Saturday, December 17, 2011
Games between United and Kingstonian are seldom short on drama, much of it reserved for the closing stages, and this afternoon's meeting at Kingsmeadow proved to be no exception to the rule.
Playing their sixth consecutive competitive away fixture, the U's led thanks to a forty-eighth minute strike from Charlton Athletic loanee Ben Davisson, marking his return to the Club with a first United goal, only for Tom Hutchinson to earn the hosts a well deserved share of the spoils with a diving header a minute from time.
A second period during which the visitors had much the better chances was in stark contrast to the first, when United struggled to maintain any sort of meaningful possession, and were kept pinned back in their own half for lengthy spells. Despite the home side's dominance, U's keeper Matt Armstrong-Ford, stepping into a first choice role following Lloyd Anderson's departure, was far from overworked, but did produce one decent stop to deny Bobby Traynor.
The highly influential Sam Clayton forced Armstrong-Ford into action shortly after the restart, but United proceeded to go straight downfield and take the lead, Billy Medlock's cross glanced on by Jamie Crellin for Davisson to power a shot into the roof of Rob Tolfrey's net.
Ten minutes later, Davisson's cross into the area was blocked by Gary MacDonald's hand for a clear penalty, but Lee Carey's tamely struck spot kick was easily saved by Tolfrey. Carey ought to have been given a second chance midway through the second half, when Bashiru Alimi blatantly upended Zac Attwood, after his neat exchange of passes with Davisson, but referee Ian Fissenden waved away United's appeals.
Boosted by their moments of good fortune, Kingstonian got back into the game with Clayton again bringing the best out of Armstrong-Ford, but his trickery eventually unlocked the U's defence, a teasing cross from the left that found defender Hutchinson at the far post for a well taken equaliser.
Far from being knocked back by the goal, United found sufficient resolve to fashion one final chance to grab all three points in added time, Carey's exquisite pass releasing Medlock clear on goal, but having rounded Tolfrey, the Eastbourne Borough man took an age to even think about getting his shot away, enabling Ian Gayle to recover lost ground and clear the danger.
The draw kept the U's seven points above the relegation places approaching the mid-point of the season, a far improved position than at the same point last year. They also go into Christmas on the back of a decent run of form and should be in good spirits for their first home game in over five weeks when fourth placed Lewes call in for a Boxing Day derby next Monday.
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| Kingstonian | (0) 1 | - | 1 (0) | Hastings United |
| Hutchinson 89 | Davisson 48 |
| Match facts | Efforts on target | Efforts off target | Free kicks conceded | Corners won | Offsides against |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingstonian | 9 | 10 | 12 | 7 | 7 |
| Hastings United | 4 | 4 | 14 | 3 | 2 |
| Kingstonian (4-4-2) | Hastings United (4-3-3) | ||||||
| 1 Rob Tolfrey | 1 Matt Armstrong-Ford | ||||||
| 2 Chris Page | 2 Scott Manning | ||||||
| 3 Tom Bird | 3 Ross Sutton | ||||||
4 Gary MacDonald (c)  |
4 Lee Carey |
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| 5 Tom Hutchinson |
5 Sean Ray | ||||||
| 6 Ian Gayle | 6 Josh Jirbandey (c) |
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| 7 Sam Clayton | 7 Jack Dixon | ||||||
| 8 Bashiru Alimi |
8 Jamie Crellin | ||||||
| 9 Bobby Traynor | 9 Billy Medlock | ||||||
| 10 Simon Huckle |
10 Zac Attwood | ||||||
| 11 Jamie Byatt | 11 Ben Davisson | ||||||
| Substitutes | |||||||
| 12 Aaron Goode (for Byatt 60) | 12 Matt Whitehead | ||||||
| 14 Stuart Duff (for Page 60) | 14 Ryan Thomson | ||||||
| 15 Jason Henry (for Alimi 81) | 15 Joe Barham | ||||||
| 16 Hongi Moon | 16 Nick Gonsalves | ||||||
| GK Jake Whincup | 17 Arron Hopkinson (for Dixon 63) |
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Attendance: 307
Referee: Ian Fissenden
Assistants: Steve Perry & Freddie Collins