FOOTBALL: Mud, Sweat and Cheers at the Pilot Field
17 January: AFC Croydon 4, Hastings Utd 1
20 January: Hastings Utd 1, Crowborough Athletic 2
24 January: Hastings Utd 0, Whyteleafe 0
HUGH SULLIVAN
Hastings United scraped one point from a draw and two defeats over eight days of Isthmian League competition last week. They again sit precariously only two places above the drop zone.
However, although his team were ultimately well beaten by second-placed Croydon on 17 January and subsided to another disappointing home defeat by Crowborough three days later, manager David Altendorff shouldn’t be feeling too despondent. The match at the Pilot Field last Saturday against Whyteleafe, another team with promotion aspirations, saw the ‘U’s perform creditably for long periods, failing to score on no less than three occasions by the intervention of post or cross-bar, and showing no lack of energy or fight.
At Croydon, the ‘U’s had scored early through Damien Theodore and, although the home team equalised ten minutes into the second half through an own goal, the score remained at 1-1 until less than 20 minutes from full time.
The replacement of George Taggart by Brad Barry and Theodore by Walter Figuera had kept the ‘U’s refreshed, and a draw looked on the cards. Then former ‘U’s forward Reece Grant put Croydon ahead, and they rattled in two more goals to give the final score-line a deceptive margin.
That was James Stone’s last game for Hastings – he signed within a couple of days for Isthmian Premier side Burgess Hill Town. Altendorff immediately recruited a replacement forward, Lukas Franzen-Jones, who has scored hatfuls of goals for him in previous campaigns at Newhaven and Lancing.
Whether he can do the business for Hastings remains to be seen. He wasn’t given much service in midweek against Crowborough: in blustery conditions at the Pilot Field, the ‘U’s went two goals down before a late penalty was tucked away by Jordan Mase – too little, two late in the 2-1 defeat.
After further sweeping rainfall over the next couple of days, the home pitch last Saturday was predictably heavy – a throwback to past eras of muddy goalmouths and clogging tackles. Visitors Whyteleafe played from an old-style training manual too, launching the ball long at every opportunity for swift-running forwards to chase.
The Hastings defence withstood the aerial barrage well: Barry starting in the centre alongside deserved man-of-the-match Eugene Asike while Freddie Legg and Sam Pidgeon secured the flanks.
In goal, Harry Howes, deputising for the injured Harley Earle, had some trouble with his kicking but otherwise suffered few alarms – though a series of well-delivered corners led to a couple of goalmouth scrambles. When Barry limped off injured shortly before halftime, his replacement Tito Salaam added extra height and pace to the defence.
Further forward, the composed Mase and his hard-running lieutenants Jack Saunders and George Taggart sweated for the cause, playing neat football at times despite the conditions. Up front, Theodore and Fin Chapman had their moments, and Franzen-Jones had one twisted header tipped over the bar.
Nearest to a goal, though, was a shot by Mase onto the base of a post, and later a towering Pidgeon header from a Mase corner that cannoned back off the bar.
Although a goalless home draw in the mud on a near-freezing January afternoon sounds less than entertaining, few of the near-800 crowd seemed to see it that way, and the team’s efforts were well applauded at the end. On another day United will perform worse and win.
Tomorrow (Saturday) they travel to Faversham, another side currently in the divisional play-off zone. It’s the fourth meeting between the two this season. Back in August the ‘U’s drew there 2-2 in the FA Cup, then suffered a 0-3 defeat in the home replay before losing 1-2 in a league match in early October. But there won’t be much familiarity between the players. Only three of Altendorff’s men likely to start this time – Legg, Chapman and Earle (if he’s fit) – featured in any of the previous games.
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