East Grinstead

Tuesday 6th March 2018
Bostik League Division One South
East Grinstead Town 3 (1) - (2) 5 Herne Bay
Att: 75
Goals: Embery (2) Carlton 2 Cornwell

Herne Bay: Ben Hunter, Danny Rumbol, Sam McCallum, Ben Gorham, Josh Wisson, Miles
Cornwell, Bradley Schafer, Tom Carlton, Jake Embery, Junior Aikhionbare, Connor Wilkins
Subs Used: Danny Leonard(Aikhionbare 15) Jack Steventon(Rumbol 57) Sami Meziane(Embery 72)
Subs not used: Anthony Deer

Early goals in both halves ensured Bay went away with the points, but sloppy defending, which led to the three East Grinstead’s goals, put a slight damper on the night. However, scoring five goals away from home is always good for the travelling fans, and it could have been so many more.
Junior Aikhionbare set the tone; his pace and determination were making life very difficult for the ‘wasp’s’ defenders. It was his defence splitting pass that put Tom Carlton clear and Tom made no mistake smashing the ball past keeper, Dan Smith; this after 3 minutes from the kick off. The only way the defenders could stop Junior was by fouling and following a very heavy foul tackle in the 15th minute he left the field replaced by Danny Leonard.
The hosts played well throughout the first half with quick, accurate passing but they caused a greater threat with the long ball over the back line. This tactic led to their equalizer. A mix-up between two defenders allowed Marcus Elliott to get squeeze through and steer the ball wide of Ben Hunter. The parity only lasted for 15 minutes as Miles Cornwell’s cross field pass found Jake Embery in space inside the box. A well directed volley gave Smith no chance and Bay were back in front.
The second half started even faster with two goals inside the first 5 minutes by Jake and Tom, put Bay firmly in control.
Smith made a hash in clearing the ball. Danny Leonard intercepted , passed it forward allowing Jake to stroke the ball into the far corner, wide of the keeper. Two minutes later, more indecision in the wasps defence resulted in Jake being fouled just outside the 18 yard area. Tom struck a delightful free kick, beating Smith at his near post giving Bay a three goal lead.
After a misunderstanding between Jack Steventon and Hunter, substitute Charlie Postance reduced the deficit when he latched onto a poor clearance and smashed home which gave the hosts a glimmer of hope but this was dashed two minutes later when keeper Smith raced out of the area to clear the ball, but Miles Cornwell was the quicker of the two and he lobbed the ball into the open goal to restore the three goal lead.
Further chances fell to Leonard and Cornwell but these were squandered before Postance added his second and the wasps third in the 90th minute when he was gifted a pass from Leonard.
One further chance fell to Miles in injury time. He outpaced the defender ran into the box and just as he was about to pull the trigger, was tripped by the defender. Fans, players and managers alike were amazed when the referee waved away the appeals saying he tripped over his own feet. Fortunately it didn’t affect the result and a good performance was rewarded with the three points.