Ash United vs Chessington & Hook

A midweek trip to Ash is never nice and never easy. But the resilience in the side of late means that they believe they can win every game no matter what.

The formation was changed to 4-5-1. There is no point in giving yourself too much to do and the shape certainly gave the team a solid look.

However poor pass choices and lapses of concentration can sometimes undo the hard work in an instant, and so it looked likely again when midway through the half a one on one chance gifted to Ash looked likely to put us behind, only for Michael Sharp playing his third consecutive game to make a great save. At the other end a missed header by Ash’s Greg Kirkpatrick, gave the usually reliable Darren Smith a gilt edged chance only for him to shoot tamely straight at the goalkeeper.

As the half wore on with a mixture of good play, mistakes, and so much more from both sides, it appeared that just one goal would win it and clearly both sides were happy to be level at the break.

The second half produced more of the same although the number of cautions could suggest to the reader that this was a dirty game. That though was not the case, as although competitive as you would expect at Ash neither side had committed a foul worthy of note. It did create a few headaches for Glynn Stephens and his staff though as the booking count increased, particularly as it appeared that a red card would be inevitable at some point. The first casualty was Leon Canning who having been booked clattered into an Ash player for what seemed like a second bookable offence, for the ref to award a free kick only. Swift action was taken by Stephens, as he withdrew the centre half immediately, presumably through fear of losing him although the influential centre back had enjoyed a torrid evening.

This brought with it a change of shape moving to a 3-5-2. The rewards for the new initiative weren’t long in coming. Scott Todd who had chased down a through ball robbed the full back and headed straight to the penalty box where he was unceremoniously upended for our third penalty of the season. He dusted himself down to smash home into the roof of the net from the spot giving us a one nil lead on seventy two minutes. Michael Sharp who had been solid all night with at least three noteworthy saves, remained calm and marshalled the back three through the last fifteen minutes in what was probably the least dramatic of finishes to a game that we have had all season. Another sign that the team is growing in character.