FOOTBALL: Late Goal Spoils Joe’s Return
Hastings United 1, Wingate & Finchley 1
HUGH SULLIVAN
Hastings stay seventh in the Isthmian Premier League, two positions below play-off qualification, after visitors Wingate & Finchley scored an equalising goal in the 87th minute of their match at Pilot Field on Saturday.
Manager Gary Elphick , deprived of Jack Dixon through suspension as well as long-term absentees Tom Chalmers (out injured for the season) and Sam Hasler (who has departed the club after injury), had picked a team of attackers. New signing Kasim Aidoo and returning loanee Joe Gbode joined David Smith, Ben Pope and Freddie Legg in his starting line-up.
Gbode, still only 17, starred for the ‘U’s in early season fixtures, scoring five goals in four matches. Since then, recalled by his parent club Gillingham, he has been playing in or on the fringes of their League 2 team in the Football League and signed professional forms with them last week. Elphick has thus done well to recapture his services for a further loan period in the Isthmian League.
The team dominated possession against Wingate and had almost all the goal chances in the first half. Freddie Legg hit the bar early on, then the visiting goalkeeper made a series of saves from attempts by Alex Brefo, Craig Stone, Ryan Worrall and Kane Penn before Gbode headed in from a corner to put the ‘U’s 1-0 up.
The Pilot Field crowd of over 800 expected more in the second half, but United failed to find a second goal that would clinch the three points, and they gradually allowed the visitors a foothold in the game. The late equaliser, which appeared to result from a mix-up between goalkeeper Louis Rogers and his defenders, left both players and spectators disappointed, particularly after a 2-1 defeat the previous Saturday at Carshalton.
The ‘U’s will have contested another key home fixture against fourth-placed Enfield Town on Tuesday of this week, then will travel to play league leaders Bishop’s Stortford tomorrow (Saturday). A victory in either of these games would be a real boost in the race for a play-off place.
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