Chertsye Town v Ashford Tonight Tue 17 Sep

[lazarus]

Ashford get back to league business this evening with a short trip to neighbours Chertsey Town and manager Paul Burgess should have a full squad from which to select his squad.

 

Both Ashford and Chertsey are in urgent need of league points with both clubs having made poor starts to the season.  Ashford have demonstrated in a number of matches that the quality is there, not least during the first half at Hampton on Saturday but they need to sustain it for 90 minutes and stop handing goals to the opposition when they could have been prevented.

 

Kick-off at Chertsey this evening is 7.45 and you are advised to get there early as car parking is extremely limited at their Alwyns Lane ground.

On Saturday Ashford’s first ever match against Kettering Town will go ahead at Short Lane, despite their opponents having been the subject of a recent winding up order.  The Club have been allowed to appeal against the order and this will be heard on 7 October.  As far as we are aware, they are allowed to continue to play at least until the appeal has been heard and we wish them luck as no-one ever wants to see football clubs going out of business, especially one with Kettering’s history.

 

Don’t forget that the Suburban side entertain Berkhamsted Reserves at Short Lane on Wednesday evening in a 1^st Round, 1^st leg Suburban League Cup tie.  Kick-off is 7.45 p.m.

 

Sadly the Under-18’s cannot get their season going having had some extremely tough fixtures with which to start the season.  On Monday they put up a brave show but were beaten 0-5 by Woking U18 in the Lucas-Fettes Youth Cup.

[fatboyatmfc]

Good job I have read this because I thought it was a home game!

 

Simply a must win match. Stick together and do the job.

 

COYT!

[Swifty]

It won't be easy. Chertsey will be buoyed by their easy-looking cup victory on Saturday, and much depends on how well our lads react to the H&RB defeat. I reckon we need at least four points from the next two games to clamber away a bit, give ourselves some breathing space and instill a bit more confidence.

 

It''ll feel a little weird seeing some old faces up against us, with record scorer Andy "Smudger" Smith now Chertsey's assistant manager, and John Pomroy and Tom Betts in the Curfews squad. Glad Tom settled elsewhere - if I remember correctly, he left us having been frozen out in the Jamie regime. 

 

No doubt our chairman will want to leave his old stomping ground with three points tucked under his blazer!

[johnnojudo]

Even with all this rain, I see no problems with tonight's match going ahead. Pitch drains very well.

[AlanB]

_{Hi All,}

 

_{As I work in Chertsey I will be attending the game tonight.}

 

_{We really need to get back on track with regards to the league - I expect a tough game tonight but hopefully we can get the 3 points.}

 

_{Good luck Burgo and the boys!!!!!!!!}

[fatboyatmfc]

Blimey !! Won 4-3 phhheeew! Samad 2 Bits and a screamer from Alex

 

3 points on the board!

 

I thought Jamie was excellent on his full debut and Terrell was superb down the right.

 

Now lets take this intensity into Saturday.

 

Well done all!

[Swifty]

I agree - phewww!

 

We made very hard work of putting the division's bottom team to the sword. Our attacking play deserved more goals but for some profligate finishing and excellent defending, not least the wonderful overhead goalline clearance from Bits's lob, our midfield looked solid (Jamie and Elliott were superb), but our defence was lacking, at times woefully. On too many occasions we left huge gaps down the flanks and all Chertsey's goals were easy, especially the last two where through balls resulted in tap-ins.

 

I know Bits has wanted to play centre forward for ages, and he held the front line nicely and took his goal well - us terrace dwellers on the cricket pitch side were mystified Bits was substituted. Sammy was predatorial as ever for his brace, and the pick of the night was Alex's screamer 20-25 yards out level with the corner of the box.

 

Shame we couldn't give the ball to Terrell more. He terrified Chertsey's defenders, not least their elbow-wielding captain who was their worst player - it seems you give away a free kick for a 50/50 challenge but consistent elbows to the neck of attackers while jumping for headers is apparently allowed within the laws of the game. Pick of Chertsey's team was their giant number 4 who mopped everything up. I'd be happy to see him in our back line.

 

Chertsey smelt blood and gave it their all, and this would have been a great game for the neutral. Our lads showed great spirit tonight, though, despite the lapses. Everyone was committed - even Alf made a nuisance of himself as a late sub. Hopefully, we can build on this.

 

PS - For various reasons, I won't be around until the Cockfosters game on October 1st, but I'll be checking the results eagerly.

 

PPS to Alan Battams - Unless they're away in the 2nd round of the FA Trophy, Bognor Regis Town are at home to Wealdstone on December 14th, so you can get some sport in as a quick break during your, er, cultural weekend on the coast!

[lazarus]

An exciting match at Chertsey on Tuesday evening saw Ashford taking all three points in a seven goal thriller, the final score being 4-3 in favour of the visitors.  The Tangerines made two changes to their starting line-up with Scott Weight dropping out to an bruised foot, to be replaced by Jamie Connor, making his full debut and an impressive one it was, whilst Rob Curtis moved across to central defence to partner Russell Canderton, allowing Alex Duffy to return from his one match suspension, at left back.

 

It was end to end from the start with both sides belying their lowly position in the table but Ashford gradually got on top and were rewarded with a cracking opening goal.  Connor and Mark Bitmead combined to set up a raking pass for Samad Kazi who latched on to it, came inside and hit an unstoppable shot past the home keeper.  Ashford looked to be getting on top but it was the home side who scored, equalising eight minutes before half-time.  Their joy was short lived though as Duffy hit a screamer just two minutes later, to restore Ashford’s lead.

 

When Ashford then made it three soon after half-time through Bitmead, one wondered if a substantial win might be on the cards but all credit to the home side who, far from wilting, came back strongly and on 66 minutes pulled one back, Ashford’s defensive frailities once again to the fore.  Very quickly though, Ashford restored their two goal advantage when Kazi, a live wire all night, hit their fourth and final goal.

 

Chertsey stubbornly refused to lay down though and reduced the arrears yet again with still 20 minutes left and one wondered just how many more goals there would be in the match.  Ashford had a determined look about them though and although they came close to extending the lead yet again, one miraculous clearance off the line being notable, there were no further goals leaving the visitors to take a much needed three points.

 

Ashford now go on to entertain Kettering Town on Saturday.