FA Trophy Second Round
Havant and Waterlooville 2 v 1 East Thurrock United
EAST Thurrock left Westleigh Park with a sense of frustration after dominating much of the game against their hosts from higher up the non-League pyramid but exiting the FA Trophy having been the victim of two first half sucker punches.
Over 90 minutes most observers would agree it was the Ryman Premier League side who played the better football, but in football you often fail to get what you deserve and two pieces of clinical finishing by Hawks’ Ben Swallow ultimately decided the third qualifying round tie in favour of the Vanaraa Conference South hosts,
Swallow proved to be the classic hero turned villain, getting sent off in the second half but in the final analysis that probably proved as important as his goals, as – following his dismissal – Havant reshaped their side and put men behind the ball and created a barrier that Rocks were unable to breach.
The game started brightly for Rocks and they created the first real scoring opportunity when the ball was fed into top scorer Sam Higgins but he was unable to get his shot away and the danger passed.
On the counter attack Havant won a free kick on the edge of the Rocks boss and Swallow stepped up to curl a fine shot into the top corner to give his side an eighth minute lead.
To their credit Rocks stepped up the pace of the game in the wake of the goal and Reece Harris forced a fine, finger-tip save from Havant keeper and skipper Ryan Young who was to prove almost as important as Swallow in the opening 45 minutes. Moments later he was in action again, blocking a shot from Higgins and then keeping out a strike from Ryan Sammons.
His efforts at one end were capped at the other on 18 minutes when Swallow picked the ball up on the end of another fluent counter attack and he crashed a fine low angled strike from the edge of the box just inside the upright and beyond David Hughes’ dive to extend Hawks’ lead.
That second goal was a bitter pill for Rocks to swallow but they responded bravely and Young was again tested and proved equal to the task when he faced down David Bryant who sprang the backline and created a one-on-one but was thwarted by another fine stop.
Havant were second best but Scott Donnelly came close to extending the lead from another free-kick but his excellent strike came back off the inside of the upright and away to safety.
Swallow might well have seen red before the break for a poor, late, two footed challenge that brought only a booking rather than a red from referee Paul Kelly, who – together with his assistants – was having a distinctly poor game.
The second half was to prove a largely one-way affair, with Rocks piling on the pressure.
It resulted in the winning of a 54th minute penalty when Higgins was adjudged to have been edged away from making contact to a ball whipped across the face of goal by Harris. Higgins smashed home the result spot kick but instead of facing ten men for more than half an hour, Rocks still had a full backline to contend with.
That backline proved difficult to break down as Rocks piled on the pressure but the decision to keep Strugnell on the park became all the more important when, with 20 minutes to go, Swallow lunged into a late tackle and Mr Kelly sent him to the dressing room for his second caution.
Had Rocks been facing nine, rather than ten men, conjecture suggests they might have forced the equaliser they deserved, but Havant rolled their sleeves up, produced a professional and effective rearguard and in the end saw off the challenge to win through to Monday’s draw.
