Isthmian League South East Division
Pilot Field, Hastings
Admission: Season Ticket
Programme: None
Attendance: 400
I have always had a soft spot for Hastings United (and Hastings Town previously). I have strong family ties with the town, the Pilot Field was the first non-league ground I visited way back in 1989, and it is a ground which oozes character and tradition. Visits have been intermittent over the years, as I have preferred to groundhop and have intermittently had a season ticket at Charlton Athletic. But back in March, when Hastings impressively offered a first wave of season tickets for this season at the bargain price of £70, I was only too pleased to take them up on their offer. I had pretty much decided not to renew my Charlton season ticket anyway, given the chaotic developments behind the scenes, and the prospect of not travelling so far on Saturday was very appealing. Furthermore, in these extraordinarily difficult times, I felt it would be good to help a local club out with my support, with the added personal bonus of not having to travel that far for games on a Saturday.
There have been a few changes to the Pilot Field over the summer, mostly cosmetic, reflecting the club's rebranding over the summer with a new badge. The signage at the entrance turnstiles and gates has been redecorated, and once inside, a couple of new open kiosks have been installed to sell 50/50 tickets and programmes from - although no programmes were produced today. Happily, this is apparently only temporary, and the club hopes to issue again for the next home game. The club shop is now housed in a large converted mobile container unit, with customers seeing what is on offer along the rear wall, and sales assistants serving through a long hatch.
Hastings had plenty of reason to feel aggrieved at the decision to null and void last season, as they were well on course to win the division and earn promotion, having won 18 and drawn eight of their 28 league games, two points clear and with two games in hand. So, little surprise that they are most people's favourites to seal the deal this time around. But today would surely prove a stern early test of their credentials, as visitors Cray Valley also tipped to be there or thereabouts this season. They were in third place last season, after 17 wins and six draws from their 28 league games. The two teams only met once last season, also on the opening day but in south-east London, with the game ending in goalless draw. There would be a capacity crowd at the Pilot Field today, and there will probably be for all of their home games for the foreseeable future, given the current Covid induced limit of 400 spectators, compared with an average attendance last season of 607. 300 season ticket holders alone account for three quarters of the permitted attendance, with the remaining tickets snapped up several days ahead of matchday.
On a mostly overcast but warm afternoon, despite the final scoreline, this was an entertaining game to watch, but sides creating some decent chances but just couldn't find the back of the net. Hastings had the first big chance on 11 minutes, when Raheem Sterling-Parker burst clear of the defence, and with the keeper coming out, Sterling-Parker rolled the ball just beyond the far post. A potentially game changing moment came on 27 minutes when, following a bit of a tangle, Hastings' Jack Dixon was shown a straight red card for a stamp on a Cray player, thereby condemning the home side to playing over an hour with ten men. Indeed, the game was getting rather niggly and feisty, but happily the simmering did not boil over, and apart from a free kick from close to the corner flag being whipped in a parried away by the keeper on 43 minutes, the scoreline remained level at the break.
Seven minutes after the interval, Hastings' Worrall saw a 25 yard free kick parried by the keeper, and from the resultant corner, Gary Elphick's header came back off the crossbar. It was then the visitors who had the best chances for the remainder of the match, applying increasing pressure on the Hastings goal, but the hosts held out for a point which Hastings would probably be happier with under the circumstances.
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