Reading 2's - Fun Bus Week!
Met at the club nice and early for the minibus over to Reading, everyone was in high spirits and looking forward to the fun bus on the way back albeit speaker less (Freddie!). No real news in the first half. There was a big aerial from their centre back, picked up by their forward who lobed it over Huse and goal. Half time score = 1-0 down.
Huddled in the dugout hiding from the hailstorm, John and Luke delivered the inspirational team talk. In the second half, we held the majority of possession but couldn’t find the back of the net. Reading’s attack was foiled by strong centre back partnership between Luke and Joe.
Reading managed to win a string of short corners which were easily stopped by a Cottrell duo act. Luke saved a drag flick off the line BUT gave away another short corner by getting his body in the way of the ball. In an attempt to get revenge in the following short corner, a loose ball popped up, but Charlie momentarily got his sports mixed up and thought he was playing baseball. He managed to swing his bat and hit the ball into the head of a reading player giving away another short. No goal.
In the last 10 minutes with Ashford battling hard, In the closing minutes of the game, it was our turn for a short corner. Shujah ur Rehman did what he does best…flicked it bottom left and GOAL!!
Result = 1-1. A well-deserved point against top of the league.
Massive thanks to Dave Sutch for organising the bus hire and driving back 15 boozed up lads via many country pubs. Best performance from a Sutch all season!
Witney Away
After a strong performance away at the league leaders, Ashford made the 60 mile journey to Witney only to be locked out of any changing facilities for 40 minutes, meaning it was car park cricket for the warm up, resulting in some unconventional strokes from PD Boulay and a few dolly drop catches from Croxon and Pedro.
Five minutes in and Witney capitalised on an error in midfield leading to a corner which was roofed home from a slick deflection routine. Ashford were on top for the first 20-25 minutes of the first half, playing lots of build-up patterns and gaining circle entries but the hosts were limiting us to chances from sitting deep and compacting the D well. Ashford paid the price for not taking numerous short corners, as Witney took advantage of the Ashford defence sleeping with another deflection on the stroke of half time.
The second half seemed to be one-way traffic from Ashford, with some great in and out play down the right allowing Hakl getting to the baseline, but no one was able to get in the right place or finish it off for him. With Chaz Cottrell bulldozing through the middle setting up teammates with some good chances, an Ashford come back seemed inevitable. Freddie had a reverse strike well saved, Saj had many chances and Pitfield came close, however we had nothing to show for it. Ashford were punished in closing moments from a counterattack leading to another converted corner, this time a flick into the bottom right, and the game ended 3-0 to Witney who were deserved winners.Ashford came away scratching heads as on another day the scoreline could have been reversed, but ultimately could not break down a resilient well drilled Witney. Definitely a lesson learnt for the Red and Blacks who will improve on these types of games.
MOM- Hakl
DOD- Saj
Reading 3’s
Reading turned up with a weakened side while Ashford were pumped up firing on all cylinders. It was a dominant display from Ashford with Goals flying left right and centre. Goal scorers: Freddie (4), Shujah (4), Luke (1), Tom (1) and Matt Sutch (1). Well done boys!
Result = 11-0
After a few loses this season, it was a nice confidence boost for the team.
