Ashford Town P-P Whitstable Town - Homelands left in the dark as power failure halts Kent derby

Wednesday 23rd September 2009

ASHFORD TOWN P-P WHITSTABLE TOWN
(Match postponed due to power failure)
Ryman League Division One South
Wednesday 23rd September 2009
Stephen McCartney reports from Homelands Stadium

ASHFORD TOWN chairman Don Crosbie had to apologise to both sets of supporters as tonight’s Kent derby between two sides in the bottom four in the Ryman League Division One South table was postponed due to a power failure - without a ball being kicked.

Both sets of players and the three match officials were already lined up in the players tunnel and around 200 supporters were waiting in expectation, when the lighting inside the press room at Homelands started flickering and then three of the four floodlight pylons failed, leaving just three bulbs at one corner of the ground at the Ashford Road end shining - before the entire stadium, other than emergency lighting, plunged into darkness.

Mr Crosbie explained that only one of the three power phases at the stadium worked, which explained why the power sockets in the press room saw a brief glimpse off life before giving up like the rest of the power.

The club had electricity to make one announcement over the public address system before that too failed, saying that the game was to be delayed for 15 minutes, as supporters and players wondered what was going on, but it was clear that the game would not start.

Home officials contacted their electricity suppliers for an explanation but were told that the power failure would continue so the match referee Mr Michael O’Keeffe decided to call the game off just after 8 o’clock.

Minutes later, Mr Crosbie issued the following statement, which was posted on the fans’ forum on the club’s official website and simultaneously on www.kentishfootball.co.uk.

He said: “Ashford Town Football Club would like to apologise for the late postponement of tonight’s Ryman One South clash with Whitstable Town at Homelands.

“There was a power cut in the local area just before kick-off so the match was abandoned without a ball being kicked.

“Anyone who purchased a ticket for the game is entitled to a full refund, which they can get from the main club office, which will stay open until 9pm this evening.

“Alternatively, please keep hold of your ticket as it will be valid for the re-arranged fixture.”

Both clubs have yet agreed a suitable date for the re-arranged fixture, and hope that the game will kick-off at the third time of asking.

Both camps now look forward to away games this coming Saturday.

Ashford travel to Corinthian-Casuals for a re-arranged league fixture, their first of three on the road, whilst Whitstable takes his side to Potters Bar Town in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup - ironically sponsored by electricity providers E.ON.

For Ashford assistant, Hugo Langton, who took a warming-down session with his players in the darkness, admitted tonight was frustrating for his side, especially after they climbed off the bottom of the table after their 3-2 home win over Whyteleafe at the weekend.

“Real shame for us as well after a win Saturday,” Langton told www.kentishfootball.co.uk.

“The lads were looking forward to tonight. We were keen to get out there but unfortunately a man and he’s digger (he claims) down the road decided to ruin the night for everyone.

“It’s frustrating that the game’s not played. I’m sure Whitstable would say the same thing.

“It’s a local derby, it doesn’t matter how everyone’s been doing, both teams wanted to win this game tonight, but for us it’s a real shame. We really wanted it on.”

Looking forward to Saturday’s trip to Corinthian-Casuals, Langton sees this as a good game to secure back-to-back victories.

“They’re a funny side,” Langton said. “They’re either brilliant or they’re not. They came down here last year and they turned us over quite comfortably.

“But we feel in recent weeks that everything’s been coming together a bit. We played extremely well especially second half Saturday, some of the football we played was terrific.

“And we know if we apply ourselves in that way, and we play to our strengths and we defend well then there’s no reason why we can’t get something up there.”

For Whitstable and their manager Mark Munday, meanwhile, he is looking forward to Saturday’s FA Cup second qualifying round tie at Potters Bar Town.

The Hertfordshire side are sitting in fourth place in the Ryman League Division One North table, with a record of four wins and a draw from their first seven outings.

But Munday, who named himself as a substitute tonight, will be without influential midfielder Jake Gess for their trip to The Walk, as he was to complete his suspension after tonight’s Kent derby.

“They will be looking at it as well and thinking it’s a winnable tie, exactly the same as we are,” Munday told www.kentishfootball.co.uk.

“It’s a winnable tie, it’s away from home and we’re mindful of that. They have nothing there that we have nothing to fear.”

Going into the away tie confident, Munday wants his side to emulate their cup upset over Carshalton Athletic.

He said: “In the last round we beat one of the better sides in the Ryman Premier for the last couple of years so we go into the game full of confidence.

“We raise our game for the big games, although I don’t want us to be known for that. It’s a good tie for us, it’s a winnable tie. If it takes a couple of games we’ll take them back to Whitstable.

“Anything can happen and everyone knows what can happen. We’ve got a very good opportunity to get past Potters Bar and they will be saying the same.”

For the record, the team line-ups for tonight were:

Ashford Town: Darren Ibrahim, Carl Harrold, Danny Lye, Bryan Pearce, John Guest, Ryan Briggs, Mitchell Sherwood, Ross Morley, Joe Fuller, Paul Jones, Nick Smith.
Subs: Luke Coleman, Toby Ashmore, Kevin Swaisland, John Ralph, Dan Mason.

Whitstable Town: Kevin Fewell, Gary Sayer, Steven Lloyd, Dan Tanner, Tom Parker, Sam Denly, Ben Brown, Clint Gooding, Stuart Vahid, Dan Wisker, Dan Dolton.
Subs: Gareth Cornhill, Dominic Elmes, Greg Smith, Mark Munday.

Referee: Mr Michael O’Keeffe (Sevenoaks)
Assistants: Mr Elad Amir (Maidstone) & Mr Rob Baker (Maidstone)