Sittingbourne 1-0 Corinthian-Casuals - It's a golden opportunity for our youngsters - Abbott

SITTINGBOURNE 1-0 CORINTHIAN-CASUALS
Ryman League Division One South
Tuesday 8^th February 2011
Mike Green reports from Bourne Park

A GAME that started 35 minutes late due to three floodlight failures, then plodded along for 79 minutes until a magnificently executed free kick from skipper Nick Reeves set up a grand stand finale as Gary Abbott’s young Sittingbourne side dug deep to hang on to record their first home Ryman League Division One South win for all but three months.

November 9^th was the Brickies last home win (a 2-0 win over Whitstable) and with this game seemingly meandering towards a goal less draw, Hicham Akhazzan embarked on a mazy dribble that was crudely halted 25 yards out from goal by Saheed Sankoh – a challenge that earned the Casuals player a yellow card from referee Pickford. 

Up then stepped Reeves to curl an absolute beauty up and over the wall and beyond the despairing dive of keeper Luke Naughton and into the corner of the net. 

The young Brickies embraced what the goal meant to the club who have seen a number of high profile departures since it was announced that the club could no longer afford to pay players.  This was their first win in five and only the second win in their past eleven matches.

Abbott naturally enough was full of praise for his young side after the game, although he admitted that it had been a tough night. 

He said: “It was hard work tonight.  The last 15 minutes we were looking at our side and we had four seventeen year olds and four eighteen year olds and I think that that shows you what a good set up we’ve got at the club and I think this gives the youngsters a chance to come in and play at this level and I can’t fault my players tonight. 

“Obviously they’ve got a lot of experience in their side but that will come for us in time, but the things that were going wrong today was purely down to their age.  But we’ve got to get on with that and learn from it.”

After all their recent toils, this victory was especially sweet for the manager, but even he hadn’t realised that it had been so long since his charges last won at their Bourne Park base.  “I didn’t realise that it had been that long!” Abbott admitted.  “I know we’d lost four or five on the spin but usually we’ve been quite good at home but I think that just shows what’s been going on – it’s not good at the moment, but we’re getting on with it, and like I said, it’s a golden chance for the youngsters to come in and get us three brilliant points tonight that could send us up a couple of places in the table.”
 
It was a first half that was instantly forgettable as both sides looked like they were struggling with the delayed kick off.  Indeed the only incident of any real note came in stoppage time when Connor Coyne was unlucky not to score at the back post – a great run and cross from Ishantie Charles fell to the falling Coyne who’s first time volley flew into the Casuals side netting. 

Casuals looked lively going forward until they reached the last third when the Brickies back line brilliantly marshalled by Reeves and Billy Manners stood firm!

The second half seemed to follow the same pattern as the first, until that is the last eleven minutes when the game exploded into life. 

Indeed for the first 34 minutes of the half the only chance worthy of the name fell to Manners whose flicked header from Dan Palfrey’s free kick flashed narrowly wide.

Then finally, the deadlock was broken and how!  Reeves brilliantly curling home with pace the free kick after Akhazzan had been felled – a moment to savour for the manager.  “We had a couple of free kicks before that but we knew that as soon as Nick called for it, if he hits the target, the balls going to go in and it was a great strike. 

“But after that the last 10 minutes, they started panicking which is their inexperience again, and we’ve told them that when we’re under the cosh you must keep the ball, but then that’s the inexperience again.  But to be fair the last ten fifteen minute we defended brilliantly and I can’t fault the boys.”

The last ten minutes finally saw the end to end football that the sparse crowd had prayed for all evening on an increasingly cold night!  There was an amazing let off for the home side on 82 minutes.  Sankoh had a shot that deflected fractionally over and from the corner, home keeper Matt Reed made a complete mess of the clearance (although it did appear that he had been impeded) and only succeeded in pushing the ball onto the bar, and from that resulting corner Scott Hassell twice saw efforts scrambled off of the line by Palfrey – emphasising once more why all sides should defend corners with men on both posts!

Reed then produced a smart save to push away Glen Boosey’s drive before Akhazzan should really have settled the game – bursting into the area the Bourne striker beat keeper Naughton with his clip but also sadly for the home side, beat the cross bar too!

Casuals had one final chance to level in stoppage time when in almighty scramble in the Sittingbourne box, both Reeves and Manners produced great blocks to deny the visitors even  though Casuals were convinced that one of their efforts had been stopped illegally. 

But it was to no avail and when the final whistle blew, the joy on the faces of the home team was a joy to behold! 

“We know that there was only going to be one goal in it tonight,” Abbott said, “We both tried to play football – Corinthians tried to play football tonight so for our youngsters to get three points tonight is absolutely brilliant and hopefully now we can look forward to Saturday and the Met Police – they’re losing two or three – so it’ll be another game for the youngsters to try and shine!”

Sittingbourne:  Matt Reed, Ryan Cooper, Dan palfrey, Nick Reeves, Billy Manners, Connor Heffernan (Sam Collins 52), Hicham Akhazzan, Paul Semakula, Connor Coyne (Jaie Nuttall 73), Ryan Golding, Ishankie Charles (Jack Hooper 64).
Subs: Matt Burt, Richard Brady

Goal:  Nick Reeves 79

Booked: Sam Collins 81, Dan Palfrey 89

Corinthian-Casuals: Luke Naughton, Tom Williams, Dave Hodges, Matt Kidson, Scott Hassell, Saheed Sankoh, Danny Green, Sam Robinson, Matt Powell, Leon Varnie, Glen Boosey (Charlie Tilman 88).
Sub: Darren Chalke

Booked:  Saheed Sankoh 78

Attendance: 94
Referee:  Mr J Pickford (Leigh on Sea, Essex)
Assistants: Mr A Miller (Southend on Sea, Essex) and Mr D Gainsford (Basildon, Essex)