RESULT | HASHTAG UNITED 2 WHITEHAWK 1
Hawks went down to a late defeat against a Hashtag United side pushing for a play-off spot.
This was the Hawks first ever visit to Aveley’s impressive new Parkside stadium, which the Tags are sharing. Shaun Saunders’ selection was disrupted when Geofrey Okonkwo dropped out with a sore knee minutes before kick-off. Charlie Walker started, with Addison Garnett slotting into the back four. Manny Mensah was already missing from the midfield with a muscle injury. On the bench was Imran Kayani, back from international duty with Pakistan and sporting a new buzzcut.
The Tags enjoyed the best of the first half. Right from the start they created chances with quick interplay putting pressure on the Hawks back line, as Georgiou, Djemaili, May-Parrott and Aromolaran all looked threatening. Referee Mayer also waved away a couple of penalty appeals as the Hawks struggled to get to grips with the league’s leading goalscorers.
After 20 minutes Hawks had their own penalty appeal turned down when Josh Nandhra got to a through ball before Jack Gittens in the Tags goal. The keeper collided with the Hawks no7 a split second after he put the ball over the bar but the referee saw nothing wrong with the challenge.
As the game settled down, the Hawks took the lead with 28 minutes gone. Jordan Maguire-Drew was found by Walker on the left. He went past two defenders to work his way into the box, before finishing with a right foot shot into the bottom corner of Giddens’ goal.
Seven minutes later the Tags were level. Toby Aromolaran manouevered to the edge of the box with some fancy footwork before finding Andronicos Georgiou in acres of space. The striker comfortably beat Joseph Osaghae with a right-foot finish.
Harry Bridle then curled a left foot shot over the bar, minutes before Osaghae was shown a yellow card for bringing down Aromolaran outside his box. The fact that last man Hugo Odogwu-Atkinson was running round to cover spared the Hawks’ keeper a harsher punishment.
The second half was a more even affair with fewer clear cut chances. May-Parrot went close with a bending effort after 71 minutes before Maguire-Drew was inches away from giving Hawks the lead, but his top corner bound effort was flicked away off the head of defender Mert Apat. Minutes later Matt Wooldridge scooped a great change over the bar from the edge of the six-yard box before Djemailli failed to convert a bouncing ball at the far post following a corner.
With a draw looking the most likely result, Tags eventually found a way through the Hawks’ defence when Joe Christou got the winner in the 86th minute. Again, good approach play on the ground freed him to play a one-two with May-Parrott, before his shot just beat the outstretched right arm of Osaghae to creep inside the post.
Hawks had a last minute shout for a penalty turned down after Billie Clark was caught by Djemaili just inside the area.
Match photos: https://flickr.com/photos/agschofield/albums
Hawks: Osaghae, Wright, Johnson, Briggs, Garnett, Odogwu-Atkinson, Nandhra (Lambert 64’), Walker, Barlow (Simpson 83’), Maguire-Drew (Clark 84’), Bridle (Kayani 56’)
Tags: Giddens, Anderson, Woolridge (Bolovan 78’), Haysom, Cornhill (Rusoke 20’), Apat, Djemaili, Armolaran (Hassan 78’), Georgiou, Christou, May-Parrott (Olukoga 88’)
