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By Joe Harbert
Tommy Warrilow admits Ashford’s Tuesday night victory against high-flying Whyteleafe finally demonstrated the capabilities of his Nuts & Bolts team for a full 90 minutes.
Early goals from Jack Steventon and Johan Ter Horst set the tone for a commanding 2-0 Homelands win, as Ashford earned just their second league success of the campaign.
The result, which sent United up to ninth in Isthmian South East and just two points outside the play-off places, was ultimately just desserts according to Warrilow, in a match he described as their best since beating Whitehawk nearly six weeks ago.
He said: “I was really pleased with both the performance and the result, because Whyteleafe are a good side.
“They’ve had a great start to the season, whereas we’ve been quite frustrated because of some of our games, so it was brilliant to see how well we started out of the blocks in the first half.
“Everyone won their tackles and hunted in packs, and that’s why we deserved the win.
“We knew how dangerous Whyteleafe can be on the counter attack as well, so the fact that it was us who should have scored more goals shows how well we did, and that was down to the fact that we played some good football.
“The result at Hythe on Saturday happened as well and that was obviously a disappointment, so that’s why this week was an important chance to put a smile back on the faces of the crowd and everyone, too.
“People can often overthink things after just a few games and that’s to be expected at a club like Ashford, but with the players we have and the shifts they’ve shown they can put in, it tells you about the quality of the squad.
“I was really happy for the lads because it’s our own fault that we’ve drawn and lost some of the games we have done so far, but Tuesday was a complete performance where everyone busted a gut to get the three points.”
Following Cray Valley’s progression into the FA Cup fourth qualifying round, Ashford don’t feature again competitively until next week.
Warrilow’s team host unbeaten Sevenoaks Town on Tuesday evening, and the 56-year-old says the growing competition for places in his side will continue to force everyone to raise their game.
He added: “It’s made a massive difference getting more squad depth - when you have the likes of Josh Wisson and Aaron Condon on the bench that speaks for itself, and that’s something we didn’t really have after the first few games.
“Of course, we’re always still looking to improve if we think there’s something we need to address, but after some of the results we’ve had, it’s just fantastic to get three points on the board, and it’s important we enjoy matches like the one we had on Tuesday.
“We don’t play again until Tuesday against Sevenoaks, and we know what we’ll get from them.
“That’s why we need to make sure during training that we’re ready and that we produce a similar performance to the one we’ve just done.”
