Saturday, November 5, 2011

Perhaps there really is something in that old adage about a change being as good as a rest, with United having embarked on an unlikely three match winning run since shaking off the hangover of Jason Hopkinson's departure from the manager's chair.

The official start of the Sean Ray era was marked by a comfortable enough League Cup third round victory over Tooting & Mitcham at the Pilot Field this afternoon. For the second Saturday running, Kenny Pogue helped himself to two goals, a looping header from a Jack Dixon cross inside four minutes, and a half volley from Jordan Woodley's exquisite centre in the seventy-second minute that ultimately settled an entertaining contest.

That both sides would have preferred to be involved in FA Trophy action can hardly be in any doubt, but the opportunity to bring forward this fixture to a weekend was too good to miss, and it provided another perfect platform for the U's to build on vital league wins against Horsham and Aveley in the last seven days.

Pogue's early goal added further strength to the argument that United have suddenly found their true selves, the adventurous 4-3-3 formation implemented by Ray and now assistant manager Mark Stapley having galvanised them as an attacking force. Against a Tooting side employing the same tactics, full back Dixon seemed to revel in the space afforded him on the right flank, and he epitomised the U's new found shoot on sight policy with a series of attempts that unfortunately failed to test Terrors keeper Jack Giddens.

The visitors appeared intent on gifting their hosts a second goal with some cavalier defending that sometimes bordered on the suicidal. The outstanding Woodley was quick to pounce on a number of poor passes, driving one effort across goal and having another couple blocked, with Tooting at least prepared to put their bodies on the line to atone for some of their more generous offerings.

At the other end, Ray looked back to his imperious best at the heart of the home defence, getting Josh Jirbandey off the hook on a couple of occasions, when his young colleague had lost possession cheaply, but he could do nothing to prevent Andre McCollin's twenty-five yard shot from skidding low past Matt Armstrong-Ford's despairing dive in the thirty-seventh minute, sending the sides in on level terms at the interval.

United regained the initiative early in the second period, but Woodley, Pogue and Dixon all saw shots sail high or wide, and the U's were almost made to pay when Wade Small and Charlie Stimson combined to set up a great chance for Reece Hall to snatch the lead, but the midfielder sliced his effort horribly wide, and moments later, Woodley's sweeping cross from the right picked out the unmarked Pogue to put Ray's charges into the last sixteen.

There were few alarms in the closing stages, with Armstrong-Ford forced into action only once, a routine gather from a Jay Lovett header, while Pogue and Woodley were both denied by far better stops from Giddens deep into added time, preventing the U's from establishing a margin of victory more in keeping with their performance on the day.

Not since March 2010 have United won three games in a row, and two of those were Sussex Senior Cup ties against then struggling Lewes and County League side Shoreham. It is in the same competition that the U's will go for a fourth straight victory on Tuesday evening, when Lancing call in at the Pilot Field for the first time in almost exactly ten years. They will certainly be hopeful of avoiding a repeat of the scoreline that night, a Landry Zahana-Oni hat-trick helping then Hastings Town to an 8-0 landslide.

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Hastings United (4-3-3)							Tooting & Mitcham United (4-3-3)
1 Matt Armstrong-Ford							1 Jack Giddens
2 Jack Dixon							2 Luke Wanadio
3 Ross Sutton							3 Hakeem Adelakum
4 Lee Carey							4 Jensen Grant
5 Sean Ray							5 Osa Obamwonyi
6 Josh Jirbandey (c)							6 Jay Lovett (c)
7 Jordan Woodley							7 Charlie Stimson
8 Jamie Crellin							8 Reece Hall
9 Kenny Pogue							9 Andre McCollin
10 Zac Attwood							10 Wade Small
11 Ryan Thomson							11 Charlie Dove
Substitutes
12 Scott Manning							12 Ashley Robinson  (for Small 71)
14 Dan Bolwell							14 Jamie Byatt (for Dove 87)
15 Charlie Elgar							15 Lee Newman (for McCollin 69)
16 Scott Ellis (for Thomson 80)							16 Jordan Wilson
GK Lloyd Anderson

Attendance: 243

Referee: Simeon Potter (Sutton)

Assistants: Nicholas Dunn (Deal) & Mark Graves (Margate)