Walton & Hersham 3-0 Ashford Town - Mark my words we will get it right, insists Langton

Tuesday 03rd November 2009

WALTON & HERSHAM 3-0 ASHFORD TOWN
Ryman League Division One South
Tuesday 3rd November 2009
Stephen McCartney reports from Stompond Lane

ASHFORD TOWN’S search for their first away win of the season continues as they put in an abject performance at a sparse Stompond Lane tonight.

In a poor match, where home striker David Tarpey was the best of a bad bunch, Ashford Town put in a shockingly poor performance lacking any sort of passion for any of their supporters that bothered to turn up.

In a game best forgotten, this was Delroy Priddie’s easiest night of his 161 appearances for Walton & Hersham and he did not have a single save to make.

Aaron Murphy broke the deadlock after 25 minutes and the struggling Kent side went into the break two goals down when Louis Clark scored his first goal for Walton & Hersham, since joining the Surrey club four years ago.

Substitute Jordan Cheadle completed the scoring late on - but by then the game was all but over, much to the annoyance of assistant manager Hugo Langton.

Langton had the players out in the centre circle for around ten minutes following their passionless display, but spoke to www.kentishfootball.co.uk out on the six-lane athletics’ track in front of the players tunnel after the inquest.

“The first 45 minutes we weren’t sharp,” he admitted. “The difference between the two sides was the first half Walton & Hersham closed every ball, their passing was sharp and their attitude was sharp and ours wasn’t!

“If you’re like that, you’re going to get punished. Ok, it’s easy to complain about the two goals but for me I think we got what we deserved in the first half.”

Langton added, “We had a chat at half-time, changed the formation, I’ve been promising all week to attack and it wasn’t working how we set out in the first half.

“What I asked them to do, they just didn’t do and that’s not me being harsh on them, they’ll tell you the same thing and they didn’t do it.

“We changed it and made the formation a bit more attacking and to be fair we came out a little bit better in the second half and there wasn’t a great deal between the two sides.”

Langton said on the eve of the game that his side were going to attack a Walton & Hersham side, that were defeated by ten-man Chatham Town here at the weekend.

But the poor crowd of just 104 didn’t see any attacking from the visiting side, as Walton & Hersham set their stall out and attacked down the left at every opportunity, with Rico Morris causing Carl Harrold all sorts of problems during the first half.

If it wasn’t for the heroics of visiting goalkeeper Seb Barton, then the scoreline would have been by far a greater margin.

Barton made a comfortable save in the 15th minute when the confident Tarpey tried his luck from 25-yards, but his right-footed shot bounced into the keeper’s arms.

Walton & Hersham deserved to break the deadlock in the 25th minute.

Tarpey’s cross wasn’t dealt with by Ashford left-back Steve Springett, whose weak header forward found Murphy, who, seeing that Barton was off his line, sent a delicate right-footed looping lob over the stranded keeper from 25-yards, which dropped into the empty net.

The home side operated a shoot-on-sight policy throughout the match and Morris stung Barton’s fingers with a left-footed drive from 25-yards, before they doubled their lead just before the break.

Clark, who hasn’t scored in his previous 56 starts stretching over a four year period, tried his luck with a right-footed drive from 25-yards, which took a wicked deflection of a defender and looped over the diving Barton and into the net.

Langton pulled off Harrold at the break, to bring on Danny Lye and put more bodies further up the pitch, but they failed miserably to call Preddie into action.

It proved to be a very frustrating night for Mark Lovell (who had earlier replaced the injured Joe Fuller) as he received treatment on three occasions.
Tarpey, who has scored 14 goals already this season, weaved his magic as his mazy run took him past three Ashford defenders and was only denied by a fine block from Barton - the ball looping off the keeper‘s body and over the crossbar in the 52nd minute.

Ashford defender, Lee Hockey was booked for going through Murphy after he gave the ball away in the corner and Tarpey’s whipped in free-kick was met by an unmarked Cheadle, who planted his header over the bar.

Tarpey should have got on the score sheet in the 75th minute when a slick move down the right involving Ryan Adams, Clarke and Murphy saw the striker lift the ball just over Barton’s crossbar.

But the striker helped Walton & Hersham wrap up their easiest victory of the season with four minutes remaining when his clever pass set up Cheadle, who finished with aplomb with a stunning left-footed drive from just outside the box to end what was a miserable night for everyone that made the effort to travel.

Langton spoke some home truths for four-and-a-half minutes before heading down the players tunnel.

“You’ve just seen yourself we’ve had a chat in the centre circle because we’ve got Chatham on Saturday and they’re a good side,” he said.

“I went and watched them on Saturday and I’ve told the boys what to expect.

“But they’re desperate to put this right. We’ve just got to keep working and keep believing but we’ve got to start brighter. I don’t just mean for five minutes, I mean for 45.

“You ask the players to do stuff and it’s not stuff that’s beyond them either. I can’t legislate or stick up for people if they don’t go out from minute one and start playing how they should do.

“I can’t personally make someone close down a ball or physically make someone play a simple pass - they’ve got to do it themselves.”

Still fourth-bottom in the table with a record of just two wins and three draws from 13 league outings (only two points above the drop zone), Langton insists he and manager Steve Lovell will keep the club in this division.

“We’ve got to keep believing and we need the supporters to keep believing because we will get it right!” he insisted.

“Mark my words this is going to come right!”

Walton & Hersham: Delroy Priddie, Ryan Adams, Ryan Lake, Junior Kaffo, Jon Boswell, Elliott Brathwaite, Aaron Murphy (George Olulode 81), Louis Clark, Kevin Lock, David Tarpey, Rico Morris (Jordan Cheadle 46).
Subs: Jamie Beer, Craig Dunne, Will Jenkins.

Goals: Aaron Murphy 25, Louis Clark 45, Jordan Cheadle 86

Ashford Town: Seb Barton, Carl Harold (Danny Lye 46), Steve Springett, Lee Hockey, Toby Ashmore, Ryan Briggs, Jamie Forshaw (Nick Smith 71), Ross Morley, Joe Fuller (Mark Lovell 20), Paul Jones, Mitchell Sherwood.
Subs: Ronnie Dolan, Darren Ibrahim.

Booked: Toby Ashmore 62, Lee Hockey 62

Attendance: 104
Referee: Mr Eric Mackrell (Petersfield, Hampshire)
Assistants: Mr Iain Thomson (Headley, Hampshire) & Mr Michael Geoghagen (Hampshire)