Match Report

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County League - Division One

Horsham YMCA 1	Hailsham 4
Young 89	French 9 Smith 15 Richardson 24 Southwood 65

Date: 7th December 2002    

by Jenny Hardcastle, West Sussex County Times

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A GRIM catalogue of missed chances and appalling defensive cock-ups saw YM slump to a demoralising defeat against Hailsham at Gorings Mead.

Three goals from Hailsham in the first half hour killed the game off on a freezing afternoon that seemed to have numbed the YM players' brains.

Manager John Suter was seething afterwards; "I thought it was a dreadful performance. I thought Hailsham played quite well. They wanted it more than us, they were more inspired than us. more mobile than us, quicker than us and they took their chances better than us," he said.

"The first half performance I thought was certainly the most inept I have seen this season and probably the most inept I've seen for many seasons.

The game could have been very different hadYM taken their early chances. Matt Duffield had a sniff of goal when he chased a long ball but Hailsham keeper Graham Bannatyne was quick off his line to smother the shot.

Then Wayne Potter missed a sitter from a few yards out when he smacked his shot straight at the keeper. "Goals win games and we should have scored first." said Suter. "He should definitely have scored with only the goalkeeper to beat."

Straight after that chance had gone begging, Hailsham scooted down the other end and Scott French rifled a low shot past Jason Dumbrill to open the scoring.

Still YM pressed and Gil Taylor saw an opening as he ran into the box, but again Bannatyne came to Hailsham's rescue as he came out to block.

Moments later the game was virtually over when the away side capitalised on an appalling mix-up between Peter Durrant and Rob O'Shaughnessy which left Suter bewildered.

"Peter Durrant was going in the right direction then inexplicably stops. turns round and gives the ball away." he said.

French seized upon Durrant's sloppy pass. played the ball into the box and with YM's defence still all at sea. Matt Smith forced it over the line.

Things just got worse for YM after that, when their offside trap went horribly wrong to the delight of Paul Richardson, who found himself with time and space to place the ball past Dumbrill.

YM were convinced Richardson had been well offside but there was no flag. "Everybody around me was saying it was a long way offside," said Suter.

All concerned might as well have packed up and gone home for a hot toddy after that. Briefly YM came out fighting at the start of the second half, with Paul Young twisting and turning and finding Taylor but he could only poke his shot wide, then screwed another shot past the post after good buildup play on the right.

"In the second half we missed two chances in the first five minutes. If we'd got back into it then it could have changed the game." said a rueful Suter.

Ross Southwood then rubbed salt into the wound, thumping a floated pass from Simon Stephens past the unfortunate Dumbrill at'ter Potter had missed a tackle.

A clearly angry Suter brought Taylor and Dean Carden off for Nick Flint and Michael Death on the hour. yelling: "And the rest of you can think yourselves lucky." but it made little difference.

Young pulled a goal back for YM in the final minute but it was cold comfort for the home team on a miserable afternoon.

"We didn't get the run of the ball but we didn't deserve the run of the ball. You earn luck and we didn't do enough to do that today." concluded Suter.

And he warned his players: "We haven't been playing well lately and something has to be done about it. There has to be a few changes."

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Team: Dumbrill; Garden (Death 60), Fitzgerald, Sleat, Durrant, OShaughnessy; Potter, Duffield, Taylor (Flint 60); Young, Francis.