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More Christmas misery as United fall again - 26/12/07

United slid back into the Premier Division relegation zone this afternoon, extending their dismal run of form to just one win in twelve outings, as they lost to a second half header from Folkestone defender Frankie Chappell at Cheriton Road. Had the winning goal been scored in the first half, United could have had few complaints, such was the home side's dominance before the interval, when only a combination of woeful finishing and desperate defending kept United in the game. After the break though, United adopted a revised formation and looked a completely different proposition, and although often restricted to long range efforts, appeared capable of challenging for a first away league win of the season. And after some typically shoddy defending at a set piece allowed Folkestone to edge in front, United were the only team in the contest throughout the final quarter, and will probably feel with some justification that they were unfortunate not to snatch a late leveller.

Despite an enormously flat performance against Billericay on Saturday, and having plenty of alternative options available, manager Nigel Kane challenged the same sixteen man squad to raise their collective game this afternoon. There were a couple of changes to the starting line-up however, Scott Kirkwood returning to the centre of midfield and Antonio Gonnella to the right hand side, with Frankie Sawyer and Russell Eldridge dropping to the bench, Sam Adams pushing up alongside Ade Olorunda in attack, and Lee Carey reverting to the left flank. Folkestone had sunk into the bottom four after a run of one win in thirteen games, that an impressive 4-1 victory over Horsham in their previous home match, but were suffering a minor injury crisis that denied them the services of keeper Charlie Mitten, defender Roland Edge and midfielder Jim Corbett. Eighteen year old Luke Stonebridge deputised in goal, and nineteen year old Liam Friend on the left hand side of a five man midfield, led by eight year Gillingham veteran Mark Saunders. The vastly experienced Kevin Watson skippered Invicta from the right flank, while the dangerous Leigh Bremner was paired in attack with man mountain Richard Shittu, brother of Watford defender Danny, and recently returned from a three year stint playing in Poland.

Shittu soon started to exert his influence on the United defence, winning the majority of the long balls played in his direction, as well as a series of free kicks as United often resorted to illegal means in an effort to diminish his impact. Watson's dead ball efficiency would lead to several scoring opportunities as the half wore on, although it was a long range effort from Saunders that forced Lee Worgan into his first save of the match after a quarter of an hour. Charlie Glyde drilled a shot narrowly wide after good work from Bremner down the right, while Shittu then brought a smart block out of Lee after breaking into the area, and should have done better than to head tamely wide from a Watson corner moments later. Invicta appeared to suffer a major blow when Bremner limped off with a hamstring injury at the mid-point of the first half, but there was no conceivable let-up in the home side's attacking play, with Shittu soon wasting a glorious chance to open the scoring, Friend heading a Watson free kick into his path barely eight yards from goal, only for the striker to try and walk the ball past Lee and give Kevin Rose the chance to clear, when a first time effort would surely have brought greater reward. United offered precious little going forward during the opening half an hour, and were being badly outplayed and overrun in midfield, but they suddenly found the means to get Antonio and Lee Carey more involved in the wide positions, while Ade and Sam began to create a few more problems for their markers, with Samuel Kola Okikiolu twice producing outstanding cover tackles to get his side out of trouble as Ade bore down on goal. Ten minutes before the interval, Tim Olorunda was fortunate that the referee chose not to take a more sinister view of a challenge that must have left Saunders with stud marks on his upper leg, while from Watson's ensuing free kick, Rhys Whyborne was handily placed to hook Chappell's goalbound header off the line. Watson's next free kick, delivered from near the right touchline, found three unmarked Invicta players waiting eagerly beyond the far post, with Tom Bryant seeing a header, and a follow-up shot, blocked by Lee Worgan, as United escaped once again, before ending the half by almost stealing in front, when Ade's low cross from the left only just evaded Scott and Antonio in the six yard box.

That momentary late flurry of activity in the home penalty area could scarcely disguise another below par performance from United though and the response was for them to emerge with Sam dropping into a central midfield role after the restart. The switch instantly seemed to pay dividends, with United going on to play the better football throughout the second period, and no longer losing the battle for dominance in the middle of the park. Antonio had an effort from a short corner deflected just wide, and when the resulting delivery was only partially cleared, the same player forced Stonebridge into a stunning one handed save from another twenty yard shot. Tim twice broke into the right hand side of the Invicta area, but failed to test Stonebridge on either occasion, once denied by Bryant's fine block and then let down by a poor finish. But all of United's hard work in battling their way into the contest was suddenly undone as a result of a swift Folkestone counter-attack, Shittu's cheeky backheel releasing Glyde and substitute Damian Abel for a break that ended with Rhys doing well to divert the latter's shot over the crossbar. United then somehow managed to untidily scramble away Glyde's inswinging corner, albeit returning it to him for a second attempt that successfully picked out Chappell for a bullet header into the corner, belatedly giving Folkestone a deserved advantage. The final twenty minutes saw United maintain an almost continuous presence in the Invicta half, without exactly causing Stonebridge any great discomfort though, as increasingly lengthy range strikes from Sam, Ryan Andrews and Jimmy Elford all sailed over the top, while Sam also drove a shot wide after latching onto one poor clearance from the keeper. The late introduction of Frankie briefly added a new dynamic to United's attacking options and the substitute nearly created a goal with his first touch, scampering around Bryant down the left hand side and delivering a near post cross for Ade, whose shot was well blocked by Chappell, which proved to be the final opportunity for United to salvage something from the game.

Boxing Day has seldom brought much in the way of seasonal cheer to United supporters over the last decade, and given the current sequence of results, perhaps only the eternally optimistic should have expected anything from today's fixture. United badly need a change of fortune as they head towards the New Year though, with only Saturday's visit from Kent neighbours Tonbridge separating United from the 2008 leg of what has clearly become a relegation battle, and from which they sadly look most unlikely to escape at present.

Match facts	Efforts on target	Efforts off target	Free kicks conceded	Corners won	Offsides against
Folkestone Invicta	5	4	6	5	4
Hastings United	5	9	13	9	6

Folkestone Invicta (3-5-2)							Hastings United (4-4-2)
1 Luke Stonebridge							1 Lee Worgan
2 Kevin Watson (c)							2 Ryan Andrews
3 Liam Friend							3 Jimmy Elford (c)
4 Frankie Chappell							4 Rhys Whyborne
5 Tom Bryant							5 Kevin Rose
6 Samuel Kola Okikiolu							6 Scott Kirkwood
7 Charlie Glyde							7 Antonio Gonnella
8 Richard Shittu							8 Tim Olorunda
9 Leigh Bremner							9 Ade Olorunda
10 Mark Saunders							10 Sam Adams
11 Michael Everitt							11 Lee Carey
Substitutes
12 Ben Sly							12 Nathan Russell
14 James Everitt							14 Danny Spice
15 Damian Abel (for Bremner 23)							15 Frankie Sawyer (for Gonnella 87)
16 Josh Burchell							16 Russell Eldridge (for Kirkwood 66)
GK Alex Conyers							GK Jani Seitsonen

Attendance 445

Referee Stuart Butler

Assistants Paul Kelly & Saul Kay