Details
| Date | Time | League | Season |
|---|---|---|---|
| 29/11/2024 | 19:45 | West London Veterans Football League | 2024-2025 |
Ground
| Racecourse Ground 3G 11-a-side |
|---|
| Sunninghill and Ascot, Ascot, Windsor and Maidenhead, South East, England, United Kingdom |
Report
Ascot United Vets 2s 0-2 Army Crusaders
Army Crusaders enjoyed their first ever visit to the Racecourse Ground, coming away with a 2-0 victory against an off-colour Ascot United 2s. Ascot made a significant contribution to both of the Crusaders’ goals, but that can’t take away from the fact that the visitors were well-organised and ultimately decent value for their win.
The Ascot squad certainly looked like it had a lot going for it. A strong starting line up aided by a well-stocked subs’ bench. Things, however, didn’t start quite as planned; Stuart Birkett was needing more time to get his knee warm and up to speed, so he took a turn on the Judy Dench and Paul Woodford came into the middle of the park.
The re-jig didn’t prevent Ascot from starting reasonably well. Alex Markarian saw plenty of the ball out wide left, whilst Carl Collins looked lively on the right. Mike Tomlinson, Paul Woodford and Steve Dando did their bit in midfield and all in all Ascot spent most of the time on the front foot.
But, genuine chances were few and far between. The visiting keeper made one fantastic finger tip save, and Carl Collins hit one nicely from 12 yards out that could easily have flown in. That aside, the games was becoming a bit of a midfield battle.
Ascot may have had more of the ball, but the first goal of the evening came at the other end. The hosts overplayed a bit, lost possession, and the Crusaders found themselves one up.
As the game moved into the second half the Crusaders grew in confidence. Their 3-5-2 seemed to work nicely and the more that Ascot tried the less they seemed like getting through. Adam Abusweder and Phil White joined Paul Woodford in the middle of park, Stuart Birkett pushed up into the front line and the two full backs tried to press high. In truth, the Crusaders dealt with it all pretty well.
With Ascot pressing on that inevitably left options for the Army to counterattack. They came close to notching a second goal on a couple of occasions, before eventually doubling their lead with 15 minutes left. They then had a potential third goal cleared off the line and indeed couldn’t quite scramble the ball home after having been awarded an indirect free kick six yards out (!). The tide was definitely with the visitors.
In the end, Ascot could probably have kept on playing for another couple of hours and they wouldn’t have scored. Sometimes it just goes like that.
The Yellas are in action again next week when they travel to Whippet Wanderers in the League Cup. Kick off 2pm on Saturday 7 December. We move on.
Team. Rob Stockford, Karl Small, Micky Parker, Nigel Gatehouse, Darren Lewis, Paul Woodford, Steve Dando (c), Mike Tomlinson, Carl Collins, Chris Watney, Alex Markarian.
Subs. Dan Hough, Phil White, Adam Abusweder, Stuart Birkett, Ed Du Bois