Royal Plan B

Ascot United  1  Southall  3

Isthmian League – Division One South Central

Admission / Programme - £12 / Online

I always knew it was going to be tight, getting to Chipstead v Northwood that is!

You’ve probably gathered, I didn’t get to Chipstead in the end, but I did get to Ascot, but what went wrong?

In simple terms, I had a domestic duty to attend to on Saturday morning, that took slightly longer than anticipated, and by the time I was ready to depart Belper, it was 11.15am, with the sat-nav suggesting a 2.15pm arrival in Surrey.

It wasn’t going to take much to cock it up, but to be fair all was going well, until around Luton, when it seemed to take an age to get down the M25, and by the time I was getting on the anti-clockwise carriageway that arrival time had shifted to 2.35pm.

It got worse, something messy had happened on the M25 South of Heathrow and as I was sat in traffic around the M4 exit, the arrival time kept leaping from 2.50pm, to 2.55pm, and then 3.10pm! I could have made it, but it was very tight, I didn’t know what parking would be like, and inside I was feeling under pressure and not really enjoying the experience one bit!

I had a choice to make, the A30 was a mile away, and once beyond it I was without a Plan B, but Plan B was Ascot United v Southall, and according to the technology, I could do it by 2.35pm. Decision made, I squeezed across four carriageways and got onto the slip road for the A30.

The journey into Ascot was painless by comparison, across the edges of Egham, past the Royal Holloway site of the University of London, a right turn just past Virginia Water, down by the side of Sunningdale (Bruce Forsyth used to live there), and then into Royal Ascot. Money, it seems, is not in short supply in these parts!

Ascot United are unique in the sense that their ground is actually within the racecourse. So you head down into the racecourse, under the track, take a signposted right turn and then up ahead of you, just further on from the impressive main grandstand at the course, lies the home of the current FA Vase holders.

Arrival was made in time for a quick pint, and a chance to take a look at both the FA Vase and Combined Counties League championship trophy that were sat on the bar. Both of course won last season, the most successful campaign of the clubs history. But what of the clubs history?

The club was founded in 1965, but came to prominence in the early Noughties when they joined the Hellenic League. Promotion to the top flight came in 2009 and then in 2019 they were transferred laterally to the Combined Counties League.

The CoCo (as it’s known), was won last time out, winning 33 of the 38 games, scoring 99 goals in the process. That in itself earned the club a move to Step 4 and the Isthmian League, but national headlines were made in the Vase.

The club have made the quarter final stages twice before, losing in 2013 to Shildon and then in 2015 to AFC St Austell, but this time round it was a bit special. The 4^th and 5^th Round saw impressive away victories at both Buckland Athletic and Bridgwater United, while the quarter final at West Didsbury & Chorlton was won on penalties. The semi-final tie was again away from the Racecourse, and this time Corsham Town succumbed, on penalties!

The final was to be against the then holders Newport Pagnell Town, and in front of a live TV audience, a late Kai Walters goal gave them a 1-0 victory.

The Racecourse is a very tidy venue. The car park is huge, and is clearly primarily designed for race days, but on match day finding a space is a doddle. You then wander down a path, through a gate, and the turnstile is on your right hand side. In front of you is the smart clubhouse and dressing room building, elevated above pitch level, with a covered area in front of it giving great views of the action. Stepped terracing sits in front of the building, while to the right of it, again elevated above pitch level is an Atcost style seated stand.

The rest of the ground is hard standing, and of course the pitch is artificial. A smart electronic scoreboard sits in one corner, while behind one of the goals is a run off area of the main racecourse. If you stand behind the South goal where the run off is, you can see the huge grandstand up on the West side.

It’s an interesting place, because just behind the wooded area that sits to the North of the ground is Royal Ascot Golf Club, while Royal Ascot Cricket Club is actually right in the middle of the racetrack, which runs in a kind of triangular fashion (with rounded corners of course!)

Visiting Southall sat in the play off spots, while Ascot were just below half way. A second successive promotion at this stage doesn’t look to be on the cards, but speaking to someone with far greater knowledge of Isthmian League football than me, the club is on a very sound financial and business footing, and they won’t ‘throw’ money at it to go up, it’s about sustainability first and foremost. I’m going to Raynes Park Vale soon by the way………

To be truthful, Southall were the better side and they won reasonably comfortably, albeit Ascot might beg to differ a little. The first goal from giant centre forward Kevin Songolo upset the hosts as his challenge on the goalkeeper was somewhat debateable, although the officials saw no crime committed.

Just before the break Darreon Mark scored with a far post header to make it 0-2 but then the same player was dismissed just after the break following a daft second yellow card. George Lock finished well to make it 1-2 and you felt at that point Ascot had the momentum and they could turn it around.

The sucker punch came two minutes later when Jaden Thompson-Brissett squeezed the ball past the goalkeeper Hugo Sobte, and that seemed to knock the stuffing out of the hosts. Despite Ascot’s efforts late in the game, Southall were reasonably comfortable and saw the game home for the three points that move them second behind the aforementioned Raynes Park Vale.

186 watched it, a fair few travelled from West London as well with the visitors. The journey back, as you would expect was a doddle in comparison to the journey down, with key in the door at 7.30pm.

So, it might not have been Chipstead, but Ascot was a more than satisfactory alternative. I mean, when I set off in the morning to watch a game in Surrey, I never thought for one minute I’d be touching the FA Vase in a Royal town in Berkshire….