Terrors
completed their first double of the season with a
victory that was nowhere near as close as the
scoreline suggests. Following a well observed
minutes silence for John Goddard Tooting started with
one new face as Alex Tease, on loan from Maidstone,
lined up alongside Paul Vines. Matt Howard also
returned to the squad following his midweek success,
scoring the winner in the reserves London Cup
semi-final win at Croydon.
The spring weather was welcomed by
the crowd in a fist half that offered little else to
warm them up. Hastings were determined to keep
as many men behind the ball as possible whilst Terrors
proved short on ideas for getting through them.
Paul Vines eluded three as he weaved his way into the
box after quarter of an hour, but once there he
disappeared in a sea of claret shirts. Ten minutes
later he out jumped Nessling to win a high cross, but
there were plenty of defenders around to tidy
up. Pauls third effort, from a King clearance,
was a fine dipping shot that just cleared the bar from
just outside the box.
Nessling only had one direct shot to
deal with in the half when Jason Pinnock hit a low
powerful shot that the keeper did well to hold onto as
forwards hovered, waiting for any fumble.
Half Time: 0-0
Tooting restarted with a
bit more urgency, hitting a post in the first
minute. Joe Vines then featured at both ends,
narrowly heading an Andrew Howell free kick wide and
then mistiming a defensive header which enabled
Hastings to get in their first shot, which almost
cleared the back of the terracing. Craig
Pitterson had replaced Tiesse and he soon combined with
Paul Vines in the six yard box, but the two of them
got in each others way and could not conjure up a
shot. Aaron Goode, having got a taste for goal
scoring at Hendon last week, tried his luck
again. This time he turned and shot low from a
Howell throw which Nessling scrambled away for a
corner. Billy Marshall has made a
promising start to his Tooting career, but this was
the day when he really announced his arrival,
replacing the subdued Watts after sixty six minutes.
Immediately livening up the home side he was unlucky
not to have been awarded a penalty after the thuggish
Spice scythed him down in the box. Having
already rejected one solid penalty appeal in the first
half this came as little surprise, as referee Webb
seemed much more intent on ensuring that throw-in laws
were properly observed. Thus
far the main danger from Hastings had been the risk of
one of their supporters cutting his finger on the
upturned baked bean tin that he had been periodically
bashing to stir up the good turnout of visiting
supporters. Seven minutes from the end they did
finally manage a brief flurry of attack,
forcing a couple of corners and calling King into
action for the first, and only, time. As
the clock ran down Terrors refused to accept another
stalemate and no one personified this desire more than
Marshall who, four minutes from time, dribbled his way
to the goal line and dropped a fine cross onto the
back post where Paul Vines was waiting to head home. |
