Tuesday, January 17, 2012

United's interest in the Ryman League Cup came to a halt at the Pilot Field this evening, as Bury Town shrugged off the effects of a lengthy midweek journey to comfortably book a place in the semi-finals at the U's expense.

In so doing, the visitors also recorded a fourth consecutive victory over United since they were switched into the Isthmian League set-up last season, and one that they thoroughly deserved in a contest that was perhaps not as one-sided as the statistics might suggest, but only ever looked like ending with an away win nonetheless.

Saturday's wretched defeat at Leatherhead at least gave way to a better performance from Sean Ray's side mind you, but they once again seemed to lack a certain cutting edge to their play, despite new signing Tamer Tuna showing some promising glimpses in linking up with former Welling United strike colleague Zac Attwood.

It took the U's until first half stoppage time to force Bury keeper Marcus Garnham into action though, and then only to routinely gather a long range effort by Lee Carey. At the other end, Matt Armstrong-Ford was kept rather busier, but he far from overworked, despite Bury's slick passing and movement that saw them threaten to slice through United's back line on several occasions.

John Sands failed to hit the target from two excellent chances though, the first a close range header from Billy Clark's pinpoint cross, and the second a rebound after Kieran Leabon had been denied by a smart save having raced clear onto a quickly taken free kick.

The hosts started the second half with greater purpose, forcing a couple of early corners and making Garnham and the Bury defence look almost human for a brief while. Josh Jirbandey might have done better with a near post header, but he was soon back on guard his own penalty area, with Leabon and Sam Nunn each going close from Lee Reed crosses.

The deadlock was finally broken midway through the second period, Leabon sliding a pass into Sands in the area, for the striker to turn Jirbandey and steer a low shot past Armstrong-Ford at his near post to give the Blues a well deserved lead.

Desperation quickly set in for United, and some theatrics from Jordan Woodley earned the substitute nothing more than a yellow card, when a penalty was more on his mind, but hopes of finding an equaliser to force a shoot-out were all but extinguished when Jirbandey ducked underneath a long punt downfield, instead of heading it clear, and presented Sands with an opportunity to volley past the stranded Armstrong-Ford.

Moments earlier, the United keeper had pulled off a stunning save to divert Clark's angled drive onto the outside of a post, but he was powerless to prevent Sands from doubling Bury's lead, and although Ray was a goalline clearance away from heading the U's back into the game with seven minutes remaining, there was nothing to suggest that a goal back at that late stage would necessarily have heralded a fairytale finish.

And so ended United's interest in cup competitions for another season, and they are simply left with seventeen league games to finish their campaign, and the knowledge that they possibly need to win more than a third of them to avoid any potential relegation danger. A visit from leaders Billericay on Saturday hardly looks like one for the faint-hearted right now.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hastings United (4-4-2)							Bury Town (4-5-1)
1 Matt Armstrong-Ford							1 Marcus Garnham
2 Sam Willett							2 Russell Short
3 Scott Manning							3 Mark Coulson
4 Lee Carey							4 John Kennedy
5 Sean Ray							5 Sam Nunn
6 Josh Jirbandey (c)							6 Lee Smith
7 Danny Ellis							7 Callum Kearns
8 Jamie Crellin							8 Kieran Leabon
9 Tamer Tuna							9 John Sands
10 Zac Attwood							10 Lee Reed
11 Ben Davisson							11 Billy Clark
Substitutes
12 Joe Barham (for Tuna 84)							12 Connor Hall (for Coulson 37)
14 Kenny Pogue (for Davisson 73)							14 Dan Hitchings (for Sands 88)
15 Jordan Woodley  (for Ellis 59)							15 Josh Curry (for Clark 86)
							16 Danny Cunningham

Attendance: 238

Referee: Ian Fissenden (Gillingham)

Assistants: Elad Amir (Maidstone) & Paul Yates (Maidstone)