Ascot United Supervets v Windlesham Veterans

Report

1 August 2025

Ascot United SVs 5-3 Windlesham Vets

 

The Ascot United Supervets started their 2025-26 season with a convincing win against near-neighbours Windlesham. Paul Hamblin’s diving header vied with an Islam Hussein blockbuster for the goal of the game award, although the move that led to Zak Dimitrovski’s cool finish was also decidedly decent.

 

When the sides met back in the spring Windlesham gave Ascot a good run for their money. The hosts won, but it was a close-run thing.

 

This time round things were a little more straightforward for Ascot’s SVs. Tony Everest and Micky Parker pulled the strings in the middle of the park, Phil White looked dangerous moving forward whilst Ed Du Bois kept a firm grip on things at the back. Martin Kay flew forward admirably down the left whilst Dave Porter purred like a Cheshire Cat high on catnip. Excellent stuff.

 

Not that everything was plain-sailing. Rob Stockford pulled off a number of decent saves as Windlesham proved dangerous on the break, whilst Eryk Nawala also kept one effort out that he really had no right to. When Windlesham got moving, they definitely had something about them.

 

For the most part it was nonetheless Ascot that set the tone and indeed dominated possession. Micky Parker, freshly landed from a holiday in foreign climes, was excellent all night, and he was involved in the move that set up the first goal. Dan Hough wriggled free down the right, looked up, saw Paul Hamblin waiting with intent, only to elegantly shank the ball past the wrong-footed keeper and into the net. Pretty? Not really, but no matter. Ascot were up and running.

 

The second goal of the evening won’t be in the running for goal of the season either. Micky Parker delivered a peach of a cross into the six yard box, Ed Du Bois and Hamblin made menaces of themselves and the Windlesham ‘keeper promptly shepherded the ball into his own net.

 

If neither of the first two goals were particularly good on the eye, the third made up for it. Islam Hussain, a man with a burgeoning CV of spectacular strikes, took the ball 25 yards out and fizzed it over the ‘keeper and into the roof of the net. That man Hussein, he only does crackerjack goals.

 

Windlesham did, however, keep themselves in it with goals to make it 2-1 and then 3-2. But, even though gaffer Flurry kept ringing the changes, Ascot still kept pinging the ball around nicely. Both Tony Everest and Phil White thumped strikes against the crossbar, leaving it to Paul Hamblin to score what was arguably the goal of the game. The ball went along the back line to the left, back across the park, before five more passes saw Phil White and Zak Dimitrovski enjoying a bit of an overload on the right. The ball came into the box, Paul Hamblin threw himself at it and the net billowed. Marvellous.

 

At that point Windlesham decided to chuck everything forward. A defensive cock up led to them getting one back, but Ascot were in no mood to let them grab anything more from the game. Islam Hussein, now a born-again left back, set Alex Markarian free down the wing, he sucked the central defender in and cooly set Dimitrovski free. The North Macedonian goal machine made no mistake. 5-3. Job done.

 

“I was pleasantly surprised with what I saw” mused Stu Flurry to the world’s media afterwards “it turns out lying on a southern European beach before then going big on the all-inclusive buffet isn’t actually the worst pre-season prep out there. Who’d a thunk it?”.

 

Next up for the Supervets are the Walton Strollers on 22 August.

 

Team; Rob Stockford, Dan Hough, Martin Kay, Ed Du Bois, Dave Porter, Tony Everest, Alex Markarian, Phil White, Paul Hamblin, Micky Parker and Zak Dimitrovski

Subs; Eryk Nawala, Doug Page, Jad Sidhu, Islam Hussein, Jon Norris

Goals; Dan Hough, OG, Islam Hussein, Paul Hamblin, Zak Dimitrovski