Hard fought victory lifts Ashford

A cold sunny day at the Sussex University yielded victory for AHC after an ugly but hard working performance saw the boys pick up their 4th win in 5 games. That wasn’t the only result as Martin Smith celebrated becoming a granddad as Mr and Mrs Jody Smith became proud parents of a baby boy half way through the game.

Both sides looked tentative with little goalmouth action but after just 6 minutes AHC broke away and Andrew Webber picked the ball just outside the right hand side of the D and played a pass to the far post where a well anticipated run saw Matt Emerton deflect the ball to make it 1-0.

Rather than the early lead being the catalyst for Ashford to play a more expansive style of hockey the goal resulted in a style of play to protect the lead. Brighton are a poor side and never really looked like coming back into the game. In previous years this Ashford side would have scored a handful of goals in the first half for a decisive victory but confidence is fragile at the moment and the focus is on achieving results, Dan Appleyard, in goal, had very little to do for most of the game and the 3 short corners in the game were all won by AHC.

There is a determination in the team to get some positive results after being at the wrong end of the table for most of the season. The hockey isn’t pretty but slowly, steadily and painfully Ashford are starting to put results together that has seen them climb a couple of places over the last few weeks with the only blip being the 4-2 defeat against local rivals Staines. Kessels has been a revelation in partnering Olly Smith in the centre of defence. Jimmy Webber has played out of position for most of the season and has had to adapt to playing a position, which has restricted his attacking play.

McFarlane, Baker and Jody Smith should return to the side next week as Ashford take on runaway league leaders Fareham. The formbook says that Fareham should comfortably pick up 3 points but the Ashford boys should have a point to prove and perhaps with no pressure and no expectation these boys can rally and put in a performance that harks back to the days when the opposition came to play at Short Lane with damage limitation as their target.