Kingstonian 2-3 Ashford Town - Ashford stun league leaders

After a good first half display from the Kent side, they should have gone into the break at least one goal up, especially when midfielder Charlie Glyde struck the foot of the far post.

But Ashford, who have drawn eight in their winless streak of eleven games, deserved to race into a 2-0 lead, courtesy of James Humphreys and Paul Jones, before shell-shocked K’s pulled a goal back with just eight minutes to go through Simon Huckle.

Thankfully, Anthony Browne smashed home a rare goal six minutes later but when Kingstonian midfielder Tommy Williams found the back of the net at the death, it took the gloss off a very good performance from Steve Lovell’s men.

Kingstonian wasted an excellent opportunity to move seven points clear at the summit as Metropolitan Police and Cray Wanderers both lost and Fleet Town and Dulwich Hamlet both played out a goal-less draw 24-hours earlier.

Lovell made three changes to the side that were held to a goal-less draw by Whyteleafe at The Homelands eight days ago.

Humphreys, Glyde and Browne were drafted back into the team in expense of Danny Lye, Claude Seanla and Jimmy Bottle and striker Bradley Spice came on for a thirteen minute cameo role following a lengthy lay-off.

Lovell adopted a 4-5-1 formation at the start with Jones leading the line on his own, with his team-mates always willing to assist when the need arose.

Kingstonian almost broke the deadlock after eleven minutes.

Left-sided midfielder, Jamie Byatt, playing his second game following his switch from Ryman Premier League side Tooting & Mitcham United, swung in a corner from the left that was punched away by Seb Barton.

The former Eastbourne Borough goalkeeper then reacted to claw Neil Lampton’s looping header away from underneath his crossbar and then was relieved to see Simon Huckle’s right-footed volley arrow just over the crossbar.

The home faithful were beginning to grow frustrated as Ashford Town dominated the game and they almost broke the deadlock with 26 minutes on the clock.

Glyde swung in his first corner from the right and this was met by a thumping header from central defender Sean Ray, but his effort from six-yards flew just past the near post.

Kingstonian then forced their way back into the game and dangerous striker, Bobby Traynor twice went close with two deflected drives.

And from one of these, Max Hustwick came up from his defensive duties to glance his near post header towards goal but was disappointed when the ball sailed past the far post.

An over hit diagonal pass from right-back Lampton was retrieved by the hard-working Byatt down the left and his cut-back was struck first time by left-back Jon Coke and his 35-yard effort arrowed just over the Ashford crossbar.

Ashford squandered a couple of excellent chances to break the deadlock just before the break.

Glyde’s low right-footed curling shot from 20-yards beat Kingstonian goalkeeper Luke Garrard but bounced agonisingly against the foot of the far post.

And Mitchell Sherwood, who was played in behind the home side’s defence, rolled his left-footed stroked shot agonisingly past the far post.

It was an encouraging first half performance from the Kent side, but it got even better in the second period!

Glyde flashed a shot just past the left-hand post after Garrard punched away Briggs’ corner from the left.

But a fine one-handed save from Barton prevented the K’s from taking the lead.

In the first half, Briggs had wasted two free-kicks just outside the penalty area, but Adam Thompson showed him how it’s done as his drilled free-kick from a central position from 25-yards brought an excellent low reaction save from Barton, who dived to his right to get a strong right-hand to the ball to deny the central defender.

That saved was vital as Humphreys’ second goal of the season gave Ashford Town a 56^th minute lead, silencing the home fans.

Full credit must go to right-back Jimmy Elford who sprinted forward with the ball from the half-way line, before his progress was ended by a fair challenge on the edge of the box.

Moments later, a drilled cross from Sherwood flashed across the face of goal and was hooked back in by Jones and Humphrey slammed the ball low and hard into the net from ten-yards to the delight of the travelling contingent.

Black gloved left-back, Daniel Brathwaite then smashed a left-footed shot into the side netting as the league leaders looked rattled.

And a stunning strike from Jones - his eighth of the season - doubled Ashford’s lead just five minutes later.

The former Folkestone Invicta striker received the ball from the left and turned and unleashed an unstoppable right-footed screamer into the top right-hand corner, leaving the K’s skipper rooted to the spot.

Shell-shocked Kingstonian, remember they’ve only suffered one league defeat this season, then changed tactics to a more frightening 4-3-3 formation in a bid to claw something from a poor performance.

Hustwick’s glancing header sailed just past the far post following a corner and then Traynor’s low drilled shot forced Barton into his second fine save, as the goalkeeper beat out the shot after the striker turned inside the Nuts & Bolts penalty box.

And when Huckle bundled in their first goal after 82 minutes that appeared, at the time, to be just a consolation.

A corner from the right from Williams was cut back to Traynor and his angled drive was beaten out by Barton, who dived to his right, but Huckle was on hand to stab the ball into the bottom near corner from just two-yards out.

Ashford, however, responded excellently to that set-back and on the counter attack increased their lead further, with just two minutes remaining - a vital goal.

Humphrey, sprinting down the left, was unlucky not to score as his fierce angled drive was beaten out by Garrard but Browne was on hand to smash the ball into the roof of the net with his right-boot.

But 75 seconds later, Williams’ deflected shot flashed past Barton to find the bottom left-hand corner, giving the scoreline a more flattering look.

Williams, now part of a three-man attack, almost snatched a dramatic, undeserved, injury time leveller, but thankfully his right-footed shot from 20-yards flashed past the foot of the far post.

Lovell, speaking to www.kentishfootball.co.uk afterwards, was delighted with his side’s performance that saw his side climb up three places to 12^th place in the table - just 14 points adrift of stunned league leaders Kingstonian.

“It was a good win,” said the Welshman. “The score, 3-2, doesn’t reflect the game really.

“I think we dominated the game for long periods and we went 2-0 up and they got a goal back in the 82^nd minute, then we went up the other end and made it 3-1 and then they scored one in the 89^th.

“It was a bit closer than we would have liked, but I would have taken that before the game. It was a good win coming up here and taking all three points.

“At the end when the final whistle went it was a sigh of relief because it’s a long, long time coming, a win, although we’ve drawn a lot of games recently.

“We haven’t managed to win one for eleven games so it’s nice to get that win.

“It’s a little bit of revenge I think for what they did to us in the FA Cup. They beat us quite easily (by three goals to nil) in that game.

“To come here and turn it around was a very good performance by the boys.

“It’s been coming for a few weeks. The performances have been very good, the results not so good, so I think the boys will take a lot of heart from this and hopefully we can kick start our season again and move up the table.

“I’ve got a very good squad in depth and again today, I’ve made three changes to the team that played last week and the young ones have come in and done very well.”

Kingstonian: Luke Garrard, Neil Lampton, Jon Coke, Adam Thompson, Max Hustwick, Simon Huckle, Liam Collins, Tommy Williams, Bobby Traynor, Carl Wilson-Denis (Jason Turley 67), Jamie Byatt.
Subs: Wayne Finnie, Nick Rundell, Jamie Beer, Luke Naughton.

Goals: Simon Huckle 82, Tommy Williams 89

Booked: Max Hustwick 19

Ashford Town: Seb Barton, Jimmy Elford, Daniel Brathwaite, Craig Wilkins, Sean Ray, Ryan Briggs, Anthony Browne, Charlie Glyde (Jimmy Bottle 90), James Humphreys, Paul Jones, Mitchell Sherwood (Bradley Spice 77).
Subs: Lee Hockey, Ian Batten, Darren Ibrahim.

Goals: James Humphreys 56, Paul Jones 61, Anthony Browne 88

Booked: Anthony Browne 25, Sean Ray 86

Attendance: 256
Referee: Mr Chris Phillips (Carshalton, Surrey)
Assistants: Mr Andrew Thacker (Fleet, Hampshire) & Mr Sam Hourigan (Bristol)