Ashford Town 0-4 Worthing - Lovell ultimatum: Play for me or get out!

ASHFORD TOWN 0-4 WORTHING
Ryman League Division One South
Tuesday 13^th November 2007
Stephen McCartney reports from The Homelands

Manager Steve Lovell criticised Ashford Town’s players for not playing for him - as his first home game in charge turned into a shocking embarrassment.

Worthing stretched their unbeaten run to seven league games to move into fourth place in the Ryman League Division One South table after punishing an Ashford Town side still smarting over the shock departure of their former boss, Clive Walker, fourteen days ago.

Things started badly for former Sittingbourne boss Lovell, as Ben Johnson scored the first of his three goals after just 44 seconds.

And things went from bad to worse for the Welshman, as Johnson scored the second straight from a corner-kick after 52 minutes before the game was held up for a four minute period as a sprinkler rose from the centre spot and sprayed everything in sight.

Ashford also finished the game with ten-men as right-back Anthony Browne was sent off for a second bookable offence with ten minutes left, before Ben Andrews punished a mistake from goalkeeper Sam Moore to score from a free-kick and Johnson raced to a hat-trick late on to make it a miserable return to the club for Lovell.

Lovell, who made his Ashford Town debut as a player on 26^th August 2000 and went on to score five goals in 22 appearances, before departing in March 2001, hasn’t enjoyed a dream start to his managerial career at The Homelands.

Since taking over from Walker, Lovell’s charges have suffered defeats at both Chipstead and Croydon Athletic - two club’s on much lower budgets than big-spending Ashford.

And it took just 44 seconds for the west Sussex side to open the scoring, when Johnson’s left-footed half-volley from the edge of the box, left Moore flat-footed as the ball found the right-hand corner, as the hosts didn’t clear their lines following a throw.

Quick left-winger, Jimmy Bottle was seeing plenty of the ball, but time and again, he lacked the killer pass for the front two of Walid Matata and Steve Sodje.

However, the one time that Bottle did find Sodje arrived in the 17^th minute, but Sodje slid the ball just past the foot of the near-post.

Ashford’s only real chance of the game arrived inside the opening four minutes of the second half.

Midfielder Nick Barnes’ free-kick was excellently brought under control by reserve team product Bottle, before the winger burst into the penalty area.

But his fierce drive towards goal bounced agonisingly off the top of the crossbar and over for a goal-kick.

But any chance of the Kent side getting back into the game vanished when Johnson netted his second soon after, in the 52^nd minute.

He whipped in a corner from the right, which flashed across the face of the goal and curled towards the far-post.

Despite Browne’s efforts to clear the ball off the line, Johnson appealed at the assistant referee on the stand side of the ground, and after a delay, the goal was awarded, amongst confusion.

Then with ten minutes into the second half, as Matata had forced his side’s third corner of the game, up popped the sprinkler on the centre spot and started spraying gallons of water onto an already wet pitch.

This proved to be the only moment of excitement for the majority of the crowd of 201.

Defender Andrews, wearing the number five shirt and playing as a makeshift forward, had the game’s next chance, but he blazed his left-footed 66^th minute shot high over Moore’s bar, despite being under pressure from Barnes.

And with fourteen minutes remaining Andrews latched onto a through ball and was thwarted by a fine block from the advancing Moore.

Former Dover Athletic defender Browne was, however, shown his second yellow card as Ashford Town played the final ten minutes with only ten players on the pitch.

And Worthing punished Ashford as they went on to add two more goals in the final five minutes of normal time.

Moore was penalised for handling the ball outside his penalty area.

And quick thinking Andrews drilled the resulting free-kick into the bottom right-hand corner, as Moore was still lining up his wall.

More cracks appeared in Ashford’s defence as Johnson completed a good night for the visitors’, stabbing the ball into the bottom right-hand corner, following a cross from the left.

More chances fell to the visitors during the 11 minutes and 37 seconds of stoppage time; the best falling to substitute Danny Davis, whose right-footed lob dropped just over the crossbar.

But Lovell claims half of the players’ that he inherited from Walker’s short reign at the club, don’t want to play for him - the reason behind their three successive defeats.

“I thought first half we did very well,” he told www.kentishfootball.co.uk  afterwards. “Although conceding in the first minute doesn’t help!

“But then first half we had seventeen balls into the box and no-one on the end of - I thought we were in control first half.

“Second half, they get another goal from a sloppy corner, two-nil, and we have somebody sent-off and they go on to win it quite easily.

“Yes, it’s disappointing, I’ve got to address the situation here. I think there’s a lot of issues I’ve got to sort out behind the scenes and I will do.

“I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again, so it’s a matter off just getting to grips with it and sorting out really, personnel.

“There’s players here that are either they’re with us, or they’re not - now it's crunch time.

“I’ll play the reserves, I’ll play the kids, if players don’t want to play here and that’s what’s happened here this season.

“There’s certainly players here who perhaps don’t want to be at the football club so be it.

“They’re on contract or not on contract, I’ll have them out because I can’t be doing with people who don’t want to be at the football club.”

The only player that Lovell praised was his debutant, central defender Sean Ray.

The 26-year-old, who left his home-town club Hastings United last week, where he was captain, is the type of player that Lovell needs at The Homelands.

“Sean played very well,” he said. “He’s a good player. I’ve known him for a long time.

“We missed Rob Gillman tonight, obviously alongside him but hopefully Rob will be fit for Saturday.

“But he will be a good acquisition Sean and he’ll push people on and help us a lot.

“But there’s got to be a lot more people like him whose committed, roll his sleeves up and will have a go, which he showed tonight.

“But we’ve got to have everybody in the dressing room, not just half the dressing room. We’ve got to have everybody like that and the other half, I think, can go and whistle as far as I’m concerned!”

But Lovell vows to turn around the club’s fortunes - and will look to release players from their lucrative contracts if they don’t perform for him.

“I’ve done this all before,” he recalled. “When I took over at Sittingbourne the first time around I think I lost the first six or seven games and we ended up getting promotion the next year, so I’m not worried about it, I’m not phased about it.

“There’s people who will think “well, this is rubbish”, but to be fair, it’s my third game here.

“I’ve inherited a team so I’ll just have to work at it and me and Rob will work at it and we’ll get it right, whether it will be with the people here or not.

“It is stand up and be counted. That’s what I’m asking for the boys to do but if they don’t want to be counted, then they can go.

“I don’t want a division in the dressing room. It’s either all one way, all one way with me, or they’re not.

“Then the ones that are not then they can go and I’ll get players who I want in, myself.”

Lovell, though, is cursing his bad luck, on a night when everything went wrong.

He said: “Everything’s happened tonight, sending off’s, sprinklers, everything went against us.

“The first goal went against us, the second goal went in from a corner, went against us, and then the keeper handled outside the area for the third goal.

“When things are down, they’re down but you know me, I’m a very positive feller and I’ll never back away from anything and I’m not going to back away from this and let it beat me.

“I just hope there’s more players in that dressing room will follow me and back me - because if they don’t, they won’t be here!”

But he said people can judge him once he has the players that he wants in the team.

“Three defeats, it's not my team! Three defeats with my team I’ll be unhappy. Three defeats with a team that I’ve inherited, I’ve got to work hard on,” he said.

“I’ve got one day a week to work on them and it’s going to take a long time because these boys are tied to the club. I can’t do anything about it so they either roll their sleeves up and have a go - or I make it hard for them.

“I need to get rid a load of boys on contract if that’s the case, so it’s going to be difficult.

“I’ll try my best to get them playing a certain way but it will take time, but I will do it!”

Paul Jones, making his comeback having signed from Folkestone Invicta yesterday, came off the bench with Joby Thorogood with nineteen minutes remaining.

Meanwhile, Sittingbourne interviewed two people last night, and another two tonight as the Bourne Park outfit search for Lovell’s replacement. In total nineteen people have applied for the vacancy, but as you’d expect, the club are keeping tight-lipped on the identities of applicants.

Ashford Town: Sam Moore, Tony Browne, Aron Freeman (Daniel Brathwaite 60), Nick Barnes, Nick Humphrey, Sean Ray, Walid Matata, Lee Spiller (Paul Jones 71), Steve Sodje (Joby Thorogood 71), Rob Denness, Jimmy Bottle.
Subs: Danny Lye, Jake Whincup.

Booked: Tony Browne, Rob Denness 61, Nick Barnes 87, Sean Ray 87

Sent off: Tony Browne 80

Worthing: Rikii Banks, Roy Pook, Sonny Douglas, Dominic Douglas, Ben Andrews, Andy Alexander, Matt Phelan (Stuart Axten 90), Dean Love grove (Leo May 51), Adam Jupp (Danny Davis 71), Ben Johnson, Ollie Rowland.
Subs: Andy Lutwyche, Paul Rogers.

Goals: Ben Johnson 1, 52, 90, Ben Andrews 85

Booked: Dean Lovegrove 36, Ben Andrews 41, Sonny Cobbs 70, Ollie Rowland 87

Attendance: 201
Referee: Mr Ian Fissenden (Rochester)
Assistants: Mr Neil Wallace (Crawley) & Mr Simon Griffiths (Horsham)