Latest match report

First Team reports | Reserve Team reports | Youth Team reports

United swept aside after Rose red card - 2/10/07

United were dumped out of the Westview League Cup at the second round stage this evening, eventually slumping to a heavy defeat against Sussex rivals Horsham at the Atspeed Stadium. It could have been a different story though, had United taken one or more of the five glorious chances that came their way inside the opening quarter of an hour, Kevin Rose, the primary culprit, missing three of them. By contrast, home defender Tom Graves scored with Horsham's only shot on goal in that early spell of United dominance, while the Hornets then gradually took control of proceedings, and Jacob Mingle struck twice in six minutes not long after the interval, the second after Kevin had completed a miserable night by getting sent off for a professional foul, to virtually end the game as a contest. Gary Charman added a fourth in the closing stages, as Horsham avenged their recent Premier Division defeat at the Pilot Field in some style, while United were also left sweating over the fitness of Rhys Whyborne and Jimmy Elford, both of whom limped off after picking up injuries in the first half.

As anticipated, manager Nigel Kane once again made changes to his starting line-up, omitting Ade Olorunda and Dan Williams from a fifteen man squad, and dropping Nima Cham, Lee Carey and Tom Poole to the substitutes' bench. Rhys returned to partner Sean Ray at the heart of a familiar looking defensive quartet, while Danny Ellis, Scott Kirkwood and John Bradley all earned recalls to the midfield, and Kevin was paired with Sam Adams in attack. Dominic Cruttenden rejoined the squad after hitting his second hattrick of the season for the Reserves at the weekend. The home side named a virtually full strength line-up, with only one change to the sixteen man squad that visited the Pilot Field in early September. Former United players Stuart Myall and Carl Rook both started, while Charman, mercifully recovered from the fractured cheekbone he suffered in that league meeting, started on the bench, alongside longer term injury victim Lewis Taylor, whose comeback was to last barely eight second half minutes.

The tone for the early exchanges was set within the first two minutes, Sam setting up Russell for a clear run on goal down the left, but keeper Alan Mansfield produced a smart save with his feet to deny United the best possible start. John then curled a twenty yard shot just over the bar, as United kept their hosts on the back foot, taking particular advantage of some occasionally careless passing out of defence. After eight minutes of concerted pressure at one end though, Horsham suddenly caught United cold by taking the lead from practically their first attack, Nigel Brake's dangerous cross from the left being bundled clear by Jimmy, but only as far as Mingle, who set up Graves for a low angled drive from twenty yards that skidded past Lee Worgan. United were presented with a chance for an instant reply, when skipper Kevin Hemsley gave the ball away in Horsham territory, and Sam played in Kevin down the right, where he shrugged off Myall's attempts to hold him back, only to shoot tamely at Mansfield. Moments later, Kevin headed an inviting Scott Kirkwood cross wide of the upright, and Danny Ellis then fired a shot against Mansfield's near post after receiving Russell's left wing cross. Kevin's evening got worse still, when Sam found him in acres of space in the area for a shot that cleared the crossbar with plenty of room to spare, while Sean's running feud with Rook resulted in an early yellow card for United's skipper. Rook almost exacted the perfect revenge, when he ran clean through onto Myall's long ball, but Lee stood up well and pulled off another great save, and Rook then just failed to get enough purchase on a shot from Lee Carney's through ball, giving Lee a simpler save on that occasion. Rhys limped off with an apparent hamstring injury around the half hour mark, with Kevin joining Sean in defence, and Tom coming on to partner Sam up front. Sam then blazed a volley well over from the edge of the area, before earning himself a yellow card for a late tackle on Myall, and United's early challenge had long since begun to fizzle out by the time that Myall danced past the two Dannys down the Horsham left, sauntered into the area, and struck a shot from a narrow angle that hit his own teammate Simon Austin and deflected over the bar.

The second half began in a fairly sedate fashion, although United were forced into another change when Jimmy was unable to run off an injury, Lee Carey joining the fray and Russell dropping to left back. Six minutes after the restart, Horsham doubled their lead with a goal out of nothing from midfielder Mingle, who turned onto Graves' pass and sent a lob volley over the slightly advanced Lee Worgan from just outside the area. Once again, United had a chance to reply quickly, when Scott was brought down on the edge of the area, but Russell's driven free kick was blocked by a defender, and from their next attack, Horsham delivered the hammer blow that killed off United's faltering resistance. Brake led a counter-attack down the hosts' left hand side and perfectly picked out Carney's run through the middle with a clever pass inside, but before he could collect the ball, Carney's progress was checked when he collided with Kevin, who was understandably red carded for an arguably accidental offence. To rub salt in United's wounds, Mingle found the top corner of Lee Worgan's goal with the ensuing free kick, and playing a man short for the final half an hour or more, United were left chasing shadows, as Horsham toyed with them by putting their expansive passing game to full use. To be fair, the home side did so at the expense of really going for the jugular, although Lee was forced into action to palm away Brake's angled shot, and Mingle and Westcott were narrowly off target with shots from long range. A rare United sortie into the Horsham half finished with Scott firing a low shot just wide, before the last of the home side's three substitutes, full back Yinka Salaam, crossed to the near post for another, Charman, to glance a header into the corner to complete the scoring, a couple of half-hearted Lee Carey efforts all that either side could muster in the closing stages.

Whilst United's main priority this season remains to secure a mid-table finish in their first season of Ryman Premier football, the distraction of a cup run would no doubt be a welcome bonus. Early exits from the FA Cup, and now the League Cup, in the midst of a five match winless run, have obviously served to hamper that ambition, although Sussex Senior Cup and FA Trophy campaigns are now just around the corner. Before all that though, United must prepare for Saturday's league visit from Chelmsford City, one of the division's pre-season title favourites.

Match facts	Efforts on target	Efforts off target	Free kicks conceded	Corners won	Offsides against
Horsham	9	3	14	2	6
Hastings United	5	4	18	2	4

Horsham (4-4-2)							Hastings United (4-4-2)
1 Alan Mansfield							1 Lee Worgan
2 Tom Graves							2 Danny Spice
3 Stuart Myall							3 Jimmy Elford
4 Kevin Hemsley (c)							4 Rhys Whyborne
5 Andy Howard							5 Sean Ray (c)
6 Lee Carney							6 John Bradley
7 Jacob Mingle							7 Danny Ellis
8 John Westcott							8 Scott Kirkwood
9 Simon Austin							9 Kevin Rose
10 Carl Rook							10 Sam Adams
11 Nigel Brake							11 Russell Eldridge
Substitutes
12 Eddie French							12 Nima Cham (for Ellis 69)
14 Gary Charman (for Rook 67)							14 Lee Carey (for Elford 48)
15 Lewis Taylor (for Austin 67)							15 Tom Poole (for Whyborne 31)
16 Yinka Salaam (for Taylor 75)							16 Dominic Cruttenden
GK Rob Frankland

Attendance 162

Referee Mr H Lennard

Assistants Messrs B Erguven & M Thompson