Casuals Defeat For Bay

Herne Bay (1) 1
King 11 (p)

Corinthian Casuals (0) 2
Goddard 55, Hodges 87

Ryman Isthmian League Division One (South)
Tuesday 1st April 2014

at Winch’s Field

Attendance: 116

by Steve Barton

Herne Bay slipped to 19th in the table following their fifth defeat in seven outings in a proverbial game of two halves. Bay totally dominated the first half against a Corinthian-Casuals side who looked to have little about them.

Bay went into the lead as early as the 11th minute when Ben Brown put brother Harry through on goal only to be upended. Stuart King claimed the ball and calmly sent the keeper the wrong way from 12 yards. Within two minutes King went close again; a short throw by Connor Sanders was knocked on by Sam Hasler who found King, his turn and shot was well saved by keeper Danny Bracken.

The back three of Sanders, George Benner and Gary Sayer coped easily with anything that Casuals could throw at them and Michael Turner and Harry Brown were lively as they pushed forward along the flanks and it was Turner who drove into the box on 28 and found his fine left-foot shot well turned away by Bracken.

Herne Bay came close to adding to their advantage in the 35th minute when Hasler delivered a corner to the edge of the box where it was met by the head of Benner. James Turner flicked-on only to see his shot agonisingly hit the bar.

Two totally different sides came out for the second period. Casuals introduced Joel Thompson at the expense of Michael Fahm to go three up top and started to produce a brand of football that they looked totally incapable of in the first half. Bay, by contrast, had less space and little time on the ball and too often resorted to thumping a long ball forward.

It came as no surprise when Casuals drew level. A free-kick from the right from Dave Hodges was turned in by Steve Goddard. Within minutes the ball was again in the net but Ellis Wilson-Joseph was adjudged to be offside when he responded to the ball rebounding off the post from a Thompson strike. Wilson-Joseph continued to be a threat and on 63 brought a fine save from Jack Delo.

With 20 minutes left on the clock came a moment of petulance. Ben Brown was fouled by Saheed Sankoh, and Harry Brown’s protestations were met with Sankoh throwing the ball at him. Referee Mr. Killip sent off Sankoh and then again brandished the red card at Harry Brown for his aggressive attitude.

On 80 and against the run of play Hasler’s swerving shot nearly deceived Bracken who managed to get the all-important stop on the strike from 20 yards. Delo was called into action again when Tom Williams cut inside and saw his powerful attempt well saved by the Bay guardian.

With three minutes left of normal time Casuals played a long ball forward, Michael Turner slipped, and Goddard was clear through and chipped the ball past Delo for the winner. With results elsewhere going against Herne Bay it is essential that more points are quickly put on the board to prevent some nervous looks over the shoulder as we enter the business end of the season.

Herne Bay: Jack Delo, Michael Turner, Gary Sayer, Joe Nelder, Connor Sanders, George Benner, Sam Hasler (Dean Grant 80), Ben Brown (Jamie O’Connell 89), Stuart King, Harry Brown, James Turner (Jordan Casey 66)

Subs not used: Nathan Eastwood, Joe Kennett