Bert, what is the traditional Christmas day meal in Holland? Whatever it might be, I hope you and your family enjoy it and that the team give you and everybody else a late Christmas present on Boxing day. Thanks for your posts through the year!
Looking forward to the Lewes game and hopefully what would be an invaluable 3 points. With the top 6 all looking quite strong this season and both Hastings and Lewes hoping to get into the play-offs, the second half of the season promises to be interesting.
Another decent performance from Hastings today and another clean sheet. What a great job Darren has done since the disaster at Molesey. I think the only disappointment today was the fact we didn't win by a whole lot more as we missed a stack of chances in the second half and I really don't think the sending off made any difference to the final score, in fact it possibly knocked us out of our stride for the next 30mins. Magnificent goals from Stannard, Collin and Harris gave us a deserved win against a really disappointing Lewes outfit who I really expected more from. Stannard was fantastic from start to finish closely followed by Collin who just gets better every game. Roll on Sittingbourne next Saturday !!
It really is gratifying to see the improvement over the last three games. We look so much more secure defensively and are showing clear signs of confidence that we can control a game once we get in front. Darren has responded to the problems most of us could see; and, thus far, it has gone far better than we could have dreamed. He has done that without the changes to personnel which I still think are required if we are to sustain this impetus through the second half of the season; but all credit to him for his judgement in re-organising as he has.
Well done to all today, particularly to those John mentions, and also, in my view, to Simon Johnson who was the real engine room in mid-field.
It was a shame in a way that Lewes were reduced to 10 as they may point to this as being significant in the defeat. However I tend to agree with John that this didn't change the outcome as the difference in quality of the two teams in attack was vast. Lewes reminded me of Hastings attacks of years gone by, predictable and uninspired, hoping something will happen. In Jack, Harry, Matt and Frannie there is REAL quality; skill, pace, intelligent movement, group understanding and quality finishing. Yes, John, we could and should have had six....but some of our breakaway attacks in the second half were just fantastic to watch. They'd have had Gary Lineker drooling ! Well done, Darren, for answering the critics with three clean sheets. Hopefully the Molesey fiasco is now confined to history. Well I for one really enjoyed it...let's hope some of the part time Hastings supporters did as well and show up for the next home match.
I don't think you will see many better all round performances than today's. It's Ryman south after all. Yes we could and should have scored more, but we gave Lewes a stuffing, and now win the next 2 and we are back in contention. Finally Jack Dixon what a nob why any club pays him I don't know
-- Edited by ChrisB on Monday 26th of December 2016 07:15:36 PM
What an excellent performance from Hastings-hard-working and skillful play backed up by 3 superb goals. Personally thought Lewes were a good side who just got swept away by an in-form Hastings team. I would expect Lewes to make the play-offs and really hope we can keep up our good form to join them. All the players deserve praise for a fine team performance.
Once again had to follow from work via Twitter - truly grateful for the quality updates on there. I predicted 700 through the gate in Gut Feeling - would've been 703 if I'd made it to the game. Well well done to all concerned again. Typical eh - three wins on the bounce, no goals conceded, best g/d in the division and still 11th though, of course, it doesn't truly reflect the way things are going.
A midfield trio of ex-Hastings players- Jack Dixon, Jack Walder and Duncan McArthur would be pretty competitive although the main competition would be who could get sent off first. Could add Lloyd Hume for a bit of cultured play.
