Walton Casuals 2 Ashford Town 1
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
Today’s game – the Club’s first away match for three weeks and a day, (which has seemed like a second close season) – was against Walton Casuals, at Franklyn Road Sports Ground, on the banks of the Thames; a little ground situated between the river and the Queen Elizabeth II reservoir, in West Molesey. Although it’s still very early in the season, this was still a very important match for Clive Walker and the boys. So far, in spite of having won both away league games to date, Ashford Town have barely looked the promotion contenders that many people have been expecting them to be. This has mostly been due to a very unconvincing track record at home, with only one point having been gained from a maximum of twelve.
To convey the sense of déjà vu currently felt by many of the Ashford faithful, here’s an extract from my match report from last year’s corresponding fixture, which was played at a similar stage of the season: “In spite of the lack of encouragement from recent performances, today’s opposition, Walton Casuals, appeared to offer something of an opportunity, ……”. We managed a 1-1 draw on that occasion, having lost 1-0 here the previous season ! Although I hesitate to be disrespectful towards today’s hosts, I suppose one sign of the Club having made some tangible progress under the ownership of Tony Betteridge and Don Crosbie would be the ability to beat sides like Walton Casuals, who have tended to struggle in the lower third of this division. Having been in the bottom two or three for the majority of last season – along with us, it must be said – The Casuals have so far shown every sign of finding things tough this time around. At the start of today’s play, they were 20th in the table, with four defeats and two draws, from six games, and having bombed out of the FA Cup 1-3 at home to Sevenoaks. (Okay, I haven’t forgotten that we were also knocked out of The Cup by a two-goal margin by a Kent League side). Nevertheless, in spite of all the uncomfortable similarities between them and us, I make no apologies for once again describing this as a “surely-surely game”: surely, SURELY we can beat this lot !
Well, as it turned out, we couldn’t beat “this lot”, and those similarities between Walton Casuals and Ashford Town were compounded by a poor game in which both teams had the look of relegation strugglers about them. Ashford never looked remotely like winning this from the moment that a Nicky Humphrey cock-up gifted The Casuals an equaliser, in the 30th minute, and our hosts thoroughly deserved the three points.
The only mitigating factor on a pretty miserable afternoon for Ashford Town fans – who rather outnumbered the home side’s support in a sparse, season’s-low crowd of 55 – was the weather. With the expectation of weeks and months to come when we have to don three layers of clothing, the thermal brookies and a cap and a scarf, every afternoon that enables us to watch the footy in what the previous generation described as “shirt sleeves” must be recorded and savoured. As we drove along Upper Sunbury Road, past Kempton Park Racecourse, the temperature gauge in the car read “25ºC”, and we enjoyed a pleasant afternoon beneath blue skies and fluffy, cotton wool clouds.
A disappointment for many of us was that Jimmy Bottle, the highly-regarded left-sided player from the Reserves squad who announced himself with a goal with his first touch for the first team, against Tooting & Mitcham United, last Saturday, was unavailable, due to injury. There was, however, a welcome return for Charlie Glyde, on the left of midfield, with his suspension for a recent red card now served. This was to be Charlie’s last game of his current spell on loan from Folkestone Invicta, but the indications are that his stay is to be extended by another month. He lined up in a three-man midfield, alongside Danny Lye and Kevin Lott, in what was quite a fluid 4-3-3 formation. Walid Matata and Rob Denness were the two main strikers, with Joby Thorogood sometimes supporting them either wide-left or wide-right, and sometimes being the furthest man forward, in the middle. The back four consisted of the familiar figures of Tony Browne, Rob Gillman and Nicky Humphrey, but there was a new face (for me) at left-back – Nathan Simpson, who has signed for us from Ryman Premier club Harrow Borough. Sam Moore was in goal, confirming that he has now deposed Jake Whincup as Ashford’s No.1 No.1.
On the bench there was high-class central defensive cover in the form of Graham Porter, alongside Steve Sodje, Barry Gardner, Saturday’s Man of the Match Aron Freeman, and Jake. Joe Hitchings made the trip and took part in the half-time kick-about with the subs, but, in spite of reportedly being highly regarded by Clive, didn’t make the final 16.
There were a few players currently on the sidelines in attendance. It was disappointing to see Adrianho peg-legging around the ground on crutches. He recently had an operation to remove the screws from his leg, which will prevent Ashford Town’s only Brazilian from training for at least another six weeks. It was a similar story for Daniel Brathwaite (knee ligaments), who was there today with his little lad – Dan reckons that he’s probably about six weeks away from a return. Nick Barnes is also currently on the sick list, but it was good to see him at the ground, providing moral support.
Ashford, playing in their home kit of green shirts, white shorts and green sockies – as their all-yellow away kit might have clashed with Casuals’ tangerine shirts, black shorts and black sockies – did start off with some intent, with Rob Denness bullocking his way through the home defence in the opening seconds. He flicked the ball towards goal with the outside of his right foot, but this effort was beaten away by Paul Smith; Kevin Lott headed the rebound towards goal, but Smith was able to make a comfortable catch.
The visitors maintained the pressure for the first three minutes of the game, but this was generally a game in which both sides created very little. In fact, the opening 15 minutes were more notable for the fouls committed than for any constructive football. In the fifth minute, Casuals’ skipper Scott Harris went down in howls of agony after being caught late by Danny Lye, (and got very little sympathy from the Ashford players nearby). In spite of lengthy treatment to his lower right shin, Harris was able to get up and continue for the remainder of the 90 minutes. Three minutes later, Rob Denness was guilty of a late tackle, on the half-way line, which resulted in uproars of protests from the Walton Casuals players, and a stern talking-to from Referee Adrian Gillett. Home centre-forward Nana Badu then evened the score a little, with a late tackle on Nicky Humphrey.
Whilst Walton had their fair share of possession in the opening minutes, the only glimmer of a threat came in the form of Badu’s weak and speculative shot, which trickled to Sam Moore, in the 14th minute. Ashford did, however, look very shaky in central defence, with most uncertainty being caused by balls lobbed over the top, with Messrs Gillman and Humphrey turned to face their own goal. Whilst Sam Moore looked steady enough to me today, the central defenders don’t seem to have much confidence in him, with backpasses being used only as an absolute last resort. There were various alarms of this sort at the back this afternoon, so it appears that changing the goalie has not yet solved this defensive vulnerability. The first sign of trouble came in the 15th minute, when Rob Gillman let a long ball go over his left shoulder, presumably for Nicky Humphrey to deal with. Nicky tried to shepherd the ball back to the ‘keeper, but Jefferson Gowland nipped in between them, and nearly scored, but he slid his effort across the face of goal.
In the 19th minute, the home side really should have taken the lead, and this was again the result of some dithering between Nicky Humphrey and the ‘keeper. Humphrey was clearly hoping to shield the ball back to Sam, and this time it was Nana Badu who intervened, and rounded the goalie. It looked like he had the simple task of popping the ball into the net, but he failed to do so, from an acute angle, near the post.
An illustration of the sheer lack of quality from the two sides today was the fact that both first-half goals resulted from defensive howlers. The first, in the 21st minute, came from a woeful, long backpass from a Casuals defender, which went straight to Walid Matata. Walid, wearing the brightest yellow boots that I have ever seen, had as much time as he wanted to carry the ball up to the goalkeeper and dribble it around him. His shot, from an angle, was headed off the line. Rob Denness, twelve yards out, waited for the ball to come down, before showing good technique to hit his volley on target. The attempt was again stopped on the line, but by the defender’s arm, via his thigh. Referee Gillett had no hesitation in awarding a penalty, but took the view that the hand-ball had not been deliberate, so didn’t produce a card of any colour. Walid Matata himself stepped up to take the penalty, pausing in his run-up before smacking the ball into the top-left corner, to the ‘keeper’s right, to put Ashford 0-1 up.
Five minutes later, the visitors almost went 0-2 up, after Paul Smith had made a mess of taking a high, but fairly routine, cross – and not for the only time this afternoon. Walid Matata jumped a little early to challenge, and this appeared to contribute to Smith dropping his knitting; Walid reacted quickly, and thumped the loose ball into the net – but the linesman was flagging; not for a foul on the goalie, but for off-side.
Ashford’s defeats in their previous two league games had come after we had taken the lead, and the 0-1 lead this afternoon lasted for only nine minutes. It was again Nicky Humphrey who failed to clear the ball, in his own area, and this time it was Anthony Gale who capitalised, with the defender on the line only able to help Gale’s firm shot into the roof of the net. In spite of Casuals’ poor start to the season, this goal continued their record of having scored in every game so far.
Walton didn’t manage their first corner until the 36th minute – and this resulted from Danny Lye intercepting a James Crowe cross. The home side also collected their first booking, after John Ambridge was penalised for a foul on Sam Moore, after Moore had flicked the resulting corner away. Ambridge wondered, aloud, whether the ref was actually watching the effing match – Mr Gillett showed that he was both watching and listening, and showed the Walton No.3 a yellow card.
It wasn’t until the 45th minute that Ashford actually got the ball down on the deck and put together a recognisable passing movement – up to this point, we had seen little more than balls lobbed forward, misplaced passes and head tennis. But this was a good move, with the classy Charlie Glyde at the centre of it, which flowed to the left of the field, and then all the way across to the right. And, guess what ? It earned the boys their first corner of the match. This gave Nathan Simpson, who looked a very capable footballer, the first opportunity to send in an in-swinging, left-footed cross, from the right. Nathan’s delivery was excellent, curving with a low, fast trajectory to Joby Thorogood, at the far post. Joby did everything that was required of him, heading the ball down, from about four yards out, and reacted with disbelief after Paul Smith had made a miraculous save from point-blank range.
So 1-1 it was at half time, and the most depressing thing about the first 45 minutes was that it was as if we’d moved through a time-warp, and we were once again witnessing a relegation scrap between two poor sides – I thought we’d left those days behind. (I think I’ve already mentioned déjà vu; have I ?).
There were no Ashford changes in personnel at half time, but there was a subtle change in formation, with Denness The Menace tending to drop back into a right-midfield position, so that the set-up had more of a 4-4-2 look about it.
In the 48th minute, Nathan Simpson again showed some quality, when fancy footwork took him past his man, near the left touchline. He fed the ball forward to the silver-booted Joby Thorogood, but Joby’s right-footed cross from near the corner flag curled just beyond the far post. There was another delay, two minutes later, when Rob Gillman had to have some treatment from Mo Alvi, after Nana Badu had caught him late, after Rob had effected a clearance. The next goal scoring opportunity, however, fell to the home side, and this resulted from a free-kick rather harshly awarded against Tony Browne, in the 53rd minute. Ashford faced the danger with a four-man wall, but Anthony Gale’s left-footed attempt, from about 25 yards, was always sailing well over the bar.
Whilst very few chances were carved out at either end during the second half, it was the home side that did the carving. On about the hour mark, Nana Badu gave himself a clear sight of the Ashford goal, after a neat one-two – but his decent, low shot was well saved by Sam Moore, diving full-length to his right. In the 63rd minute, Craig Lewington tested Sam with a low, long-range shot, but this was more comfortably saved. Unfortunately, our 19 year-old goalie had no answer in the 65th minute, when Walton Casuals deservedly wrapped up the points, with the best move of the match. After sweeping the ball out to the right wing, a crisp, square pass put Nana Badu in on goal, and he slammed a low, first-time shot past Sam Moore. In spite of having a Christian name which is a French slang word for “tart” or “broad”, this didn’t prevent Badu from scoring his third goal of the season.
Clive Walker’s reaction was to immediately substitute Joby Thorogood with Barry Gardner, with Barry taking up a position wide on the right. A minute later, Casuals’ Manager Luke Dowling replaced David Ocquaye with Carlton Murray-Price.
It’s fair to say that Ashford showed plenty of energy and urgency in search of an equaliser – but it must also be said that their efforts lacked any quality, and we rarely threatened. The Walton Casuals defence didn’t have to play like heroes, but they were quite comfortable in patting away any attacks that were launched. There were, however, one or two anxious moments for Paul Smith, in the Walton goal. In the 67th minute, he dropped a deep cross from Kevin Lott, under a challenge from Walid Matata. The ball was scrambled behind for a corner, but no foul was given.
With Steve Sodje having replaced the hard-working, but ineffective, Rob Denness, in the 71st minute, our boys did manage to put sustained pressure on the tangerine defence during the final 15 minutes, winning a number of corners and free-kicks, but without really troubling the ‘keeper. All crosses into the Walton box appeared either to be comfortably headed clear, or to sail through the ruck of players with nobody getting a touch.
Ashford’s best, and final, chance came in the 91st minute, when Danny Lye rather “bought” a free-kick when he flopped to the ground, just outside what the French call “the big rectangle”. This was just to the right of centre, and Nathan Simpson stood over the ball, faced with a two-man defensive wall. With a crowded penalty area beyond, Nathan could have either floated in a cross, or gone for goal; in the event, he backed his ability and went for glory, but his curling shot went just over the bar. Paul Smith did no more than wave good-bye to the ball on its way over, but the ref somehow imagined that Smith had got a touch, and awarded Ashford an unlikely corner. There was disbelief and uproar among the Casuals’ players – this is a team, remember, that hadn’t won a match of any sort this season – but Mr Gillett blew up for full time just as the resulting cross came over.
Because of results elsewhere, we remain in 14th place in the table after this defeat, but the haul of seven points from seven games gives us a points per game ratio that will leave us there or thereabouts for relegation, if it is maintained for the rest of the season. I’m the first to admit that I don’t know much about football when it comes to the tactics and the strategy of the game, but even I can see that there’s plenty of work to do for those that do know. What is obvious from today’s performance, and one or two others like it recently, is that things certainly aren’t working, on the pitch, as things stand. Walton Casuals didn’t suddenly morph into a good side on Saturday morning, but they were fairly comfortable winners this afternoon.
It appears that this is developing into a “surely-surely season”: surely, SURELY it’s going to get better than this !
But the performance was not without some positives. Danny Lye had a solid game, winning most things in the air (which is where the ball was for most of the time) in the middle of the park, and he’d probably be my choice as captain (if it were any of my business), given the current form of the central defenders. Charlie Glyde always looked composed on the ball, but was never able to put a decisive mark on the game, and Kevin Lott had a good, industrious game, but made rather too many mistakes. Both full-backs also did OK – Tony Browne tried hard to drive the team forward, on the right, during the second half, and Nathan Simpson looks like he has plenty of ability.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Danny Lye
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
Today’s game – the Club’s first away match for three weeks and a day, (which has seemed like a second close season) – was against Walton Casuals, at Franklyn Road Sports Ground, on the banks of the Thames; a little ground situated between the river and the Queen Elizabeth II reservoir, in West Molesey. Although it’s still very early in the season, this was still a very important match for Clive Walker and the boys. So far, in spite of having won both away league games to date, Ashford Town have barely looked the promotion contenders that many people have been expecting them to be. This has mostly been due to a very unconvincing track record at home, with only one point having been gained from a maximum of twelve.
To convey the sense of déjà vu currently felt by many of the Ashford faithful, here’s an extract from my match report from last year’s corresponding fixture, which was played at a similar stage of the season: “In spite of the lack of encouragement from recent performances, today’s opposition, Walton Casuals, appeared to offer something of an opportunity, ……”. We managed a 1-1 draw on that occasion, having lost 1-0 here the previous season ! Although I hesitate to be disrespectful towards today’s hosts, I suppose one sign of the Club having made some tangible progress under the ownership of Tony Betteridge and Don Crosbie would be the ability to beat sides like Walton Casuals, who have tended to struggle in the lower third of this division. Having been in the bottom two or three for the majority of last season – along with us, it must be said – The Casuals have so far shown every sign of finding things tough this time around. At the start of today’s play, they were 20th in the table, with four defeats and two draws, from six games, and having bombed out of the FA Cup 1-3 at home to Sevenoaks. (Okay, I haven’t forgotten that we were also knocked out of The Cup by a two-goal margin by a Kent League side). Nevertheless, in spite of all the uncomfortable similarities between them and us, I make no apologies for once again describing this as a “surely-surely game”: surely, SURELY we can beat this lot !
Well, as it turned out, we couldn’t beat “this lot”, and those similarities between Walton Casuals and Ashford Town were compounded by a poor game in which both teams had the look of relegation strugglers about them. Ashford never looked remotely like winning this from the moment that a Nicky Humphrey cock-up gifted The Casuals an equaliser, in the 30th minute, and our hosts thoroughly deserved the three points.
The only mitigating factor on a pretty miserable afternoon for Ashford Town fans – who rather outnumbered the home side’s support in a sparse, season’s-low crowd of 55 – was the weather. With the expectation of weeks and months to come when we have to don three layers of clothing, the thermal brookies and a cap and a scarf, every afternoon that enables us to watch the footy in what the previous generation described as “shirt sleeves” must be recorded and savoured. As we drove along Upper Sunbury Road, past Kempton Park Racecourse, the temperature gauge in the car read “25ºC”, and we enjoyed a pleasant afternoon beneath blue skies and fluffy, cotton wool clouds.
A disappointment for many of us was that Jimmy Bottle, the highly-regarded left-sided player from the Reserves squad who announced himself with a goal with his first touch for the first team, against Tooting & Mitcham United, last Saturday, was unavailable, due to injury. There was, however, a welcome return for Charlie Glyde, on the left of midfield, with his suspension for a recent red card now served. This was to be Charlie’s last game of his current spell on loan from Folkestone Invicta, but the indications are that his stay is to be extended by another month. He lined up in a three-man midfield, alongside Danny Lye and Kevin Lott, in what was quite a fluid 4-3-3 formation. Walid Matata and Rob Denness were the two main strikers, with Joby Thorogood sometimes supporting them either wide-left or wide-right, and sometimes being the furthest man forward, in the middle. The back four consisted of the familiar figures of Tony Browne, Rob Gillman and Nicky Humphrey, but there was a new face (for me) at left-back – Nathan Simpson, who has signed for us from Ryman Premier club Harrow Borough. Sam Moore was in goal, confirming that he has now deposed Jake Whincup as Ashford’s No.1 No.1.
On the bench there was high-class central defensive cover in the form of Graham Porter, alongside Steve Sodje, Barry Gardner, Saturday’s Man of the Match Aron Freeman, and Jake. Joe Hitchings made the trip and took part in the half-time kick-about with the subs, but, in spite of reportedly being highly regarded by Clive, didn’t make the final 16.
There were a few players currently on the sidelines in attendance. It was disappointing to see Adrianho peg-legging around the ground on crutches. He recently had an operation to remove the screws from his leg, which will prevent Ashford Town’s only Brazilian from training for at least another six weeks. It was a similar story for Daniel Brathwaite (knee ligaments), who was there today with his little lad – Dan reckons that he’s probably about six weeks away from a return. Nick Barnes is also currently on the sick list, but it was good to see him at the ground, providing moral support.
Ashford, playing in their home kit of green shirts, white shorts and green sockies – as their all-yellow away kit might have clashed with Casuals’ tangerine shirts, black shorts and black sockies – did start off with some intent, with Rob Denness bullocking his way through the home defence in the opening seconds. He flicked the ball towards goal with the outside of his right foot, but this effort was beaten away by Paul Smith; Kevin Lott headed the rebound towards goal, but Smith was able to make a comfortable catch.
The visitors maintained the pressure for the first three minutes of the game, but this was generally a game in which both sides created very little. In fact, the opening 15 minutes were more notable for the fouls committed than for any constructive football. In the fifth minute, Casuals’ skipper Scott Harris went down in howls of agony after being caught late by Danny Lye, (and got very little sympathy from the Ashford players nearby). In spite of lengthy treatment to his lower right shin, Harris was able to get up and continue for the remainder of the 90 minutes. Three minutes later, Rob Denness was guilty of a late tackle, on the half-way line, which resulted in uproars of protests from the Walton Casuals players, and a stern talking-to from Referee Adrian Gillett. Home centre-forward Nana Badu then evened the score a little, with a late tackle on Nicky Humphrey.
Whilst Walton had their fair share of possession in the opening minutes, the only glimmer of a threat came in the form of Badu’s weak and speculative shot, which trickled to Sam Moore, in the 14th minute. Ashford did, however, look very shaky in central defence, with most uncertainty being caused by balls lobbed over the top, with Messrs Gillman and Humphrey turned to face their own goal. Whilst Sam Moore looked steady enough to me today, the central defenders don’t seem to have much confidence in him, with backpasses being used only as an absolute last resort. There were various alarms of this sort at the back this afternoon, so it appears that changing the goalie has not yet solved this defensive vulnerability. The first sign of trouble came in the 15th minute, when Rob Gillman let a long ball go over his left shoulder, presumably for Nicky Humphrey to deal with. Nicky tried to shepherd the ball back to the ‘keeper, but Jefferson Gowland nipped in between them, and nearly scored, but he slid his effort across the face of goal.
In the 19th minute, the home side really should have taken the lead, and this was again the result of some dithering between Nicky Humphrey and the ‘keeper. Humphrey was clearly hoping to shield the ball back to Sam, and this time it was Nana Badu who intervened, and rounded the goalie. It looked like he had the simple task of popping the ball into the net, but he failed to do so, from an acute angle, near the post.
An illustration of the sheer lack of quality from the two sides today was the fact that both first-half goals resulted from defensive howlers. The first, in the 21st minute, came from a woeful, long backpass from a Casuals defender, which went straight to Walid Matata. Walid, wearing the brightest yellow boots that I have ever seen, had as much time as he wanted to carry the ball up to the goalkeeper and dribble it around him. His shot, from an angle, was headed off the line. Rob Denness, twelve yards out, waited for the ball to come down, before showing good technique to hit his volley on target. The attempt was again stopped on the line, but by the defender’s arm, via his thigh. Referee Gillett had no hesitation in awarding a penalty, but took the view that the hand-ball had not been deliberate, so didn’t produce a card of any colour. Walid Matata himself stepped up to take the penalty, pausing in his run-up before smacking the ball into the top-left corner, to the ‘keeper’s right, to put Ashford 0-1 up.
Five minutes later, the visitors almost went 0-2 up, after Paul Smith had made a mess of taking a high, but fairly routine, cross – and not for the only time this afternoon. Walid Matata jumped a little early to challenge, and this appeared to contribute to Smith dropping his knitting; Walid reacted quickly, and thumped the loose ball into the net – but the linesman was flagging; not for a foul on the goalie, but for off-side.
Ashford’s defeats in their previous two league games had come after we had taken the lead, and the 0-1 lead this afternoon lasted for only nine minutes. It was again Nicky Humphrey who failed to clear the ball, in his own area, and this time it was Anthony Gale who capitalised, with the defender on the line only able to help Gale’s firm shot into the roof of the net. In spite of Casuals’ poor start to the season, this goal continued their record of having scored in every game so far.
Walton didn’t manage their first corner until the 36th minute – and this resulted from Danny Lye intercepting a James Crowe cross. The home side also collected their first booking, after John Ambridge was penalised for a foul on Sam Moore, after Moore had flicked the resulting corner away. Ambridge wondered, aloud, whether the ref was actually watching the effing match – Mr Gillett showed that he was both watching and listening, and showed the Walton No.3 a yellow card.
It wasn’t until the 45th minute that Ashford actually got the ball down on the deck and put together a recognisable passing movement – up to this point, we had seen little more than balls lobbed forward, misplaced passes and head tennis. But this was a good move, with the classy Charlie Glyde at the centre of it, which flowed to the left of the field, and then all the way across to the right. And, guess what ? It earned the boys their first corner of the match. This gave Nathan Simpson, who looked a very capable footballer, the first opportunity to send in an in-swinging, left-footed cross, from the right. Nathan’s delivery was excellent, curving with a low, fast trajectory to Joby Thorogood, at the far post. Joby did everything that was required of him, heading the ball down, from about four yards out, and reacted with disbelief after Paul Smith had made a miraculous save from point-blank range.
So 1-1 it was at half time, and the most depressing thing about the first 45 minutes was that it was as if we’d moved through a time-warp, and we were once again witnessing a relegation scrap between two poor sides – I thought we’d left those days behind. (I think I’ve already mentioned déjà vu; have I ?).
There were no Ashford changes in personnel at half time, but there was a subtle change in formation, with Denness The Menace tending to drop back into a right-midfield position, so that the set-up had more of a 4-4-2 look about it.
In the 48th minute, Nathan Simpson again showed some quality, when fancy footwork took him past his man, near the left touchline. He fed the ball forward to the silver-booted Joby Thorogood, but Joby’s right-footed cross from near the corner flag curled just beyond the far post. There was another delay, two minutes later, when Rob Gillman had to have some treatment from Mo Alvi, after Nana Badu had caught him late, after Rob had effected a clearance. The next goal scoring opportunity, however, fell to the home side, and this resulted from a free-kick rather harshly awarded against Tony Browne, in the 53rd minute. Ashford faced the danger with a four-man wall, but Anthony Gale’s left-footed attempt, from about 25 yards, was always sailing well over the bar.
Whilst very few chances were carved out at either end during the second half, it was the home side that did the carving. On about the hour mark, Nana Badu gave himself a clear sight of the Ashford goal, after a neat one-two – but his decent, low shot was well saved by Sam Moore, diving full-length to his right. In the 63rd minute, Craig Lewington tested Sam with a low, long-range shot, but this was more comfortably saved. Unfortunately, our 19 year-old goalie had no answer in the 65th minute, when Walton Casuals deservedly wrapped up the points, with the best move of the match. After sweeping the ball out to the right wing, a crisp, square pass put Nana Badu in on goal, and he slammed a low, first-time shot past Sam Moore. In spite of having a Christian name which is a French slang word for “tart” or “broad”, this didn’t prevent Badu from scoring his third goal of the season.
Clive Walker’s reaction was to immediately substitute Joby Thorogood with Barry Gardner, with Barry taking up a position wide on the right. A minute later, Casuals’ Manager Luke Dowling replaced David Ocquaye with Carlton Murray-Price.
It’s fair to say that Ashford showed plenty of energy and urgency in search of an equaliser – but it must also be said that their efforts lacked any quality, and we rarely threatened. The Walton Casuals defence didn’t have to play like heroes, but they were quite comfortable in patting away any attacks that were launched. There were, however, one or two anxious moments for Paul Smith, in the Walton goal. In the 67th minute, he dropped a deep cross from Kevin Lott, under a challenge from Walid Matata. The ball was scrambled behind for a corner, but no foul was given.
With Steve Sodje having replaced the hard-working, but ineffective, Rob Denness, in the 71st minute, our boys did manage to put sustained pressure on the tangerine defence during the final 15 minutes, winning a number of corners and free-kicks, but without really troubling the ‘keeper. All crosses into the Walton box appeared either to be comfortably headed clear, or to sail through the ruck of players with nobody getting a touch.
Ashford’s best, and final, chance came in the 91st minute, when Danny Lye rather “bought” a free-kick when he flopped to the ground, just outside what the French call “the big rectangle”. This was just to the right of centre, and Nathan Simpson stood over the ball, faced with a two-man defensive wall. With a crowded penalty area beyond, Nathan could have either floated in a cross, or gone for goal; in the event, he backed his ability and went for glory, but his curling shot went just over the bar. Paul Smith did no more than wave good-bye to the ball on its way over, but the ref somehow imagined that Smith had got a touch, and awarded Ashford an unlikely corner. There was disbelief and uproar among the Casuals’ players – this is a team, remember, that hadn’t won a match of any sort this season – but Mr Gillett blew up for full time just as the resulting cross came over.
Because of results elsewhere, we remain in 14th place in the table after this defeat, but the haul of seven points from seven games gives us a points per game ratio that will leave us there or thereabouts for relegation, if it is maintained for the rest of the season. I’m the first to admit that I don’t know much about football when it comes to the tactics and the strategy of the game, but even I can see that there’s plenty of work to do for those that do know. What is obvious from today’s performance, and one or two others like it recently, is that things certainly aren’t working, on the pitch, as things stand. Walton Casuals didn’t suddenly morph into a good side on Saturday morning, but they were fairly comfortable winners this afternoon.
It appears that this is developing into a “surely-surely season”: surely, SURELY it’s going to get better than this !
But the performance was not without some positives. Danny Lye had a solid game, winning most things in the air (which is where the ball was for most of the time) in the middle of the park, and he’d probably be my choice as captain (if it were any of my business), given the current form of the central defenders. Charlie Glyde always looked composed on the ball, but was never able to put a decisive mark on the game, and Kevin Lott had a good, industrious game, but made rather too many mistakes. Both full-backs also did OK – Tony Browne tried hard to drive the team forward, on the right, during the second half, and Nathan Simpson looks like he has plenty of ability.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Danny Lye
