Pre-Season Match,
Riverside Drive, Ham, Richmond
26th July 2008

Assemble a team stand-in Manager Keith Bristow and his lieutenants duly did,  and appropriate credit is given to Youth Teamer Danny Byron, who hot-footed it to Richmond and also to left-back Danny White, whose lack of experience at this level didn't show as he delivered an assured performance.  Both were very good, especially in the circumstances.

Being the First Team of a well-established Amateur Football Alliance club, Kew had plenty of options on the park and the touchline, and had an early chance before Ashford strikers Reece Jackson and George Baldock both had opportunities to score.  However, in the twelfth minute, the home side took the lead when a free kick was guided beyond stopper Paul May and, amid some scrappy defending, the cross was bundled home.

It was to the Tangerines credit that they responded immediately on a stifling day, with both Mark Todd and Reece Jackson going close to levelling.  However, they had to survive an embarrassing miss from a home striker before levelling the match on the half-hour..  An incisive thirty-yard pass from Todd sent Reece Jackson clear and he retained his composure after a shove in the back to finish emphatically.

Given the "scratch" composition of the Tangerines line-up, it was perhaps inevitable that there would be a certain frailty at the back and this was exposed four minutes before the interval.  In this scribe's opinion, the Kew forward was fortunate to get a free kick for "pushing" on the touchline at about the moment he handled the ball.  Said free kick was launched crossfield, headed across goal and hit an onrushing Kew midfielder in the stomach before trundling over the line

The interval saw the hosts make a raft of changes while the visitors were unable to make any.  However, Ashford started the second half with a sense of purpose and, although Kew had two corners in the opening moments, it was the Tangerines who levelled the match in the 54th minute.  Reece Jackson fed Jimmy Brazil, who used his pace to elude his marker, cut inside and fire a low shot in off the post.

Kew's fresh legs surged forward again and continued to cause Ashford problems defensively, with corners proving particularly problematic.  It was such a set-piece that gifted the Sky Blues the lead for the third time in the afternoon in the 65th minute.  May completely missed a cross from the left side and a diving header steered the ball into the now empty net.

Once again, though, Ashford came back at their hosts, with Baldock and Martin Jackson both having good opportunities.  In the 72nd minute, Ashford should have been awarded a penalty when Reece Jackson was clearly impeded by the Kew goalkeeper as he attempted to take the ball around him.  When questioned by both the players and spectators as to why the spot-kick was not given, the man in the middle said "I played on".  This, sadly, was in contravention of the Laws of the Game, as advantage can only be played in that situation if there is a clear goalscoring opportunity.

The referee redeemed himself slightly a few minutes later by deviating from the Laws in a more sensible manner.  Reece Jackson and a Kew defender squared up to each other, and both were substituted temporarily to calm down, "Innocent" Barrado slotting in to the Ashford line-up and clearing a Kew corner off the line in the 84th minute.  Reece Jackson returned to the action but Brazil went off with a slight foot injury as the game finished as a real end-to end contest, with Reece Jackson causing problems for the home defence, while Sonny Russell did well to snuff out an attack at the other end.

Thanks to a well-judged water break instigated by the referee and various other stoppages, there were five added minutes at the end of the game.  It was in the fifth of these minutes that Ashford got their third equaliser of the afternoon when Reece Jackson beat two defenders before finishing tidily.  It was nothing less than Ashford deserved for the way they dug in and battled right to the end of the game.

This was an excellent workout for both sides ahead of the new season and a real learning experience from an Ashford point of view.  It was an entertaining match and both teams should be congratulated on playing some good football in less than ideal conditions.