FA Cup, Ashford v Bishops Cleeve

[lazarus]

There is a problem with the web site this morning which is preventing me posting an update.

 

Here, therefore, is the weekend's preview:

 

League action will be put aside on Saturday, when Ashford entertain Bishops Cleeve FC in the Preliminary Round of the FA Cup with Budweiser, to see who will progress to the 1^st Qualifying Round and a match away to Hampton & Richmond Borough in a fortnight’s time.

The Bishops are fellow members of the Calor League but play in the South West Division and our two clubs have never met any level in the past.  After just escaping relegation last season, they seem to have made the same patchy start to the season as we have, winning one league match and losing the other three.  The victory certainly looked impressive, being a 5-0 win over Godalming Town last Saturday but they could not build upon it, losing 1-2 at Yate on Monday.

 

For the geographically challenged amongst us Bishop's Cleeve is an urbanised village in the Borough of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England, near Cheltenham. The village lies at the foot of Cleeve Hill, the highest point in the Cotswolds and has a population of 15,000.  Should the match on Saturday end in a draw after 90 minutes, it will, of course, become necessary to become more knowledgeable on the geography as a replay will take place on Tuesday evening, at their Kayte Lane ground.

 

Ashford will undoubtedly be buoyed by the return of last season’s leading scorer Kofi Lockhart-Adams and will be seeking to turn ensure that the good football that has been on display at times is more readily turned into goals.  Some incredible chances have been missed in the four games to date, and so far, every one of our goals, apart from the penalty at Marlow, has come from either a midfield player or defender.

The Suburban League side will also be in action on Saturday, making the short trip to play Molesey.  They produced some excellent football on Tuesday and will be seeking to maintain their place at the top of the Suburban League table for the Central Division.

[Swifty]

No chance of us bashing The Bishops tomorrow...as that isn't their nickname!

 

I'll give you a clue to it - if Kofi had been with us at the start of the season, we "mitre" got a few more points!

 

I guess I'll be on the tannoy if "Let's play darts" Beano isn't around! 

[AlanB]

^{Im looking forward to my first match of the Season at the RPS! The Road to Wembley starts tomorrow!}

 

^{Come on you Tangerines!!}

[Swifty]

That was a really poor game. The best thing about it was singing "Happy Birthday" to Tesco Dave  - cheers for the announcement, Beano!

 

We looked disjointed for much of the game, especially the first half hour, when The Mitres should really have taken the lead but didn't have that killer finishing touch. We had two excellent flowing moves in the game which resulted in brilliant stops by the away keeper, but that was about it. 

 

Surprised to see Sammy at right back. I thought we'd have done better with Robbo there from the start and Sammy in midfield. We didn't really have a flow or cutting edge to our game.

 

Any truth in the rumours Dan Brown's a bit fed up with his lack of game time at the mo? Could be worth asking about.

[Steve McC]

i think both teams were flat today, i wonder if we will see a worse game this season. the comments i heard from visiting fans were more or less the same as our own feelings, lets hope both sides are a bit more inspired for the replay. 

 

i saw dan brown play on monday, his sending off certainly curtailed his game time, he looks good in the staines set up though and appeared, despite a bad facial injury, to be enjoying his football.

[fatboyatmfc]

I think you must be talking about Dan Butler, Swifty! Lol

 

Poor game however a stunning save from their keeper to deny Kofi a goal on his return!