FOOTBALL
Gbode hits and misses
Hastings United 4,
Brightlingsea Regent 1 (Isthmian League);
Lewes 0,
Hastings United 0
(Isthmian League)
Cray Valley PM 3,
Hastings United 0
(FA Cup)
Hastings United’s haul of five Isthmian League points from their opening five matches, followed by a 3-0 stuffing in the first qualifying round of the FA Cup last Saturday by a lower league outfit, is probably something short of the start which their management and supporters were hoping for. Performances, both individual and collective, have however been rather more promising, and there are good reasons to apply a positive perspective to these bare results.
To start with, four of United’s five league opponents – Aveley, Folkestone, Hornchurch and Lewes – rank among the current top six teams in the early season league table. Creditable 0-0 away draws were secured at both Folkestone and Lewes; Aveley took the points at Pilot Field on the opening day courtesy of a bizarre last-minute winner; defeat at Hornchurch came after the ‘U’s were reduced to ten men with only five minutes on the clock. By contrast, Brightlingsea Regent, a side in mid-table, were dispatched 4-1 despite taking an early lead.
Joe Gbode in action for Hastings against Brightlingsea
CREDIT: Scott White
That game, contested on 27 August, saw the Hastings debut of 17-year-old striker Joe Gbode, signed on loan from League Two side Gillingham a couple of days before. With his tender age belied by a sizeable physique, impressive skills on the ball and a confidence to show them off, Gbode has already made several appearances in the full Gillingham side. It took him just 17 minutes to score the equaliser for United, collecting the ball on the left side of the Brightlingsea penalty area and drilling it across their goalkeeper into the far corner.
Just before halftime Sam Hasler put the ‘U’s in front with a fierce shot from distance. After the turn-around, Gbode skipped through two tackles and again found the far corner. James Hull, brought on as substitute, hit the fourth late on.
A feisty contest
At Lewes, on the Bank Holiday afternoon two days later, Gbode again featured at the heart of the United attack, though a feisty game contested between local East Sussex rivals mutually intent on giving nothing away was never going to be a goal-fest. A crowd of over 1,600, including a raucous set of travelling supporters, saw Sam Adams rattle the home side’s cross-bar in the first half, while Lewes came equally close from a deflected shot a few minutes later. But neither side could manufacture clear openings, and it seemed destined to remain scoreless. Then in the last minute of added time, Tom Chalmers wriggled through to the by-line on the right hand side, crossed precisely, and there was Gbode on his own no more than six yards out with the whole Lewes goal to aim at. He thundered the ball somehow wide of the target.
CREDIT: Scott White
The FA Cup defeat last Saturday by Cray Valley PM may be taken as a kind of vengeance for last season when Hastings overhauled their hosts as leaders of the Isthmian South-East Division and achieved promotion while the latter were left down below. However, on this occasion Hastings sent out a team shorn not only of Gbode, whose loan deal may have excluded him playing in the Cup, but also of Craig Stone in central defence, Hassler in midfield and Ben Pope up front. Stone and Hassler were presumably rested; Pope pulled out late with a niggling injury.
Manager Gary Elphick is unlikely to worry that his severely weakened team were well beaten on the day. He can, as they say, concentrate on the league. Next up this Saturday are Potters Bar Town, the league leaders. If Gbode is returned to the starting line-up, they may be in for a rude surprise.
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