Ascot United 1st X1 Veterans v Chelsea Veterans

After an undeserved defeat at the start of the month, the 1s had a great chance to right the record against Chelsea tonight. And it was a chance they did not miss.

A strong squad of 16 were selected – and boy it was strong; Mssrs McIntyre, Bennett, Chahal and Wing, all potential starters for the 1s, sadly not making the 16 on this occasion. There could be no excuses.

In the opening exchanges, both teams looked like they might cause the other some problems but after those initial moments, Ascot took a grip of the game. Excellent in possession, looking lively up top and defensively solid, the home side were ascendant and after 13 minutes took the lead. Whilst there was an element of fortune about the opener, an own goal from a flappy keeper from a Tanfield cross, it was nothing more than Ascot deserved.

The goal solidified Ascot. They continued to show patience with the ball but posed an absolute threat, and doubled their lead through Moroney, following excellent work by Papili and Davies.

The lead doubled, Ascot further relaxed in possession and simply just kept the ball. At one point, they must have made 30 passes without Chelsea even getting close, recognised by one of their forwards who appealed to the bench “we’re playing Barcelona here!”

After another long period of possession, the lead was 3, Withers shifting the ball to Johnson, who in turn put Davies beyond the full back, the latter then lifting the ball over the advancing keeper for Moroney to tap home his second.

Half time.

There was a lot of chat from Chelsea about “having been here before”, meaning they’d been behind against Ascot in the past and turned it around. But the reality is they hadn’t been here before – this is a very different Ascot to the previous iterations, with a mentality that is far less fragile – solid even!

Following the restart, Ascot were again on top, Standing driving towards the back line, only to be pulled back by Todd of Chelsea. In attempting to free himself from Todd’s grip, Standing’s arm flailed and caught his opponent who fell screaming in agony. Chelsea then did what Chelsea do, and put enormous pressure on to the ref to take drastic action – red card!

Facing 43 minutes with 10 men, protecting a 3 goal lead felt precarious; Ascot would need to show resolve.

Their plight was made easier from the resulting free kick that Standing had been awarded, despite his dismissal, with Tanfield firing under the despairing keeper.

10 minutes later, the 10 men made it 5-0, Moroney securing his second successive hattrick smashing home after the keeper had flapped at a Tanfield corner.

Chelsea were at a loss. Even breaking down 10 men was proving a challenge but found some hope with 30 minutes left with a deflected shot eluding Lyons. 5-1.

15 minutes later, it became 5-2, this time Chelsea scoring from the spot after Withers had been adjudged to have handled a ricochet.

Despite Chelsea’s claims that Ascot were rattled (their description being far more faeces related), they never really looked under sustained pressure. In fact they grabbed their 6th to end any comeback hopes, when Davies nodded home a cross from Sykes with 10 minutes to go.

Chelsea did score an excellent third with 5 minutes to play, but Ascot managed the game superbly and deserved the 3pts come the final whistle.

An excellent display and all 16 involved can feel proud of their contributions.