Hastings Snatch The Win At Casuals

The latest instalment in the enthralling Ryman Division One South play-off pursuit saw Hastings United emerge victorious following a bitter 1-0 away win versus an unfortunate Corinthian Casuals side in windy Tolworth.

The crucial influence of the weather was clear when Hastings won the toss and forced Casuals to play into the wind. A routine clearance from Danny Dudley failed to reach its target when it was hooked back towards the baffled centre-back. Wind was tampering with play again when Arrows captain Simon Johnson rifled a cross towards the back post and nearly ended up in the back of the net if it wasn’t for Danny Bracken. The Casuals no.1 half-punched the ball away, only for Hastings’ Barnwell Shamari to slot the rebound into the gloves of Bracken.

Minutes later, Bracken was unable to prevent the white shirts from scoring as the visitors conjured a well-worked attack in the seventeenth minute. A long free-kick was aimed towards the populated penalty area by keeper Pidgeley, and was knocked on by a Hastings striker. Kiernan Hughes-Mason reacted first to expertly side-foot the ball into the far bottom corner. The travelling support cheered as Hughes-Mason celebrated a brief, brilliant move that adjusted the score-line to 0-1. Hastings drew first blood.

The remaining twenty-eight minutes of the first-half included only one real chance- it was for Hastings. Nudging the ball past Bracken, the pacey no.9 Shamari was denied by an exceptional, last-gasp clearance from Danny Dudley as the ball was frighteningly rolling towards the goal-line. Hearts in mouths, the Casuals supporters were trying their best to support their team. However, a lacklustre game overall was halted for the half-time break; Casuals failed to string together a decisive opportunity.

The second forty-five confirmed the changes in positioning as Juevan Spencer and Warren Morgan (who was donning the unusual no.10 shirt) switched- Morgan was in right-back and Spencer was on the flanks. Customary flashes of pace and skill were difficult to find as the usually-lively Spencer was kept quiet by the strong centre-back Jerrome Sobers and left-back Sam Cruttwell. United posed a threat on the counter attack even if the wind hampered their chances as Danny Bracken easily caught the ball in the 60th minute. The frustrated Jordan Clarke had squeezed through the back four of Hastings minutes later, but a low cross was collected by Pidgeley.

All of a sudden, the clock read fifteen minutes and Casuals were still searching for an equalizer. Two free-kicks were awarded to the desperate hosts late on. A 30-yard effort from Coskun Eskim, who was a shining light in a damp and dull game flew inches wide of the post whilst the other set-piece was rifled over by Clarke. Stoppage time saw the introduction and return of Jamie Byatt, who was ruled out on the sidelines for the past few games. Byatt caused havoc in the final moments and had a chance to equalize, but Pidgeley tactically fell to the ground when the substitute added slight pressure. Then, the referee terminated proceedings- Casuals had succumbed to a 1-0 defeat.

Stuart Tree spoke to James Bracken after the game:

“Despite the loss, it wasn’t a drastically bad performance. I think the wind played a massive part in the game. That’s unfortunate because we’re both good sides and the game didn’t reach the heights that we’d liked it to have achieve.”

“We’ve had the better of the territory, we’ve put pressure on their back four but never got the rub of the green. Their keeper has flapped at a couple of chances where the ball has bounced in the box and if they fall to one of us, we bury it. But it never fell our way which was a shame.”

“I wanted to be in and around the playoffs – three points outside with seven games to go is the situation I was looking at.”

Photo credit: Stuart Tree

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