CAFC vs Hastings United – Preview
Hastings United
Saturday was extremely difficult for the U’s as they suffered a heavy 9-0 defeat at the hands of Hendon.
For Hastings, it has been a tough 2024-25 campaign so far. Currently, the U’s are just outside the drop zone in 17th place on 15 points after 15 games. Despite a positive start to the season, registering two league wins and advancing in the FA Cup, back-to-back defeats at the hands of Monday’s opponents, Potters Bar Town and Folkestone Invicta, ensued a turbulent period. Beginning September by being thrashed 4-0 by Spencer Owen’s Hashtag United before a hard-fought 1-1 stalemate with Lewes softened the blow, a 3-0 cup defeat at Cray spurred then manager Danny Bloor to blame his team’s attitude, warning “some heads will roll, and some players won’t be playing for Hastings United any longer.” Against Chatham the following week, the U’s ran out 3-2 winners, so on the face of it, Bloor’s comments had worked. However, there were successive losses in the league against Dulwich Hamlet and Cheshunt and a goalless draw with Cray Wanderers.
Ahead of the FA Trophy tie to Hadley Town, who knocked the Robins out in the third round 3-0, Bloor completed the signing of two new recruits, striker Callum Barlow and defender Finn O’Mara. A former product of the United Academy, Barlow scored a lot of goals for Eastbourne United last year. O’Mara, meanwhile, was part of Gary Elphick’s league-winning Hastings team of 2022; he is a centre-back by trade. Unfortunately for the U’s, Barlow was cup-tied for the Hadley fixture and thus not eligible to play in the game. The U’s would end up falling to defeat after a dramatic 87th-minute penalty sent the step-4 side through in the Trophy. Twenty-four hours later, Bloor, who was only appointed manager last May, received a call from director Ben White telling him that his five-month stint at the helm was over and assistant Sean Ray took over stewardship.
Ray guided the U’s to a comfortable 2-0 win over Whitehawk, but two games in two weeks against teams in the top four of the Isthmian Premier, Wingate & Finchley and Cray Valley PM, did not help carry forward the momentum as Hastings lost both. Interestingly enough, the Cray match marked three months since they were last at home.
On Saturday’s defeat to the Millers, Ray said: “It’s all about small margins; the second half, I don’t think Louis Rogers (goalkeeper) had a save to make other than picking the ball out the back of the net.
“On the flip side of that, I don’t think we did enough in the final third, I think the lads let us down today in that regard. When we did get the ball in and around the halfway line or into the defensive third, we weren’t good enough; we lacked creativity, cutting edge, that final pass, and composure.
“Again, I’ve got to give credit to the boys because we weren’t at our best. Funnily enough, at 1-0 down, we responded really well, creating our best chances and half chances, albeit, we looked positive.”
United have been competitive in both games and for an hour against the Millers, they looked good. That said, they did eventually lose their way a bit. Shot-stopper Rogers made two or three great saves in the first 45, but in the second, he was not called into action.
Tuesday evening, the U’s suffered a major blow as Bognor inflicted a 1-0 defeat on them in the Sussex Cup.
“We killed ourselves in the first half,” Ray said.
“A stupid mistake reduced us to 10 men for over one hour of the match. I can’t keep defending the players for their own decision-making, which is awful at times; it’s killing us,” he added.
The interim coach made a desperate plea for help: “We’ve got a goalkeeper hobbling on one leg, the bench tonight was very light, two or three players shouldn’t have been playing but there were no other options, the squad is light, and the players need a rest.”
Speaking on Carshalton, he said: “There are two massive games for us Saturday and Tuesday, which could really turn our season around, or do we throw the towel in and be in a relegation fight?
“Two games in four days could determine our season.”
Over the last couple of seasons, Hastings have garnered a reputation for finishing just outside the play-off places in the Isthmian Premier, consolidating themselves in and around seventh and eighth. This comes after the U’s won the Isthmian League South East Division in the 2021-22 campaign and were promoted to the third tier of non-league.
Likely line-ups
Carshalton Athletic
Henry, Sankoh, Tanner, Atewologun, Read, Saraiva, Bradford ©, Saunders-Henry, Ifeanyi, Smith, Salami
Hastings United
Rogers, McKay, Walker, Dixon, O’Mara, Howard, Rodari, Moynes, Lovatt ©, Fagg, Legg
Team news
Carshalton Athletic
Mason Saunders-Henry remains a long-term absentee after an injury sustained against Bognor Regis Town. Paris Hamilton-Downes will fill in for the attacker in the meantime. Meanwhile, Kola Salami has seemingly nailed down the right-wing spot.
Hastings United
Captain Adam Lovett and Kian Moynes departed for Fin Chapman and Tyrone Mlotshwa against Cray Valley, having an instant impact on the performance. That said, Lovett did take a knock, and Ray did not want to risk him. Kane Penn also returned to the first-team squad at the weekend and is an option going forward in an extremely thin squad. And, as alluded to above, Rogers is playing through an injury, while two or three other players are forced to do exactly the same. The squad is “light.”.
Pre-Match Analysis
The league stats do not paint a pretty picture for the U’s; only one side out of the 22 has scored fewer goals in the Isthmian Premier than Hastings’ 15, and that is Whitehawk, who are rock bottom. For United faithful, it is the club’s defensive set-up that causes the most concern; they are far too open; if it were not for Rogers between the sticks, the U’s would be in a far more precarious position.
For Ray, Hastings needs to keep their composure, work the pitch, and most of all, they need the quality in the final third.
Losing 9-0, meanwhile, never makes for pretty reading. Hastings have conceded 31 times this season, only Bognor have a worse record (34).
Key Player
Goalkeeper Louis Rogers may only have five clean sheets to his name this season; however, he has been the one bright spark for the U’s following a plethora of excellent saves. Mr reliable between the sticks, Rogers is a fan favourite.
The Gaffer
Sean Ray has been involved at Hastings United for 24 years in a coaching and playing capacity, and former manager Danny Bloor introduced the former U as part of his management team over the summer. Of course, Ray took over from Bloor after his dismissal in an interim capacity.
Match Details
Date: Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Venue: The Pilot Field
Kick-Off: 7:45 PM
Admission: £12 Adult and £8 Concession.
Tickets: https://hufc.onlineticketseller.com/fixtures