Ashford Scorers:
Gordon Smith
Half-term affected both teams but High Wycombe coped better and deserved their win. Our high points came early in this game - high amusement when one of their boys irked the umpires doing the Ladies game before us and they were summarily ejected! Unfortunately they were let back in time for the game and off we went on the best surface I’ve played on this season… and what a start as Gordo scored after 52 seconds - a goal so good it should count as double! Danno got a free hit just outside the D on the right - and while the defence dawdled getting back, he rolled it to Gordo at the top of the D… and the evergreen midfielder gave it the big pelvic twitch and slapped it into the corner past the startled keeper… 1-0!!
That was as good as it got as we gave them 2 good chances in a row - neither of which were converted - and we continued to play nervously and allowed High Wycombe’s self-belief to grow. Although we had chances and play, High Wycombe were playing the ball around well and we were struggling to clear our lines or play with the width we normally aspire to. They scored 2 goals in short order - the first wholly avoidable when we gave the ball up and Bubbles was forced to concede a flick - the flick was awful but went in and they then scored a good goal finished off by the same lad wearing tracksuit bottoms - the shame!! In my eyes that made it 2-all… but no-one else’s…
Tom made some excellent saves to keep us in the game and we had enough fluency about our game to continue to trouble their defence and 3 of us found ourselves in front of the keeper - 2 good saves and Freddy Cottrell (our second 13-year-old who made an impressive debut) was nudged as he shot (unfortunately more subtly than Bubbles and HW got away with it).
The game and points were sealed when one minute, we had a short corner, did the ‘old faithful’ and their defender made a superb block of Amit, the next minute they had a short, did the same routine but not as well executed and it went in… so we are now 3rd and 3 points off promotion… an easier run in than the other 2 but the stag weekend looms large for us all…
