Hornchurch 2
(Nash 7′, Saunders 60′)
United 1
(Cooke 76′)
It was defeat for United on the road, as Hornchurch ran out winners on Saturday.
It was Liam Nash who broke the deadline early on, and that lead was doubled by substitute George Saunders on the hour. Cody Cooke reduced the arrears, but unfortunately it was a case of too little, too late.
Fresh from United’s 2-1 win over Worthing on Tuesday, Gulls boss Paul Wotton made two changes to the starting line-up, with Finn Tonks and Will Jenkins Davies taking the places of Matt Carson and Oscar Threlkeld.
The game was only seven minutes old when the hosts took the lead. With Tonks temporarily leaving the field due to a blood injury, a loose clearance out of United’s defence left Wotton’s men on the back foot. Making the most of the opportunity presented to him, Nash picked up possession before drilling a low shot into the bottom corner of the net from just outside the box.
There was plenty of effort from the Torquay players to get back on level terms, however it wasn’t until the midway point before they seriously tested home goalkeeper Mason Terry.
Brad Ash jinked past a couple of challenge before seeing his left-footed curler from 15 yards parried away, before Tuesday night’s matchwinner Jay Foulston went close to netting again, before seeing his low follow-up strike repelled inside the six-yard box.
United continued to enjoy the majority of the possession thereafter, however they were unable to turn that into much in the way of clear-cut chances, leaving Wotton’s side to head for the changing rooms a goal behind at the halfway stage.
There was no messing by United’s manager at the break, with a triple change seeing Ben Seymour, Omar Mussa and Carson coming on for Ash, Lirak Hasani and Tonks.
It certainly seemed to lift things, with Dan Hayfield seeing a 20-yarder deflected behind on 52 minutes, before the resultant corner saw a combination of Gulls players just unable to bundle the ball home from inside the six-yard box.
At the other end, the hosts responded by going close themselves, as William Greenidge sent in an effort from 18 yards that just evaded James Hamon’s left-hand post.
That warning failed to be heeded, and on the hour-mark, it was 2-0.
A blow ball from the left fell kindly to Hornchurch replacement Saunders by the penalty spot, and although his strike cannoned off the crossbar, the ball fortuitously bounced down and in off the grounded Hamon, before nestling into the back of the net.
Staring defeat in the face, The Gulls were forced to act, and with fourteen minutes left, they found themselves a lifeline, as Cooke slotted home from close range to halve the deficit.
The game was an end-to-end affair after that, with the Yellow Army left disappointed after howls for a penalty fouling a tough-looking challenge on Mussa went unanswered.
In fairness, the home side missed a couple of decent opportunities of their own in the dying stages, and eventually did enough to secure themselves the three points.
HORNCHURCH: 1. Mason Terry, 3. Giles Phillips, 5. Harry Gibbs, 6. Ryan Scott (c), 8. Tom Wraight, 9. Femi Akinwande (17. Oliver Muldoon, 83′), 10. Liam Nash (12. Darren McQueen, 31′ (4. Charlee Adams, 90+4′)), 14. Scott Kashket (54′ 7. George Saunders,), 16. Emmanuel Harvest, 18. William Greenidge, 20. Sean Scannell (19. Bailey Clements, 87′).
Yellow Card: Saunders 65′, McQueen 66′, Terry 83′
UNITED: 1. James Hamon, 2. Finley Craske, 3. Jay Foulston (21. Dean Moxey, 68′), 4. Jordan Dyer, 5. Sam Dreyer (c), 7. Lirak Hasani (10. Omar Mussa, HT), 11. Brad Ash (9. Ben Seymour, HT), 17. Finn Tonks (14. Matt Carson, HT) 19. Cody Cooke, 20. Dan Hayfield, 22. Will Jenkins Davies.
SUBS NOT USED: 23. Ollie Tomlinson.
Yellow Card: Craske 35′, Jenkins Davies 75′
Attendance: 928