Isthmian League Premier Division
Hop Oast, Horsham
Admission: £12.00
Programme: Free
Attendance: 1,316
At the conclusion of my earlier game at Dorking Wanderers, I then headed southwards on the train to Horsham, then caught a bus to Hop Oast, for this appealing West v East Sussex derby, with a bumper crowd expected, and with both clubs in decent form.
Horsham came into this game in eleventh place in the table, following nine wins and five draws from their opening 21 league games, winning their last two. After a slightly slow start to their season following promotion, Hastings came into this game in ninth place, ten wins and four draws from 20 league games, and were unbeaten in their last five league games, winning three.
Thanks to a sponsor, printed programmes were available free of charge today - normally, they cost £3 each. I did fear I would miss out on one, as I arrived at the ground about 20 minutes ahead of kick-off, but I need not have been concerned, as plenty were surprisingly still available. Another noteworthy aspect of the game ahead of kick off was that both teams would sport their away kits in this fixture, in support of Shelters #nohomekit campaign, highlighting the increasing problem of homelessness.
And after a minute’s applause was observed marking the passing of Pele, this was a competitive, enjoyable game to watch, with plenty of chances to score created by both sides, particularly by the visitors, who were denied by a combination of good goalkeeping and increasingly poor finishing denying Hastings the three points. But most of the drama occurred in stoppage time right at the end of the game, when both sides really should have scored. First, as the game entered stoppage time, Hastings launched a ball over the top for Ben Pope to run onto clear of the defence, but his eventual shot was a horribly scuffed shot wide of the right hand post. And then four minutes into added on time, Horsham launched the ball diagonally into the box, striking the outstretched hand of Hastings defender Craig Stone. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, giving Horsham a golden chance to snatch the three points. Plenty of gamesmanship was employed by Hastings goalkeeper Louis Rogers, painstakingly inspecting that the ball was placed on the spot before retreating to his line. Perhaps that put penalty taker Tom Kavanagh off, as he proceeded to blast the ball high over the bar, which was greeted by some goading by the Hastings players, provoking some pushing and shoving amongst the players, which resulted in two yellow cards being shown. And so the points were shared, which was probably a fair result on an even and well contested game.
Video highlights of this game can be viewed by clicking here
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