Ascot United 1st X1 Veterans v Chessington Veterans

Report

Two hat-tricks for Sam

Ascot needed to do three things tonight and they did them all brilliantly. Great movement, ball speed and encouragement ground a competitive Chessington to a halt. Great performances from many players with Sam’s two hat tricks (goals and assists) and Tim’s overall play being of the highest quality. Dan Hough made his 1^st team debut and it was also good to welcome Phil and Garyth back into the squad.

Chessington looked to be competitive right from the start but were rocked back by an early and excellent opening goal which set the standards high for Ascot. A one touch crisp passing move starting with Dan in Ascot’s own third, into Ben who played in Simmo down the right wing and his first time drilled pass across the face of the goal was tucked into the corner by Sam. Brilliant move and 1-0 on 5 minutes.

Ascot were a little sloppy and conceded cheap possession to Chessington who showed that they had a real threat on the break. Chessington created two good chances, Rich saving one with his feet and the other one simply butchered. The Chessington keeper then made two great saves. Sam broke down the left and swung in a great ball. Ben took it down with one touch and smashed it at goal only to see the keeper get an amazing finger tip to it and divert it onto the cross bar. A Rob freekick caused trouble with Sam and Ben combining and the keeper made another excellent save.

On 15 minutes Chessington equalised with a ricochet from 20 yards that left Rich with no chance. 1-1 and Chessington were starting to bite. More Chessington pressure led to a corner which was just cleared at the far post. The ball was passed to Tim on edge of our own box, Rob was already sprinting forward and Tim found him with a lovely reverse ball. Rob drove forward with the ball, Sam had already made his run and Rob found him with a great pass. One touch and finished across the keeper 2-1 to Ascot on 20 minutes. An important goal.

On 25 minutes Sam got his hattrick. Some patient play pulled the Chessington team around and when Tim saw a gap, he played in Sam who again finished calmly across the keeper. Sam returned the favour 5 minutes later. Again, Ascot moved the ball quickly and patiently, Dan found Tim in space with a cross field ball. Tim pinged into Sam, racing forward and demanding the return. Sam’s back heel was good and then Tim finished wonderfully, doing the keeper with a little shimmy and rolling the ball into the net. 4-1

Sam got away down the left and his cross was headed into his own goal by a Chessington defender and it was 5-1 after 40 minutes. Chessington still had a threat and another great break down the left led to a scrambled finish and it was 5-2 at the break. The late Chessington goal being a useful reminder to the Ascot team that there was still a bit of dog in this fight.

Matt and Andy came on to freshen things up and everyone knew the first 10 minutes of the second half would be important. Another goal for Chessington and this would turn into a real battle. It was important that Ascot kept moving the ball quickly. That important first 10 minutes turned into an important first 3 minutes as Ascot scored twice to finish the game. In the first move of the half Chessington broke forward and almost created an opportunity for themselves. Dan and Simmo snuffed out the move. The ball was played into Tim in his own third and he saw Rob making a run from really deep in his own half. By the time Tim’s pass arrived at Rob’s feet he was in on goal and lifted the bouncing ball over the keepers head for another great goal. Great run and great pass. Ascot pressed again straight from the kick off and Ben showed great feet to beat 2 defenders inside the box. He pulled it back to Rob, who found Toby rushing in at the far post for a first time finish 7-2 and Chessington heads dropped a little.

Credit to Chessington as they continued to battle and make things hard for Ascot. JK, Matt and Dan shut down any advance and there was very little threat on the Ascot goal. Phil and Garyth came on with fresher legs and keep the ball moving quickly. Gleavy had a shot that just rose over the bar and with 5 minutes to go Sam got his hattrick of assists, played in by Rocket and got to the byline. A pause, a look up and Sam saw Tim had stopped his run to create some space for himself in the box. Pass to feet, first time finish by Tim and we were don.

A good performance by Ascot with some excellent moments.

Team : Harrison, Hough, Keough, Corbett, Tomlinson, T Standing(c) , Simpson, Underwood, B Standing , McIntyre, Gleave, Brant, Newall, White,