| In many ways, this game should never have taken place. For a start, the original fixture was supposed to be against League leaders Camberley Town, who were unable to raise a team to play us because of exams, but did play an Allied Counties League match against Binfield 48 hours before. Thanks to the quick thinking of the League's Fixture Manager, Tony Usher a match away to Westfield was then arranged, but switched to Short Lane 24 hours before kick-off because their pitch was waterlogged, a fate that almost befell our own surface. However, thanks to Ben Murray, Tory Cox and Bob Parker, the pitch passed a 4.00pm inspection and the game was on.  The team that arrived at Short Lane was a Woking side in all but name and was clad in Woking's green away kit. They also included in their line-up one player who had played for Woking when Ashford won 2-1 at Kingfield in the autumn.
On a damp evening, Mick Snowden's side suffered an early setback when some terrible defending allowed Westfield's Dale Burnham a tap-in after just one minute and twenty-five seconds. Ashford then suffered a further setback in the 15th minute when George Baldock was stretchered off the field with a knee problem. Although the Tangerines were playing positive football, the visitors were dangerous on the break and almost doubled their lead in the 31st minute when Jack Blatchford fired across goal. Shortly afterwards, George Jennings forced a reaction save from visiting 'keeper Ali Turpie from a fast counter attack. The home side ended the first half strongly but didn't test Turpie again, with the closest the Ash Trees coming to an equaliser being a free kick which Daryl Loates fired over the crossbar. Ashford were sharper at the start of the second half than they had been in the first and a good early move saw Jennings force a save from Turpie. Westfield continued to look dangerous and might have scored again when a Blatchford shot was saved and rebounded to Tom Topham, who fired wide from twenty yards. Both sides made substitutions just before the hour, with Ashford's Stuart Luwawa being replaced by Josh Finch. Four minutes later, Ashford had a strong penalty appeal turned down when Jennings was felled by Turpie as he chased the rebound from his own shot. The home side were firmly in control of the game by now and equalised in the 68th minute. Jennings found Tom Snowden, whose shot was saved. Ashford retained possession and passed the ball well, eventually finding Adam Fearn, who drilled the ball into the net from the right flank. The Tangerines almost took an immediate lead when Snowden headed over from a Loates cross as Ashford pegged their visitors back. Westfield almost scored an own goal as their defence struggled to cope with the home side's attacks. From the subsequent corner, in the 78th minute, Turpie pushed Jennings as the ball went out but again, no penalty was awarded. Instead, assistant referee Peter Law insisted that Town were due a corner and from that set-piece, Josh Finch headed home. Westfield had no answer to this second goal and the remainder of game passed without significant incident, meaning that Westfield suffered their first defeat since linking up with their professional neighbours. The victory, Ashford's eighth in eight league matches keeps up the pressure on leaders Camberley Town, who will hopefully finally play at Short Lane at the third time of asking next week. |
Wednesday, 08 February 2012
