Saturday 18th November 2023 ko 15:00

Isthmian League Division One South-East

ASHFORD UNITED 3 (Draycott 16 Brand 41 Carney 90+4)

SHEPPEY UNITED 2 (Willis 4 Bessey-Saldana 14)

Att 478

Entry £10

Programme £2

We’d reached the part of the season where the weather makes sure you either pick a game that’s on 3G or have a whole slew of backup plans. Added to that I had two thoughts on the back of my mind. The first was that I wanted something with seating and cover, Robyn’s ankle was still causing her pain, and there was the vexed question of the Southern Counties East. I took the view to cash in a 3G insurance policy.

The Southern Counties East was an oddity for me. Me visiting Lydd and Deal on the SCEFL hop 2 weeks’ previously meant the only ground in the league I hadn’t seen a game at was Ashford United’s Homelands Stadium, and that is only because Kennington FC share there. Or putting it another way, by watching Ashford United I’d be completing a league despite neither host nor visiting club being in the competition! As if to emphasise the point, many of the Kennington squad were watching the game- their away match had been waterlogged off!

But I found myself thinking back to when I started groundhopping, when there were two clubs called Ashford Town, so each had to have their counties in parentheses after their names (Middlesex) and (Kent) and yes it was confusing! Sadly Ashford Town (Kent) went bankrupt in 2010, with the phoenix club taking the United suffix the old club had used between 1891 and 1907. The nickname of “Nuts and Bolts” was retained, many of the followers of the original Ashford FC were railwaymen.

Homelands was purpose-built for Ashford Town (Kent) in 1989, although the only hint of the past you’ll see is the faciar board on the roof of the main stand, the new signage is clearly smaller. Don’t expect to see the place in Ashford itself, it’s in Kingsland, about 4 miles to the south, in a classic case of an out-of-town development. Yes, I did wonder whether I’d put the wrong postcode in the satnav!

Once there, what you’ll visit is a well thought out ground capable of staging at a far higher level, despite visits to the likes of Faversham and Whitstable on the SCEFL Hop the whole ambiance was of a higher level. For me there was the oddity of knowing plenty of the Sheppey team, I’d watched their televised FA Cup defeat (1-4) to Walsall! Then as with this game Sheppey saw James Bessey-Saldana score, but they will wonder how they contrived to take a 2 -goal lead but lose- but there was a key moment.

With 5 minutes left Nuts & Bolts defender Connor Dymond clattered into Sheppey winger Mamadou Diallo. Already booked he was fortunate to stay on the pitch, and in the 94th minute Noah Carney stroked home the winner. Did one cause the other? Perhaps not, but there was nothing else being talked about as the crowd trudged away into the rain and gloom.