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Ade double helps United hang on in there - 8/3/08

An excellent goal in each half from leading scorer Ade Olorunda earned United a vital three points against a desperately poor Boreham Wood side at the Pilot Field this afternoon. The visitors had eased their relegation worries with a run of four wins in five matches heading into the contest, yet they failed to register a single shot on goal until the eighty-seventh minute, still managing to give United supporters an anxious last few minutes however, after Lee Worgan allowed a Danny Barber free kick to squirm beneath his body to gift Boreham Wood an ill-deserved consolation goal. In the end though, Ade's twenty-first minute volley, and seventy-ninth minute turn and shot into the corner, were enough to maintain United's interest in the relegation dogfight, while Ade and Russell Eldridge both hit the woodwork, as United won far more comfortably than the final scoreline might suggest.

After overseeing the truly lamentable performance at East Thurrock on Tuesday evening, manager Tony Dolby opted to stick more with the side that had finished that encounter, rather than the one that had kicked off, leaving wingers Nathan Simpson and Antonio Gonnella on the bench, and naming Danny Leach in the starting line-up. There was one enforced change, with Nathan Russell returning in central defence to replace the once again suspended Rhys Whyborne, while Russell Eldridge earned a surprise recall on the left flank, and Sam Adams was asked to fill the right sided role. The prolific Matt Maclean will have considered himself a shade unfortunate not to have won a place in the starting eleven, but was again named amongst the substitutes, while young defender Ben Radley linked up with the senior squad for the first time, a fitting reward for some fine performances in the Reserves this season. United endured a forgettable afternoon in the reverse fixture at the end of November, losing 3-0 in a stormy match that saw Tom Poole sent off. Boreham Wood, now under the management of the vastly experienced George Borg, named just four of the side that started against United that day, with new skipper Marvin Samuel and former skipper Chris Bangura the prominent figures in midfield. Shane Herbert, a one time Norwich City trainee was making his debut in goal, but striker Elliot Onochie, whose two first half goals effectively killed off the game at Meadow Park, was not involved, having been released by Borg earlier in the week.

There was an early, if slightly brief, glimpse of how one-sided the contest would ultimately be, as United got off to an excellent start, with Sam chipping a shot just over in the second minute, and Steve Elliott heading inches wide from a Lee Carey corner shortly afterwards. The game then suffered a quarter of an hour lull, during which time the ball spent plenty of time in the Boreham Wood half, although little inside the visitors' penalty area, and Lee Worgan became a relative spectator at the other end of the pitch. A goal out of nothing around the mid-point of the half livened up proceedings though, with United grateful for it to have come at the end they were attacking for a change, Russell cutting inside from the left and neatly setting up Ade for a thumping fifteen yard volley that gave Herbert no chance. United went close to a second on the half hour mark, winning a free kick by the right touchline, which Russell curled menacingly towards the penalty spot, Ade not quite able to stretch enough to reach it, but doing enough to put off the keeper, who was thankful to see the ball bounce up and clip the top of the crossbar, when it might so easily have nestled in the roof of the net. Ten minutes later, Ade lost his marker in the area and met Sam's right wing cross with a header that clattered against the crossbar, Herbert forced to push the rebound over for a corner, as United went close once again, while Sam almost caught Herbert off his line with an audacious long range effort in added time, the ball just missing the far upright as the keeper scrambled to recover his ground. Although the chances had hardly come thick and fast, there was a real sense that United deserved to be further ahead, with Boreham Wood having created only one chance worthy of the name, Lee rushing quickly off his line to challenge Bangura, who had momentarily found himself in space from a Chris Watters through ball.

The second half followed much the same pattern, with United enjoying vast quantities of possession and creating occasional chances, whilst remaining largely untroubled at the back against a seemingly toothless Boreham Wood attack. Herbert made a superbly instinctive save to block Danny's header from point blank range, and the keeper then dived full length to his right to push away Sam's curling effort from the edge of the area. Russell's long ball sent Danny scampering clear of the defence, but he snatched at a left foot volley and allowed Herbert a simple save, and the game had long since appeared to be petering out as a true contest, when United finally doubled their advantage eleven minutes from time. Danny again chased a long ball from Russell, this time down the left hand side, before driving in a low cross to the near post, for Ade to control, turn effortlessly past his marker, and fire a low shot across Herbert and just inside the far post, for a near carbon copy of his goal at home to Staines Town back at the end of January. With the game entering its final ten minutes, Boreham Wood at last seemed to rouse themselves for a rather belated effort at putting United under some concerted pressure, but that initially just left gaps in their own defence for Danny to exploit, and on three separate occasions, captain Samuel was forced to cut out dangerous crosses that were destined to provide Ade with hattrick opportunities. A Samuel long ball then caused United a rare anxious moment, with Lee leaving his area to clear ahead of striker Leon Archer, but only setting up substitute Paul Armstrong for a long range chip that was easily cut out by Steve long before it got anywhere near the goal. Three minutes from time, the visitors did register an actual goal attempt, defender Anthony Fenton slicing high and wide after United failed to deal with the first of three questionable free kicks awarded to Boreham Wood in the final few minutes of the match. The second brought them an unlikely goal from their only shot on target all afternoon, as Lee managed to dive over the top of Barber's curling left foot shot to raise the anxiety levels amongst the home supporters, but the third was wasted, as the same player sent a wretched cross over the bar and out for a goal kick, after which United were able to play out time and take the points that their performance merited.

Tuesday evening's abject display will have left many United fans doubting whether their side really had the stomach to fight for Premier Division survival, although with several results having gone their way today, avoiding relegation has once more become a realistic aim, as opposed to a mere pipe dream. Wins in each of their four remaining home games could yet prove to be enough to keep United up, the next of those being against mid-table Harrow Borough next weekend.

Match facts	Efforts on target	Efforts off target	Free kicks conceded	Corners won	Offsides against
Hastings United	5	9	13	9	2
Boreham Wood	1	2	11	1	1

Hastings United (4-4-2)							Boreham Wood (4-4-2)
1 Lee Worgan							1 Shane Herbert
2 Danny Spice							2 Ola Williams
3 Jimmy Elford (c)							3 Danny Barber
4 Lee Carey							4 Ollie Adedeji
5 Nathan Russell							5 Anthony Fenton
6 Steve Elliott							6 Chris Bangura
7 Sam Adams							7 Steve Wales
8 Tim Olorunda							8 Marvin Samuel (c)
9 Ade Olorunda							9 Simon Thomas
10 Danny Leach							10 Leon Archer
11 Russell Eldridge							11 Chris Watters
Substitutes
12 Nathan Simpson							12 Daniel Lewis
14 Antonio Gonnella							14 Paul Armstrong (for Watters 58)
15 Frankie Sawyer							15 Shane Johnson (for Fehmi 78)
16 Matt Maclean (for A Olorunda 87)							16 Kaan Fehmi (for Adedeji 61)
17 Ben Radley							17 Simon Peddie

Attendance 375

Referee Grant Smith (Polegate)

Assistants Darren Eaton (Portslade) & Timothy Hatt (Redhill)