Slick Vic does the trick; Southall left feeling sick
Impressive Ascot United eased to a 2-0 victory over sorry Southall on Bank Holiday Monday. With manager Gavin Smith away, assistant Vic Ocansey oversaw matters and watched alongside the home faithful as his side produced their best all-round performance of the season so far.
Familiar faces return; unfamiliar backdrop to game
With the visitors fielding ex-Yellamen Brendan Matthew, Nathan Jones, Harry Grant, Hugo Sobte and Connor Holland in their squad, the home faithful knew the quality they were up against, but it was a Southall side who had uncharacteristically laboured so far this season. Without a league win from their opening two games and a poor midweek FA Cup exit followed by a home humbling by Binfield 48 hours earlier, The ‘All really need to start finding some form.
Ascot, meanwhile, were left sickened by their late defeat at Fareham on Saturday – VEO footage confirming both penalty decisions in that one cost the at least a point – but results are all that matters and they also needed something from the holiday derby.
The good, the bad and the ugly
Ascot were good value for money in the first half – their best opening 45 of the season – whereas Southall were simply bad.
The home side would take a deserved 17th minute lead with a goal that owed as much to the quick feet of Kai Allsopp as the finish form Cheik Sylla. Allsop picked the ball up just inside the Southall half, spun, drove forwards and threaded an inch-perfect pass for Sylla to run onto, and he slid a left-footed shot across Sobte and into the bottom right.
But napping from the restart, Ascot were thankful to Kie Plumley for denying Dan Pepple with his legs, before wayward finishing cost Southall an equaliser from the resultant corner as Cerny Ando headed wide.
Luis-ah Le-Paih, oh-oh-oh-oh, you scored a goal!
Ok, that song may not catch on, but The Yellamen would strike again in the 22nd minute when Sylla turned provider down the left, Khalid Simmo spun himself into a shooting position in the centre of the penalty area, and although his shot was blocked, Kingsman of the moment Le-Paih raced in to side-foot low and hard into the bottom right hand corner; 2-0 and daylight emerged.
Dan Roberts’s ugly sliced effort summed up his side’s afternoon in the 35th minute, and Ascot ended the half in comfortable ascendancy.
Ascot maintain second-half ascendancy in searing sun
Both sides could have been forgiven had they let their intensity drop in the second half – but Ascot didn’t – and they continued to press.
Sylla saw a 60th minute effort blocked with Simmo unable to capitalise in the aftermath, before Baback Dehghani’s neat flick over a defender and immediate volley sailed comfortably into a gleeful Sobte’s arms.
At this point Southall’s defensive implosion had begun, and after Ando gifted possession to Ascot when attempting to play out, Le-Paih was onto it like a shot, played an exquisite through ball for Sylla to run onto, and anywhere other than straight down the middle it would have been game over; Sobte making a routine save with his feet.
The ‘All finally wake up, but it’s pie in the sky with Kie’s standards high
The visitors did finally muster chances – substitute Harvey Maudner slashing wide left of target with seven regulation minutes remaining – but Ascot substitute Jacob Bancroft could have polished it off when clean through two minutes later only to see Sobte save what was already an off-target shot.
Roberts then played a neat one-two and drilled just wide of the left-hand post as Southall threatened again in the 86th minute, but Plumley snuffed out any prospect of a grandstand finale with a smart save down low to his own left to keep out Roberts’s fierce effort in the 89th minute.
Both Matthew and Holland had come off the bench for Southall but couldn’t trouble their former club – both extremely talented players and revered by the home faithful – but sadly seemingly lost in a sea of tactical disarray.
Ascot saw out six added minutes comfortably and it was hard for the supporters to pick out a man of the match when it was such a good team performance. Allsopp and Plumley stood out, but Josh Edwards at the back was a different class.
And as for the home fans; this performance and result made them smile.
What’s next for Ascot?
It’s Emirates FA Cup action next weekend and the trek across London for a first qualifying round tie at Step 5 Soul Tower Hamlets. The Yellas need to bottle what they produced today, and it will all be ok.
Ascot United: Plumley, Sankoh, Murray (Wallace 69’), Edwards, Lamb, Allsopp, Ceesay (Trickett 90+4’), Le-Paih, Sylla (Bancroft 74’), Simmo (Fried-Jones 83’), Dehghani. Sub unused: Garlinge
Venue: The Racecourse, Ascot
Attendance: 186
Weather: 26c, sunny
Reporter’s star man: Josh Edwards (Ascot United)
Entertainment: 4
Away fans estimate: 15
One-word summary: Comfortable
Photo: Cheik Sylla opens the scoring (shooting-stars.co.uk.)