Saturday, January 7, 2012

United claimed their first league win since the end of November, and climbed back up to sixteenth in the table, after seeing off Essex rivals Aveley in a spitefully physical relegation battle at the Pilot Field this afternoon, which finished with both sides down to ten men.

Jordan Woodley received the second red card of his brief United career for his part in an incident that also saw Aveley substitute Abs Thompson dismissed. The pair tangled near the corner flag, as the former Brighton man tried to run down the clock deep in added time, although Woodley appeared to be more victim than aggressor.

Having conceded a throw, Thompson appeared to grab his opponent around the neck from behind for no obviously good reason, steadfastly refusing to let go, not even when players attempted to separate the pair. After falling to the ground, Thompson was alleged to have thrown several punches, with spectator opinion seemingly divided as to whether or not Woodley retaliated in kind.

Either way, the officials clearly felt that both were equally culpable, yet an understandably stunned Ross Sutton was the initial recipient of the first red card, quickly rescinded after a lengthy debate, at which point the striker was finally located and handed his fate.

Earlier in the day, Lee Carey capped a masterful display in central midfield by putting the U's in front with a beautifully struck twenty yard free kick just before the half hour mark, after a fairly quiet opening to the contest had been punctuated by little more of note than the several poor challenges, which rapidly gave the distinct impression that referee Chris Phillips was losing control of proceedings.

Aveley striker David Knight hit the post with an excellent free kick of his own, before United keeper Matt Armstrong-Ford gifted the visitors a soft equaliser, misjudging the flight of Paul Shave's forty yard ball into the area, and looking back in horror as it flew over his head and into the net.

But the U's restored their advantage less than three minutes into the second half following a superb move down the right hand side that ended with Jack Dixon's cross being cleverly flicked on by Danny Ellis for Kenny Pogue to rifle a shot past Aveley keeper Adam Rafis at his near post.

Woodley went close to extending the lead on three occasions, becoming increasingly prominent when pushed into a forward role, having spent over an hour hugging the touchline as Sean Ray selected a 4-4-2 formation upon his return to the starting line-up. Ben Davisson enjoyed an impressive cameo appearance, hitting the post with a right foot shot from the edge of the area, and then crossing for Jamie Crellin to send a looping header onto the crossbar, with Rafis well beaten on each occasion.

Zac Attwood also went desperately close to a clinching third goal, first with a glancing header just wide, and later with a near post volley from an Ellis chip that was met by an outstanding reaction save by Rafis. United's leading scorer will be sorely missed when United visit Leatherhead next week, serving the one match ban for his sending off against Lewes on Boxing Day, having linked well with Pogue and Woodley throughout the game.

His two colleagues will presumably carry the load at Fetcham Grove, in what will be Woodley's penultimate match before embarking on the four game suspension that will doubtless result from his late red card today.

It took the visitors until the fourth minute of an eventful period of added time to muster a shot on target, defender Lynvall Duncan meeting Ryan Andrews' cross with a close range volley that Armstrong-Ford gathered safely to redeem himself for the earlier error that had cost United the lead within five minutes of Carey's opener.

There were relatively few moments of alarm at the back for the U's throughout, yet Aveley did pose an occasional threat, and only Sean Bonnett-Johnson will know how he managed to miss the target from ten yards out, after Thompson's run and low cut back had set him up in acres of space.

The abiding memory will not be of missed chances at either end though, rather the undercurrent of simmering tension that spilled over at the end of a nonetheless entertaining contest. Not that United will have minded too much, a league double over the Millers going some way to easing their immediate relegation concerns.

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Hastings United (4-4-2)							Aveley (4-4-2)
1 Matt Armstrong-Ford							1 Adam Rafis
2 Jack Dixon							2 Ryan Andrews
3 Ross Sutton							3 Sam Holloway
4 Lee Carey							4 Lynvall Duncan
5 Sean Ray							5 Spencer Harrison (c)
6 Josh Jirbandey (c)							6 Paul Shave
7 Danny Ellis							7 Sean Bonnett-Johnson
8 Jamie Crellin							8 Reece Morgan
9 Kenny Pogue							9 Ricky Burbridge
10 Zac Attwood							10 David Knight
11 Jordan Woodley							11 Evans Kouassi
Substitutes
12 Matt Whitehead							12 Danny Smith
14 Nick Gonsalves							14 Joe Keith (for Kouassi 67)
15 Joe Barham							15 Joey May (for Morgan 10)
16 Ben Davisson (for Pogue 68)							16 Abs Thompson  (for Burbridge H.T.)
							17 Jake Cass

Attendance: 324

Referee: Chris Phillips (Carshalton Beeches)

Assistants: Benjamin Wesley (Dover) & Richard Joss (Margate)