Saturday, October 29, 2011

United put all of their recent troubles behind them with a scintillating performance to see off Sussex rivals and fellow managerless strugglers Horsham at the Pilot Field this afternoon, for their first win in six league games.

Kenny Pogue scored two, and should really have helped himself to a hat-trick, Lee Carey converted a penalty after the Hornets had two defenders sent off in the space of ninety seconds, with Jamie Crellin and Zac Attwood rounding off a five star display with goals in the closing stages.

The visitors parted company with boss Justin Luchford last weekend, following successive 5-0 cup defeats at Folkestone and Chesham, and their defence looked as brittle as United's has so often done this season. Even with eleven men on the pitch, Horsham appeared ill-equipped to deal with the hosts' refreshingly adventurous 4-3-3 formation, but with nine, they were picked apart at will, and the U's could easily have wiped out their minus ten goal difference in one go.

Having been starved of such entertainment for so long though, United supporters are not likely to be so churlish as to criticise the addition of a shoot on sight policy, however poorly it may have been executed at times. In the first haf especially, wayward finishing threatened to tarnish a terrific attacking display, but after the interval, Hornets keeper Ken Westoby made a string of excellent saves, ably assisted by the woodwork on two occasions, to keep the scoreline down.

The visitors' woes seemed to have begun before United claimed a rare early lead, Calum McGeehan sllicing a Ross Sutton cross towards his own goal, where Westoby made a mess of a simple enough catch, gathering at the second attempt.

There was a helping hand element to the U's opening goal in the sixth minute as well, Jordan Woodley and Ryan Thomson involved in a build-up that ended with full back Helge Orome unwittingly playing the ball across his own six yard box for Pogue to steer a low shot past the helpless Westoby.

New loan signing Woodley enjoyed an impressive debut, largely playing on the right hand side of an attacking trio that caused the Horsham defence all manner of problems throughout the contest. He linked up well with Jack Dixon, back in a full back role following the departure of Scott Manning this week, and perhaps ought have grabbed himself a goal with a twenty yard effort that flew straight at Westoby.

Before and after that moment, United endured a spell of wasteful finishing, with Attwood twice, Dixon and Woodley himself all guilty of bad misses that might have come back to haunt the hosts against better opposition. As it was though, once lone striker Craig Davies had volleyed an eighth minute chance over the bar, Horsham scarcely threatened Lloyd Anderson's goal until the very closing stages, by which point so much damage had been infllicted. Not even the occasional threat of a Russell Eldridge set piece caused any great concern, the former United man doing his best to rally his troops, but to no avail.

It is hard to imagine there having been too many harsh words spoken during Mark Stapley's half time team talk, but the U's still seemed to emerge with a more purposeful attitude after the interval. Westoby's heroic display began with a fine save to divert Pogue's shot onto a post.

Anderson's handling was nicely secure from Ray Freeman's twenty yard strike, Horsham at least managing a shot on target before the hour mark, but the U's went straight down the other end and almost scored themselves, an enterprising break by skipper Josh Jirbandey producing an excellent cross that the stretching Woodley could not quite steer into the gaping goal at the far post.

An already comfortable afternoon then got more relaxed still for United in the sixty-fourth minute, with Orome leaving Crellin on the floor following a Horsham corner, and picking up a straight red card for his troubles, with McGeehan quickly following his defensive colleague down the tunnel after bringing down Pogue in the area, Carey converting the ensuing penalty to finally double the U's lead.

It then became a question of how many goals United could squeeze into the time that remained. Pogue was again denied by Westoby in a one-on-one situation, but  the keeper was then beaten three times in five minutes, as the hosts eventually and deservedly turned their superiority into goals.

Pogue claimed his second with a left foot shot across Westoby from Carey's astute pass, while a slide rule through ball by Sutton enabled Crellin to cap a wonderful display with his first goal for the Club. Dixon's break down the right set up Attwood for number five, a nonchalant tap-in at the near post, and there was still time for sub Jamal Fenelon to force the overworked Westoby into further action, Sean Ray to see a close range header tipped onto the bar, and for Pogue to slice the rebound wide of an open goal from barely four yards out, as his last opportunity to grab a maiden United treble went begging.

The visitors nearly had the final word, but Anderson got his fingertips to Freeman's angled shot, after the striker had shown a clean pair of heels to break clear down the left, to preserve his first clean sheet in six starts.

Ten months ago, a 3-2 home defeat to a Horsham side that had three men sent off in a bizarre second half cost Tony Dolby his job as United manager. One week on from the departure of his successor, Jason Hopkinson, and having made sure that history would not be repeated, it can only be hoped that the U's have set themselves on the road to recovering a season that had appeared destined for nothing but another dreary relegation battle.

One big win against a worryingly weak Horsham side is unlikely to convince anyone that the corner has been fully turned of course, but Monday evening's trip to Aveley, now two places beneath the U's in the table, presents a good chance to build on today's performance, especially with a sequence of much tougher league fixtures to follow.

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Hastings United (4-3-3)							Horsham (4-4-2)
1 Lloyd Anderson							1 Ken Westoby
2 Jack Dixon							2 Helge Orome
3 Ross Sutton							3 Yinka Salami
4 Lee Carey							4 Tommy Youle
5 Sean Ray							5 Jake Jacobs
6 Josh Jirbandey (c)							6 Calum McGeehan
7 Jordan Woodley							7 Tony Nwachukwu
8 Jamie Crellin							8 Williams Peauroux
9 Kenny Pogue							9 Craig Davies
10 Zac Attwood							10 Russell Eldridge (c)
11 Ryan Thomson							11 Ray Freeman
Substitutes
12 Ben Billings							12 Callum Dunne
14 Jamal Fenelon (for Woodley 69)							14 Conor Hider (for Nwachukwu 77)
15 Charlie Elgar (for Dixon 84)							15 Adam Hutchings (for Peauroux H.T.)
16 Dan Bolwell							16 Ian Varley
GK Matt Armstrong-Ford							17 Kane Rice (for Youle H.T.)

Attendance: 325

Referee: Matthew Hopton (Bury St Edmunds)

Assistants: Benjamin Wesley (Dover) & Daniel Bonnywell (Herne Bay)