Fitchett injury leaves United short at the back

Circumstances conspired against Ashford United at Walton Casuals on Saturday. The Nuts & Bolts held their own in the first 45 minutes against a Casuals side in the Bostik South play-off places. But as manager Jason Whitmore explained, their game plan was about to unravel. He said: “Pat Kingwell was in the squad for the first time since his injury so he was our defensive cover to come back in. He trained on Thursday and Jon WALTON CAS ASHFORD UTD Difford was suspended which meant James Fitchett came in. “At half-time, James went off injured and that morning, Pat had rung me and said his headaches were really severe and it was unsafe for him to play football. So that meant we had no centre-back on the bench that could make the change for us. When James had to come off, we had to move Kwabs Osei from centre midfield to centre-back and we lost our shape. “Everything we were working on went when James had to come off injured. It changed the game massively. “If Pat was there and had to come on at half-time, I don’t see us having a problem. It would have been similar to the first half where it could have gone either way.” Four minutes into the second half, Casuals took the lead. George McLennan was harshly penalised for a challenge on Sean McCormack and although Michael McEntegart saved Youseff Bamba’s penalty, Josh Kelly knocked in the rebound. Kelly doubled his tally from a narrow angle moments later and it was 3-0 just after the hour. Ashford were caught on the counter-attack and when Osei failed to clear the ball, McCormack forced it home. Former Ashford forward Tyrell Richardson-Brown completed the scoring in the final minute, running onto a through-ball and lobbing McEntegart with a shot which went in off the post. The United fans kept singing and Casuals boss Anthony Gale praised a “very good Ashford side” after admitting his team’s second-half performance had left him lost for words.

McEntegart, Toure, Cooney, Osei, Fitchett (Jackson 46min, Richefond, Watters, McLennan (Woodcock 88min), Dalhouse, Bingham, Barnwell (Day 78min). Subs not used: Williams, Lee-Wharton. 162.

Pat Kingwell was a late withdrawal