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Late penalty gives United an unhappy homecoming - 10/11/07

Having been starved of First Team action at the Pilot Field for three and a half weeks, United supporters might have been forgiven for wishing that the sequence of away games hadn't finally ended at six, as Nigel Kane's side slumped to a single goal defeat against bottom of the table Leyton in a desperate encounter this afternoon. The winning goal came less than two minutes from time, as Russell Eldridge was penalised for a foolish challenge inside the area, allowing Solomon Henry the opportunity to beat Lee Worgan from the penalty spot, and to present the visitors with a victory that they no more deserved than United would have if fortunes had been reversed. Both sides had earlier rattled the woodwork, but on the whole, there was little to excite the overwhelming majority of the watching crowd, with United extending their winless run to five games, the last four of which have all been losses.

United made four changes to the side that kicked off the Sussex Senior Cup tie at Lewes on Wednesday, with all three midweek substitutes earning a place in starting line-up. Scott Kirkwood replaced John Bradley in central midfield, with recent signing Antonio Gonnella awarded a full debut in place of Danny Ellis on the right flank. Nathan Russell also came in for his first taste of Ryman League action since the opening day of the season, with Dan Williams dropping back to partner Rhys Whyborne at the back, and Kevin Rose losing his place in the eleven. The final change saw Lee take over in goal from Jani Seitsonen, who took Matt Maclean's place on the bench. The visitors went into the game at the foot of the league table, after a run of six defeats in seven matches, the one exception having been a 4-0 demolition of Boreham Wood. Defenders Marc Cumberbatch and Tom McGowan were both on the opposing side when United won 3-2 at Ashford last season, but there were few other familiar names in the line-up, and only two survivors, Des Thomas and skipper Rio Alderton, from United's pre-season visit to east London in August 2006, the only previous meeting between the two sides.

The early exchanges did not bode well for an enthralling encounter, with neither side able to put its opposing defence under any great pressure, and neither keeper being tested when half chances presented themselves at either end. Luke Roodenburg and Tobi Oshitola both missed the target when well placed for Leyton, while Ade Olorunda shot wide on a couple of occasions for United, as the first twenty minutes passed without much in the way of goalmouth incident. The apparent malaise continued beyond the mid-point of the half, but proceedings were suddenly livened up by a confrontation between Rhys and Oshitola, the latter taking curious exception to being outmuscled by the mild-mannered United man as they contested a long ball. As the two players squared up to each other barely ten yards away from the assistant referee, Oshitola clearly aimed a head butt in Rhys' direction, although the decision to show both players a yellow card would suggest that the Leyton striker's indiscretion had bizarrely gone unnoticed by the officials. United went on to enjoy their first spell of concerted pressure, with Ade glancing wide from Russell's cross and Scott volleying wide after Lee Carey's corner was cleared to him just outside the area. Defender Ben Gracey then did well to hook the ball clear of danger, as Ade tried to create a shooting chance from a Jimmy Elford cross, while Leyton had half-hearted appeals waved away after Rhys nudged Roodenburg off balance as he looked to break through onto Thomas' long ball. United's use of their cut-back corner routine almost played them into trouble, as Henry intercepted and broke deep into United's half, although Jimmy did well to cover the situation, but Leyton then went desperately close to scoring in the final minute of the half, McGowan's long range free kick finding Gracey's head in the area, with the underside of the crossbar coming to United's rescue, and keeping the scoreline blank at the interval.

The second half showed little signs of improvement, with John-Paul Collier and Oshitola both shooting well off target for the visitors, and Ade firing a snapshot straight at keeper Jamie Lunan from the edge of the area on a rare United sortie into Leyton territory. Ten minutes after the restart though, a moment of individual brilliance from Sam Adams almost fired United in front, Sam collecting a Lee Carey pass and drilling a twenty-five yard shot against Lunan's left hand upright. Moments later, Lee swung over a free kick from the left, which Alderton was unable to clear, but Antonio's touch let him down at the far post and a great chance went to waste. Sam then volleyed wide after Ade knocked down Russell's hanging cross, but from around the hour mark, the contest returned to its former state and a turgid midfield battle resumed, with precious little creativity on show. The introduction of John Bradley seemed to give United greater purpose in the closing stages, and John forced Lunan into a flying save to tip over a powerful twenty-five yard effort, but it was as close as United would come to breaking the deadlock, while a sadly characteristic defensive error then gifted Leyton the points just a couple minutes from time. United had actually looked pretty solid at the back throughout the contest, but when Russell met a McGowan cross with a weak clearing header, and exacerbated the mistake by lunging in and bringing down Collier for an obvious penalty, all the good work was undone, as Henry sent Lee Worgan the wrong way from the spot kick. Nathan twice missed the target from United's last gasp attempts to snatch a draw, while Lee produced an awkward save to his right to prevent substitute Billy Bricknell from doubling the visitors' lead in stoppage time.

A game that neither side deserved to win frustratingly ended in defeat for United then, bringing back more horrible memories of darker times at a similar stage of last season. The key contrast to the promotion year has been United's largely positive start this time around though, yet that could easily draw parallels with their ultimately ill-fated Southern Premier campaign five seasons ago, when a series of defeats from mid-November saw United sink into a relegation fight from which they never recovered. Clearly, the losing run needs arresting as soon as possible, although next weekend's visit from AFC Wimbledon scarcely represents a simple opportunity to rediscover the winning habit.

Match facts	Efforts on target	Efforts off target	Free kicks conceded	Corners won	Offsides against
Hastings United	3	8	18	6	1
Leyton	5	6	12	2	1

Hastings United (4-4-2)							Leyton (4-4-2)
1 Lee Worgan							1 Jamie Lunan
2 Jimmy Elford (c)							2 Billy Hawes
3 Russell Eldridge							3 Tom McGowan
4 Rhys Whyborne							4 Ben Gracey
5 Dan Williams							5 Marc Cumberbatch
6 Nathan Russell							6 Rio Alderton (c)
7 Antonio Gonnella							7 Solomon Henry
8 Scott Kirkwood							8 Des Thomas
9 Ade Olorunda							9 Luke Roodenburg
10 Sam Adams							10 Tobi Oshitola
11 Lee Carey							11 John-Paul Collier
Substitutes
12 Kevin Rose							12 Billy Bricknell (for Roodenburg 72)
14 John Bradley (for Kirkwood 72)							14 Samuel Winston (for Oshitola 72)
15 Danny Spice							15 John Hyatt
16 Danny Ellis (for Gonnella 80)							16 John Bricknell
GK Jani Seitsonen							GK Jason Roberts

Attendance 446

Referee Philip Knight (Canterbury)

Assistants Mark Thompson (Hurstpierpoint) & Philip Wilks (Hove)