Saturday, December 31, 2011

The Rocks took over where the Rooks left off, as United treated their supporters to a second successive abject home performance that ended with a second successive defeat against in form opponents who made the U's look ordinary at best.

East Thurrock arrived at the Pilot Field on the back of consecutive away wins either side of Christmas against Carshalton and Aveley, but found themselves a goal behind within nine minutes when Zac Attwood fired home his ninth in eighteen games.

That strike, considerably against the run of play even at that early stage, provided the U's faithful with nothing but false hope though, and the visitors deservedly drew level on the hour mark, Kris Newby left unmarked at the far post to head home a Kye Ruel cross.

The winning goal just six minutes later had more than an element of farce to it, as Newby's aimless right wing centre was nodded over Matt Armstrong-Ford by full back Matt Whitehead for an own goal that sadly summed up what has been a forgettable 2011 from United's point of view. The defender was under absolutely no pressure just inside the U's area, but contrived to divert the ball past his advancing keeper to blight an otherwise decent personal display.

Obvious and costly as Whitehead's error was, United's biggest problem over these last couple of matches has been their impotence going forward. The suprise return of former Brighton striker Jordan Woodley did not have the impact that manager Sean Ray would have been hoping for, and ex-Charlton man Ben Davisson also struggled to make any sort of impression, with Attwood frequently finding himself isolated against a well drilled East Thurrock back four.

He took his one chance well mind you, taking a Lee Carey pass in stride and drilling a left foot shot across keeper Richard Wray, who got a hand to the effort, but was unable to prevent it from finding the far corner of the net. After a shot shy ninety minutes against Lewes on Boxing Day, it gave United an excellent platform on which to build, and one which had already appeared unlikely to present itself, as East Thurrock forced five corners in as many minutes at the start of the contest.

Quickly reverting to type though, the U's surrendered the initiative and never regained it, with Newby missing two good chances, and striker Sam Higgins, fresh from a hat-trick at Aveley, forcing Armstrong-Ford into a trio of first half saves.

Woodley might have tested Wray with a well struck volley had Attwood not unintentionally blocked the goalbound effort, but it was a rare moment of alarm for the visitors, who went on to dominate the second period, albeit without creating as many chances as they had before the interval.

The introduction of Danny Ellis as a second half substitute, the attacking midfielder returning to the Club after almost four years, did little to improve things, and it wasn't until Kenny Pogue had replaced the tiring Woodley late on that United produced another chance worthy of the name, the striker meeting a Carey corner with a firm header that was blocked by a combination of Wray and Rocks skipper Ben Wood inside the six yard box.

Only a fine save by Armstrong-Ford denied Higgins a breakaway goal moments later, but the margin of victory was as irrelevant today as it was on Monday, with United well beaten regardless, and the watching Ray, sitting out the second of his two match suspension, given plenty of food for thought, and barely forty-eight hours to bring about an upturn in fortunes, before the U's Bank Holiday visit to Margate.

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Hastings United (4-3-3)							East Thurrock United (4-5-1)
1 Matt Armstrong-Ford							1 Richard Wray
2 Matt Whitehead							2 Ryan Sammons
3 Ross Sutton							3 Tom Stephen
4 Lee Carey							4 Ben Wood (c)
5 Scott Manning							5 Simon Peddie
6 Josh Jirbandey (c)							6 Reiss Gilbey
7 Jamie Crellin							7 Kris Newby
8 Jack Dixon							8 Matt Hall
9 Ben Davisson							9 Sam Higgins
10 Zac Attwood							10 Kye Ruel
11 Jordan Woodley							11 Sam Collins
Substitutes
12 Kenny Pogue (for Woodley 78)							12 Petrit Elbi (for Collins 57)
14 Billy Medlock							14 Greg Cohen (for Ruel 78)
15 Joe Barham							15 Jay Devereux
16 Danny Ellis (for Sutton 68)							16 Marc Gorbell
17 Nick Gonsalves							GK Jamie Riley

Attendance: 426

Referee: John Pike (Hurstpierpoint)

Assistants: Paul Saunders (Hove) & Gary Hamilton (Brighton)