Ashford United sat top of the Bet Victor Isthmian League Division 1 South East after victory against Chichester City on Tuesday evening, but they were to come unstuck against a VCD side looking to avenge last week’s final minute defeat against local rivals Sevenoaks Town.
It was VCD who started the game on the front foot and on another day the hosts could have been out of sight by the time the clock hit double figure, no less than five shots narrowly avoiding the Nuts and Bolts goal.
Clearly looking to make up for last week Keith McMahon and the men in green were running amok as Ashford struggled to contain the constant barrage led by The Vickers skipper Charlie McDonald.
It took until the 24th minute for the deadlock to be broken after good work by the hosts allowed Ainsley Everett to fire past Sam Mott to hand the lead to The Vickers.
Four minutes later the hosts doubled their lead as a lapse in the Ashford defence left Charlie McDonald unable to miss.
With Ashford having rarely threatened they were handed a lifeline in the 41st minute when a rare shot on the hosts goal cannoned off defender Raphe Brown’s arm and a penalty was awarded.
George Purcell made no mistake form the spot with Nick Blue diving to the right only to watch on as the ball flew into the net.
After the break Ashford came to life as Adrian Stone found himself in space immediately but could only watch as his shot hit the post and bounced away to safety.
This miss was to prove costly as immediately the VCD players countered through the middle of the pitch and when the ball reached McDonald his effort was deflected it into the net off Alex Gaggin.
The hosts started to turn the screw as Ashford tried to get back into the match with attack after attack once again threatening the visitors defence but to no avail.
The defeat was a big blow for Ashford as Hastings had beaten Whitstable meaning Ashford had been replaced at the top of the table. For VCD the victory moves them to eighth.
VCD Athletic
Blue, Simms, Brown, Eweka, Steventon, Hylton-Bartley, Gaggin, Anidugbe, Fuseini, MacDonald, Everett
Ashford United
Mott, Ossai, Wilson, Prescott, Bourne, McIntyre, Fagg, O’Connor, Purcell, Stone, Condon
Attendance: 120