Post by youngspur on Sept 26, 2023 21:45:34 GMT
The scoreline suggests a routine win - and the Rooks did indeed run out deserved winners in the end - but this was a game rich in incident that took anything but a predictable course.
The first turn-up for the books was the home line-up. With Ryan Gondoh (still) and Chris Whelpdale (newly) injured and Alfie Egan only fit enough for a place on the bench, it was no surprise to see loanee Marcus Sablier drafted in to central midfield just hours after putting pen to paper. But eyebrows were raised by Arthur Penney taking his place alongside Sablier and the evergreen Brad Pritchard, while midfielder-by-trade Ayo Olukoga (knee brace and all) slotted in at right back. Jake Elliott, perhaps because of his height, moved across to centre back to partner the returning Ronnie Vint.
All this might have been worthy of little more than a footnote if makeshift centre half Elliott hadn't powered us into the lead on quarter of an hour with anything but a defender's finish. It was a rocket that ripped past a motionless Hastings keeper and into the far top corner from the edge of the box, an example that wasn't heeded by emergency midfielder Penney when the ball dropped to him in a similar position soon afterwards. Penney shanked it high and wide, but with twenty-three minutes on the clock it fell - literally - to Tommy Wood to open his league account and double our lead from about four yards out after a header from a corner had cannoned back off the bar.
We were playing with an impressive verve that had our visitors, ahead of us before tonight, chasing shadows. Then, about five minutes from half time, came one of the game's turning points as Deon Moore flicked onto the post from close range and Hastings, breathing deeply, suddenly found a second wind. On the stroke of 45, a corner wasn't properly cleared in front of the Philcox and there was an inevitability about the rasping drive from just outside our box that tore through a crowd of bodies and past an unsighted Nathan Harvey to halve the deficit. A crazy five minutes followed in which Vint, sensing an attacker on his shoulder, almost managed to separate our post from its crossbar with a diving defensive header. Half time, when it finally came, was sweet relief for the home support.
The second half began much as the first had ended, with a galvanised Hastings pressing hungrily. We seemed to have little to offer in return until, quite out of the blue with half an hour to go, would-be accidental saboteur Ronnie Vint put a patchy performance behind him by curling a beauty into the far corner from the edge of the box. Once again, a defender had succeeded where a midfielder had failed, with Deon Moore's similar effort moments earlier having only managed to find the gloves of the visiting stopper.
Just when the game had been threatening to run away from us, we had seized hold of a lifeline. All of a sudden - if you'll permit me to extend the nautical metaphor - the wind went out of Hastings' sails and the Rooks gained a foothold they would never relinquish, but for the occasional five-minute spell of defiance from the away side. Nathan Harvey was called into action on one occasion to make a terrific double-handed save and a Hastings forward screwed a gilt-edged chance well wide after a fortuitous deflection had gifted him a clear sight of the whites of Nathan's eyes, but we were just as likely to score as the game entered six minutes of injury time. With a cruel inevitability, it was Wood who fluffed his lines when clean through on goal, slipping onto his backside and rolling his shot well wide of the far post. Not that it mattered as we cruised to a victory for which we were ultimately excellent value.
The official MOM was the inoffensive Sablier, but an honourable mention must surely go to Ayo, whose tireless running from deep had Hastings on the hop all night long. 750 saw this one and most of them will surely come back on the strength of what turned out to be a stirring advert for Isthmian football.
The first turn-up for the books was the home line-up. With Ryan Gondoh (still) and Chris Whelpdale (newly) injured and Alfie Egan only fit enough for a place on the bench, it was no surprise to see loanee Marcus Sablier drafted in to central midfield just hours after putting pen to paper. But eyebrows were raised by Arthur Penney taking his place alongside Sablier and the evergreen Brad Pritchard, while midfielder-by-trade Ayo Olukoga (knee brace and all) slotted in at right back. Jake Elliott, perhaps because of his height, moved across to centre back to partner the returning Ronnie Vint.
All this might have been worthy of little more than a footnote if makeshift centre half Elliott hadn't powered us into the lead on quarter of an hour with anything but a defender's finish. It was a rocket that ripped past a motionless Hastings keeper and into the far top corner from the edge of the box, an example that wasn't heeded by emergency midfielder Penney when the ball dropped to him in a similar position soon afterwards. Penney shanked it high and wide, but with twenty-three minutes on the clock it fell - literally - to Tommy Wood to open his league account and double our lead from about four yards out after a header from a corner had cannoned back off the bar.
We were playing with an impressive verve that had our visitors, ahead of us before tonight, chasing shadows. Then, about five minutes from half time, came one of the game's turning points as Deon Moore flicked onto the post from close range and Hastings, breathing deeply, suddenly found a second wind. On the stroke of 45, a corner wasn't properly cleared in front of the Philcox and there was an inevitability about the rasping drive from just outside our box that tore through a crowd of bodies and past an unsighted Nathan Harvey to halve the deficit. A crazy five minutes followed in which Vint, sensing an attacker on his shoulder, almost managed to separate our post from its crossbar with a diving defensive header. Half time, when it finally came, was sweet relief for the home support.
The second half began much as the first had ended, with a galvanised Hastings pressing hungrily. We seemed to have little to offer in return until, quite out of the blue with half an hour to go, would-be accidental saboteur Ronnie Vint put a patchy performance behind him by curling a beauty into the far corner from the edge of the box. Once again, a defender had succeeded where a midfielder had failed, with Deon Moore's similar effort moments earlier having only managed to find the gloves of the visiting stopper.
Just when the game had been threatening to run away from us, we had seized hold of a lifeline. All of a sudden - if you'll permit me to extend the nautical metaphor - the wind went out of Hastings' sails and the Rooks gained a foothold they would never relinquish, but for the occasional five-minute spell of defiance from the away side. Nathan Harvey was called into action on one occasion to make a terrific double-handed save and a Hastings forward screwed a gilt-edged chance well wide after a fortuitous deflection had gifted him a clear sight of the whites of Nathan's eyes, but we were just as likely to score as the game entered six minutes of injury time. With a cruel inevitability, it was Wood who fluffed his lines when clean through on goal, slipping onto his backside and rolling his shot well wide of the far post. Not that it mattered as we cruised to a victory for which we were ultimately excellent value.
The official MOM was the inoffensive Sablier, but an honourable mention must surely go to Ayo, whose tireless running from deep had Hastings on the hop all night long. 750 saw this one and most of them will surely come back on the strength of what turned out to be a stirring advert for Isthmian football.