Herne Bay cemented their third place in the league with this draw and they might have grabbed all three points but for a calamitous slice of luck 15 minutes from time.
“I’m disappointed with the way in which we conceded”, said Herne Bay manager Sam Denly, “but it was an immense performance against a very good footballing side”.
The Terrors had by far the greater of the possession throughout and Bay survived an immense scare as early as the fifth minute when O’Neill’s shot came back off the crossbar. The storm weathered, Herne Bay took the lead spectacularly with a trade mark Sam Hasler strike from 30 yards, and still only nine minutes had elapsed.
Bay were forced onto the back foot, adequately displaying their defensive strength as United came forward with delightful and skilful use of the ball. The visitors had ‘keeper Jack Delo to thank for maintaining the lead at half time when three minutes before the break he parried O’Neill’s curler for a corner.
After the break The Terrors moved the ball around enterprisingly without any real threat, the final pass lacking quality. Bay might have gone further ahead in the 73rd minute but Elliott Cutts’ long distance chip didn’t dip in time to punish Ceesay off his line.
Two minutes later, Bay’s resilience was broken by a calamitous turn of events. Having defended strongly for so long, Quinn’s pass across goal was intended for Delo to clear but the Bay ‘keeper sliced his kick into the path of Jake Baxter who had the simplest of tasks to roll the ball into a gaping net for the equaliser.
“It’s very frustrating but as I’ve said to the lads it would have been a smash and grab if we’d got all the points”, said Denly, “they (Tooting & Mitcham) played some very good football and deserved something out of the game. For all their possession Jack only had one real save to make all night.”
“It was a tough game and we`ll take the point. For a lot of the season we’ve had it our own way, tonight we had to grind the result out, it was a professional performance”.
Tooting & Mitcham United: Sheikh Ceesay, Sol Patterson-Bohner, Taiwo Tenny, Adrian Moraes, Antonio Simeone, Kurtis Pykes, Jordan Wilson, Ashley Robinson (Matt Price 66), Jake Baxter, Chace O’Neill, Serge Makofu (Marcel Barrington 66)
Subs not used: Matt Pearson, Owen Roberts, Gavin Quintyne
Sent Off: none Cautioned: Jordan Wilson
Herne Bay: Jack Delo, Michael Turner, Gary Sayer, Dan Johnson, Liam Quinn, Connor Sanders, Danny Walder (Nathan Eastwood 46), Joe Nelder (Elliot Cutts 45), Mark Lovell (Kane Phillip 68), Lee Browning, Sam Hasler.
Subs not used: James Turner, Danny Willams
Sent off: None Cautioned: Dan Johnson
Referee: Jamaal Horne Assistants: Garry Heron & Alexis Stachinni
Man of the Match: Connor Sanders (Herne Bay)
Tooting & Mitcham United (0) 1
Jake Baxter 75
Herne Bay (1) 1
Sam Hasler 9
Ryman Isthmian League Division One (South) Tuesday 26th January 2016 At the KNK Stadium, Imperial Fields
Att: 132
Photo credit: Herne Bay FC Library photos – Sam Hasler who scored a 30 yard screamer