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Strikers fire United back to winning ways - 16/10/07

Ade Olorunda scored twice in five first half minutes and Sam Adams was also on target, as United ended a run of six games without a win in comfortable fashion at the Pilot Field this evening, beating a Carshalton side that was reduced to ten men before the interval, when midfielder James Evans was sent off for too vigorously protesting against the legality of United's second goal. Having been on the wrong end of some dubious refereeing decisions in their previous match against Chelmsford ten days ago, United certainly appeared to have things more in their favour against the Robins, with Ade getting away with an apparent handball before scoring his first, and Tim Olorunda fortunate not to concede a free kick before laying on the through ball for goal number two. There was thankfully nothing contentious about Sam's effort that effectively made the points safe for United just past the hour mark, and despite fielding a depleted defensive unit, Lee Worgan was seldom tested, once he had made a superb save to deny Luke Fontana inside the opening minute of the match.

The back four options available to manager Nigel Kane were already restricted by the one match suspensions being served by both Sean Ray and Kevin Rose, so the news that Dan Williams would miss out with an ankle injury came as an unwelcome blow, especially with Rhys Whyborne and Jimmy Elford also nursing slight knocks. However, pairing Rhys with stand-in skipper Jimmy in the centre proved to be an excellent decision, with Danny Spice recalled to the right back position, and Russell Eldridge once again forced into emergency action on the left. Tim's timely return from a lengthy injury lay-off at least added some steel to the heart of the midfield, where he was partnered by Scott Kirkwood, with Lee Carey and Danny Ellis providing the width, while Ade and Sam continued up front, Ade playing his last match before starting a three match ban. Nima Cham was relegated to the substitutes' bench, where David Henham was also named to provide some extra defensive cover, and seventeen year old keeper Paul Nessling received a first call-up as understudy to Lee Worgan. Carshalton were making their first visit to the Pilot Field for thirteen years, although it was only three years since the two sides last met, with Jimmy, Russell and David the only survivors on either side from that day, when United upset the odds to record a 3-1 FA Cup victory at Colston Avenue. The Robins were a Conference South outfit back then, but were relegated at the end of the 2005/06 season, and had since completely overhauled their playing squad. The principal threat lay in an experienced strike force of Fontana and Phil Ruggles, but Carshalton named an otherwise largely youthful line-up, built around powerful midfielder Craig Dundas, and skippered from central defence by David Graves, while off the pitch, the club had recently parted company with manager Dave Garland, replacing him with Hayden Bird.

Although their win was ultimately fairly straightforward, United were typically indebted to keeper Lee Worgan for a top class save that prevented them from going a goal down with less than fifty seconds on the clock. Lively left winger Michael Johnson found himself in space in the penalty area and cut a low cross back for Fontana to strike a first time shot that Lee somehow managed to divert over the bar with his left foot for a corner. United slowly settled into the contest, with Lee Carey having their first shot on target, curling a twenty-five yard free kick into the arms of keeper Aaron Howe just before the quarter hour mark, while two excellent Danny Spice crosses then caused Howe rather more discomfort, one spilled dangerously close to Ade, but being hurriedly cleared by Graves. The visitors lost left back Ryan Watts to injury inside twenty minutes, but reorganised effectively enough, and Ruggles twice could have done better when well placed in the area, but it was United who then suddenly swept into a somewhat controversial two goal lead. An inswinging cross from Lee Carey led to the opener in the thirty-fourth minute, initially sailing over Ade's head at the near post, but fortuitously rebounding to him via substitute Moses Spencer, allowing him to control the ball, with an arm in the opinion of some Carshalton players, and despatch a shot into the roof of the net. Five minutes later, Ade's second goal was created in yet more contentious circumstances, as Tim appeared to foul Evans inside the centre circle, only for play to be waved on and for Tim to pick out his brother with an exquisite chip, Ade advancing to the edge of the area and firing low past Howe. United were still in mid-celebration, when the referee found himself surrounded by furiously protesting Carshalton players, showing Evans a straight red card for his trouble, while the visitors' frustration was further evidenced by yellow cards shown to full backs Jeremy Williams and Liam Harwood in the following few minutes. The half ended with United well on top, and Tim went close to a third goal with a far post header from Russell's corner, before picking up a caution of his own for a clumsy foul.

United picked up where they had left off after the restart, with Ade, Russell and Scott all going close to extending their advantage in the early stages, but the Robins went on to enjoy a decent ten minute spell of pressure, during which time Barry Stevens curled a shot just wide and Lee Worgan was forced to block another Fontana effort. The visitors continued piling forward, and it was from a Carshalton corner that United broke to score their decisive third goal, Tim leading the charge and playing a pass down the right hand side for Sam to advance into the area, ignoring the unmarked Ade in the centre and smashing a shot past the helpless Howe. With the match all but over as a contest, the remaining half an hour occasionally had the feel of a training ground exercise about it, often played at walking pace, with both sides somehow settling for the three goal margin of victory. That said, Carshalton did go close on a couple of occasions, Lee tipping over a well struck twenty yard shot from Johnson, and Stevens glancing a late header over the bar from Fontana's pinpoint cross from the right. At the other end, Ade headed a Danny Ellis cross just wide, going close to a hattrick, but having to settle for the sponsor's man of the match award instead.

Despite their indifferent form of late, United have adjusted well to life in the Premier Division, and this evening's three points saw them jump an unlikely seven places in the congested league table, and back into the top six, with a trip to second placed Hendon to come on Saturday week. The recent poor run of results included early exits from two cup competitions, but United will have opportunities to redress that balance in their next two fixtures, visits to Edgware in the FA Trophy this weekend, and to Wealden in the Sussex Senior Cup next Tuesday.

Match facts	Efforts on target	Efforts off target	Free kicks conceded	Corners won	Offsides against
Hastings United	5	5	10	5	6
Carshalton Athletic	5	6	11	3	1

Hastings United (4-4-2)							Carshalton Athletic (4-4-2)
1 Lee Worgan							1 Aaron Howe
2 Danny Spice							2 Jeremy Williams
3 Russell Eldridge							3 Ryan Watts
4 Rhys Whyborne							4 David Graves (c)
5 Jimmy Elford (c)							5 Liam Harwood
6 Tim Olorunda							6 James Evans
7 Danny Ellis							7 Barry Stevens
8 Scott Kirkwood							8 Craig Dundas
9 Ade Olorunda							9 Phil Ruggles
10 Sam Adams							10 Luke Fontana
11 Lee Carey							11 Michael Johnson
Substitutes
12 Tom Poole (for Adams 67)							12 Jack MacLeod (for Ruggles 70)
14 John Bradley (for Whyborne 83)							14 Moses Spencer (for Watts 18)
15 David Henham							15 Ben Raynor
16 Nima Cham (for T Olorunda 73)
GK Paul Nessling

Attendance 431

Referee Stuart Butler (Maidstone)

Assistants Graeme Ions (Maidstone) & Simon Finnigan (Maidstone)