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Gonnella gives United first away league win - 2/2/08

United's first away league win since the end of last season lifted them out of the Premier Division's relegation zone this afternoon, as they completed an unexpected double over play-off chasing Margate at Hartsdown Park. Playing with a strong wind at their backs in the first half, United withstood some early pressure from the home side, before Sam Adams' ninth goal of the season put them in front, leading to a dominant first half display and a well deserved interval advantage. Margate came back strongly early in the second half, with James Pinnock's superb lob volley levelling the scores just before the hour mark, and Lee Worgan performing heroics to prevent any further damage. United soon took control once again though, and Antonio Gonnella's first senior goal for the Club put them back in front with fifteen minutes remaining, a lead that they ultimately held with some comfort to the final whistle.

For his second game in charge, new United manager Tony Dolby named an identical starting eleven to that which had beaten Staines seven days beforehand, and also stuck to the same simple but effective 4-4-2 formation and gameplan. There were changes amongst the substitutes however, with Kevin Rose returning from suspension, and Matt Maclean earning a recall after scoring five goals for the Youth Team the previous Sunday. New signing Nathan Simpson was also named in the squad, with replacement keeper Jani Seitsonen omitted from the final sixteen, and Ashley Paine and Jack Franklin returning to Reserve Team duty. The strong looking Margate line-up contained only five of the side that had kicked off the reverse fixture at the Pilot Field in early September, although the inclusion of Mark Goodfellow at the back, Jimmy Jackson in midfield, and Rob Haworth up front, merely added more experience to a side already featuring Jay Saunders, player-coach Steve McKimm, and striker Pinnock. The recent addition of right back Ryan Peters, signed from Brentford, had added yet another touch of scarcely required class, and made the Gate a formidable opponent, especially on the back of a four game winning streak that had seen them rise to fourth place in the league table.

That class was much in evidence in the early stages of the contest, with Margate quickly establishing their attractive, one-touch passing game, the perfect antidote to the biting gale that they were battling against. As early as the second minute, Lee Worgan was called into action to push away Jackson's twenty yard free kick, after Nathan Russell had upended Pinnock, and with United apparently struggling to settle, the home side were well on top. They did suffer a blow, when Haworth was forced off with an ankle injury after only twelve minutes, and the introduction of left sided midfielder Aaron Quain in his place forced a reorganisation that seemed to upset Margate's rhythm and allowed United into the game. That said, Quain might have had an instant impact, but miscued a great chance from Peters' deep cross within sixty seconds of his arrival, but after Ryan Martin's long range effort had then been safely gathered by Lee, the home side suddenly found themselves pushed deeper into their own half, as United effectively took control of proceedings up until half time. Ade Olorunda's presence and Sam's pace were causing problems for Saunders and Goodfellow at the heart of the home defence, and Antonio was looking lively in a good mini-contest with left back Ricardo Josephs, and he was the architect of the opening goal of the game, albeit getting away with a clear handball offence in the build-up. Having done so, Josephs then got in a good challenge, seemingly at the expense of a throw, although Antonio raced to keep the ball in play instead, and while the home defence switched off momentarily, he exchanged passes with the equally unsuspecting Ade, before finding Sam completely unmarked inside the area, who slotted coolly past the badly exposed Scott Chalmers-Stevens from fifteen yards out. Moments later, Sam took up possession in the centre circle and fed a precise through ball to Ade, who appeared to have stolen a yard on Saunders, only to stumble and fall before he could break clear. Although the defender protested that any contact had been accidental, the referee awarded United a free kick, but questionably gave Saunders the benefit of any doubt about his last man status, showing the Margate man only a yellow card, while following it up with a caution for Kevin, who while warming up near the touchline, had evidently voiced his opinion at the decision a little too vehemently for the assistant's liking. United were the dominant force in the contest for some while, although failed to seriously test Chalmers-Stevens for the remainder of the half, the keeper able to put most of his efforts into vain attempts at sending his clearances beyond the halfway line. Danny Spice decided to give the home side a helping hand at one point, hitting a backpass from just inside his own half that went out for a corner, from which Martin scooped a shot onto the roof of the net, while Nathan Russell later sliced an attempted clearance just wide of Lee's near post, with United threatening to be their own worst enemy as the interval approached. Ade, Tim and Lee Carey all missed long range efforts in the closing stages of the half for United, who on another day, may well have been left to rue the fact that a fine display had yielded only a single goal advantage at the break.

The second half ultimately followed a similar pattern to the first, with Margate having much the better of the opening exchanges, but United finishing the stronger, perhaps aided by the fact that the wind had dropped, offering them more hope of getting out of their own half when clearing the ball. The home side flew out of the blocks and United did well to keep them at bay as long as they did, with Lee Worgan turning in a virtuoso performance, beginning with a flying save to tip away a Peters shot for a corner. Quain's delivery led to a scramble in the United goalmouth, with Jackson's close range effort blocked by Lee, but rebounding off Jimmy Elford and trickling towards the goal, only for Danny to clear off the line. A sweeping move from right to left created a chance for Charley Side, but Lee was able to gather, as he did when Saunders met a Jackson free kick with a powerful header moments later. Martin was next to test Lee's agility, with a curling shot from the edge of the area, Lee clawing the ball away to safety high to his right, but he was finally beaten by Pinnock's superb strike in the fifty-ninth minute, the striker running onto Jackson's long ball into the right hand side of the United area, and hitting a first time lob volley that left Lee grasping at thin air as it drifted over him and into the back of the net. Far from being deflated by the equaliser though, United simply sought to shrug it off as a minor setback, and quickly reasserted their authority in midfield, driving their opponents back into their own half at every opportunity, and forcing numerous errors in their previously slick passing game. As in the first half, United's dominance was not reflected in a large number of attempts on goal, but their first decent chance of the second half proved crucial in that it indirectly led to the winning goal. By then, Danny Leach had replaced Ade, immediately showing himself capable of unsettling the home defence with his fleetness of foot and intelligent runs off the ball. It was his break down the left that set up a shooting chance for Lee Carey, which Chalmers-Stevens tipped away for a corner, although the effort may have been drifting wide in any case. The keeper then elected to punch clear from Russell Eldridge's inswinging cross, but failed to connect properly, the ball bouncing off Sam and out towards the edge of the area, where Antonio was quickest to react and drilled a low shot that beat Chalmers-Stevens low to his left. Five minutes later, Saunders went down with an ankle problem. with Sam breaking quickly down the middle and setting up Danny for a shot that curled just wide, as close as United came to making the game safe, leading to a slightly anxious finale, during which Tony Dolby was sent from the dugout for contesting one dubious officiating decision too many. Margate poured forward throughout five minutes of added time, but Nathan Russell and Rhys Whyborne stood firm to cap another impressive display, allowing United to run out time by giving a very late debut to Nathan Simpson, shortly after Frankie Sawyer had come on for Sam, who had belatedly suffered a bout of cramp.

Just two games in, the Tony Dolby era is well on the way to achieving its principal aim, that being to keep United in the Premier Division of course. Two immense performances to see off two play-off contenders, coming on the back of draws against the champions elect and another promotion candidate under John Lambert's caretaker leadership, appear to have reignited the spark within the squad that had long since been extinguished. The challenge for United will now be to reproduce their improved form against one of their relegation rivals, with Wealdstone due to visit the Pilot Field next weekend.

Match facts	Efforts on target	Efforts off target	Free kicks conceded	Corners won	Offsides against
Margate	7	2	10	5	5
Hastings United	6	5	15	9	2

Margate (4-4-2)							Hastings United (4-4-2)
1 Scott Chalmers-Stevens							1 Lee Worgan
2 Ryan Peters							2 Danny Spice
3 Ricardo Josephs							3 Jimmy Elford (c)
4 Charley Side							4 Rhys Whyborne
5 Mark Goodfellow							5 Nathan Russell
6 Jay Saunders							6 Russell Eldridge
7 Steve McKimm (c)							7 Antonio Gonnella
8 Jimmy Jackson							8 Tim Olorunda
9 James Pinnock							9 Ade Olorunda
10 Rob Haworth							10 Sam Adams
11 Ryan Martin							11 Lee Carey
Substitutes
12 Keiron Morris (for Quain 75)							12 Danny Leach (for A Olorunda 72)
14 Aaron Quain (for Haworth 12)							14 Nathan Simpson (for Gonnella 90)
15 Jake Eastwood (for Saunders 83)							15 Matt Maclean
16 Louis Smith							16 Kevin Rose
GK Matt Bowles							17 Frankie Sawyer (for Adams 90)

Attendance 495

Referee Mr I R Regan

Assistants Messrs G D Ions & N Wilde