Men's 2nd XI vs Ashford (Kent) M4

Words:           James Perks

Oppo:             Ashford (Kent) 4, Away

Final Score:    W 6-2

Goalscorers:  James Provins (2), James Perks (2), Adam Sidders, John Barrett.

Ville travelled to Ashford today for a tricky away fixture. After a rare 0–0 draw earlier in the season, Ville were eager to build on an impressive run of form. Unbeaten in nine games and winning eight of them, the question was whether they could make it ten?

The opening ten minutes were evenly contested, with neither side creating any clear-cut chances. Ville then earned their first short corner of the afternoon. Perks slipped the ball to Sidders and received it back, but the keeper managed to get a foot to the shot. Unfortunately for Ashford, the rebound fell straight to Prov, who made no mistake to give Ville a 1–0 lead.

Ville soon struck again from another short corner. This time Perks unleashed a fierce straight strike from the top of the D, firing the ball between the keeper’s legs to double the advantage. 2–0.

Five minutes later Ville added a third, and it was one of the JPs again who got on the scoresheet. Prov produced what might be the best mis-hit shots you’ll ever see, completely deceiving the keeper and making it 3–0 to Ville.

Prov then turned provider for the other JP to double his tally for the afternoon. A perfectly weighted through ball found Perks on his reverse, who beat the keeper and calmly slotted home to make it 4–0.

The halftime whistle blew on a dominant, disciplined, and hard-working first-half performance from Ville.

The second half didn’t follow quite the same pattern, although Ville did strike first after the break. Seb drove into the D and smashed a ball across goal towards the far post, where Sidders was waiting to sweep home and make it 5–0.

Ashford responded by pulling one back from a short corner routine to make it 5–1. They then somehow scored again in what was arguably the moment of the match. An initial shot was partially blocked and deflected, and what should have been a routine clearance for Hughes wasn’t to be. Deceived by the spin, the ball trickled past him to make it 5–2.

A superb first-half performance ultimately decided the contest. Another excellent win for Ville, who now extend their unbeaten run to ten games, winning nine of them.

MOTM: Jack – a stellar performance. Read the game superbly, won his individual battles, and distributed the ball with real quality.

DOD: Only one possible winner today – Hughes, for the comical goal.

SQUAD:

·        John Barrett (Capt), Matthew Bates, Seb Cox, David Hooper, Simon Hooper, James Hughes, Max O’Callaghan, James Perks, James Provins, Adam Sidders, Jack Sweeney-MacQueen, Alex Taylor, David Walkom.