It was with a plethora of players that Ashford 5s were to enter the game against Maidstone 4s, with a late goalkeeping entry, but with two late illness recoveries in progress, two substitutes still looked sufficient to cover the game. It was not meant to be....
Ashford held up well, adapting to a new starting line up with our intrepid brothers as a twin pronged attack. If they were to be the horns, Chris was the headbutt. Within 5 minutes, a strong drive by Tom from beyond his years, into the D, was unfortunately not converted. Two minutes later, Zach was tested by Maidstone and showed his worth, deflecting a high shot wide. No team seemed to dominate until the 1st goal from Maidstone before halfway through the half.
A penalty corner for Ashford looked hopeful as Lobber Lightfoot kept everyone tantalised until the ball just went over the bar.
Tom had to come off soon after and the formation shuffled around to allow Paul to push up further, with the defence bolstered by Hugh and Steve moving forward. The Steel Triangle was born.
Tom's break was short-lived as within minutes, Paul pulled up and was out of the rest of the game.
Moments later, Dave's deft defensive touches were to be no more, as he also had to leave the pitch for the rest of the game with Mark stepping in to cover central defence.
5 minutes before the end of the half, a penalty corner attack resulted in the near post not being covered temporarily and Maidstone taking advantage for a 2-0 lead at half time. Yes, the captain was to blame.
Several stick tackles were thrown throughout the game by the opposition without repercussion in the main, leading to some tensions.
At this point Ashford had no further substitutes and any variation in plans were now thwarted, so restarted the 2nd half as the feist ended.
A strong drive by Hugh from the 16 to Roger just outside the 25, helped Roger dribble into the D and strong hit Ashford to a goal.
Toreador Tony continued to battle, hold up and pass strongly. This contributed to the game going more Ashford's way in the 2nd half but without conversion. Zach held the goal solidly from any attacks, showing great confidence when coming out.
Maidstone attacks were broken in the main -a goal was briefly given but well contested by Darren for an above knee stroke, leading to cancellation - and attacks made by the Ashford team were also either blocked or just missing the posts. All penalty corners against us were well handled by runners Neil and Darren. Under an hour of game time in saw Sam take a full bore hit to the side of the foot, which ended up with Ashford (now sub-less), down to ten men.
5 minutes from time, a flurry in the D ended up in a 3rd goal for Maidstone after taking a deflection. There was still more game time and Hugh's free hit 2 minutes from the end reached all the way up to Chris but soon after the whistle dropped the curtain on any consolation goals.
Player of the Match: Zach Webster (GK debut)