Ashford Town (Middlesex) Veterans began their debut season in spectacular fashion, drawing 1-1 with an England Veterans XI in an outstanding match at the Robert Parker Stadium.
The game was arranged in support of the club’s Charity Partner, Holly’s Heroes, who thanks to the generosity of players, match officials and spectators alike, raised £850 on the day, which the club is ‘topping up’ to £1,000.
On a warm Sunday morning, the two teams served up an excellent contest split in to three 30 minutes periods, an arrangement which allowed both for additional hydration breaks for the teams and for each of the match officials to spend some time in the middle as well as on the line. England dominated possession in the first period but were unable to find the net. The Tangerines defended resolutely but were indebted to goalkeeper Garvin Snell, who made two outstanding saves in the opening half hour.
Snell was unable to prevent the Three Lions from opening the scoring in the 36th minute. A swirling effort from wide man Stacey Dawes squirmed through the stopper’s hands and hit the net.
To Ashford’s credit, this spurred them on further and the home side grew into the game, ending the second period with their best chance of the match to that point, a fizzing shot which only just cleared the crossbar.
The final half-hour saw Ashford take the game to England and they grew increasingly dominant in possession. Their reward came in the 68th minute when an exquisite pass sprung England’s offside trap and sent Ben Jacobs through on goal. Showing tremendous composure, Jacobs steadied himself, rounded the goalkeeper then rolled the ball into the empty net.
That was the signal for Ashford’s best period of the game. Pinning back the visitors, Town created several chances and both Nathan Dilloway and Pat Madigan went close to giving them the lead. England held firm though and ended a hugely entertaining match strongly, although the draw was probably the fairest result.
The club would like to thank England Veterans for traveling down to Middlesex in aid of Holly’s Heroes, the Match Officials for donating their fees to the charity and every spectator who attended in aid of a fantastic cause. An image gallery from the game can be seen below.
Ashford: Garvin Snell (GK), Daniel Ranger, Mark Scotchford, Nicky Bishton, Darren Snabey, Scott Anngar, Danny Jeffreys, Jonny Waters, Calvin Newton, Pat Madigan, Michael Carpenter, Ben Jacobs, Ryan Curtis, Nathan Dilloway, Paul Davis, Sean Ryan.
England: Darren Steadman (GK), Grant Curran (GK), Ricardo Vaccarci, Riki Flemming, Kieron Robertson, Steve Ward, Paul Gibbs (Capt.), Gideon Barrnett, Jason Manion, Steve Guppy, Andy Cranch, Jon Price, Ian Lang, Mark Saggers, Stacey Dawes.
