury jinx appeared to strike again, in the 64th minute, when he had to be replaced by Gary Lockyer. Gary was, at least, a natural replacement – and was easy to spot, wearing green sockies, whilst all of his outfield colleagues were wearing white !

Sutton continued to look enterprising going forward, and a good, flowing move in the 65th minute ended with an attempt at goal which had to be cleared off the line – the follow-up attempt was blasted high and wide. At the other end, in the 69th minute, Gary Lockyer saw his shot deflected wide, for a rare Ashford corner, and then, a minute later, collected a yellow card for his defensive work near the left-back’s corner flag. This was all part of an impressive little shift from Gary, who also went close in the 78th minute, shooting just past the angle, from 20 yards out, after an impressive turn. (For the record, Kieran Byrne became the third Ashford player to be booked, in the 76th minute, after refusing to retreat the required ten yards, after Sutton had been awarded a free-kick).

Ashford Physio Alan Orsbourne had had a quiet match, in a busy season, and wasn’t called into action until ten minutes from the end, when Jack Albin went down winded, after a clash with a team-mate when both had attempted a headed clearance from a Sutton corner.

In the 83rd minute, an ambitious, long-range shot from Sutton’s Chris Murlees was easily taken by Billy Rice, who, in the final analysis, was not seriously tested in keeping Ashford’s lead intact, in spite of the visitors’ commendable enterprise. In the end, the three league points were as deserved as they were welcome, after a performance from the home side that was plenty solid enough, if not sparkling.

The final action of what was never a nasty, or dirty, game concerned the small matter of three late red cards. The first two came in the 87th minute. Liam Whiting went in for a challenge on goalkeeper Dean James which looked, to me, to be a fair enough attempt at winning a 50-50 ball. However, Scott Waters interpreted this as being a two-footed challenge, and reacted by awarding Liam a straight red card. First, though, Scott had to deal with the fact that a clearly disgruntled James had retaliated by aiming a slap in the direction of the Ashford man – and sent him off, meaning that he had to be replaced in goal by an outfield player, for what remained of the game.

Ashford Manager Paul Chambers reacted by replacing Mo Takaloo with Dan Morrison, leaving Gary Lockyer on his own up front – but Chambo’s opposite number, Guy Eldridge, soon had his playing staff reduced to nine, when Ryan Eldridge was sent off, two minutes into injury time. This came about after Eldridge jnr had grappled on the floor with Richard Quigley, after a challenge near the halfway line. The third red card of the match seemed to mystify some on-lookers, but I’m sure that I saw Eldridge get in a crafty slap on Quigley – but this happened right in front of the referee, who was in a good position to see it.

Ashford United v Shoreham. FA Vase First Qualifying Round. 10th of September 2011.

Ashford United 2 (Byrne 15, Walsh 90+4)
Shoreham 2 (Green 8, Walker 25)

(2-2 after 90 minutes)
(2-2 after extra time)

From Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent

My first match report for a year and five months – give or take – and the reasons for the hiatus will be familiar to anyone reading this. My previous effort reported on Ashford Town’s 6-2 defeat away at Fleet Town, towards the end of a relegation campaign that was ultimately successful, thanks to a 2-1 victory at home to Chatham Town in the last game of the season. How things change ! Fleet Town are now back in the Southern League, and my team is now called Ashford United, and we are six games into the season in the new, Step 6 Kent Invicta League.

But this was not about the KIL – nor is this report about chewing the old fat of the past. Today was FA Vase First Qualifying Round day, and we had been drawn at home to Shoreham, of the Sussex League.

Today was a big day – and, as anybody there will know, a very memorable day. For me, it was an occasion to revisit the temple that is Homelands, catch up with friends and see heroes, new and old, for the first time. For a basically very young, still coagulating team, this was always going to be a big occasion. The FA Vase is the one competition this season that provides the opportunity for our boys to play against a team from higher in the football pyramid – and The Musselmen provided us with Step 5 opposition this afternoon.

What made this an intriguing clash was that Shoreham looked far from unbeatable, on paper. They finished 18th in the Sussex League last year, and were technically relegated, before being granted a reprieve. This season, they have fared little better in the league, having so far collected just the one point from three games. In addition to that, they reportedly had seven bells kicked out of them by Three Bridges, in mid-week, so came to Homelands with three of their first-choice back four missing ! In contrast, Shoreham had, unusually, won both of their FA Cup ties, to date – against Holmesdale of the Kent League Premier, and fellow Sussex Leaguers Lancing – so maybe they save their best performances for the cups !

Given the visitors’ profile, it was logical to expect Ashford United, mid-table at Step 6, but with expectations to improve as the season progresses, to have a fair chance of getting a result today. Having said that, the home side was coming here on the back of what was described as a poor performance, at home to Bearsted, on Wednesday, (in spite of the lads actually getting a 1-1 draw from the game).

The pre-match talk had been of Manager Paul Chambers drafting in some new players, to liven the squad up a bit, with maybe a couple being signed up in time for today’s match. As it turned out, the fresh blood consisted of the one new signing – Kieran Byrne – and the promoted U-18s’ captain, Liam Walsh. It must be said that both players made a tremendous impact on their debut – and they would have done even if they had not both got themselves on the score-sheet ! We are lucky to have Kieran Byrne, as he has been pursued by a number of clubs. A left-sided midfielder, who was last seen at Hythe Town, he looked a good player, in spite of not having played for some five months. Liam Walsh, still only 17, looked very competent and composed in central defence, and was probably Ashford’s Man of the Match this afternoon. The lad obviously has a very bright future.

The remainder of the team consisted of fairly familiar names – but most of them were just names to me, at this stage, so I was looking forward to seeing how they would shape up. More familiar figures, of course, were Ashford legends Matt Bower and Lee McRobert. Matt doesn’t look any different to when I last saw him play – although he’s probably worked on his sun tan a little more. I was also surprised and delighted to see that Lee Mac, arguably the best outfield player ever to have worn an Ashford shirt, also hadn’t changed a great deal; he started on the bench, today, but looked pretty much his old self when he eventually came on. Sam Conlon was also not new to me – he was the one survivor of Ashford Town’s 2009-10 season, his four substitute appearances clocking up a total of 81 minutes.

So here was the team, led by Lee Shearer, who was announced as the captain, just prior to the game: -

1. Tony Allen, 2. Kieran Sanger, 3. Richard Quigley, 4. Matt Bower, 5. Liam Walsh, 6. Lee Shearer (capt.), 7. Dan Scorer, 8. Liam Whiting, 9. Gary Lockyer, 10. Sam Conlon, 11. Kieran Byrne.
Subs.: 12. Jack Albin, 14. Tom Scorer, 15. Lee McRobert, 16. Paul Chambers, 18. (GK) Mo Munden.

But I’m not going to stop there. These were the personnel available to play, but Ashford United FC is all about the extended Ashford footballing family, these days. There were also legends in the stand, this afternoon. Paul O’Brien was unavailable to play, due to injury, but was there supporting the lads; Scott McRobert is now part of the set-up, and it was also good to see The Great Jeff Ross in attendance. The backroom staff and the team that runs the stadium are made up of stalwarts from eras past, who, between them, have seen more managers and owners come and go than I, or they, would care to think about. After the kin strife and the divisive off-the-field politics of the past couple of years, which had split fans, volunteers and staff down the middle, it was really good to see them all back together again.

I should also mention the man who has mostly been responsible for making this renaissance possible. Tony Betteridge appears to be delighted with the progress that the Club has made so far, and seems to be genuinely taken aback by the sheer volume of support that has come from the fans. Tony’s only problem appears to be that he is fretting over not being able to deliver success on the field in time to meet the fans’ expectations – but none of the faithful that turned out for this cup tie were thinking along those lines, after what was eventually a good performance from the home team sent them home happy.

I say “eventually” because the boys took their time to warm to this one. They started off OK, though, and the opening minutes were fairly even - and I reckon that United were slightly unfortunate to go a goal down, as early as the eighth minute. A long through ball, for Shoreham’s Charlie Walker to chase, easily bisected the two Ashford centre-halves, and it was young Liam Walsh who cleared the danger, putting the ball behind for a corner. This found Gareth Green, on the edge of the penalty area. He was allowed to turn, and his looping shot cannoned off the far post, and into the net. Goalkeeper Tony Allen, about whom I’ve heard glowing reports, but who looked a bit shaky on occasions, had no chance of getting anywhere near it.

During the first quarter of an hour, Ashford struggled to create an opening, with just an optimistic shot from long range, from Kieran Sanger, in the 10th minute, which sailed tamely over the bar, to show for their efforts – until they were awarded a free-kick, on the 15 minute mark. This was for a late tackle by Shoreham’s Kevin Keehan on Dan Scorer. After a period where it seemed that he had been constantly blowing for free-kicks, Referee Freddie Collins finally ran out of patience, and showed Keehan a yellow card. More to the point, this was the opportunity for new-boy Kieran Byrne to formally introduce himself to the Ashford supporters. The kick was from just outside the penalty area, to the right of goal, and Kieran curled the ball beautifully with his left foot, just inside the near post, and just under the bar. This boy looks a handy signing.

Just two minutes later, there was a dodgy moment for Tony Allen. A harmless-looking free-kick was chipped into the Ashford area. Allen hesitated in coming out to collect the ball, enabling a Shoreham forward to nip in ahead of him, and glance a header towards goal. Thankfully, for all those of a green & white persuasion, the ball was cleared off the line.

In the 21st minute, the visitors picked up their second yellow card, when Josh Clayman was late with a tackle on Gary Lockyer. Ashford’s young No.9 was down for some time, receiving treatment from Alan Orsbourne, who is now Ashford’s official physio, having passed his exams and served his apprenticeship with the sponge. Whilst this was never a really dirty game, Alan was to have a busy afternoon, covering almost as many miles as some of the players.

The Mussels, playing in their home strip of all blue, took the lead again, in the 25th minute. Matt Bower had committed a foul, on the far side, having initially lost the ball. The resulting free-kick was floated into the Ashford penalty area, and it needed Kieran Sanger to head the ball behind. The resulting corner found Charlie Walker, in the centre of the goalmouth. His initial right-foot shot hit the post, but he had time to turn in the rebound.

As the half hour mark came and went, Ashford continued to press, and had a couple of corners, and a free-kick in a dangerous position, but no clear-cut chance resulted. There were just a few signs of some nice, neat moves developing – but, generally, Ashford were poor whenever they got into Shoreham’s half of the pitch, with through balls and passes to the forwards rarely coming anywhere near to reaching their target. In fact, it was the visitors who had the next chance to score, in the 34th minute. This came from a cracking, long-range shot from Lee Eastman, which thumped against the post, with the diving Tony Allen well beaten.

As half time approached, Shoreham began to look well in control, and Ashford’s frustration began to show, with a few heads dropping, and the odd spat breaking out between the players. Whilst the home side had reached the interval a goal down, there were several performances that indicated that there are some talented players in this squad. Apart from Liam Walsh and Kieran Byrne, who have already been mentioned, I was impressed by Richard Quigley, who looked solid at left-back in what was his first start for Ashford. Kieran Sanger also did a lot of good things, and I thought that Liam Whiting looked good, in midfield.

The news at the start of the second half was that Lee Shearer had decided that he wasn’t feeling 100%, physically, and his place in central defence, and the captain’s armband, were taken by Matt Bower. Jack Albin came on and went into central midfield. The team looked better as a result of this change, and Matt looked happier at the back.

The first attack of the half was launched by Liam Whiting, when he went on a good run through the midfield – but his attempted ball through to Sam Conlon hit Sam on the heel. Later, Whiting did well to win the ball in the centre of the pitch, and he and Gary Lockyer suddenly had a two against two situation with an exposed Shoreham defence – but Liam was unable to supply the required pass, and that just about summed up Ashford’s attacking efforts in the first 90 minutes.

The brightest piece of skill in the entire game came from Shoreham, in the 55th minute. Richard Quigley had put a stop to a well-constructed attack by the visitors, when his intercepting header went behind for a corner. Gareth Green went short, to meet the corner taker; then, he beat his man with a brilliant turn on the by-line, but wastefully blasted the ball across the face of goal.

The tide started to turn with just over an hour gone, when Manager Paul Chambers made one of two inspired substitutions. He threw on Lee McRobert, for Liam Whiting, in the 61st minute. Lee was to show his class almost every time he touched the ball, but his first significant act was to talk Referee Fred into showing him a yellow card. This followed an incident, in the 66th minute, where Gary Lockyer reportedly received an elbow in the face, and again needed lengthy attention from Alan Orsbourne. After consulting his Lino on the far side, Fred showed a yellow card to Shoreham’s Lee Eastman – and also gave Matt Bower a thorough lecture, for his part in the debate.

Part 2 of the masterstroke came in the 73rd minute, when Paul Chambers surprised everyone by bringing himself on, in place of Richard Quigley, in what was a purely tactical substitution. Now I have to be careful with what I say here. When Lee Ealham came on as a late substitute for Ashford Town at Folkestone, in a Kent Senior Cup game, I described him as looking like the chubbier of the two Mitchell brothers – and I didn’t have the foresight to write a suicide note ! Well, Mr Chambers looks to be in the sort of shape that you’d expect of a man of his age who no longer plays any football – and the rumour in the stand was that he’s 48. And I’m sorry, but he reminded me very much of the comedian, Al Murray. Having said all that, he barely put a foot wrong, and was cheered by the Ashford fans every time he got near the ball. I suspect that his main intended role on the pitch was supervisory, trying to gee the lads up, and get some spark into the performance – but he played a full part in a three-man attack, sitting just behind the ineffective Gary Lockyer and Sam Conlon, and his appearance created a real buzz throughout the ground.

Within a minute of this third Ashford substitution, Dan Scorer picked up the ball to the right of the visitors’ penalty area, and crossed the ball beyond the far post. Gary Lockyer headed the ball into the goal mouth, and Chambo came steaming in with an attempted header, but the ball was cleared. The big man’s introduction sparked a period of Ashford pressure, and, in the 79th minute, the home side had a corner, on the right. This was taken by Dan Scorer, with his left foot, sending the ball looping beyond the far post. This time, the now player-manager met the ball with his head, but straight to goalkeeper Rowan Callaghan.

In spite of all the urgency, Ashford were still unable to create a clear-cut chance, and Shoreham appeared to be coasting to what looked to be a very comfortable victory, and a Second Qualifying Round tie at Deal Town, (which I am sure that many Ashford United fans would covet). In fact, the visitors looked like putting the game to bed, in the third of the five minutes of injury time, when a tiring Kieran Sanger was, for once, shrugged off the ball, in the penalty area – but Tony Allen did well to come out and block the shot. Shoreham’s sole ambition, from the corner, was to run down the clock, but there was still time for one more Ashford attack.

In the 94th minute, Lee McRobert did some good work, wide on the right, sending his cross long, into the centre of the Shoreham box. Big Chambo went up to challenge for the ball with the goalkeeper. The ball broke to Kieran Walsh, who had the composure to take a touch, before slamming the ball into the back of the net. The scenes of celebration on and off the pitch were something to behold ! That joyous knot of green and white, just in front of the stands, had so much Ashford football about it, past, present and future, from young Kieran who had scored the equaliser, through the legend that is Lee McRobert, to the old man whose inspired gamble had paid off handsomely. This was more than just an equaliser in the last minute of a cup tie. This was a bunch of men and boys who had collectively pulled together to overcome all manner of self-doubt. For me, it was the moment that confirmed, as if I didn’t already know, that football, at Homelands, IS BACK !!

It was indeed a euphoric moment – but then reality slowly crept in. As Fred blew his whistle for full time, there was the prospect of 30 minutes of extra time. How would our youngsters’ fitness levels cope with this ? How would the oldsters’ fitness cope with this ?! With all the substitutions having been made, Chambo would have to soldier on until the final whistle, and Lee McRobert, after an impressive cameo, was visibly shot.

As it turned out, these fears were unfounded, as there was frankly only one team in this from the 91st minute onwards – and I’m reliably informed that, in spite of appearances, the Manager is one of the fittest blokes in the squad !

In the second minute of extra time, Gary Lockyer won what looked like a very soft free-kick, on the edge of the Shoreham area. (Oh, Fred !). Dan Scorer went for goal, but his curling effort went just wide of the angle of post and bar. Two minutes later, Lee McRobert almost put Kieran Byrne in on goal with a glorious, diagonal through ball with the outside of his left boot – but Rowan Callaghan came out to beat the Ashford No.11 to the ball. Shortly afterwards, that man Chambers was there again, with a headed flick-on that put Gary Lockyer in on goal. This time, the Ashford man got to the ball ahead of the ‘keeper, but dinked the ball just wide of the post, when it looked like he was going to score his first competitive goal for the Club. Gary had looked a bit of a blunt instrument throughout the first 90 minutes of the game, but he was now coming into his own. In the 100th minute, he used his undoubted strength to turn his marker, on the edge of the area, and fed the ball through to Sam Conlon – but Callaghan was alert to the danger on this occasion.

In the interval between the two periods of extra time, there were, ominously, a couple of Ashford lads down having treatment for cramp – but there was no change in the momentum of the game, with Shoreham now showing very little. The visitors did have the ball in the Ashford area in the first minute of the second extra period, with Josh Clayman, but Kieran Sanger came across with a great saving tackle, and the home side immediately launched a good, end-to-end move, which found Sam Conlon on the right flank. Sam’s cross found Gary Lockyer, in the centre, but the centre-forward’s awkward volley went high, and over the bar.

In the 110th minute, Dan Scorer pushed the ball past a defender, and was then fouled. His free-kick again found – who else ? – Paul Chambers, beyond the far post, but the spritely striker, who was now looking more and more like Bobby Zamora, headed the ball straight at the ‘keeper.

The moment when the earth appeared to stand still, and the angels held their breath, as Chambo came within a few inches of his Golden Moment, came with 112 minutes on the clock. He ran onto the ball in the centre of the Shoreham half, and, utterly ridiculously, glided past three players, before launching a dipping, left-footed shot at goal. If Walt Disney were telling this story, the ball would have dropped into the top corner of the net – but, alas, it went just wide of the angle.

So the game ended 2-2, meaning that the two teams will contest a replay, on Tuesday night. In many ways, although a cup tie away to Deal would be a wonderful fixture for us, it doesn’t matter much who wins the replay, as today was all about today. It was a memorable match that I’m sure will be talked about for a long time to come, and I’m really pleased that I was there. Above all, it was a personal triumph for Paul Chambers. As the rest of the team did their warm-down on the far side of the pitch, Chambo trudged off alone, and received one of the loudest, and most heart-felt, ovations that I’ve witnessed at Homelands. Hats off to him.

Fleet Town v Ashford Town. Ryman Division One South. 17th of April 2010.

Fleet Town 6 Ashford Town 2
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent

Final game of the 2009-10 campaign. This really should have been a relaxing day out in the Spring sunshine – no stress, no strain – especially with the Fleet trip being the shortest one for us in the league calendar. (As it turned out, it took us one hour and eleven minutes to get to the ground, in spite of extensive 50 mph speed limits on the M1, M25 and M3). Unfortunately, Ashford’s season, and their struggle against relegation to the Kent League, is far from over. Last Saturday’s 2-0 victory at home to Sittingbourne gave us a three-point advantage over Walton Casuals, with three games in hand, which enabled many Ashford fans to breathe a large sigh of relief. However, two consecutive 0-1 home defeats during the week have reduced the games-in-hand advantage to just one, and the fact that Walton Casuals were today due to meet a Sittingbourne side playing in its fourth match in five days (!) made that three-point cushion look decidedly precarious.

Probably more worrying has been the manner of the two midweek defeats. In both cases, we went behind to an early goal, and then spent the remainder of each game unable to score, (meaning that we’d drawn a blank in five of our previous six games). So where could we go from here ? No chance any more of recruiting reinforcements. All Steve Lovell could do was to take the same squad of tired players, with several of them carrying injuries, to Hampshire, to take on Fleet Town, the side in sixth place in the table, still with a fair chance of making the promotion play-offs – and hope for the best !

Hope was not something that I had much of, given that today’s opponents are always a strong side, and impressed many observers when beating us 1-4 at The Homelands in February – so it was a good thing that we had had a decent meal in the Heron on the Lake before the game.

There was one surprise in the Ashford Town line-up this afternoon – there was a first start for 18 year-old striker Ben Morley, who had made brief substitute appearances in recent home games against Leatherhead and Whitstable. Ben played in attack, alongside Mark Lovell, who didn’t play against Whitstable on Thursday, (a bruised knee having been given as the reason). Joe Fuller, who played up front alongside Tom Murphy in that Thursday game, was utilised in central midfield this afternoon, as were Ronnie Dolan and Ross Morley, with Mitchell Sherwood wide on the left. Right-back Carl Harrold pushed up to fill the gap on the right side of midfield, whenever possible – Carl was part of a back four that also included Lee Hockey, Laurence Harvey and Danny Lye. Scott Chalmers-Stevens was once again in goal. On the bench we had goalkeeper Darren Ibrahim, plus striker Tom Murphy and midfielders Chris Borchescu, Dan Scorer and Matt Newman – so Lovell Snr was probably praying that he didn’t get an injury to a defender early on ! Those most notable by their absence were Toby Ashmore and Liam Geering.

It was a fairly typical end-of-season pitch at Calthorpe Park – a hard, dry surface, which caused the odd bobble, and barely a blade of grass in either goalmouth. The home side, playing in a rather fetching strip of sky blue shirts with diagonal navy blue stripes on the body, navy blue shorts and sky blue sockies, played down the obvious slope, in the first half, and had the first half-chance of the game, in the opening minute. A Mitch Sherwood hand-ball, near the halfway line, resulted in a free-kick that was pumped deep into the Ashford penalty area. This was nodded into the centre, from where bald central defender Steve Noakes tried a speculative over-head kick, which sailed harmlessly high and wide.

Unsurprisingly, given recent evidence, Ashford offered very little in terms of constructive, creative play. The game plan seemed to be to dig in, compete for everything and hope to get some joy from set-pieces using our aerial and physical presence. It was very much the cult of “get tight to ‘em, and be first to that ‘second ball’”. In the face of superior opposition, this probably wasn’t a bad game plan – although it must be said that Steve Lovell and Hugo Langton haven’t invested much time in trying to blind the opposition with science this season !

To be fair, there was early evidence that these tactics might bear fruit. In fact, Ashford Town actually took the lead, in the twelfth minute, and this opening goal stemmed from a Lee Hockey long throw. Lee’s first effort, from the right side of the field, was easily headed clear by Steve Hemmings, but his second attempt penetrated deep into the Fleet goalmouth. The ball broke to Laurence Harvey, who was first to react, and he poked the ball over the line, for his SIXTH goal of the season.

Almost immediately, news filtered in, through the aether, that Sittingbourne had taken a 0-1 lead against Walton Casuals, on the banks of the Thames – and, suddenly, we had a vision of salvation, with all of our pain and relegation nightmares erased, beneath the cloudless Hampshire sky. Would the Lee Hockey long throw prove to be the magic silver bullet that was to cure all of our ills ? Had Steve Lovell found the key to Ryman League survival ? Well, we weren’t going to be left wondering, as the visitors persisted with this tactic. Lee launched a low howitzer into the Fleet box, in the 15th minute, and this was headed behind for a corner, at the near post. Debutant Ben Morley delivered the cross, curling the ball in with his right foot, from the left.

I would say that, as the ball was sailing towards the far post, this was the high point of Ashford’s afternoon – because it all went downhill from here. Inexplicably, and unforgivably, Joe Fuller met the ball with a flailing hand, in an action that can only be described as a volleyball smash. (Actually, Joe’s action can be explained – he was trying to get away with a deliberate hand-ball !). Referee Dominic Gregory saw exactly what had happened, and it seemed that he had seen an absolutely nailed-on red card offence, so Joe was extremely fortunate to only receive a yellow card – which is a decision that I certainly can’t explain !

I’d hesitate to describe this as a Hand of God incident, as The Big Man does tend to get blamed for everything, but I reckon that God dealt out his own retribution, as Ashford’s lead was cancelled out just three minutes later. On second thoughts, the home side probably didn’t require the assistance of a twelfth man, as Ashford’s back five did them plenty of favours this afternoon. As a cross came in from the right, the ball was allowed to go all the way through the six-yard box, finding Tyrone Smith at the far post – and the Fleet skipper was easily able to sweep the ball into the net, from close range.

So Ashford’s lead had lasted for all of six minutes – and Fleet Town simply never looked back from here. There is a simple explanation for why this game turned into a 6-2 defeat for the visitors – man for man, Ashford were out-matched ! I saw little evidence of tiredness or lack of effort, but Andy Sinton clearly had better players at his disposal than Steve Lovell. It was very much like watching our lads pitting themselves against a Ryman Premier side – and I don’t think there was much that The Management could have done about it.

The gulf in ability between the two teams was illustrated in the 29th minute, when Fleet went 2-1 up. This was a skilfully created goal, the like of which I cannot imagine any of Ashford’s forwards pulling off. Eddie Smith, with his back to goal, turned Lee Hockey without too much trouble, and fed the ball into the path of his strike partner, Mark Anderson, who calmly and firmly thumped the ball past Scott Chalmers-Stevens, into the corner of the net.

Ashford stuck to their task, and persisted with the plan of peppering the Fleet penalty area from corners, throw-ins and free-kicks, but failed in their efforts to create a clear-cut chance – until a Carl Harrold free-kick, from the edge of the centre circle, found the head of Mark Lovell, in the 38th minute, but Mark headed just wide.

The only time that Ashford heads appeared to drop a little was when Fleet went 3-1 up, with what seemed a fairly soft penalty, in the 42nd minute. A long clearance, down the slope, from Fleet ‘keeper Lyall Beazley, appeared to be going all the way through to Scott Chalmers-Stevens, who came out of his goal to punch clear. Suddenly, Mr Gregory was pointing to the penalty spot, making a gesture that seemed to be indicating that the striker was being pulled back – and Danny Lye got booked, but that’s all that I can tell you ! Eddie Smith easily slotted the ball into the corner of the net – and then we heard that Walton Casuals had equalised against Sittingbourne – and it was all going horribly wrong.

Furthermore, it very nearly got horribly worse, even before half time. Almost straight from the restart, Mark Anderson was put clean through on goal; he stabbed the ball past the advancing Chalmers-Stevens, but also just wide of goal. Then, in first half injury time, there seemed little danger as the ball was crossed from the Fleet left – but Lee Hockey, in the act of intercepting the cross, saw the ball slide off his instep, and straight into the path of Mark Anderson. The home No.9 was probably caught completely by surprise to see the ball at his feet, and he blasted wide, with only the ‘keeper to beat. So it was 3-1 at the interval, but Fleet’s lead might easily have been greater.

It was genuine sunbathing weather during half time, as the sky remained completely cloudless. Volcanic ash cloud ? What volcanic ash cloud ?

Unusually, the visitors emerged from the second half a few minutes before the home side. Was this a sign that Steve Lovell’s team talk had been fairly brief ? Apparently, his instructions had been “Just go for it”, which, under the circumstances, was probably as good a speech as any.

Whatever Steve had said, the home side went into a 4-1 lead in the 49th minute. Carl Harrold was unable to prevent Darren Wheeler from getting to the by-line and delivering a cross, from the left – but The Management’s wrath was directed at goalkeeper Chalmers-Stevens, as the ball was once again allowed to travel all the way through the Ashford six-yard box, before Nathan Smart, arriving at the far post, hit the ball firmly into the roof of the net.

Ashford reduced the deficit just two minutes later. The otherwise impressive young ‘keeper, Lyall Beazley, failed to hang on to a cross which came in from the Ashford right, and the ball was dinked back across goal, to Mark Lovell. Mark’s initial right-footed attempt at goal was blocked – but he hit the ball into the net at the second attempt, for his eighth goal of the season. Laurence Harvey and Mark Lovell have, between them, scored all five of Ashford’s goals that have been scored from open play in the past ten games.

Just prior to Ashford’s second goal, Danny Lye had been discussing with The Management whether or not he should continue to play, which suggests that Danny was clearly not 100% fit – and the Ashford Club Captain was replaced by Tom Murphy, in the 53rd minute, as the visitors switched to a 3-4-3 formation, with Ben Morley taking up a wide-left position. With the score at 4-2, this was clearly a nothing-to-lose tactical change, but having only three at the back might have contributed to Fleet’s fifth goal, which originated from a cross from the Fleet right, in the 54th minute. This was a cross that was fairly hammered across the face of Scott Chalmers-Stevens’ goal, and a diving Scott was unable to intercept it. The ball simply hit the deepest of the three Fleet forwards who were waiting in the penalty area, and rebounded to Leigh Rumbold, who hit the ball home, with the ‘keeper still stranded.

As well as scoring Ashford’s second goal, Mark Lovell looked as effective as anyone in a yellow shirt this afternoon. He battled away tirelessly, being one of the few Ashford players to have the physical presence to compete with a generally bigger and stronger team, and he also showed his experience when winning a few cheap free-kicks – like he did in the 58th minute, when Fleet left-back Bernard Asante also got yellow carded for his efforts. Mark also showed a deft touch, on the hour mark, when he beautifully deflected a Ronnie Dolan pass into the path of Tom Murphy – but Tom rather selfishly hammered the ball into the side netting. Three minutes later, Lee Hockey, who was getting excellent distance on his throws this afternoon, managed to launch the ball right into the home side’s goalmouth, but Mark, who might have been a little unsighted, headed wide.

Most of the good football, however, came from the home side, and Nathan Smart and Mark Anderson left the Ashford defence trailing, with a fast one-two down the right flank, in the 64th minute. Eddie Smith went diving in, trying to get a foot to the inevitable cross, but could only divert the ball wide, ending up in a cloud of dust in the goalmouth. A minute later, Ashford pieced together a rare good passing movement, which ended with Mark Lovell buying another cheap free-kick at the expense of Bernard Asante. Referee Gregory ignored the advice of the Ashford faithful behind the goal to show Bernard a second yellow card – which would have been totally unjustified – but had a long chat with the Fleet No.3, just to keep him on his toes. Tom Murphy took the resulting free-kick, hitting a low, hard shot which Lyall Beazley spilt, and a Fleet defender was injured in the ensuing scramble, as an Ashford player, (Lee Hockey, I think), tried to poke the ball over the line. This caused the only real flashpoint in the game, but the ref soon had the situation firmly under control – and Lee H was certainly one of the four players that Mr Gregory spoke to.

In the 71st minute, another Lee Hockey long throw, from the right, was headed behind for a corner. Before the kick was taken, Chris Borchescu replaced Joe Fuller, who had clearly been struggling, physically; Andy Sinton also made a substitution, sending on James Field in place of the bruised Bernard Asante, who had felt the weight of a Mark Lovell foul just seconds earlier. Borchescu took the corner himself, but his cross was headed clear, and the home side was immediately off on a break. With the three-man Ashford defence struggling to get back, up the slope, a brilliantly accurate ball was swept into the path of Darren Wheeler, but Wheeler failed to do the pass justice, and steered the ball wide. Three minutes later, the No.11 tried to make amends, attacking the Ashford defence down the left, and was about to get the better of Laurence Harvey when Laurence blatantly clung onto his opponent’s arm. (Good boy ! You’re learning !). Scottie Three Names punched the resulting free-kick clear, being fouled in the process. In the 76th minute, Wheeler was on the ball again, on the left wing, teasing Mitchell Sherwood, who was facing him down. In spite of Mitch standing his ground, Wheeler got in a good cross, but Leigh Rumbold headed over at the far post.

In the 79th minute, Andy Sinton replaced Mark Anderson with Paul Harkness, and his team took a 6-2 lead, just two minutes later, with what I think was the goal of the game. Fleet Town simply passed the ball around our lads. It was something that the home side had looked capable of doing all game, and it was almost as if they did so merely to prove the point. The last of several passes found substitute James Field on the edge of the Ashford penalty area – and, come to think of it, he also passed the ball, right into the corner of Scottie’s net, giving the ‘keeper no chance. This was the third time that Chalmers-Stevens had conceded six or more goals in a game this season; he has now let in 56, which is more than any other Ashford goalkeeper over the past five seasons, with the exception of Jake Whincup, who let in the same number. The difference, however, is that Jake kept goal for a total of 3,420 minutes during the 2006-7 and 2007-8 seasons, whilst Scott has charged to this total in just 2,546 minutes; (not that I’m suggesting for a moment that either ‘keeper was responsible for all of those goals).

There were optimistic Ashford appeals for a penalty, in the 83rd minute, after a Mark Lovell shot, from just inside the area, hit a Fleet defender’s hand, and then, with just two minutes of normal time remaining, Chris Borchescu showed some fancy footwork when trying to dance between three Fleet players – but his showy cameo was ended with a foul. Tom Murphy, who often appears to have graduated from the Greta Garbo School of Teamwork, went for goal with the free-kick, hitting the ball low and hard towards the Fleet goal. Lee Hockey intercepted his effort, and very nearly poked the ball into the net, but earnt nothing more than a corner. Worse still, the corner came to nothing, and the home side quickly turned the situation into a counter-attack. In fact, this really should have been a seventh goal for Fleet Town, as Eddie Smith was soon racing clear of the pursuing Ashford defence – but Scott Chalmers-Stevens did well, making a good save.

With Leatherhead only drawing at Merstham this afternoon, the home side is now just a point outside the play-off zone, and so still has a live chance of what would be a thoroughly well-deserved promotion, having been one of the best footballing sides at this level for four or five years now. As for Ashford’s predicament, well, The Brickies did us a huge favour in holding Walton Casuals to a draw; with their one remaining game of the season being away to in-form Leatherhead, this was Walton’s big chance to really put pressure on Ashford. As it is, the situation is very simple now – assuming that we get nothing from Wednesday’s home game against third-placed Worthing, (who will be motivated by the fact that they are still not sure of a play-off place), then we’ll finish in the bottom two if Casuals win next Saturday and we don’t. If we somehow get a point against Worthing, then a point at home to Chatham will be enough to see us finish clear of the relegation zone.

If the unthinkable happens, and we do end up in the relegation places, then it will be as the 21st-placed team, and then relegation will, or won’t, become a reality depending on how reprieves are handed out as a result of clubs from higher up in the pyramid going out of business, etc. My understanding from sources of unknown reliability – in the absence of the late, and much missed, Tony Kempster – is that the earlier demise of King’s Lynn FC and Newcastle Blue Star FC will result in a reprieve for the teams finishing in 21st position in Unibond Division One North and Unibond Division One South. (This is something to do with a prior agreement to maintain numbers in the Unibond League). Priority for any further reprieves will be assessed on the basis of the team(s) finishing 21st with the best points total in the four remaining Step 4 divisions – which will be Ashford Town, by a considerable distance, indicating that the bottom of Ryman Division One South has been fairly competitive this season.

Let’s hope that it doesn’t come to that !

Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Mark Lovell

Ramsgate v Ashford Town. Ryman Division One South. 5th of April 2010.

Ramsgate 0 Ashford Town 0
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent

Easter Monday, 2010, and this was the second leg of a double-header for us, as we were at The Homelands for Saturday’s 0-1 defeat at home to in-form Leatherhead. The Easter week-end gives us the opportunity to spend a few days in God’s own town, and to take in a couple of games – thanks to the wonderful hospitality of the Orsbournes ! Culinary highlights of the week-end were, of course, the cooked breakfast, but also an excellent meal at The Halfway House, in Challock, on the Sunday. I’d recommend the smoked haddock rarebit to anybody !

To summarise the outcome of the footy over the three days, Ashford Town’s haul was a solitary point – but a point that was valuable, in that, with results elsewhere mostly going our way, we emerge from Easter with a cushion of three points between us and Walton Casuals and Eastbourne Town, and with four games in hand of both of those rivals. Furthermore, looking at a slightly wider picture, the outcome was that we managed to play two of nine games that remained to be played, at the start of the week-end. Given that there was a significant portion of the pitch that was under water last Wednesday, that comes as quite a relief, with fears having begun to grow as to whether we would be able to actually fulfil our fixtures for the season. The weather has certainly relented just in time for the week-end. Whilst The Homelands pitch had several sandy patches on it, and the top was a bit loose, on Saturday, the surface seemed to play pretty well, and Steve Hackett had obviously done a tremendous job in getting the pitch into a playable condition.

The main problem, of late, has been the exceptionally wet winter that the ground has had to endure. East Kent actually had a February that was 283.7% wetter than average, and the March figure is not dissimilar. (Your Milton Keynes Correspondent took the trouble to visit the Environment Agency’s official weather station in Sellinge, in order to provide you with this authoritative and accurate piece of information – and all in the interest of maintaining the high standards of journalism set on this web-site). It was certainly a bright, sunny morning as we set off from Ashford on the (for us) short journey to Southwood Stadium, in Ramsgate, and the sunshine lasted throughout the day, rarely, if ever, disappearing behind the ever-present white clouds.

So lovely weather, good food, good company and accurate rain gauge measurements …………. and then one of the worst games of football that I have ever seen ! I won’t say that it was THE worst, as there have been many candidates for that mantle over the years of following Ashford Town around the South of England – but it was dreadful.

As ever, there were some valid excuses for the players not treating us to a rerun of Arsenal v Barcelona. One of these was the state of the Southwood pitch, which looked incredibly green, with an almost complete coverage of dark green grass – but it was clear from the opening seconds that the surface was bumpy, with the ball bobbling around in all areas. There was also a considerable breeze to contend with – and this was obvious throughout the match, as both sets of players did their best to keep the ball in the air as high, and for as long, as possible; (and to sometimes kick it as far away as possible, when they should have been shooting for goal !). The game was also refereed by Mr Lee Venamore, who is known to be one of the fussier referees on the circuit, so this further reduced the probability of a flowing football spectacle. Furthermore, the home team’s players could point out that, (although they’d never let Manager Jim Ward hear them think it), this was very much an end-of-season exercise for them. Being safely tucked away in mid-table, with only four games left after this one, Ramsgate had the luxury of treating this game as being like one of those slow dances that one used to have at the end of a disco – except that nobody actually got $%£&ed afterwards.

Given The Rams’ deep-down disinterest, the visitors had little problem with matching their opponents during the course of this dance – but had fewer excuses, as this was another vital game in the on-going struggle to avoid relegation to the Kent League. Having failed to register a shot on target throughout the match, (Ramsgate had three), Ashford only had the one shot off target, according to Rob Lane’s figures – which just about sums up the 90 minutes of entertainment. However, it would be unfair to say that these statistics sum up the Ashford performance, as that would ignore the fact that every man battled hard, in difficult playing conditions, and it will be important to quarry out precious points like this, if we are to have a Staying Up Party at the end of the season ! That would also tend to devalue some good individual performances out there this afternoon. One of the main reasons for Ashford keeping a clean sheet, (and therefore taking home a point, as we never looked likely to score), was yet another commanding performance by Lee Hockey at the centre of defence, both in the air and on the ground. I also thought that Mark Lovell played well. He looked strong, and in control, when having the ball at his feet, but never did so within shouting distance of the Ramsgate goal, so never threatened to get onto the score-sheet. I was also quietly impressed with young Ronnie Dolan – in both matches over the week-end, in fact. He’s really starting to find his feet in the first team, and is beginning to look a good player.

The Ashford side was bolstered in defence by the return of Carl Harrold and Laurence Harvey. I heard several vivid and colourful descriptions of their indisposition for Saturday’s game – but I’ll settle for saying that they were both absent due to a stomach upset. A notable absentee, however, was Ross Morley, who had work commitments. Joe Fuller was also on the injury list, having been taken off at half time in the Leatherhead match, with a leg problem, and it appears that Nick Smith will be out injured for the rest of the season.

On the plus side, however, there was an unexpected and welcome return for Liam Geering. The loanee from Gillingham, who arrived at the same time as Tom Murphy, has been suffering from glandular fever, and it had been anticipated that this debilitating illness would keep him out for the rest of the season, but he turned up at Southwood Stadium with a clean bill of health.

So Ashford lined up in 4-4-2 formation, with the ever-improving Scott-Chalmers Stevens in goal, Laurence Harvey at right-back, Carl Harrold at left-back and Lee Hockey and skipper Toby Ashmore in the centre; Chris Borchescu continued in the centre of midfield, this time alongside Ronnie Dolan, who had operated in a wide position against Leatherhead on Saturday; Mitchell Sherwood was wide on the right, with Liam Geering on the left; Tom Murphy (with his right knee bandaged) partnered Mark Lovell up front. The substitutes bench consisted of three lads who had featured in the Leatherhead game – Danny Shearing, Dan Scorer and Sam Conlon – as well as sub goalie Darren Ibrahim and Club Captain Danny Lye, who was never going to be considered fit enough to play.

One other absentee to mention was Manager Steve Lovell, who had to serve the first of a four-game touchline ban, meaning that he was left to chunter away in the stand – Assistant Manager Hugo Langton took charge of the team.

I did make copious notes on the game’s events, as usual, but will spare readers the ordeal of a list of corners, free-kicks and Lee Hockey long throws, as all of these situations came to nothing (!). Instead, I will, for once, settle for quoting Rob Lane’s corners statistic: it ended up 6-3 to Ramsgit !

The home side did look marginally more dangerous when going forward, in the early stages – mainly through Rhys Lawson. In the fifth minute, with the ball spread wide to him, on the right, Lawson rounded Carl Harrold on his outside, and got to the by-line, but his cross-cum-shot flew across the face of goal. In the 14th minute, the same player again beat Harrold, and managed to get a cross in from the by-line, but this time his cross was too strong, and eluded everybody.

The best chance of the entire game fell to Rams’ skipper Warren Schulz, in the 21st minute, and Schulz’s effort would have been worthy of all three points, if it had gone in. Finding himself under a high ball, just outside the Ashford penalty area, he hit a snap shot, on the volley, causing Scott Chalmers-Stevens to make a spectacular save, catching the ball as he dived, at full stretch, to his left. It was certainly one for the photographers, but a fine save, nonetheless. Scottie generally had a solid (albeit fairly quiet) game, apart from a few adventures with his kicking !

Laurence Harvey was also fairly solid this afternoon, in his slightly less familiar position of right-back, but did cause a flutter in the 24th minute, after being caught in possession in his own half. This immediately led to a swift attack from the home side, but Lee Hockey was there to save the day with a good tackle inside the penalty area.

Tom Murphy didn’t have a particularly effective week-end – things just didn’t seem to fall right for him, in either game – but he was responsible for Ashford’s most promising moments in the opposition’s half of the field. In the 25th minute, he dinked the ball past a defender, and ran on into the penalty area, only to slice his attempted cross – but these chances were few and far between, with Ashford not being helped by Mr Venamore’s apparent refusal to play any advantage to the visitors. In a fifteen-minute spell in the first half, the referee frustrated players and management alike, when on three occasions he blew up for a foul when there was clearly an advantage to be played. On each occasion, the resulting free-kick came to nothing. Venamore was also maybe a little harsh when he booked Ronnie Dolan for not retreating ten yards, after Warren Schulz had blasted the ball at him – he evened things up by showing a yellow card to Schulz, as well !

Ashford had a promising situation at the start of the second half, when good work on the ball by Mark Lovell drew a foul, and a free-kick, just a couple of yards outside the penalty area, in a central position. There were plenty of options for the visitors; would Chris Borchescu use his undoubted skill to bend the ball in with his left foot? Would Tom Murphy curl it in with his right? Would Toby Ashmore just hit it as hard, and as straight, as he could? In the end, Tom hit a firm shot which hit Ramsgate’s James Gregory, on the end of the wall, full in the face, knocking him over like a skittle – for the only really light moment of the game.

In the 53rd minute, Lee Hockey was again impressive, with two great saving tackles, in quick succession, in the penalty area. He also showed his aerial prowess to great effect when he beat Warren Schulz in the air, with a powerful header – but Mr Venamore took a different view of things, and actually booked Lee for leading with his arm. Schulz required treatment for the blow he received, and there was probably more than just an element of retribution in the challenge, in the 64th minute, when Lee received an elbow in the face after winning a header against big Joe Taylor, who had been on the field for three minutes, having previously replaced Gary Lockyer. In fairness to Mr V, he showed consistency when having no hesitation in booking Taylor.

Steve Lovell – I mean Hugo Langton – made just the one substitution, when he replaced Liam Geering with Dan Scorer, on the left wing, but Dan was unable to make an impact, and after the Bank Holiday crowd of 267 was forced to endure five minutes of added time, everyone shook hands on a 0-0 draw.

Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Lee Hockey