An impressive and dominating 5-1 victory over Cobham FC, capped off a busy and worthwhile week for the Under 18s, with the lads playing Monday, training during the day Tuesday and Wednesday and travelling to Cobham last night.
The game had a real competitive feel and was described as a 'dress rehearsal' for the start of the league campaign in less than two weeks, and it was proved when the teenage tangerines took the lead after just three minutes, thanks to a perfectly executed phase of play, which started with the centre back and finishing eight passes later with Lewis Wombwell striking into the net inside the box. Cobham equalized within two minutes however, due to a defensive lapse in concentration but Ashford quickly began to dominate proceedings again and constant pressure led to Wombwell getting brought down in the box, with Jack Taylor scoring from the spot. Taylor then scored Ashford's third, his fourth in two games, with a well taken goal again after some crisp passing in the attacking third. Mark Bitmead made it 4-1 with a strike from outside the area to give the tangerines a commending lead at the interval.
The second half saw Ashford dictate the tempo and with it possession as they again dominated and pressured Cobham's half. Ashford's fifth was the strike of the night, from captain Tom Betts who reacted well to a cleared ball from the Cobham area, and from outside the box sent a missile shot into the top of the goal, truly a goal that would grace any level of game. Manager Ben Murray was delighted with the performance, "It was a great evening and capped off a brilliant week with me being able to have over eight hours coaching time with the squad, they have all worked so hard. They are now understanding when and where in matches to execute the theories we work on in training, and they are getting real satisfaction from that. I was really pleased tonight for some of the lads, especially Taylor Gough and Jack Taylor who have shown real potential in pre-season and for a lot of the lads who have found a new confidence in their game, we move on now to Saturday training and keep the momentum going." |
Wednesday, 08 February 2012
