After our first loss in the league against Chatham we now meet for the second time this week
We won this week 3-2 against Hythe Town for a first round match in the Robert Dyas Cup competition. Manager Garry Wilson had only 4 players in the line up who started the match against Chatham. Scorers for Hastings : Adams (2x) and Temba. The first goal from Sam Adams was one to remember .
Last season we won at home 2-1 ( goals Cook and Sawyer ) and lost on New Years Day away 0-2.
And we after a mixed week of results ? Surely there will be a different line up then we had in the Cup against them but Zac is doubtful for this game so let's us see who will be the partner of Jack upfront.
We have a strong squad and the expectations are high for this season so a win is vital in this stage. Special attention for the match day programme for this match ( like always a great job by Liam and Dan ) : a very nice article of Tony Gale ( 63 years supporters of our club ) and John - Windy- Gale.
So like always : have a nice walk, take the bus or car but hopefully you will all be there to support the team at The Pilot Field!
Come on your U'sssssssssssss!
-- Edited by BertNEC on Thursday 20th of August 2015 05:01:40 AM
Line Up: 1 Josh Pelling
2 Sam Crabb
3 Alfie Hall
4 Jerome Smith
5 Sean Ray
6 Jack Walder
7 Sam Adams
8 Max Hollobone
9 Stephen Okoh
10 Jack Harris
11 Sam Cole
Subs:
12 Tom Vickers
14 Harvey Hanifan
15 Bright Temba
16 Sam Cruttwell
17 Tyrell Richardson-Brown
Certainly not comfortable first half and fairly fortunate to go in all square after Hythe hit the bar 3 times but fair play to the management team who made exactly the right substitution at exactly the right time, and we ran out really comfortable winners in the end.
First half continued from where it left off on Tuesday with both teams attacking at free will and neither defence looking solid. In between Hythe hitting the bar 3 times, all from about 6 yards out, Harris also hit the woodwork from the same kind of distance. For me the problem appeared to be in the centre of the field where young Max had a bit of a mare and kept giving the ball away leaving the back four constantly exposed. Second half he was hauled off almost immediately, with Sammy dropping in the centre and Bright going up top, and what a difference he made. As on Tuesday Hythe just could not live with his pace and once Walder had scored an absolute cracker from 30 yards there was only going to be one winner. Further goals from Cole and Bright made it nice and comfortable and before the late penalty we really should have been 5 or 6 clear. Somehow Alfie Hall got MOM but for me Okoh on his debut was fantastic and certainly gives us that bit of flair and something different down the right.
So another decent performance and good win and now on to the big one on Tuesday. This game will undoubtedly tell us where we are as a team this season and it will be really interesting to see how Razor and Smith deal with Rook and Draycott, whilst at the other end, with Attwood back, we just look like scoring every time we attack. Really exciting start to the season.
Great report from johnw couldn't disagree with any of his points especially our no 8 who was just awful felt sorry for him at times but really pleased with the result and good to see the match attendance in the high 300s so we may get 400+ soon if we keep performing well on to tuesday now I can't wait
All the early signs are very very good. Massive game on Tuesday and a chance to get an early upper hand over our rivals at the top. Still I'm not getting too excited yet, long way to go. And we know with Hastings, very rarely do players who start the season for us, finish it with us as well
Can't disagree with any of that, John.
In the first half we were as 'average' as I have seen us in any of our three competitive home games and could easily have gone in at least one down. We certainly weren't very cohesive in the middle and surprisingly looked suspect at corners.
Second half was a different story and only a rather generous penalty made it look slightly less convincing than it really was. The only frustration was that once again we were profligate with our scoring opportunities having got into so many good positions.
I recently reread my report on the last time we met Hythe in the league...that dire and clueless New Years Day performance that made me wonder why I'd even bothered to get the car out. The second half today was a million miles away from that particular fiasco and, while I recognise that nothing is guaranteed this season, it's just nice to be able to anticipate an afternoon with some genuine entertainment and enterprising football.
Already looking forward to Tuesday.
Good point Mick, a million miles from that dire new years day match last season which ended up being the final straw for Dom.
One question to put out there, why has Sam Adams, one of the best set piece takers in the league, stopped taking set pieces? Max appears to be taking all corners, and very badly, whilst free kicks appear to be spread amongst the rest. Razor went absolutely ballistic last week at Sammy screaming at him to get on the free kicks when Jack Harris sent another one 20 yards over the bar. Our set pieces have been very poor And we need Sammy back on corners and free kicks.
The issue that concerns me is why Gary thinks 2 against 4 or 5 in midfield will work. We got away with the first 25 minutes today, but we won't always. On the plus a very good 2nd half and we ought to have scored more.
Hythe a bit unlucky in the first half and we were probably fortunate that Shaun Welford had moved to Ashford. But our present squad looks capable of creating plenty of chances and our second half performance was excellent. What a strike from Jack Walder! Really enjoyed the game and the positive atmoshere around the Pilot Field!
Great point John sam Adams needs to get back on the corners with Sammy needing take free kicks on right side and the other side sam Cole with his left foot. Cracking goal by Jack today the only good thing he did all afternoon I still think razor should be captain as again it was only his voice I heard on pitch today and of cause gays Scottish shout
Did the formation change in the second half or as it just as simple as Adams working better in CM than Hollobone had done? ( Wasn't there yesterday ) seems a big difference that one midfield change can change the pattern of the game so dramatically?!
Dan-I think we kept playing the same way in both halves with Sam Cole and Stephen Okoh staying wide leaving Jack and Max (Sam in the 2nd half) in the centre of midfield. Whatever we lost in numbers in midfield was, in my opinion, more than made up for with the attacking options we had upfront. The longer the game went on the more we were creating as a hard working Hythe team tired. Also I thought Jack Walder was excellent with some quality long passes making good use of the pace of our forwards. We did score 6 goals in 2 matches against Hythe and could have scored a few more! How useful is it to have Sam in our side? He played well up front and in midfield and when Josh was injured was probably getting ready to take over in goal! He also played well for Rye at right back in quite a few games.
