Kentish Express Ashford & District
Fightback forces a draw Table tennis
Hockey
Ashford men’s 1sts came from behind to draw 3-3 with neighbours Folkestone as the second half of the Kent/Sussex Regional 1 season got under way on Saturday.
Despite taking the lead, Ashford were pegged back to 2-1 by Folkestone, who after a flurry of cards were reduced to nine men at one stage to Ashford’s 11.
Folkestone managed to increase their lead to 3-1, but Ashford hit back with two goals.
■ Ashford men’s 2nds consolidated third place in Kent Area Division 1 with a 7-3 win at home to Tunbridge Wells 2nds.
The home side took the lead from short corner that was tucked away at the second opportunity by striker Will Spain assisted neatly by Aston Spinks.
A reverse stick finish by manof-the-match Adam Fox made it 2-0 within the first 10 minutes, but against the run of play Wells pulled a goal back.
However a goal from Ollie Kent restored Ashford’s two-goal cushion before half-time.
At the start of the second half captain Alan Dawson picked out Kevin Miller in front of goal to score.
Ashford squandered chances and found their lead reduced to 4-3 as Wells put away their only two chances of the half.
However Ashford responded by scoring three goals in almost as many minutes, through Tom Clayson and Fox (2).
■ Ashford men’s 3rds maintained second place in the Kent Open Premier Division with a 2-1 home win against Tunbridge Wells Vets.
Ashford, still undefeated, were without top goal scorer Matt Goodwin through injury but welcomed back youngster Luke Prior.
It was Wells who took the lead, against the run of play. They got a lucky break when a pass was fired into the circle and their striker mis-controlled the ball and it flew into the bottom corner.
In the second half, Ashford equalised when Prior fought to win the ball back and then set up Dylan Page who scored with a reverse stick shot from a tight angle.
It wasn’t long before Ashford took the lead, through a wellworked short corner that finished with Adam Mott’s drag flick going through the keeper’s legs.
Ashford continued to create some half chances but were unable to capitalise.
■ Ashford 4ths started 2020 with a 5-2 victory at Gore Court in Kent Open Premier B.
The first goal was a reverse from Gary Maylan. John Browning scored the second from close range before Court pulled the two goals back.
The Ashford tally was completed by Dave Finch with a penalty flick, a short corner goal from John Browning and an effort at the far post.
■ Ashford ladies’ 2nds started the year with a 3-2 win against Kent League 1 leaders King’s & Alleyn’s 2nds.
Tess Palmer opened the scoring from a short corner, but the visitors responded with a goal in similar fashion.
Player-of-the-match Jo Thompson deflected in a raised ball to make it 2-1 to Ashford but again King’s pulled level.
In the final five minutes captain Emma Bains shot into the far corner to secure the win.
■ Ashford ladies’ 4ths made an excellent start to the year by defeating top-of-the-table Blackheath & Elthamians 4ths 3-2 in Kent Division 4.
Linda Charlton put Ashford ahead with the visitors equalising before half-time. Charlton restored Ashford’s lead from a short corner at the start of the second half but again Blackheath equalised.
Alice Browning delivered the winning goal, while Chloe Warner was player of the match.
Little Chart Posties and Sportsmen A have started the new Ashford & District League season both looking to spring back up into Division 3, but it appears Ruckinge F have other ideas on that matter.
The Posties have got off to a flying start, playing two fixtures in the first week. First up they took on Challock C, and despite a convincing 7-3 win it was Darren McCulloch Smith, of Challock who stole the show.
In an early fight for the top of the singles averages John Jarvis was unable to find a way past McCulloch Smith, with the Challock player coming through without dropping a set.
Against Brian Milner and Frazer Duncan it was a much harder affair with both matches going the distance. Duncan come from 2-0 down to force a decider, in a match where four of the five legs finished 11-9.
Milner took a 2-0 lead which seemed to inspire McCulloch Smith who rushed through the next three legs, winning the fifth 11-1.
Posties then defeated Ruckinge E 8-2. Ruckinge’s only wins came from Paul Hickman beating Milner and, and David Camilletti defeating Duncan the team’s only reward for an evening’s work.
Sportsmen A started their campaign against newly promoted Pluckley, who took the Division 4 title by a large margin before Christmas.
Douglas Ho was the star man of the night with only Graham Watts picking up a leg to blot his copy book.
Ho was able supported by Julian Thorne, who picked up a brace of wins, over Phil Hayes and Pete Murphy, but it was Watts who proved his Achilles heel.
Howard Brightling chipped in with a win over Hayes before Ho and Thorne sealed a 7-3-win by winning the doubles.
In the derby, newly promoted Ruckinge G were beaten 7-3 by Ruckinge F. The G side went 3-1 up, only for their clubmates to take the next six games.