Hampton & Richmond 2
(Fasanamde 8′, Sayers 80′)
United 2
(Young 5′, Dreyer 39′)
Points shared at The Beveree Stadium
United were forced to settle for a point on Tuesday evening, as Hampton & Richmond came back from behind twice to earn a share of the spoils.
The two sides traded early goals after United’s Jordan Young saw his opener swiftly cancelled out by Craig Fasanmade for the hosts. Sam Dreyer’s goal gave Torquay a half-time advantage, but just when it looked as though The Gulls were about to clinch their first away win of the season, Charlie Sayers struck late on to make it all-square.
United boss Paul Wotton made three changes in the wake of The Gulls’ 2-1 defeat at Hemel three days earlier, with Denzel Akyeampong, Jordan Dyer and new signing Keane Anderson taking the places of Jordan Thomas, Matt Worthington and Matt Jay.
The game was only five minutes old when Torquay broke the deadlock.
Cody Cooke did well to take the ball into the penalty area, and after pulling the ball back from the byline, Young was on hand to touch the ball over the line from point-blank range.
Sadly, the lead lasted just three minutes, as a similar attack down Hampton’s left flank allowed Fasanmade to fire home from close range. 1-1.
Both sides traded proverbial punches thereafter without a breakthrough, until United edged in front six minutes before the break.
After a Dyer header from a Young free-kick drew a fabulous save from home goalkeeper James Holden, the resulting set-piece left the Hampton No.1 with no chance. Louis Dennis’ ball into the box found Dreyer, and the stand-in skipper led by example by sending a looping flick-header over the top of Holden, and into the net.
The second half was a pretty even affair, with Hampton coming out of the traps quickly in a bid to restore parity, before United threatened to bag a third goal in their bid to clinch all three points.
Wotton’s men came within a whisker of doing just that when Dyer’s header cannoned off the crossbar from a Young corner, with Dan Hayfield not afforded enough time to do anything other than fire the rebound over the top.
After surviving that let-off, Hampton seized the initiative by levelling things up ten minutes from time.
With the ball switching from one end of the field to another, it was Nathan Lavaly’s trickery on the left that caught Torquay out, with the ball squared across to Sayers by the penalty spot, who gleefully tapped home to make it 2-2.
Despite that setback, it was again United who looked most likely to score again, but Hampton held on to frustrate the travelling Yellow Army.
A point on the road is always welcome though, and now United have the chance to follow that up against Slough on Saturday at Plainmoor.
HAMPTON & RICHMOND BOROUGH: 1. James Holden, 2. Paul Field, 8. Sam Deadfield, 9. Craig Fasanmade, 12. Nathan Lavaly, 14. Alfie Tuck (6. Luke Robinson, 90+4′), 15. Harry Thomas, 23. Charlie Sayers, 24. Alan Massey, 25. Harry Gardner (5. Ronan Silva, 68′), 39. Reece Grego-Cox (21. Soul Kader, 63′)
SUBS NOT USED: 11. Eddie Allsopp, 13. Luek Ziger, 19. Danai Hassan, 20. Ollie Turner.
Yellow Card: Fasanmade 90+2′,
UNITED: 1. James Hamon, 2. Denzel Akyeampong (26. Jordan Thomas, 68′), 3 Jay Foulston, 4. Jordan Dyer, 5. Sam Dreyer, 7. Louis Dennis, 8. Jordan Young, 9. Cody Cooke, 16. Ed Palmer, 20. Dan Hayfield, 22. Keane Anderson (29. Aidan Edwards, 78′).
SUBS NOT USED: 13. Matt Wonnacott (GK), 15. Jadyn Crosbie, 27. Matt Jay.
Yellow Card: Foulston 49′, Anderson 73′
Attendance: 1,014
