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11th January 2007 By
JAMES BROWN TWO
goals in two first-half minutes against the run of play condemned Terry
Cordice's side looked to have put last week's defeat to
IMPROVED PERFORMANCE....Town applied early pressure but failed to convert their chances But
VCD's Lee Coburn broke the deadlock on 28 minutes and Danny Penny
doubled the advantage just 60 seconds later. Both
Aslett and Kris Parker hit the crossbar in the second-half only for
strong-finishing VCD to make it 3-0 through substitute Richard Sinden
six minutes from time. This Premier Division
clash - watched by a crowd of 168 - was played in a good spirit until
the 65th minute when Town's Michael Seager flew into a tackle right in
front of the dugouts - and all hell broke loose. All
20 outfield players and the majority of both benches became involved
in an unseemly brawl that led to a six-minute break in play. Punches
and kicks flew in the fracas but at the end of it all, referee Richard
Joss booked only Kevin Winchcombe and Juan Ramirez for VCD together
with Town's Gary Stock. Joss
also sent Lilywhite No 2 Peter Holder from the technical area after he
became involved in the mêlée. Boss
Cordice said he preferred to focus on the afternoon's football rather
than the second-half flashpoint and went on to curse his side's
misfortune in front of goal.
SET PIECE...VCD put the Town defence under pressure He
said: "It was a lot better than last week and I think we were a
bit unlucky to be honest. Again, we could have one or two up by the
time they've scored. "Their
second goal has killed us. The lad is five yards offside and everyone
has seen it except the linesman and referee. "We've
held a good line and their guy is definitely offside. Even their bench
has seen it but they've shrugged their shoulders and said 'that's the
way it goes sometimes'. "Again
we've had one cleared off the line, balls whizzing across the box and
other efforts that have been saved. "So
we are creating chances. The difference, as I've said before, is that
the good sides like VCD take their chances. Unfortunately, we
haven't." Defeat to VCD now
means Town have lost more games than they have won this season and the
omens are not good heading into the second half of the campaign. This was a
much-improved performance with Town at least showing a willingness to
fight. But the fact
supporters are taking heart from a 3-0 defeat is a far cry from those
heady early days when the Lilywhites looked like holding their own
against the Premier Division's elite. Cordice refuses to
accept Town are no better than a mid-table side yet their lack of
teeth in attack and fallibility at the back has led to a goal
difference that places them 13th of the 17 teams in the top flight. All thoughts of
promotion are long gone after a run of just four points from a
possible 24 and the boss has a massive job on his hands trying to
achieve his goal of a top six finish. Frontline striker
Graham Taylor was unavailable due to work commitments on Saturday but
Town made light of his absence in an encouraging first phase and
should have gone ahead. Andy Martin's tackle
and pass sent Kris Parker scampering down the left and his near-post
ball required some desperate defending from VCD. Martin Ford's men
then went close with a diving header from Coburn after a quality ball
in from the right by Mark Greatorex before a free-kick from Aslett was
pushed over the top by goalkeeper Grant Wallis. Town claimed the ball
had crossed the line on 18 minutes when Lee Hunt made a dramatic
clearance from Walker-Mackenzie's header but referee Joss was having
none of it. Cordice's boys played
more football in the first 20 minutes than they managed in their
entire game against Herne Bay and they were desperately unlucky again
on 24 minutes. Aslett was the
architect keeping the ball in play just inches from the byline down
the right before moving in on goal and cutting a ball back to Martin.
Mr.CONSISTENT...Another solid performance from Town's top man Steve Aslett But Town's leading
scorer this season saw his right-foot shot from just six yards pushed
wide of the upright by Wallis. Mark Smith's niggling
groin problem flared up two minutes later and he was replaced by
Seager just seconds before Jurgen Wild produced a good save to deny
the highly-rated Leroy Huggins. Yet Town keeper Wild
was unable to prevent the visitors going ahead on 28 minutes from
VCD's fourth corner of the game. Winchcombe sent over
a ball from the right which went uncleared before being chipped back
to Coburn who scored from close range. Town had barely
regrouped when Wild was picking the ball out of the net again although
there was more than a sneaking suspicion of offside. The goal came in a
quick break after one of Faversham's five first-half corners with
Greatorex playing Penny into acres of space and he scored with a cool
finish beyond Wild who was subsequently booked for dissent. Martin had a
fantastic chance to pull a goal back just seconds into the second half
when he ballooned a close-range effort over the bar following good
work from substitute Anthony Pace. That was the only
real action until both sides showed that the pantomime season was far
from over with a 30-man brawl that could have seen any number of
players heading for the changing rooms. Wallis then snuffed
out a great opportunity when he dived at the feet of Pace before
Greatorex forced Wild to make another save from VCD's eighth corner of
the day. Parker then saw his
right-foot effort from 25 yards smack against the crossbar with
16-year-old substitute Adam Oxberry firing the rebound over the top. VCD were impressive
in the last quarter and Huggins was denied only by a combination of
sweeper Stock and Wild seven minutes from time. But the visitors were
not done just yet and served the last rites on 84 minutes when
former Maidstone United striker Sinden fired home at the second
attempt after Wild parried his initial effort. Aslett had time to
send in another corner that thumped against the bar but Town were down
and out. Town's
Top Man: Steve Aslett - Another impressive display in the middle Marks
(out of 10): Jurgen Wild 6, Mark Smith 6, Jason Mills 6, Wes Hammond
7, James Holder 7, Gary Stock 6, Dean Mackenzie-Walker 6, Steve Aslett
7, Kris Parker 7, John Goodwin 7, Andy Martin 7. Substitutes: Michael
Seager (for Smith, 26 minutes) 6, Anthony Pace (for Walker-Mackenzie,
61) 6, Adam Oxberry (for Martin, 80) 6.
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