Isthmian South Central 18 Jan 2025
Ascot United 0
Hanworth Villa 1
- Sam Merson (59’)
Match Report
Hanworth Villa revived our promotion play-off hopes after a rousing and deserved 1-0 win over 10-man Ascot United at the Ascot Racecourse.
After Ascot’s Ben Harris was sent off before half-time, Sam Merson’s strike put an end to third-placed Ascot’s stunning 12-game league unbeaten run which stretched back till Nov 2.
It was a significant result for Villa against a tough opponent as we moved back up to fifth, among the promotion play-off spots, on 43 points after 25 games played.
Things remain tight at the top though, as Villa are only one point clear of Hayes & Yeading United, and a further point ahead of Hartley Wintney, who have two games in hand, and Moneyfields.
Crediting Ascot’s performance, Villa manager Simon Haughney said: “This team’s been flying but we rose to the challenge. On the whole I thought it was quite a professional performance after they went down to 10 men.
“Defensively, I thought we did really well. I don’t remember a chance they had in the second half and we were in control of the game.
“The supporters have been brilliant, they’ve come out in their numbers again on a cold day. I love them. You can always hear them singing and banging and the really got us over the line today.”
There were two changes from midweek, with Ben Mulley returning from suspension and Christian Jolley coming in for Theo Crawford and Aston Nunn.
Mulley nearly made an instant impact just two minutes in, after he hammered Sam Merson’s long throw into the bottom corner.
Villa’s players wheeled away in celebration, but our joy was short-lived as the linesman had his flag up for offside.
George Wells, who was in an offside position on the goal line, was adjudged to have impeded the Ascot defender’s attempt to clear Mulley’s strike off the line.
With both sides strong contenders for the promotion play-off spots, there were a number of heated tackles in the opening minutes.
Christian Jolley was booked in the 17th minute before Harris and Joe Gator were cautioned before the half hour mark.
Ascot were cautious in possession, and finally had their first chance of the game in the 40th minute.
Harry Grant unleashed a 25-yard curler which Mark Smith did well to punch away with an acrobatic dive.
Villa went close too two minutes later, as Merson’s knockdown fell into Abdullah Javaid’s stride, whose low effort was well saved by Mark Scott.
Then came the game’s inflection point right on the stroke of half-time.
Harris dove in recklessly for another tackle and was sent his marching orders by referee Callum Parke who dished out a second yellow card. Ascot were down to 10 man.
Haughney said about his half-time team talk: “I told them we had to stay patient without getting out of balance because some of their passages are quite clever and we wanted to make sure we didn’t get hit with a sucker punch.
“I thought in the first half we gave the ball away cheaply at times, we were one pass away from getting in a lot.”
Straight from the restart, Villa put pressure on Ascot’s goal as Merson saw a good strike saved by Scott before Rayan Djouadj’s follow up was deflected over the bar.
It did not take long for Villa to break the deadlock, and the goal came from Merson in the 59th minute.
After a long ball was launched forward from defence, it seemed as if time stopped for a split second as every player, except Merson, shifted their eyes toward the linesman, expecting a raised flag.
But to Ascot’s dismay, the linesman did not flinch and by the time Ascot’s defenders reacted, Merson was already racing away towards goal.
With the ball bobbling forward, Merson took one look at goalkeeper Mark Scott before firing an unstoppable half volley into the bottom corner.
About Merson, Haughney added: “He might miss a chance here or there but he scores the ones you think he’s got no chance. He’s so composed and as soon as it went down on the half volley and I saw the connection I knew it’d be a goal.”
Villa did well to manage the game thereafter, keeping possession wisely and not taking reckless risks.
Merson could have gotten a second goal in the 84th minute, but his cheeky lobbed effort bounced onto the roof of the net.
In a last ditched attempt to find a leveller, Ascot sent goalkeeper Scott forward for a late corner but Villa did well to withstand the late pressure.
Next up for Villa is another mammoth test at home on Saturday to league leaders Farnham Town, who will be out for revenge after their 1-0 loss last time out.
Haughney added: “When we’re starting to get players back, we’ve got chances to win games. We’ve proven that again today.
“We’ll give it our best shot against Farnham. The management team there have done an exceptional job. They’ve got the strongest squad for me in the league and the league table shows it’s going to be a tough game.
“But again, if we perform, I believe we can win the game.”
