O’Connor buoyed by goal as he puts lay-off behind him

Ashford United’s Tom O’Connor says he felt overwhelmed to score for the club on Saturday, as he continues his impressive return from a long spell on the sidelines.

The 23-year-old midfielder, who has started just two matches since signing for the Nuts & Bolts in June, has been plagued by knee problems throughout his career.

“Saturday was overwhelming with the amount of time I’ve had out,” O’Connor said.

“When you work it all out I’ve been injured for over a season, probably 18 months, so scoring my first goal in that time was such a good feeling personally.

“Sometimes coming back from a longterm injury that’s the kind of boost you need, so I’m hoping that I can now get myself going now by getting a few more goals and some assists as well.” O’Connor is another player in the Homelands squad to link up with boss Tommy Warrilow again, after playing under him for more than two years at former side Thamesmead Town.

The Dartford outfit folded in October 2018 while both Warrilow and O’Connor were at the club, although the United midfielder would have failed to feature at all competitively last season because of his injuries.

He added: “I left Bromley two years ago to sign for Thamesmead, because I wasn’t really getting the game time I would have liked there, and one of the boys who played under Tommy before recommended me to him.

“But that was when my injuries really started, especially the meniscus in my knee.

“I’ve had a couple of operations on it, and really been focusing on getting that stronger so I can get myself going and not break down anymore.

“I’ve stayed with Tommy too because he’s someone who’s looked after me and also been able to trust in me, so he was a big factor in signing for Ashford. “Coming in and playing half an hour the other week against Barton Rovers was a chance to repay the faith he’s shown in me.”

O’Connor believes his time off the field has left him determined to hit the ground running for the Kent side. He said: “I’ve never really been much of a goalscorer, I’ve normally been creating.

“My last season at Thamesmead I ended up assisting about 25 goals in about 35 league games.

“It’s always been a big part of my game, but I would also love to try and get to double digits in terms of goals by the end of the season, especially because once the team gets going during games we look dangerous.”

The result means United, who have picked up just three wins out of nine in all competitions since the start of October, have also lost three successive league games for the first time since September 2018.

Manager Tommy Warrilow says the Bexleyheath side deserved the three points. “I thought they worked a lot harder than us. They were a counter-attacking side that we knew about, so we set up to nullify them but we didn’t do it,” he said.

“When we got into the game during the second-half we had our best patch, but then we gave them the third goal which took the wind out of our sails.

“We’ve lost 4-1 and three points, and it hurts, but we have to take it on the chin. To have a man sent off hasn’t helped, but overall I think they deserved it so it is just very disappointing.”

Not for the first time this season, United found themselves behind early on. Ashford failed to clear their lines allowing Henry Ikeije to find himself some space in the box, and the striker duly tapped in from close range after three minutes.

With the home side continuing to waste good opportunities throughout the half, they ended up conceding again, this time from the penalty spot – Charlie MacDonald sending Sam Mott the wrong way to make it 2-0 to the visitors five minutes before the interval. Although United dominated the majority of the secondhalf, the Nuts & Bolts could only manage what turned out to be a consolation, courtesy of midfielder Tom O’Connor’s terrific drive on 72 minutes. The Homelands side were ultimately given a brutal lesson in finishing on the day, as just eight minutes later Athletic got their third, albeit against the run of play through defender Dominic Odusanya.

With Ashford midfielder

Zak Henry also seeing red for violent conduct just two minutes later, there was even time for the Dartford team to seal the icing on the cake just before stoppage-time. Substitute Courtney Barrington made it 4-1 when he buried his shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the box, to complete an emphatic win for the visitors. Ashford: Mott, Aboagye, Lake, McIntyre, Kamara, Wisson, Henry, Walder, Ibrahim, Condon, May. Substitutes: O’Connor, Gold. Attendance: 182