A well staffed 3s side travelled to face runaway league leaders Ashford 3s for the first game back in the New Year.

The game started well and Ashford failed to create any scoring opportunities in the opening minutes. Sadly, it wasn't to last, with Windsor giving away too much turnover ball in midfield, allowing Ashford to play an easy through ball to a striker on the left post to deflect goalwards for a 1-0 lead.

The second goal followed shortly after from a a short corner. The injection was slipped left at the top of the circle and a low shot found its way through both defenders and Sean Yates in goal to give Ashford a two goal lead.

Minutes later a third goal was prevented by Andy Hayward's goal-line block from from an identically worked short corner.

With Ashford pressing very high and working the ball around the pitch well, Windsor slowly worked their way into the game, passing out from the back via Jon Crayston and Jai Gill to wide players Matt Gleave and Ryan Linehan. Matt Gleave on the left was finding the energetic Dominic Richards up front with long balls down the left wing.

At 0-2 down Windsor were very much in the game but yet more easy turnovers gave Ashford the upper hand once again and they capitalised with a further two quick goals before half-time.

A high shot from wide of the left hand post deflected off Yash Rampersad's knee into the net giving the home side their third goal.

Poor play from front to back and lackadaisical marking in the circle allowed Ashford to create an easy 2 on 1 round the keeper for their fourth.
It could have been a lot worse, but some excellent tackling from Jai Gill and brilliant saves from Sean Yates restricted Ashford to a 4-0 lead at the break.

The second period started badly, with Yash Rampersad passing the ball to the Ashford centreforward from a 16 and gifting the home side their fifth!

It was at this point that Windsor decided to get their act together and start playing simple, effective hockey. Well-managed substitutions kept the energy levels on pitch high, enabling Windsor to put some pressure back on Ashford.

The opportunities started to come and Matt Gleave came close to opening the Windsor account but found the side netting

Minutes later came the breakthrough when Jose San Roman found himself with the ball inside the Ashford 23, broke through a tackle into the circle and unleashed a low drive past their keeper to bring Windsor some hope.

With greater cohesion in the Windsor midfield, the ball was spending far more time in Ashford's half, creating several chances to penetrate their circle.

A long corner gave Windsor their second, Andy Hayward playing in Richard Jones on the edge of the Ashford circle. Jones turned and skipped through three tackles before reversing sweetly over the line to bring Windsor properly back into the game.

Sadly, while their were more chances at both ends, Windsor failed to capitalise and the final score was a 5-2 victory to Ashford.

Special thanks to Richard Sage for umpiring, Manny Gill for managing from the touchline and a farewell to James Hamilton (for now) as he moves away to Oxford.

Man of the Match went to Dominic Richards for a tireless, energetic performance up front, giving the Ashford defence plenty of work to do to keep up with his pace. He was closely followed by Sean Yates for his keeping, Jai Gill for his tackling and Jose San Roman for his non-stop effort upfront.

Yash Rampersad took the DOD for falling to his backside for no apparent reason and talking himself into a green card!