By Joe Harbert

Ashford United were made to pay for missing a multitude of chances, as they began their new Isthmian South East campaign with a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Phoenix Sports at Homelands on Saturday.

A first-half goal from debutant Johan ter Horst looked set to give the Nuts & Bolts an opening day victory, however Aaron Condon’s sending off just three minutes after half-time proved decisive as the visitors struck twice late on to claim an unlikely victory.

Manager Tommy Warrilow believes the result should have been different had his Ashford side taken more of the opportunities they created early on.

“We should have been out of sight with the amount of chances we made in the first-half,” said Warrilow.

“Our end product at times was weak, and of course the sending off certainly doesn’t help things.

“But it is what it is - I’m just disappointed after our performance last week that when we went down to 10 men, we couldn’t step it up a bit more in the second half.

“We came unstuck and never got going, and that’s what happens when you don’t take your chances.”

In an energetic first half, United had numerous chances to open the scoring, with the likes of Josh Wisson and Condon coming close for the hosts inside the first 20 minutes.

Headers shortly after from both forward Adrian Stone and new defender Jono Richardson also nearly saw United break the deadlock, with the latter’s thumping effort rattling the post midway through the half.

However, United’s pressure finally paid dividends on 27 minutes as they took a deserved lead. Good build-up play by Tariq Ossai and Bode Anidugbe saw the former whip in a cross from the right-hand side that allowed striker ter Horst to fire home from inside the area, and open his account for the Homelands squad after his move from Folkestone earlier this month .

Further opportunities once again for the likes of Condon and Tommie Fagg nearly doubled United’s advantage, as goalkeeper Steve Phillips continued to save his side before the break.

Nonetheless, Phoenix striker Lauris Chin also came close for the visitors with a glancing header on the stroke of half-time, in what turned out to be a sign of things to come during the second interval.

That’s because any hopes of a similar Ashford performance during the next 45 minutes were quickly scuppered just three minutes after the break, as Condon saw red for violent conduct in the visitors’ half.

The resulting dismissal was ultimately something Warrilow’s side could never recover from, as despite a valiant attempt to extend their lead through ter Horst and Anidugbe, Phoenix used their extra man advantage to equalise with just 17 minutes remaining.

Substitute Jeff Duah-Kessie saw his initial shot parried by keeper Sam Mott, but made no mistake from the second attempt, as he shot past the United captain and into an empty net just four minutes after coming onto the field.

Ainsley Everett then completed an unlikely turnaround for Phoenix just nine minutes later in spectacular fashion - the midfielder’s thunderous strike from the edge of the box arrowed into the top corner, and once again left Mott no chance to get his hands to the ball.

United then fought to get themselves back on level terms as the visitors looked to protect their lead, however, despite six minutes of injury time, they couldn’t find a way past Phillips.

Ashford will look to bounce back on Tuesday when they return to Homelands to face Isthmian South Central side Bracknell Town in the FA Cup first qualifying round, before travelling to Ramsgate next Saturday.

Ashford: Mott, Ossai, Richardson, Gorham, Simms, Wisson (Steventon 68mins), Anidugbe (Ogunrinde 84mins), Fagg, Condon, Ter Horst, Stone (Osinfolarin 77mins). Subs not used: Hook, Burdon.

Phoenix Sports: Phillips, Andrews, Clark, Bird, Young, Fitchett, Gaggin (Everett 50mins), Aziaya (Duah-Kessie 69mins), Bryon, Dythe, Chin. Subs not used: Andrews, Douglas, Dyer.

Attendance: 234.