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Adams spot on but U's drop points once more - 6/2/10

United remained winless since thrashing Tonbridge on January 2nd, but at least emerged with a point thanks to Sam Adams' second half penalty, as Canvey Island's visit to the Pilot Field ended with honours even this afternoon. The visitors were the better side in the opening third of the contest, but the U's got into the game as half time approached, and were convinced that Canvey full back Andrew West should have been sent off for pulling back a clean through Russell Eldridge. Ade Olorunda missed the best chance of the half in added time, and United were made to pay when James Rowe put Canvey in front little more than two minutes after the restart. Adams squeezed home a sixty-fourth minute spot kick, after a foul on U's skipper Sean Ray, and playing with a four man forward line from around the hour mark, United looked the more likely to go on and claim all three points. Nathan Russell missed a golden chance to do just that, and the U's were ultimately indebted to a dubious offside flag, which denied Rowe and the Gulls a stoppage time winner of their own.

The U's starting line-up showed two changes from the extended midweek draw at Lewes, with Olorunda available once more, after finally completing a three match suspension for his Boxing Day red card at Longmead, and Eldridge back after being cup tied on Wednesday. Adrian Stone dropped out of the sixteen man squad, and Liam Upton's continuing recovery from a strained hamstring was complete enough for him to start on the bench. U's boss Tony Dolby unveiled his fifth new signing since the turn of the year, in former Worthing striker Ross Treleaven, who went on to make a very decent impression as a second half substitute, and there was a United league debut for Tyrone Sterling at left back, with Jimmy Elford once again switching to the right hand side.

Canvey appeared to have claims for a penalty of their own after barely fifteen seconds, as United got off to a typically slow start, but Tim Olorunda's challenge on Gabriel Fanibuyan was deemed fair by the referee. Robert King produced the first attempt on goal of the contest in the eighth minute, his downward header from a Greg Cohen corner being safely gathered by Steve Williams, with the U's keeper then doing well to keep out a Fanibuyan volley, after Ray's miscued clearance. Sterling's attacking instincts were to the fore, as United battled their way into the contest, the former Cray man delivering a hanging cross for Adams to head wide at the far post, and although Tim Olorunda and Adams both struck the crossbar in separate incidents, the whistle had already gone for an infringement on both occasions. Gulls keeper James Russell did well to block a cross shot by Eldridge, but chances had been few and far between throughout the opening period, until the final five minutes, when the U's seemed to step up a gear, and the visitors were thankful for a moment of officiating leniency that allowed them to retain a full compliment of players. A long clearance by Williams was flicked on by Ade Olorunda, sending Eldridge clear of his marker, West, who cynically grabbed hold of his shirt and pulled him back, enabling his keeper to collect the ball. An obviously unsighted referee failed to spot the offence, but his assistant had a clear view, and duly flagged to award United a free kick, in a central position, just a yard outside the area. Astonishingly though, West received only a yellow card for his trouble, and Eldridge's free kick was blocked by the wall, with the follow-up effort flying narrowly wide. and United's sense of injustice was not helped by Ade Olorunda's spurning of a great chance, the U's leading scorer racing onto Adams' clever flick, but lobbing both Russell and the crossbar by several yards, perhaps understandably showing some rustiness after his five week absence.

The clock had just ticked past the forty-seven minute mark when United's tendency to make sluggish starts to halves came back to haunt them, as Rowe sauntered into the U's area, too easily beating Russell's ineffective challenge, and rounding Williams, before slotting into an empty net. United struggled to recover from the setback, and it took an audacious response from Dolby to galvanise them, Treleaven introduced for Tim Olorunda, and effectively becoming a fourth forward. The debutant made an immediate impression, chasing down various apparently lost causes, and forcing Chris Moore to concede the corner, which led to United's equaliser. Eldridge had scarcely put his foot to the dead ball, when the referee spotted a foul by Canvey captain Richard Halle on Ray, and Adams tucked away the penalty, despite Russell guessing correctly and getting a strong hand to the shot. Rather than readjusting their formation after drawing level, the U's retained their 4-2-4 look, forcing Canvey onto the back foot, but the Essex side were resolute at the back and denied their hosts any clear sights of goal until the latter stages. Indeed, the Gulls might have retaken the lead from a corner with ten minutes remaining, but Halle failed to direct a free header on target, a feat quickly repeated at the other end by Russell, picked out by Eldridge's pinpoint free kick delivery, but heading wide from barely ten yards out and not a defender in sight. Straight back up the other end, Cohen burst clear down the left and forced Williams into a smart block, with Sterling on hand to clear the loose ball, and there was still time for the officials to impact upon the outcome one final time, Rowe exchanging slick passes with Fanibuyan and firing past Williams, only for an assistant's flag to come to United's rescue, leaving the visitors fuming in a case of role reversal from forty-five minutes earlier.

Having lost their grip on second place last weekend, today's point leaves the U's looking nervously over their shoulders, as four sides now lie within two points of United's current total. A run of two wins in nine league games has maybe served as something of a reality check, and next week's visit to now fifth placed Sutton will be as big a test of United's credentials as any game they have played during that lean spell. Before that, a quarter final berth in the Sussex Senior Cup will once again be up for grabs, when Lewes call in at the Pilot Field for a third round replay on Tuesday evening.

Match facts	Efforts on target	Efforts off target	Free kicks conceded	Corners won	Offsides against
Hastings United	2	6	11	4	10
Canvey Island	3	2	20	6	5

Hastings United (4-3-3)							Canvey Island (4-4-2)
1 Steve Williams							1 James Russell
2 Jimmy Elford							2 Andrew West
3 Tyrone Sterling							3 Craig Davidson
4 Nathan Russell							4 Frank Everett
5 Sean Ray (c)							5 Chris Moore
6 Lee Carey							6 Richard Halle (c)
7 Harry Pell							7 Robert King
8 Tim Olorunda							8 Kevin Dobinson
9 Ade Olorunda							9 Gabriel Fanibuyan
10 Sam Adams							10 James Rowe
11 Russell Eldridge							11 Greg Cohen
Substitutes
12 Ross Treleaven (for T Olorunda 60)							12 Jon Edwards (for King 78)
14 Liam Upton (for Carey 81)							14 Ben Patten (for West 81)
15 Steve Elliott							15 Stuart Batch
16 Josh Jirbandey							16 Ellis Skidmore
17 Luke Newman							17 Jack Parr

Attendance 431

Referee Paul Harris (Maidstone)

Assistants Andrew Colwell (Eastbourne) & Paul Beadle (Sevenoaks)