Match Report
Ryman League: Division One South
 Sittingbourne 2Lovell 57 Neal 79 |
 Horsham YMCA 0 |
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Source: Allan Norbury, West Sussex County Times |
THE SEASON isn't over yet, but Horsham YMCA's 'woeful' 2-0 defeat at the hands of Sittingbourne on Tuesday bore all the hallmarks of players who couln't wait to be on their holiday.
It was real end of season stuff as both sides, with nothing more than a top ten finish to scrap over, appeared to go through the motions.
Second half goals from Mark Lovell and Jon Neal saw off John Suter's men - who mustered just one shot on target all game.
Suter said: "If there was a Lord Mayor's show, this match would have been after it — but we didn't have a Lord Mayor's Show.
"It was a poor performance. I told the boys at half time that 80 per cent of the time Sittingbourne found their players with passes - ours was more like 20 per cent. I probably over play that, but it got worse in the second half."
Neither keeper was given a great deal to do during an insipid first half, and both sides had trouble keeping possession on the dusty, bouncy surface.
YM stopper Dean Ruddy was the busier of the two keepers, mainly coming to collect or punch crosses from lively winger Sabeur Trabelsi.
In the opening 20 minutes Richard Greenfield's pace troubled the Sittingbourne defence - but they had no worries when it came to his final delivery which was invariably wide of the mark.
Dan Sackman headed wide and Scott Kirkwood scuffed a shot wide, while at the other end Trabelsi and Brickies skipper Kieran Marsh blazed over.
In possession YM were disjointed and for much of the remainder of the half struggled to find a way into Sittingbourne territory. There was still time however for Greenfield to spurn two more opportunities at the end of a ponderous 45 minutes.
At the start of the second period, James Grant and Greenfield made useful inroads into the Sittingbourne half, but were unable to unlock the defence.
Then, a sloppy comer routine cost YM the first goal. Dean Garden and Matt Russell did their bit to create a knockdown, but with nobody around to feed on the scraps at the far post, the hosts broke.
A long ball split the YM defence and Trebelsi pulled the ball back for Lovell to slide in the opener.
Suter remarked: "Everything was wrong about the corner, no one was back ing up Mail's header, we left a one on one situation at the back, where we would normally fancy ourselves, and just made mistake after mistake."
Without sparking the game into life, the goal did seem to lift both teams from their slumber. Andy Ottley forced Josh Willis' only save of the night in the Sittingbourne goal with a dipping free kick, and Greenfield missed the target after dancing round three men.
Nick Levett came to the rescue when Ruddy and Garden tangled with Neal on the deck, and Sackman cleared Lee Browning's shot off the line.
The final act came when Lee Hockey launched a long throw into the YM box on 79 minutes. Neal got to the ball before Ruddy and nodded in the second.
"It was a game we didn't need tonight and it was a performance we didn't need," Suter added.
"We were so woeful we had a corner and they scored, for the second goal the goalkeeper was at fault from the long throw.
"We are all hugely disappointed it's happened and we have to get over it at Dover on Saturday."
Man of the match: : Ellis Hooper - steady performance.
Magic moment: Richard Greenfield's quick feet to create a number of openings.
YM (4-4-2): Ruddy; Garden, Sackman, Hooper, Ottley; Greenfield (Gellatly 80), White, Grant (Levett 62), Kirkwood (Taylor 84); Russell, Davies.