On my way to watch Hastings United versus Nopeace Haven at The Pilot Field this Easter Monday, I wandered through Alexandra Park before walking up the hill...
Entering the ground, just £2 admission as a special price, usually five times as much! Match report coming further down for my first non-league match attendance in years.
Pre-match warm up...
Had to photograph, too many speedy wingers in the past apparently!
The teams come out, and...
The players and officials shake hands.
OK, the match kicked off, and within a couple of minutes Hastings missed a sitter, like a park football team, the player completely missed the ball when it came to him with only the keeper to beat; I remember doing similar for my school team when I was 10 years old! But then, the 'Man of the Match' Billy Medlock show happened, he scored 5 goals, with 2 near misses (one that hit the crossbar!), oh yes, and someone else scored a sixth in the final minutes, a 6-0 win, nice one, 3 goals per £1 sterling, good value!
Billy Medlock must have been the smallest player on the pitch at the time, but he out-jumped the 2 enormous Peacehaven centre backs to place a superb header past the keeper; an excellent early ball came through for Medlock to score the second when the ball came back off the post; a third just before half-time; his fourth an easy tap in; and his fifth an easy nod in after a fine cross; nearly got his sixth at the death, when he somehow won the ball and tried to score from a fine angle, just missing the far post.
Hastings really did deserve to win this match, their passing was a bit suspect in the early stages, but they gradually put together quite a fine team performance, mostly passing along the floor, against Peacehaven's aerial bombardment! It was good to see players numbered 1-11 starting the match, instead of the squad numbers of teams in the higher leagues, an attendance of 624, not too bad for this level, and it brought a smile to my face when they played 'Pigbag' following each goal...
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