The Hornets were exterminated tonight by Burwash in a mid-table championship clash.
Playing away in a Robertsbridge sports hall, the Hastings lads had 70 per cent of the possession but succumbed to a 3-1 defeat to a team we really should have bested.
It all started well with a goal after 14 minutes by Matty Longshanks who buried his shot into the top corner after a lovely assist from Chairman Phil. The Cat then kept the Hornets in it with a flying save to his left but two minutes later there was the first of the night’s calamities as Doc Dyer stuck a foot in the way of a shot that was going well wide and deflected it into the net to give Burwash a foothold.
Then – just before the interval – Burwash pounced on a terrible ball out from the Cat which Trigger couldn’t control, and from the kick-in the their striker turned and half-volleyed past the Hornets’ keeper.
It was 2-1 at half time but the momentum was with the away side.
Once the Riddler came on the strike force began to show a few teeth and we had six shots in the second period, either straight at their keeper or just wide. Possession counts for nothing unless you convert it into goals and the clock was ticking.
Burwash’s shots were all high, wide and mighty and the Cat was only called into action once, smothering a low shot into touch.
Then came calamity number two. Another shot going wide was cruelly deflected by Peru Mick and it spun into the net at the near post. Hornets’ heads dropped and there was no coming back from the 3-1 deficit.
The game was reffed fairly and bobbled along at a good pace. But as Trigger said later, once we got into the final third the Burwash defence was all over us like a swarm of bees and no one could get any space or time to get a decent shot off.
The Riddler was unlucky not to score as he turned and shot just wide, and Matty saw the Burwash keeper make the save of the night pushing his fierce effort up and over the bar.
Legendary Rog, Puffing Paul, Doc, Trigger and Mick all had good shots just wide. But the truth is the Hornets were neither quick enough or calm enough tonight and Burwash were worthy winners despite the lucky own goals.
We could have scored six!
In his post-match press conference, Manager Massive Mark said: “We take the defeat, we learn from it and we move on. We didn’t play badly but their defence was immense.”
Man of the Match: The Riddler, who looked sharp and gave the best options with good movement off the ball.
