Ryman League - Hornchurch 2 Basingstoke Town 0

[Urchins]

First of all, full credit to the ground staff for working so hard on the pitch for several hours in order to get it playable for this afternoon. Apparently it was under water after yesterday's rain and the game would not have gone ahead without them.

 

We started strongly but we seemed to lose our momentum during a fifteen minute hailstorm. Basingtoke's Neville Roach forced two good saves from Danny Gay on 28 and 37 minutes but we took the lead just before half time. Bertie Brayley ran on to a ball down the left from Danny Kerrigan and sent in a low cross from the byeline. Frustrated gasps as Vinnie John missed his kick on the six yard line turned to cheers as Mark Graham followed up to send the ball into the roof of the net.

 

Within minutes of the second half we could have been 3 up. In the 1st minute a Danny Gay kick bounced over visiting keeper Scott Tarr and clipped the wrong side of the bar. A minute later Bertie Brayley found himself clear after a defensive lapse but Tarr just managed to claw the ball away as he tried to round him. John Martin's speculative effort from 40 yards after a defensive clearance went narrowly wide with Tarr in no man's land with ten minutes left but we made sure of the points with three minutes to go. A through ball from Mark Graham put Andy Douglas clear and he slotted it past the advancing Tarr from 18 yards.

 

Line-up:- Gay, Gooding, Kerrigan, Adedeji, Southon, Williams, Graham, Locke, John, Brayley (Douglas 77), J Martin. Subs not used:- McGowan, Rowland, Cowley, McCartney (GK).