ASCOT UNITED 3-1 WINDSOR FC: THE MATCH REPORT & MORE IMAGES...

Windsor Denied By Long Throws, A High Boot & Ascot’s Resolution…

Ascot United 3-1 Windsor FC

(Bluefin Sport Challenge Cup Final, played @ Ardley United…)

So Ascot United lifted the trophy at the end of a match interrupted by two scuffles, a good number of free-kicks, a dismissal, much verbal abuse aimed at the referee by Windsor’s disgruntled fans, then a lengthy stoppage when the official himself went down injured. The opening two goals for United stemmed from long throws by Chris Ellis, the first of which was unfortunately punched into his own net by Windsor goalie Hugo Sobte and the second goal was rapped into goal by Ascot striker Harry Laflin, as a result of mayhem in the Windsor penalty-box caused by Ellis’ next ‘chuck’. Windsor’s cause was severely derailed when their lively striker Dan Roberts reached boot-first for a falling ball which United’s James Haworth had bent forward to head. The result was a boot to the Yellaman’s skull, then there was much pointing and blaming, arguing and gesticulating, before the official produced a red card for Roberts…

INTERESTING WHERE THE REF IS WIPING HIS HAND......

LOCK MARKS KNIGHT, AN ENGLISH KNIGHT, MISSING ONLY HELMET AND JOUSTING LANCE...

Obviously, with this incident occurring just prior to the interval and already playing without injured central defender Andy Ingram, Windsor would find competing for a victory even more difficult and that situation worsened when, after the break, Dan Price strode forth to score a third goal for United. Fair play to Windsor though, they did reply when Ascot’s goalie Sam Gray was wrong-footed by Jamie di Giuseppi’s free-kick shot which might have been slightly deflected and replacement Corey Parchment lapped up the rebound. Further goals eluded Windsor though and five of their players were cautioned before the end of the encounter: Kieran Knight, Victor Ocansey, di Giuseppi, Luke Appleton and George Gould.

GRAY WEARS, ER, GREY, AS A CONTRAST TO THE MERRY REDS, GREENS AND WHITES WORN BY WINDSOR'S FANS...

It was a bitty game to watch and there were in truth not many goalmouth thrills. Credit must go to both sets of supporters for their vocal efforts though and despite the efforts of Kane Fitzgerald in the Windsor midfield, Appleton and Ocansey in defence and Gould as a support attacker, Ascot seemed to have a little more to offer on the day. Skipper Louis Bouwers led his team really well, supported by George Lock and the feisty Fabien Etienne, whilst Lamin Sankoh was quietly efficient, Kai Walters and Price were unrelenting in their efforts, Jonny Denton scoured the midfield for possession and Haworth often added width on the offensive left.  

ELLIS THE THROWER...

An early scooped ball forward by Ellis was comfortably caught by Sobte, before Laflin just failed to get his head to a centre by Haworth but apart from those efforts, Sobte was only really threatened by two of Ellis’ long throws. He jumped for the first and somehow the ball bounced from the fist of his glove backwards and over his goal-line. The second throw caused a scramble and Bouwers’ glanced header was stopped near the goal-line by Appleton, Laflin’s rebound shot was stopped by Gould but Walters’ touch allowed a second strike for Laflin and this time his low drive from the left edge of the 6 yard box flew into the bottom right corner of the net, past a diving but helpless Sobte.

ASCOT LEAD 1-0...

AN INJURY FOR WINDSOR TOO...

...BUT A DECENT START FOR ASCOT...

2-0 & LAFLIN THIS TIME...

Windsor had struggled during the opening period to get their final passes or crosses to be accurate, although they managed to forge a few opportunities. Knight had nodded a di Giuseppi centre to a grateful Gray, Gould headed another cross towards the ‘keeper, before lob-volleying past the left upright from 28 yards and then getting into the left side of the 18 yard box, following strong work by Fitzgerald, only for his 16 yard drive as he fell to be turned wide by the leaping Gray’s right glove. Roberts rose superbly at the near post to head di Giuseppi’s right-side corner downwards but Gray appeared to block the effort on his goal-line, although Sankoh was there too. Really though, as the half-time rest neared, that wayward lifting boot of Roberts, his subsequent sending-off (whatever anyone present thought about the harshness of the punishment) and the timing of it, would certainly have dispirited the Windsor team with those flags for jerseys, as they trudged off the hard pitch for a mug of tea and a biscuit… 

LOOKS LIKE ROBERTS MIGHT JUST BE IN TROUBLE...

...HE IS...

HAWORTH HOPES THAT THE GEL HASN'T BEEN KICKED FROM HIS HAIR...

ROBERTS WALKS SADLY AWAY...

After the interval, the game was fragmented by too many stoppages, often infuriating the Windsor players and supporters alike. Knight fouled Lock and was yellow-carded, Ocansey whacked Etienne to the ground to earn his caution but Windsor were already complaining about Etienne’s challenge to win the ball seconds earlier. Then di Giuseppi appeared to be booked for words spoken to an official, an irritated Appleton was also cautioned, as was Gould, whose challenge on Ascot replacement Luqman Kassim saw the United man respond and the second playground squabble ensued. The lengthy delay following the injury to the referee also dampened the second period but by then, Price had added goal three for the Yellamen.

He strode through the Windsor defence centrally to shoot low past the advancing Sobte and surely, that was victory assured for Ascot.

SECOND PERIOD BEGINS...

...& ELLIS DOES THE HONOURS...

SOBTE: NOT TOO MUCH TO DO, REALLY...

MORE TROUBLE...

OCANSEY & KNIGHT STATE THEIR CASES...

KNIGHT SEES YELLOW...

MORE HASSLE FOR THE REFEREE...

CAUTION FOR OCANSEY...

3-0 TO THE YELLAMEN: PRICE THIS TIME...

A driving run by the energetic Sankoh came to nought, Price had a 22 yard drive saved comfortably by Sobte and another effort from 12 yards by Price was stopped by the belly of Appleton, whose arms were by his sides and any thought of ‘hand-ball’ would have been cruel on Windsor. And wrong. The consolation goal for the Flaggers came as a result of a foul by the surprisingly speedy, although solidly built and tall Ellis. The free-kick by di Giuseppi basically broke through the flimsy Ascot wall, like a loose hurdle fence on their racecourse and maybe the shot took a deflection but Gray had already fallen to collect the effort and fumbled it from his awkward body position, allowing Parchment to make his first contribution to the game by converting an easy rebound. However, little more was seen by Windsor’s ten men as an offensive threat, despite some hard running by Kai Davis and Fitzgerald, an abundance of selfless work by Jack Gibson and an appearance by Barry Hayles, now 109 years old… (Not really but I like him because he played for Truro City…)   

ELLIS ESCAPES A BOOKING...

3-1 NOW & SCORER PARCHMENT PLACES THE BALL ON THE CENTRE-SPOT...

And so the match petered out with the players still grumbling at each other; the fourth official had taken his time restarting the game following the demise of the main official and in all, it seemed that Ascot just wanted to receive the trophy, get showered by bubbly and return home… Perhaps the original referee had been pleased to leave the field early, considering the abuse he had constantly suffered but when he returned to receive his medal, he was roundly booed…

HMM...

THE REF ADMITS THAT THE PAIN IS PREFERABLE TO THE ABUSE...

AH, MONSIEUR HAYLES!

LATE REPLACEMENT HAYLES LURKS...

MORE SCRAPPING...

GOULD CAUTIONED...

LOCK LOCKS A LEG...

Ascot took the plaudits, Windsor’s players shook hands with their fans behind a goal-net, which was admirable and I left Ardley to negotiate the M40 back to Solihull.

GAME OVER...

SUCCESS FOR ASCOT...

WORTH WINNING...

After all, it’s what I do…

TEAMS:

ASCOT UNITED:

SAM GRAY, GEORGE LOCK, FABIEN ETIENNE, JONNY DENTON, LOUIS BOUWERS (CAPT), CHRIS ELLIS, LAMIN SANKOH, KAI WALTERS, HARRY LAFLIN, DAN PRICE, JAMES HAWORTH.

SUBS:

CALLUM CARLISLE, SAMIR REGRAGUI, GEOFF KIBAKI, LUQMAN KASSIM, SHERIDAN CAMPBELL.

WINDSOR FC:

HUGO SOBTE (CAPT), VICTOR OCANSEY, JAMIE DI GIUSEPPE, LUKE BROOKS-SMITH, ANDY INGRAM, LUKE APPLETON, GEORGE GOULD, KANE FITZGERALD, DAN ROBERTS, JACK GIBSON, KIERAN KNIGHT.

SUBS:

BEN SMYTH, KAI DAVIS, MATT STOCKHILL, COREY PARCHMENT, BARRY HAYLES.