Tuesday night saw the Blues return to the Maurice Rebak Stadium and return to winning ways with a hard-fought 2-1 win on Bonfire Night over Carshalton Athletic. Saturday marks the second of our three home matches in the space of a week as we welcome Hastings United to N12.
Our Opponents
Hastings United have spent much of their recent history between the Isthmian Premier and Isthmian South East divisions. Hastings spent a spell at this level between 2007/08 and 2012/13, in that final season Hastings achieved their best ever FA Cup run, beating Harrogate Town live on ESPN in the 2nd Round to set up a 3rd Round tie with Middlesbrough where they eventually lost 4-1. In the league that season, however, a significant winless run saw the Us relegated back to step 4. For the next 10 years or so, Hastings consistently challenged in the top half of that division, eventually achieving promotion as champions in 2021/22.
Last season, after a slow start which saw the U's bring in manager Chris Agutter, Hastings spent large parts of the season in and around the playoff places. Eventually falling just short of a playoff spot, finishing 7th with 67 points, two places and nine points behind Horsham in the final spot.
This season has seen a mixed start, with Hastings currently sat in 14th place with 15 points from 12 matches (W4 D3 L5). The performance so far is clearly below the club's expectations as they parted ways with manager Danny Bloor in recent weeks, after last year's manager Chris Agutter was picked up by NLS side Worthing in the summer.
Head to Head
Last season our visit to Pilot Field was a successful one thanks to an excellent Elliot Long hat-trick in the space of 6 minutes either side of the interval. Hastings threatened to mount a comeback with two goals before the hour mark but the Blues held on to take all 3 points in East Sussex.
Our last clash at the Maurice Rebak Stadium was in April, in a match that could have shaped both team's push for a playoff spot, it ended 2-2 after Alex Solomon and a trademark Ruben Carvalho free kick gave us a first half lead before Hastings drew level through Tommy Fagg and a Davide Rodari penalty, before Freddie Legg saw red late on for the visitors.
Last Time Out
Hastings secured a 2-0 win on Tuesday night against East Sussex rivals Whitehawk, as the U's look to kick-start their season and push up the Isthmian Premier League. Prior to this, their last game was on Saturday 26th October, where the U's were in this neck of the woods for a thrilling FA Trophy game at Hadley, where Hastings eventually lost 4-3 to an 87th minute penalty from the home side.
Players To Watch
One of Tuesday night's goals against Whitehawk was scored by defender Finn O'Mara. The 25-year old came through at Gillingham and played a couple of games in League One in 2018 before moving into the non-league pyramid with Folkestone Invicta and now in his second spell at Hastings.
Meanwhile the U's top scorer again this season is Davide Rodari. Rodari scored 28 league goals last season, second in the golden boot race to only Marcus Wyllie. Rodari netted a penalty against the Blues in N12 last season and Ahmet Rifat and his team will be all too aware of the threat he poses.
For the Blues, Tuesday night saw two players move onto four goals for the season; attacking midfielder Andronicos Georgiou moved onto four for the Blues with a deft header, as he looks to really be hitting his stride now this season. The other to reach four goals was centre back Ben Frempah whose towering header on Tuesday gave the Blues the lead. Meanwhile, Charlie Grainger will be taking on his former team for the first time since his departure earlier in the season.
Tickets are available online or on the gate. Our bar and hot food stand will be open and cash and card are accepted throughout the Maurice Rebak Stadium - we look forward to welcoming you to N12!
Photos courtesy of Martin Addison.
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