Match Report
County League: Division One
| Horsham YMCA 1 Duffield 21 |
Whitehawk 2 Rowlands 76 Bunch 82 |
Date:10th January 2004 Location:Gorings Mead
Source: Russell Staves, West Sussex County Times
IF YM'S performance against Whitehawk could be described in confectionery terms then it would have been a Twix - one half hard and the other half soft.
For 45 minutes, the side from Gorings Mead looked a shadow of their recent selves and were excellent value for their 1-0 lead which came through Matt Duffield's tasty strike.
But they melted in the second half as Whitehawk turned up the heat and goals from Simon Rowland and Craig Bunch condemned the hosts to another defeat.
"We had a good first half but they upped their game and we were played off the park in the second half," admitted YM manager John Suter.
The two halves completely contrasted each other and the Gorings Mead boss thought there were a number of possibilities for the turnaround. "Maybe we were complacent after putting in a good first half. People were getting tired, we don't seem to be as sharp as we should be. Everything looked wrong," he said.
An advert in the match programme for a series of books called Clubs in Crisis was ironic, but certainly not too far from the truth and the defeat means YM have won just once in 13 outings. "I thought we had turned a corner at Sidlesham, but this is a depressing time," added Suter.
On a grey afternoon, the hosts lined up in a 3-5-2 formation with new signing Lee Silsby from Burgess Hill playing as sweeper between Paul Charman and the no-nonsense Barrie Westgate.
It was not long before Westgate was displaying his penchant for getting muddy and a superb sliding tackle on Aaron Gunn was just the start of an eye-catching 45 minutes from the former Horsham defender.
Westgate's opposite number -Toby Phillips - was in the right place at the other end of the park when he headed Duffield's whipped cross over the bar as Phil Churchill prepared himself to pounce at the back post.
Westgate, who raced forward to join the attack whenever he could, went closest to opening the scoring in the 17th minute when he just failed to get a touch on a corner after Whitehawk keeper Tom Rand had found himself in no-man's-land.
Duffield had little problem finding the finishing touch when he shot YM into a 21st minute lead. Whitehawk failed to clear Nathan Sleat's free-kick and after Steve Davies had made a nuisance of himself, Duffield won the ball, turned and curled it into the top-right hand corner past Rand who remained rooted to the spot.
It was a wonderful goal, and richly deserved, as the hosts dictated play with Ryan Andrews pulling the strings and Wayne Potter his effective minder. When Whitehawk did manage to put a decent move together, Westgate bundled Rowland over in the box but their pleas for a penalty came to nothing as referee Mark Thompson waved play on.
On the rare occasion that the visitors did penetrate the YM defence, they found James Plumbley alert to the danger and he charged off his line to smother at Bunch's feet.
Phillips was the first to go into the referee's notebook when he crudely scythed down Davies. "Look where the ball went," protested chief moaner and Whitehawk's best player Kevin Townsend, although he was silly to try and vindicate his team-mate who went straight through the back of the YM striker.
In the 37th minute, Duffield nearly scored his second screamer of the afternoon from almost the same spot as his first but this time Rand held on with both hands as he dived full length to keep his side within touching distance.
Bunch looked like levelling in injury time until Charman intervened with a fantastic tackle after the striker had dithered on the ball for too long.
It was all Whitehawk after the break and they should have pulled a goa,l back when their usually dead-eyed striker Tommy Pattenden lent back on his shot and skied it over the bar with only Plumley to beat.
The same player had another one-on-one when he latched onto Westgate's misdirected header. "This is it," was the call from the Whitehawk bench as Pattenden bore down on goal, but their loud shouts were premature and the striker launched it over the bar for the second time in quick succession.
Rowland landed a looping header on top of the net during the siege on YM's goal as his team came closer to equalising and Bunch sent another shot over the bar as a goal looked almost inevitable.
The introduction of Carl Southwell, who played a game for YM two years ago, was instrumental in the outcome of the game. His first contribution was to get round the back and square it to Bunch who fired over the bar but Rowland made better use of the substitute's efforts seconds later.
In the 76th minute, Southwell won possession in midfield and laid the ball through for the stocky Whitehawk captain who cut inside the last man before coolly slotting home the equaliser.
Duffield and Townsend went close at either end, and Suter threw on Paul Young and Gil Taylor, who sported a magnificent mullet, in an effort to snatch a late winner, but it was a moment of class that sealed it with six minutes remaining.
Matt Hill, who gave Dean Garden the runaround for most of the second half, played a delightful one-two with Southwell before sending over a teasing cross that Bunch powered home with a diving header.
There was enough time for Mr Thompson to sink to the ground after being hit in the nether regions with the ball and the referee's watery eyes were soon shared by Rowland who was floored by Westgate's horrible shoulder barge that might have seen him sent off on another day.
Team: Plumley; Westgate, Silsby (Fenn 80), Charman; Garden, Andrews, Potter, Duffield, Sleat; Davies (Taylor 82), Churchill (Young 82).
