Match report
On a night when the blustery conditions made it very difficult to play good, controlled football, the Dons won the battle of the in-form teams with the margin of victory being greater than the score line indicates with Ashford’s goal coming in the last minute of the game.
Terry Brown made three changes from the line up that had started against Maidstone. Antony Howard, who had replaced the injured Rob Quinn on Saturday, started in the centre of the defence. The attack was led by Jon Main and Richard Jolly, who came in for Daniel Webb and Mark De Bolla.
Despite their run of good form, Ashford went for five in midfield, leaving Bryon Harrison on the own up front. This tactic again determined that the midfield area was going to be crowded and the goalmouth action was limited, with the crowd constantly looking up skywards as the ball swirled around in the wind.
With the wind behind them in the first half, the Dons seemed to have the edge and looked the likelier team to open the scoring. This proved to be the case, although with help from the visitors. Steve Ferguson found the ball in space on the right hand side and hit an early cross field ball to Tony Finn. Having gathered it, he cut in and from the edge of the box curled in a cross shot, which was met athletically by the diving Adam Logie who in his attempt to head clear only succeeded in planting the ball past the helpless Paul Burgess as he dived in the opposite direction. Ten minutes later, Finn almost increased the lead when his dipping 30 yard free kick missed the bar by inches.
The second half started with Ashford raising their game and showing more urgency than they had shown in the first 45 minutes. The dangerous Ricky Wellard, who looked a classy player, was playing the deepest of the midfield five and, although looking very comfortable on the ball, was not hurting the Dons with his attacking play.
It was the Dons who nearly scored a second when Jason Goodliffe came charging in to meet a corner from the right but his powerful header went wide of the post. At last Ashford were making some progress and Lee Butcher was called on to make a good save, diving to his left from Scott Todd after the keeper had forced Anthony Joseph to take the ball wide.
After 73 minutes the Dons scored their second with a wonderful shot from Finn. The ball reached Finn via Jolly as he moved infield. Having controlled the pass, he quickly got his shot away from at least 25 yards out and the ball flew into the top corner of the net. The match should have been safe but shortly after the goal a Dons corner from the right led to a melee involving players from both sides. After the dust had settled and the referee had consulted his assistant, Howard was shown a straight red card.
Playing with a player less for the second game in a row did not daunt the Dons who should have extended their lead when Ferguson got to the by line and picked out Jolly, whose first time shot hit the far post and rebounded into play.
As the game meandered to its conclusion, a debatable free kick was awarded to Ashford. Todd swung the ball in but Butcher lost control of it after he seemed to have made a safe catch, and Stuart Bamford had the simple task of shooting into the empty net.
The worried looks of the home fans who feared a tricky few minutes of injury time quickly disappeared as the referee blew for time as soon as the game restarted.
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