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Tooting
have been enjoying their trips to the seaside this term and a
comprehensive first league win at the Pilot Field catapulted
them to the dizzying heights of second place in the Ryman
Premier. Lining up unchanged for the fourth game in a row the
Terrors faced a side with a home league record of five
straight defeats.
The
morale of home supporters took an immediate nosedive as
Pitterson broke free down the left wing and crossed low into a
cluster of three forwards who were waiting in the box with
scarcely a defender in sight. Michael Antonio was the
first to react with a header, extending his remarkable scoring
record to four in four games.
This
set the pattern of the half as the Terrors dominated
play. After 13 minutes good approach work from McLeod
set up Paul Vines, who looped his shot way over the top.
Five minutes later a foul on Antonio triggered a spell of
intense pressure, but after two poorly defended corners
Hastings briefly broke out. Almost immediately Tooting
recovered possession, Antonio crossed from deep on the right,
setting up a Paul Vines header at the left edge of the area
which just cleared the crossbar.
Antonio
fired just wide under pressure from 6 yards and, after a brief
period of home possession, the same player beat three
defenders before being uprooted at the edge of the area, but
referee Lugg was unimpressed. Myall, back on familiar
ground, and McLeod started dictating play and the last fifteen
minutes of the period saw another half dozen chances set up
against a completely discombobulated home
defence.
Half Time 0 - 1
Hastings
restarted purposefully and for the for the first twenty
minutes enjoyed their best spell of the game, Gonnella
looking particularly useful. However they found
themselves up against a back line high on confidence and
operating as a solid unit, supplemented by some excellent
support work from Pitterson. A rare mistake by Aaron
Goode was superbly recovered by Dean Hamlin but concern that
we would pay for those unconverted first half chances grew on
56 minutes when White blasted just over the bar.
Antonio
and Pitterson had swapped wings at the start of the half, but
having reverted back, a McLeod set up forced Nessling into a
save at Antonio's feet. Jamie Byatt replaced Pitterson,
taking up the role of wasp to the Hastings ice cream.
The last serious home chance of fell to sub Ramsay on 67
minutes, but his weak close range shot posed no problem for
King. Byatt promptly buzzed down the other end, only to
have his effort swatted by the keeper.
The
tide had turned, this time irrevocably. Howell collected
the ball from an uncleared corner at the edge of the box with
his back to goal. In one movement he dropped his shoulder,
turned and drilled the ball low into the corner of the net for
a superb second goal.
A
flurry of substitutions did nothing to alter the pattern of
play. Nathan Russell did his best to keep the black and white
waves under control as Pinnock and Abbey both had good headed
chances. Referee Lugg, who had been pretty laid back
about just about everything, bizarrely cautioned Byatt, who in
turn provided the final sting with a crashing volley following
another quality McLeod pass.
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