After the terrific Cup win against Kingstonian we are back in the League against
Hythe are currently the number 7 in the table with 7 points out of 4 games. They scored 7 and conceded 5 goals.
Topscorer in Ansay with 6 goals (!)
Remember last seasons away game:
Hastings United Football Club earned a deserved point after an incredible finish to this afternoon’s (Saturday’s) game away to Hythe Town.
Hastings looked as if they’d lost when Hythe took a 2-1 lead in added time, but hit straight back to rescue a dramatic 2-2 draw through George Taggart’s first senior goal for the club.
The result extended Hastings’ unbeaten run to eight Bostik Football League Division One South matches, although they dropped a place to 14th in a closely-bunched middle part of the table.
Hastings manager Chris Agutter made two changes to his starting line-up from the previous weekend’s 3-1 win at home to Guernsey.
Tom Climpson returned in the centre of defence, with Sam Cruttwell moving into midfield, and Kenny Pogue was promoted to the starting XI against his former club. There was no Adam Lovatt or Davide Rodari in the matchday squad.
There was a lot of effort, but no real end product from either side during quite a cagey opening to the match on a cold afternoon at Reachfields.
Hastings opened the scoring in the 23rd minute. Ansu Janneh leaped above everyone to score with a flying header into the bottom corner from Dayshonne Golding’s beautifully delivered free kick from the left.
The visitors switched off, however, and Hythe levelled immediately after the kick-off, Jerson Dos Santos finding the net from close range.
The game opened up during the remainder of the first half, albeit without much in the way of chances for either side. That said, Hastings forward Calum Davies was denied by Hythe goalkeeper Will Godman from a one-on-one situation.
Hastings came under siege for the first 10 minutes of the second period and goalkeeper Charlie Horlock tipped one effort over the top.
The away side gradually settled, and enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and the attacking during the rest of the contest, although Hythe carried a real threat on the counter.
There was a moment of controversy when Horlock came haring out of his goal and took out a Hythe player just outside the box, sparking a melee between the two sets of players. Hastings were relieved when their goalkeeper was shown only a yellow card.
Horlock later denied Hythe substitute Sid Sollis in a one-on-one situation before Hythe grabbed what they thought was the winner. Horlock saved the initial effort to his right, but former Hastings player Dave Cook rifled home from around the penalty spot.
Hastings refused to accept defeat, though, and won a corner seconds after the kick-off, for which Horlock came forward.
The corner itself was cleared, but only as far as Sam Adams, who found Taggart and he shimmied past a couple of opponents on the left before drilling a tremendous shot through a crowd of players into the bottom corner, sparking jubilant celebrations among the Hastings players and management.
Ollie Rowe was superb in the Hastings defence and Horlock had a fine game in goal, while Cruttwell and Adams were very influential in midfield.
Hythe Town plays at Reachfields Stadium,Fort Road, Hythe
And we? After the great win in the Fa Cup and 4 wins in a row in the League it will be interesting how the boys are playing against a team which only lost last Saturday 0-2 against Tonbridge.
Also a clash between 2 top strikers:Daniel Ajakaiye and Ansay, hopefully Daniel can find the net again.
Hythe just missed out on the playoffs last season - they were the form side that last month or so. Haven't got going yet this time around but it's early early days. And despite that, its still a significant game for the U's against one of the rightly fancied promotion candidates.
Absolutely dreadful day at the office today and the only positive to take out of today was the watching Leiston scout will be travelling back tonight and reporting they are already in the next round.
Strange selection to start today against a big, powerful Hythe side, in picking little Manny and the ineffective Sonny ahead of Ogboe and Crutwell. Just no idea why Crutts was dropped and where was Fielding after his MOM performance last week?.
First 20mins Hastings were totally dominant without really making any clear cut chances when suddenly we just self imploded at the back. A pretty average ball back to Charlie from sam Beale resulted in Charlie trying to do a fancy bit of skill around Ansah, who easily dispossessed him and tapped into an empty net. Ten minutes later more sloppy play from Beale resulted in another easy finish for the dangerous Hythe striker. Hastings continued to huff and puff, with very little penetration whilst at the other end we looked likely to give the ball away at any time. 2-0 may have seemed harsh to some at half time but we got what we deserved.
Expected the big push second half but it never happened and apart from the final seconds Hastings didn't make one clear cut chance. Hythe didn't create a lot more but always looked dangerous through the quick Sammoutis who caused Beale problems all day and the dangerous Ansah, who easily completed his hat trick after cheap possession was given away again.
So a really poor performance today and no one stood out. Poor at the back, midfield gave the ball away too easily apart from the first 20, and up top Daniel had very little service. Even at 3-0 with 15 to go there was a moment when Ogboe crossed from the left and we had two in the box and six Hythe players! We continue to fanny around at the back whilst at the other end Mitchell Dickenson did everything simple and any sign of trouble the ball was in the English Channel. He had a very comfortable and composed day.
Cant be too hard on the guys, its been a super start and we still sit second. Think we would have all taken that beginning of the season. Just like to see a settled team now and stop all this tinkering every game. You win titles with clean sheets and scrappy 1-0 wins away from home. That never looked likely today after the 20 min mark but we move on.
Completely agree with everything John has written. Baffling team selection and some poor performances. The only thing in the plus column was Ibrahim’s great goal. The lad looks a good addition to the team.
Totally agree John, can’t understand team selection, and deservedly got beat. Defending dreadful....ball should have been launched into Row Z . We ga again next week.
Frustrating more than anything was playing the better football in that opening 20 minutes only to completely spoil it all with those two crass **** ups. Talk about Christmas in September.
I don't get the constant chopping and changing either. That should surely all be happening preseason. Cannot understand why Cruts didn't start. The Hythe 9 will not be gifted 3 easier goals, they dominated the 2nd half and their 7 was hard work - their best player - while their keeper commanded the area well.
Great strike for the goal of the game but too little, far too late. One of those days that every team experiences but looking back at it, so much of what went wrong should've been avoided.
Next week? A distraction from what really matters, the almighty struggle to get out of this division. I'd rather be playing for 3 points and putting right today.
-- Edited by SS on Saturday 15th of September 2018 07:16:25 PM
Interesting to see over the season if Hythe's simpler style of play is better suited to this league. Enjoyed watching Hastings play well in the opening 20-25 minutes but we hadn't tested their keeper before we started gifting Hythe goals. Our endless passing around our penalty area does rely on no mistakes being made and that isn't going to happen at this level. Hope we can develop an alternative style of play when our passing game isn't working-as in the second half today. Was hoping Sam Cruttwell was going to start in midfield with Jack, Sam and Adam as Hythe were clearly a useful side.
Perhaps we need to remember that it’s not possession Orr territory stats that win games, we looked an error ridden side with very little creativity, Hythe were by far the better organised side there players looked like they knew there job and they did it. No clear cut chances says it all about our game, much more of what we saw today and we will soon be a mid-table side. Poor team selection didn’t help either.
