Nuts and Bolts Can't Hold It Together at Croydon Athletic

 

Must be one of the better programmes at this level

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 19 September 2026 at The Mayfield Stadium
Result	AFC Croydon Athletic 3 Ashford United 1
Competition	Isthmian League Division One South-East (Step 4)
Hopstats	Ground #821 on the lifetime list and I’m here for non-random pragmatic reasons today. This is my closest unvisited ground in Steps 2-4 and I let the train (and tram) take the strain.
Context
8th entertains 12th though the three-point difference comes from one game more, so the two sides have a similar league record so far. In nicknames, this is The Rams v The Nuts and Bolts.
Match Report
It was a tetchy start. An Ashford player stayed down for a full minute after a tackle but the referee allowed play to continue. His decision was vindicated when the player needed no treatment and was soon running around again, but a confrontational tone had been set. The atmosphere soured even more for the away team when a straight red card was shown to Sam Hasler for a mistimed lunge with only five minutes gone. However, United took the lead from the penalty spot after 15 minutes. Louis Collins was body-checked in a one-on-one situation by the onrushing home keeper Amadou Tangara, who escaped with a yellow card, moving the ref another few places down the Ashford Christmas card list. Collins did the honours himself from the kick.   Tangara goes left, Collins goes down the middle. 0-1. Croydon continued with their patient buildup play and were level five minutes later. Greg Cundle was able to take a touch and send a low shot into the bottom right-hand corner. Good finish. In the remainder of the first half, Croydon struggled to make the extra player count. They kept possession well but players just seemed more comfortable with the easy recycling option. Ashford had a good chance of their own on the break, Collins shooting just wide. Then, just before the break, Croydon’s Cian McCarthy led with his elbow in an aerial challenge. It was a yellow card, and he’d already picked one up a few minutes earlier so out came the red to follow. It would be 10 v 10 in the second half. I don’t have too many notes from the next 30 minutes. For my money, Ashford were slightly more likely to score. They hit the post once and had several other half-chances, including a backheel attempt that didn’t fool Tangara. The result was sealed with two home goals in quick succession that took the wind out of any Ashford sails. Josh Williams showed perseverance on the left flank and put a good cross on to the head of David Boateng who couldn’t miss. It was Croydon’s first real chance of the second half, on 76 minutes. Then almost immediately Williams used his strength to win the ball from a defender and he kept his composure to score and secure the points. So, an odd game, not as comfortable as a 3-1 scoreline might suggest, and a fair afternoon’s entertainment for this passing neutral.
So What?
Croydon Athletic are up to 5th, Ashford United down to 14th but it’s still that part of the season when some clubs have played fewer matches than others due to the impact of the FA Cup and FA Trophy precedence.
Pre-match Entertainment
Getting lost in Croydon Cemetery! Any future hoppers are advised to research the route carefully, especially for an evening kickoff. I made the mistake of trusting Google Maps (normally reliable to be fair). Whatever you do, don’t take the tram from East Croydon to Therapia Avenue and walk through Croydon Cemetery like I did. There is no proper entry to the ground by that route, just a teasing view of the turnstiles through a 2m metal fence. I ended up with a 40-minute detour. A walk of about 20-25 minutes is better done by taking the 60 or 109 bus from Streatham station, and that’s how I got home after the game. There may well be other reasonable routes, but plan yours in advance. It’s a longish walk down a single-track gravel road for the last part of the route. The photo below is where I'd pitched up before doubling back - and from the state of the fence maybe I'm not the first, but the image does not really show how steep that bank is!   Entrance to the ground as per Google Maps!
Pix
Ashford United in unambiguous (see below) Green.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
The background to this, and the latest keeper top colour league table, is here on this dedicated page. Today, I had to think very hard about classifying the home keeper (Amadou Tangara). In the end I decided that Sage has to go with Green but this is a definite outlier in the keeper top colour world. The away keeper (Jordan Gilmon) lined up in pale Blue. I've put this (Sage?) in the Green group. No appeals allowed. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win Was the prediction correct? Yes % of correct predictions so far 48% (109 from 228)
What Next?
@ModusHRandom on Twitter will reveal my next game as I do not yet have a definite plan. I might try to sneak another game in today before I take in two Women’s Champions League group stage games (Arsenal and Chelsea) in midweek.