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Stoppage time penalty costs United a point - 16/2/08

A penalty from Lewis Taylor in the fourth minute of added time condemned United to the harshest of defeats this afternoon, as Horsham edged an evenly contested Sussex derby by the odd goal in three at Queen Street. Russell Eldridge was penalised for handling a Stuart Myall cross a couple of minutes after coming on as a late substitute, undoing all of United's hard work in getting back into the match after Lee Farrell had given the home side an early lead. Lee Carey fired in a free kick four minutes into the second half to level the scores, his second goal in as many matches after a run of fourteen games without one, and United were the better side for some while, only to suffer more late agony, this their fifth last gasp defeat of the campaign.

United manager Tony Dolby had responded to a perceived lack of depth in defensive positions by signing twenty year old Lewes defender Steve Elliott on a one month loan deal the eve of the game, handing him a debut at right back in place of Danny Spice. That would have been the solitary change from the side that battled to a draw at Staines on Tuesday, but for Sam Adams' withdrawal with a neck injury on the morning of the match, forcing Antonio Gonnella back into the starting line-up on the right hand side of midfield. Danny Leach, nearing the end of his loan spell, again partnered Ade Olorunda in attack, while Nathan Simpson retained the left midfield berth, and Ashley Paine was recalled to the squad in favour of Kevin Rose. Much like Staines, Horsham were starting to feel the effects of a fixture backlog caused by their FA Cup exploits earlier in the season, and they went into today's game without the injured trio of regular left back Nigel Brake, influential midfielder Lee Carney and left winger Gary Charman. Experienced central defender Kevin Hemsley was also absent, although former Hastings man Myall and star striker Farrell both passed late fitness tests to take their places in a still powerful starting eleven.

Playing down the slope in the first half, and with a deceptively strong wind at their backs, the home side immediately sought to impose their patient passing game on United, although the uneven surface served to lessen the effectiveness of their ambitions. United had the first glimmer of a chance on goal, when Danny Leach's fifteen yard shot was blocked and Tim Olorunda's follow-up effort looped softly into the arms of keeper Paul Seuke, while at the other end, Lee Worgan pulled off a fine early save to keep out a Steve Davies volley, after United defended poorly from a Myall free kick on the right hand side. Ade wasted a decent opening in the eighth minute, beating the onrushing Seuke to Danny's through ball, but having been forced wide, Ade tried to take on the keeper for a second time and was robbed of possession by a neatly timed tackle. United were competing well though, and were being urged to pressure the man on the ball at every opportunity, in an effort to force Horsham into an unfamiliar long ball game, an admirable tactic that would sadly backfire though, as it led to the hosts opening goal in the fifteenth minute. United had Horsham pinned deep in their own half and threatening to play themselves into trouble, when centre half Andy Howard opted to send a huge punt downfield, that caught on a gust of wind and sailed over Rhys Whyborne's head, sending Farrell clean through to send a cultured lob over Lee's despairing dive from just outside the area. Conceding goals out of nothing has been very much United's way of late, and their additional penchant for giving away further goals in quick succession was almost repeated today, with Jacob Mingle dragging a shot just wide within sixty seconds of the restart, and Tim then getting in a vital clearing header to repel a dangerous looking Matt Geard cross, and following it up with a crucial block to prevent Myall's shot from troubling Lee. Having avoided any more damage, United worked their way back into the contest, which developed into a relatively low key affair, until Horsham lost Mingle to an apparent hamstring injury, and allowed United to dominate the final quarter of an hour of the half. By his recent standards, Ade was to have a largely ineffective afternoon, perhaps highlighted by his bad miss after strong work from Lee Carey, Ade turning nicely past Hornets skipper Eddie French, but slicing his shot wide of Seuke's near post, as close as United came to a goal in the lead-up to the interval, despite seeing plenty of the ball in their opponents' final third of the pitch.

The second half was less than four minutes old when United were handed the chance to get back on level terms, with substitute Mark Hawthorne clumsily bundling over Lee Carey five yards outside the Horsham area, Lee picking himself up to curl the ensuing free kick around the wall to beat Seuke's dive low to his left. A couple of minutes later, eventual matchwinner Taylor launched himself into a senseless two footed tackle on Antonio, which the United man was fortunately able to sidestep, but the decision not to even caution Taylor for his indiscretion would be the first of several that would leave United aggrieved at the final whistle. Danny almost surprised Seuke with a long range volley from a unlikely angle, but the keeper managed to effect an awkward save, while Geard was well positioned to cut out a cross from Ade moments later, following a quick break down the left hand side. United penalty appeals were then waved away, although Danny appeared to have been felled by Geard just outside the six yard box, while Danny then forced Seuke into a low save to his right with a first time shot from the edge of the area. The one-way traffic continued beyond the hour mark, with Nathan Simpson escaping down the left and sending in a telling cross for Antonio to slide in and stab a shot wide of the target, while Howard produced a last ditch challenge to block another effort from Danny. The momentum swung back in favour of the home side for a brief spell at the mid-point of the half, after Tim had fouled Taylor a couple of yards outside the United area, he also fortunate to escape a booking, although Myall nearly made him pay a far heavier price, clipping the free kick through the wall and watching it rebound to safety off an upright with Lee Worgan a helpless spectator. Barely ninety seconds later, Nathan Russell was penalised for a foul on Davies in virtually the same position, but Myall's second attempt was less accurate and flew tamely over the bar. After a promising display, Steve suffered a bout of cramp and was forced to give way for Danny Spice with ten minutes remaining, with Danny Leach then robbing French of possession on halfway and accelerating unchallenged towards goal, only to be denied by another tremendous block from Howard. Tim broke clear down the right hand side with a couple of minutes left, but fired across the face of goal with no one on hand to apply the finishing touch, Antonio drove a shot wide of the near post a minute later, while another promising breakaway move ended when French committed an ugly foul to halt Nathan Simpson's progress just inside the United half, finally convincing the referee to reach for his notebook. The free kick came to nothing, and United were left to rue their failure to take one of their second half chances, as an assistant referee delivered the coup de grace deep in stoppage time. First, Jimmy Elford was penalised for an unnecessary foul on Davies, close to the touchline and barely five yards from the goalline, which Myall crossed into the area, the ball striking Russell's arm as he jumped and turned his back in a half-hearted attempt to block the delivery, the assistant interpreting it to have been a deliberate handball offence and advising the referee to award a penalty. Taylor stepped forward to send Lee Worgan the wrong way from the spot, earning his side a scarcely deserved three points.

As well as United had played, they had lacked some of the incisiveness of their performance at Staines in midweek, and some of the cutting edge up front was missing in particular, with Ade looking slightly jaded after running himself into the ground that night. Fortune was not on United's side once again as well, although hard luck stories are not going to stave off relegation, and United have but a dozen games left now to keep themselves in the Premier Division, the first of those being at home to Harlow Town next weekend.

Match facts	Efforts on target	Efforts off target	Free kicks conceded	Corners won	Offsides against
Horsham	4	4	19	3	0
Hastings United	6	5	16	3	6

Horsham (4-4-2)							Hastings United (4-4-2)
1 Paul Seuke							1 Lee Worgan
2 Stuart Myall							2 Steve Elliott
3 Matt Geard							3 Jimmy Elford (c)
4 Eddie French (c)							4 Rhys Whyborne
5 Andy Howard							5 Nathan Russell
6 Jason Ward							6 Nathan Simpson
7 Jacob Mingle							7 Antonio Gonnella
8 Lewis Taylor							8 Tim Olorunda
9 Lee Farrell							9 Ade Olorunda
10 Steve Davies							10 Danny Leach
11 Simon Austin							11 Lee Carey
Substitutes
12 Tom Graves							12 Danny Spice (for Elliott 81)
14 Yinka Salaam (for Ward 75)							14 Frankie Sawyer (for Russell 90)
15 Mark Hawthorne (for Mingle 29)							15 Ashley Paine
16 Ben Rayner (for Austin 73)							16 Tony Dolby
GK Alan Mansfield							17 Russell Eldridge (for Simpson 90)

Attendance 566

Referee Mr T Robinson

Assistants Messrs A Dine & C Nzenga