Ryman League - Premier Division Tuesday 24th March 2009
	Wealdstone	1 - 0	AFC Hornchurch
Ashe 2		H/T 1 - 0 Att.: 325	0

Match Synopsis
Wealdstone		AFC Hornchurch
Goal: Ashe	2
	27	Booking: Styles
Booking: Gray	34
	41	Sub: Goodfellow for Styles
	77	Sub: Curley for McFarlane
	81	Sub: Wall for Parker
Sub: Clarke for Haule	89

Match Report by Tony Middleton

WEALDSTONE 1 HORNCHURCH 0 Wealdstone have now moved into Ruislip Manor’s old ground, and have vacated their previous temporary home at Northwood. The ground has hardly changed in years, and the floodlights are arguably the worst in the league. The pitch was hard and bumpy and was thickly sanded in the corners, and there was a strong wind blowing directly down the pitch. There is only a small car park, and for just about everyone it is street parking only. Hornchurch kicked into the gale in the first half, and perhaps they were waiting for the floodlights to be turned on, perhaps they were just caught out, but they fell behind to a goal inside just 84 seconds. Lee Chappell casually ambled up to take a routine throw in inside his own half, then surprised the defence by hurling the ball over fifty yards, and Greg Ngoyi, one of two ex-Urchins in the home line up, completely unmarked headed it out to the left wing, and from the resulting centre RYAN ASHE outjumped Jim McFarlane to head home. Remember Ryan Ashe? He was the one who made the incredibly one handed diving save to keep the ball out in last season’s match – had he been playing in goal it would have ranked among the save of the year. For at time, Urchins struggled in the glimmering glow, and when Forbes raced away down the wing Billy Coyne did well to tackle to concede a corner. Hicks floated the ball over and Davis Haule’s hard hit shot was well saved by Darren Behcet. Ngoyi found himself in open space when he took a long pass from McCoy and Behcet saved again, and it was some time before Urchins could adjust to the bounce of the ball and the hard and bumpy surface. A free kick by Coyne found Kris Lee, who was promptly fouled, and Andy Tomlinson took the free kick, from the edge of the area, but the dominant Alan Massey headed away. A long throw into the gale by Billy Coyne reached Kris Lee, and his shot was blocked by Massey. Mark Janney gained possession in midfield and made ground, before crossing the ball into the middle where Thomas touched it over for a corner. Tomlinson sent in an excellent corner kick, Dean Green got a header in a packed area, and the ball was headed off the line. At the other end a Hicks corner came to nothing and an exchange of passes between McCoy and Forbes was broken up by Tomlinson. Elliot Styles was booked for a minor tackle, having twice already received treatment for tackles which had gone unpunished, and from Hicks’ well flighted free kick Haule’s powerful header was well saved by an alert Behcet. Yet another long throw into the goalmouth – Lee Chappell has arguably the longest throw in the league – saw Greg Ngoyi fire over when unmarked. Mark Janney had a great chance when he broke through the middle and was scythed down by Gray. Just yellow card, and Wealdstone had got away with a free kick on the edge of the area. Janney took the kick, found Lee, on to Styles, and the ball was scrambled off the line by Massey. Minutes later a loud appeal for hand ball was ignored, and Wealdstone again survived. Elliot limped off with a hamstring injury and was replaced by Mark Goodfellow, who took over in midfield, and in stoppage time of the first half Simon Parker touched the ball on to Kris Lee whose run was halted by a neat tackle by Gray? The rain fell down in torrents after the interval and the gale subsided. The floodlights struggled to penetrate the sheets of rain but Urchins came out determined to pull back the deficit. And for most of the half it was one way traffic. A quick pass by Behcet who had gathered Hicks’ cross, reached Donny Barnard, and Donny slotted the ball through to Kris Lee, who ran on and then hit his shot wide of the post. Goodfellow then picked out Tomlinson whose cross reached Kris Lee, and his header went over the bar. A Tomlinson free kick gave Lee another shooting chance, and he hit his shot wide. Mark Janney created a good opening for Tomlinson, coming in from the left, but Andy, on the bumpy, rock hard and now increasingly slippery surface, sliced his shot wide. A shot from Kris Lee, out on the left, was deflected out for a corner. Tomlinson took the corner and the ball was quickly punted upfield where Donny Barnard and John Purdie had to quickly cover, conceding a corner at the other end. Hicks took the kick and sent the ball across goal where Billy Coyne cleared. By now there was a danger that the match would run out of balls, as the home defenders seemed intent on trying to boot them in the general direction of their old ground, and this added to the frustration as time was lost and play was broken up. Lee ran on to a Tomlinson free kick – one of many – and his header was saved by Thomas. Donny Barnard sent a lengthy pass across to Dean Green, who returned the ball into the goalmouth and another corner was conceded. Tomlinson this time played a short corner with Mark Janney, and once again the ball ended up by being booted out the ground by a panic stricken defence. Frank Curley came on for Jim McFarlane, and Wealdstone concentrated on holding on to what they had. Local gardens were bombarded with yellow balls. Darren Behcet sent a long kick up field and Simon Parker turned it out to Janney, and his cross was headed out for another corner. This led to a further corner, once again by Tomlinson, and Massey cleared. Ross Wall came on for Simon Parker, and he set up Lee for another shot, which hit a defender and was then saved by Thomas. A Ross Wall shot was blocked and the best chance of all fell to Kris Lee, coming in from the left, with Mark Janney unmarked in the middle. Kris chose to try to find Janney and Massey was able to intercept the pass. A long pass by Billy Coyne sent Lee away again, and Thomas did well to save. Only four minutes were added on for stoppages, and two of those minutes were spent by Wealdstone locking up the ball in one of the corners, and Urchins were unable to find a way through what was now an eleven player defence. There were two ex-Urchins in the home line up – Greg Ngoyi, who scored once in seven appearances, and David Hicks, who played four times. Both were on loan from Northampton Town, and both made their debut on 20th November 2004 against Grays.

Video Clips by Rob Monger
Ryan Ashe scores the winning goal for the Stones

Team Line Ups
Wealdstone		AFC Hornchurch
Sean Thomas	1	Darren Behcet
Marvin McCoy	2	Donny Barnard
Lee Chappell	3	Billy Coyne
James Gray (c)	4	John Purdie (c)
Alan Massey	5	Jim McFarlane
Ryan Ashe	6	Andy Tomlinson
Kieron Forbes	7	Dean Green
Chris O'Leary	8	Mark Janney
Davis Haule	9	Kris Lee
Greg Ngoyi	10	Simon Parker
David Hicks	11	Elliot Styles
Subs.		Subs.
Ben Clarke	12	Frankie Curley
Garry Jones	14	Jason Willis
Darren Locke	15	Ross Wall
Rodney Hicks	16	Michael Spencer
Luke Woods	17	Mark Goodfellow

Weather Conditions: 11 to 5 Degs. C., Heavy Rain, Wind Speed 20 mph

Match Officials: Referee - Mr. C. J. Lymer, Assistants - Mr. L. Walshe and Mr. I. Jempegi

Match duration: F/H 46 mins. 27 secs., S/H 49 mins. 07 secs.