Saturday, September 17, 2011
I know that it's probably hard to imagine, but there probably are other sides with worse FA Cup records than Hastings. It just might not feel all that likely right now, after the U's lost at the first hurdle for the fifth year in succession today.
A Cray Wanderers side, featuring former United manager Tony Dolby at the heart of their defence, added their name to a list comprising Ramsgate, Dartford, Farnborough and Bognor Regis Town, but became the first team to eliminate the U's by more than a single goal since Metropolitan Police in September 2006, and thoroughly deservedly so too.
One time Welling and Maidstone striker Tommy Whitnell helped himself to all three goals, as classy Cray won at a canter, although his second and third efforts each came in the final couple of minutes, after U's substitute Arron Hopkinson had been sent off by referee Wade Norcott for violent conduct, raising his arms in retaliation to a foul by Cray skipper Aaron Day, who was booked for his part in the incident.
It was an unfortunate end to Hopkinson's current spell at the Pilot Field - the right winger returns to university in Cardiff this week - but his intoduction ten minutes after the interval had initially served to galvanise United, who promptly went on to enjoy their best spell of the game, but the red card, coupled with an injury that led to Kenny Pogue being stretchered off, simply left the U's with too great a mountain to climb.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
|
| Hastings United | (0) 0 | - | 3 (1) | Cray Wanderers |
| Whitnell 23, 88, 90 | ||||
| Match facts | Efforts on target | Efforts off target | Free kicks conceded | Corners won | Offsides against |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hastings United | 1 | 8 | 11 | 2 | 2 |
| Cray Wanderers | 9 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 6 |
| Hastings United (5-3-2) | Cray Wanderers (4-4-2) | ||||||
| 1 Lloyd Anderson | 1 Andy Walker | ||||||
| 2 Jack Dixon | 2 Sam Long | ||||||
| 3 Ross Sutton | 3 Alex Bentley  |
||||||
| 4 Sean Ray | 4 Aaron Day (c) |
||||||
| 5 Scott Manning | 5 Tony Dolby | ||||||
| 6 Josh Jirbandey (c) | 6 Tyrone Sterling | ||||||
| 7 Jamie Crellin |
7 Tommy Whitnell | ||||||
| 8 Jack Walder | 8 Chris Saunders | ||||||
| 9 Kenny Pogue | 9 Luke Coleman | ||||||
| 10 Fred Foreman | 10 Danny Phillips | ||||||
| 11 Matt Hall | 11 Jack Clark | ||||||
| Substitutes | |||||||
| 12 Ben Billings (for Sutton H.T.) | 12 Jamie Humphries | ||||||
14 Arron Hopkinson  (for Walder 55) |
14 Enoch Akosah (for Saunders 68) |
||||||
| 15 Lee Carey | 15 Chris Barnett | ||||||
| 16 Rhys Whyborne | 16 Allan McLeod (for Coleman 73) | ||||||
| 17 George Jones (for Pogue 73) | 17 Leigh Bremner | ||||||
| 19 Dan Bolwell | 18 Mark Willy | ||||||
| GK Grant Hall | |||||||
Attendance: 251
Referee: Wade Norcott (Harlow)
Assistants: Robert Eubel (Harlow) & James Whittaker (Harlow)