Hastings Supporters Forum - 100% Unofficial!

An awful lot of positives to take from that, I think, particularly given that it was a much more competitive game than the final scoreline suggests. There were far too many occasions last season when the reverse was true: not terribly competitive games that we failed to turn into convincing wins.

Here, Thamesmead were direct and physically strong and tried to draw us into a battle, and I suspect they'd have come away with a result a few months ago. We really didn't have it all our own way but our defending showed real courage and commitment at times. And while there were spells when we lost our way a little bit, we kept coming back to what we do well, particularly in the composed, calm reaction to conceding the first goal, and it paid off eventually. We still had gas in the tank in the final fifteen minutes, and pace to burn up front, and that was far more than they could cope with. That shows the worth of what's been quite a demanding pre-season fixture list.

As for Daniel Ajakaiye...a bit more confidence in front of goal, that's all. He was on the end of the chances, as you'd want a striker to be, just didn't take them. Hopefully that'll come; that brilliant second goal will surely have helped. Beyond that, we already know that he has speed and trickery, but I thought he showed strength and tenacity too, and put in a real shift for the team as a focal point for our attacks. Thought Dayshonne Golding was the player we know he can be as well, really aggressive and focused.

Pretty much everything you could hope for from the opening day, then. Except for a knock to Tom Vickers which he'll hopefully recover from; his leadership at the back seems vital.