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United suffer opening day hell as Ricay run riot - 18/8/07

United could scarcely have endured a worse debut in the Ryman Premier Division this afternoon, suffering a true baptism of fire, as they were brutally swept aside by a classy Billericay outfit at New Lodge. The contest still seemed interestingly poised at the interval, with United trailing by a single goal and having threatened to get back into the match as the first half had worn on. But the hosts were utterly ruthless throughout the second half and looked capable of scoring at will against an increasingly demoralised looking defence, as United conceded six goals in a game for the first time since Boxing Day 2003.

After a wretched pre-season campaign, during which manager Nigel Kane was never able to field a full strength line-up due to holidays and injuries, United went into a tough opening day encounter missing two vital midfield components in Dan Williams and Tim Olorunda. Nima Cham and Nathan Russell were the somewhat surprise pairing in their absence, with Lee Carey and Scott Kirkwood playing wide left and right respectively. Sam Adams and Ade Olorunda renewed their strike partnership, and with Tom Cusden only fit enough for a place on the bench, Danny Spice started at right back, with Jimmy Elford on the left, and skipper Sean Ray shrugging off a groin strain to play alongside Rhys Whyborne in an orthodox 4-4-2 formation. Billericay adopted a similar stance, but clearly had the edge on United in terms of experience all over the pitch, with the majority of the Blues' line-up having played at a higher level. Former West Ham left winger Lee Hodges was to have a major influence on the game, particularly from set piece delivery, while striker Tony Boot was one of the home side's summer arrivals, having signed from Bromley, the team that denied Billericay a place in the Blue Square Conference South with a penalty shoot-out victory in last season's Premier Division play-off final. His attacking partner, Bradley Woods-Garness, was the player to really catch the eye though, the less heralded member of the Blues' forward line tormenting United all afternoon and deservedly completing the scoring with the goal of the game late on.

Although they were kept on the back foot, United looked secure enough in defence in the early stages, and Lee Worgan was tested only by Hodges' twenty yard effort, before the hosts grabbed the lead in the sixteenth minute, as United showed that they still need to work harder at defending from corners. The hosts' movement off the ball caused all sorts of disarray from Hodges' set piece, which picked out the unmarked Jamie Dormer on the edge of the area, and Boot applied the close range finishing touch to the home skipper's goalbound volley to put Billericay ahead. A similar corner routine almost brought a second goal a couple of minutes later, but Darren Blewitt's header deflected narrowly wide, while Woods-Garness and Leon Hunter both went close to doubling the advantage as United struggled to get out of their own half for a ten minute spell. Scott was well off target with a long range effort, as United eventually settled into the contest around the half hour mark, and Ade overran a long ball from Jimmy after stealing a yard on the home defence, amidst appeals that he had been held back by Blewitt. Boot saw a stinging drive beaten away by Lee, before Sam's twenty yard volley was tipped away by keeper Billy McMahon in the closing stages of the first period, when United finally began to take the game to Billericay and passed the ball with confidence for an all too brief two or three minute spell.

For thirty minutes after the restart though, the Blues were simply awesome and United quickly realised that damage limitation might be the order of the day. Woods-Garness and Hodges went close from half chances in the first couple of minutes of the second half, before Dormer volleyed wastefully over the bar from fifteen yards out, and Boot put too much weight on an attempted lob, which sailed over Lee's head and just over the crossbar. The second goal had long since been coming when it arrived in the fifty-fourth minute though, Boot running onto Hunter's simple fifty yard pass to beat Lee at his near post, although he was promptly stretchered off with an ankle ligament injury suffered in the act of scoring the goal. His replacement, Joe Flack, took barely six minutes to get on the scoresheet himself, Hodges picking out Woods-Garness from a corner and the substitute pouncing after Lee had done well to save the initial effort for a near carbon copy of the first goal of the game. Six minutes later, things went from bad to worse for United, as Woods-Garness showed sublime skill to escape the clutches of Jimmy and Lee Carey down the Billericay right and deliver a fairly innocuous cross to the near post, which Sean obligingly headed into the back of his own net. With around fifteen minutes remaining, the home side appeared to take their foot off the pedal for a while and Ade was denied a consolation goal by an extraordinary save from McMahon, while Sam and Danny Ellis were well off target with long range strikes. At the other end, Flack was inches away from converting Dave Wareham's left wing cross, but then profited from an embarrassing error of judgement by Lee Worgan, who called for Sean to leave Dave McSweeney's harmless long ball, failing to notice that Flack was in a position to intercept the pass in the area and roll the ball into an empty net for his second and Billericay's fifth. Ade and Scott again went close for United, but the hosts had saved their best for last, as Woods-Garness wriggled clear of Danny Ellis and Lee Carey near the touchline, and a one-touch exchange of passes between Hunter and Flack later, burst into the area ahead of Rhys and beat Lee with ease to cap a memorable performance with a magnificent goal.

In the end, it was impossible not to feel plenty of admiration, however grudging, for the way in which Billericay exposed United's inability to compete with amongst the best that the Ryman Premier will have to offer this season. The hosts were simply on a different footballing planet this afternoon and, while United contributed to their own downfall with some poor marking and individual errors at the back, it would be ridiculously unfair to lambaste the squad for losing to a side that was just much better them on the day. United must ensure that they learn from this harsh lesson though, but put the manner of the defeat to the back of their minds at the same time, as they seek to restart their season at home to last season's Division One South champions Maidstone on Tuesday evening.

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Billericay Town (4-4-2)							Hastings United (4-4-2)
1 Billy McMahon							1 Lee Worgan
2 Dave McSweeney							2 Danny Spice
3 Danny Kerrigan							3 Jimmy Elford
4 Darren Blewitt							4 Rhys Whyborne
5 Steve Heffer							5 Sean Ray (c)
6 Jamie Dormer (c)							6 Nathan Russell
7 Paul Abbott							7 Scott Kirkwood
8 Leon Hunter							8 Nima Cham
9 Bradley Woods-Garness							9 Ade Olorunda
10 Tony Boot							10 Sam Adams
11 Lee Hodges							11 Lee Carey
Substitutes
12 Matt Game (for Hodges 63)							12 Danny Ellis (for Cham 45)
14 Joe Flack (for Boot 56)							14 John Bradley (for Russell 45)
15 Dave Wareham (for Abbott 73)							15 Kevin Rose
16 Rob Swaine							16 Tom Cusden (for Spice 56)
GK Jack Buckfield							17 Dominic Cruttenden

Attendance 604

Referee Simon Essex

Assistants Danny Cook & Richard Mardell