Match Report
Ryman league: Division One South
 Horsham YMCA 0 |  Tooting & Mitcham United 2 Smith 57 Byatt 69 |
Source: Allan Norbury, West Sussex County Times
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YM INCREASINGLY have the look of a condemned side after this defeat, but manager John Suter remains bullish about his team's chances of avoiding relegation.
A 2-0 home loss to title chasing Tooting was compounded by a win for Whitstable which left YM eight points adrift of safety. Dorian Smith's pin point free-kick, and a header from Jamie Byatt in a competitive second half kept up Tooling's promotion charge - but on this evidence they will have their work cut out to pip rivals Dover to the title.
Despite the weekend's results, Suter says he is more optimistic now than at any other time throughout a bleak February.
"It's another game without scoring, and that's our seventh defeat in a row," he commented.
"To the outsider it would look dreadful, but I think it was our best team performance in quite a long time. If it was a lesser team it might have been better.
"We had our chances and it was in doubt right up until the end really. I come away believing that if we play like that for our last 11 games, we still have a chance of avoiding relegation."
YM needed plenty of spirit from the outset, with Canadian-born striker John Henry Hayden in impressive form up front. In the fourth minute, his trickery got the better of Glen Woodburn and opened up a chance for Smith in front of goal which should have hit the target.
Tooting were busy and passing was accurate, they did threaten to swamp the YM rearguard in the opening stages, but Andy Lutwyche's experience at the back was vital.
When the hosts did break forward, Ali Russell was imperious in the air. He won flick-on after flick-on, but with fellow target man Greg Palmer up alongside him, there was no nippy forward to pick up the pieces. New signing Darren Pearce hit a snap shot straight at David King, but that was the sum total of YM's attacking effort.
Hayden called YM stopper Chris Winterton into action midway through the half, the on-loan Brighton man was swiftly out to the edge of his area to make a point blank save from the striker, and at this stage, it was all Tooting.
Ronnie Green was running the show for the visitors, but they seemed to run out of ideas when faced with YM's defence.
Just as spaces appeared to open up for Suter's men to attack in the second period, they were hit with a huge blow. Woodburn was harshly pulled up for a foul on the edge of the YM box - Smith stepped up and placed a sublime effort beyond Winterton's desperate dive.
It got worse 12 minutes later, substitute Ben Fillery surrendered possession and Tooting worked the ball well before whipping in a cross for Byatt - the smallest man on the field - to loop in his header.
Those earlier signs the game was starting to open up re-emerged, although a lot of knockdowns were still going to waste, Russell managed to turn and shoot into King's arms. Moments later, the front man shot agonisingly wide from Matt Duffield's pass. Woodburn and Martyn Flack caused havoc in new roles up front and ten minutes from time Pearce fired over after YM's best move.
Man of the Match: : Ali Russell - won everything in the air.
Magic Moment: Chris Winterton's excellent save from John Henry Hayden in the first half.
Teams: YM (4-4-2): Winterton; Garden, Fitzgerald, Lutwyche, Woodburn; White, Ottley (Flack 76), Pearce, Grant (Fillery 60); Palmer (Duffield 60), Russell.
