FOOTBALL: United cruise but crowd numbers down
Hastings United 3, Corinthian Casuals 0
By Hugh Sullivan
The ‘U’s cruised to a comfortable victory over Corinthian Casuals at the Pilot Field last Saturday with early goals scored by Ben Pope and Chinedu McKenzie, and a second half cracker from Knory Scott. The result meant a climb to eighth position in the Isthmian Premier league table with one or two games in hand over most of the teams above them.
The visitors will have come with low expectations – bottom of the table with only two league victories all season and returning to a ground where they had already been defeated only two and a half weeks previously in a Velocity Cup fixture. Hastings were without Craig Stone, Jake Elliott and Sam Hasler – all apparently out with injuries – but welcomed back Finn O’Mara to their defensive line-up. Tom Chalmers was in sparkling form, duly chosen as man of the match, and only some wasteful finishing kept the Casuals from suffering a heavier margin of loss.
CREDIT: Scott White
The story of the season for the ‘U’s so far – keeping for the moment to their campaign on the pitch – has been of competent, and occasionally inspired, victories over teams in the lower half of the table, while suffering a series of marginal defeats by those above them. Potters Bar Town, Aveley and Bishops Stortford have each come away from Hastings with odd-goal victories; away losses to Enfield Town and Billericay were likewise by 1-0 margins.
Goals for and against
A glance at the goals for and against columns of the league table reveals that Hastings have conceded only 12 goals in 16 league encounters, equal with Bishops Stortford as the lowest aggregate number. But they have scored only 23, an average of less than 1.5 per game and substantially less than most of the teams around them.
There’s a further problem – that their most potent striker has been the 17-year-old loanee from Gillingham, Joe Gbode. In the few matches where he has been available to lead the line, the attacking threat has been palpable, and he has scored five league goals (Ben Pope, Sam Adams and Kane Penn have managed three each all season). But Gbode has now been called up to Gillingham’s League Two team: it seems unlikely that he will be released for further outings with the ‘U’s.
If Hastings are to maintain pressure on the teams above them they surely need to find a replacement.
Saturation?
In the meantime the management may have another concern – a noticeable fall in crowd numbers at the Pilot Field. In the second half of last season there were regularly over 1,000 spectators urging their team on to win promotion from the league below. Last month the FA Trophy fixture with National League side Chippenham drew just over 700. The official attendance at last Saturday’s game with Corinthian Casuals was 652.
Some posts on the United Fans Forum website have been suggesting that this fall in numbers is a reflection of the cost-of-living squeeze; some have blamed the wet weather; others have argued that a large proportion of last season’s bumper crowds were “glory-hunters” attracted for the short term only by the team’s long run of successes, and that United’s genuine fan base was far smaller. One factor seems fairly obvious, though – the competition offered by the blanket TV coverage of the World Cup. With up to four matches of world-class football beamed into every fan’s living room each day, isn’t there a saturation factor?
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