Herstmonceux held in 6 goal thriller at Rye

Herstmonceux battled hard for a point at Rye last Saturday and were ultimately rewarded in the dying minutes from a last gasp corner.

The scoreline of 3-3 probably reflected the pattern of the game which saw Rye on top for much of the first half, despite the away side taking the lead with an early goal from Will Saint. A depleted Herstmonceux team, had to draft in a number of players from the second team, but despite this put up a good showing, and, defensively particularly, they showed why they have become a much more competitive unit.

After going behind, Rye demonstrated some good deft passing in the first half, and it was partly the tenacity of Middleton and Duncan that stopped us from being overrun. Ryan Arnott, also showed why he is an integral member of the 2nd team, breaking down many of the home team’s moves by intercepting and blocking passes. Some fine saves from Finlay also helped, but it was also true that Luke Russell and Russell Blewitt in the centre of defence put up a solid rearguard performance, despite this being Russ’s first competitive game of the season. Henry Richards, too was responsible for some important challenges and on the limited occasions where Rye did have opportunities to shoot, they struck their efforts either wide or over the bar, meaning that we went into the break 1-0 up.

The second half saw the introduction of Brian Growns and Den Donegan, but it was the home side who equalised shortly after the break after the referee deemed their striker was not offside, despite appearing to be so. Was this to be the turning point of the game? Rye definitely thought so.

Undeterred by this Herstmonceux hit back, and Den Donegan opened his account to put us back in front after good work saw him finish with aplomb. 2-1. Shortly after we broke again and with the home ‘keeper out of his area, a goal bound shot was cleared off the line. Herstmonceux were definitely on the ascendance now, and with Brian Growns putting in some good runs on the right surely it was only a matter of time before we scored again.

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The dynamic Carl Duncan was here, there and everywhere, encouraging and exhorting the side to greater things, and with Ade Firmin always a threat on the break, this was never going to be a game we deserved to lose. Unfortunately it was Rye who levelled again, from a corner, with a fine header into the corner of the net. At this point Carl came off, to be replaced by Joe Gardiner for his first game of the season, but then disaster struck.

Conor Middleton had already been spoken to the referee after the first Rye goal, and when he again crossed swords with the man in the middle, the official sent him to the sin bin with 14 minutes remaining. The decision that provoked controversy was the awarding of a free kick after a sliced clearance was deemed a back pass. The problem for Herstmonceux was that the clearance was from the edge of the 6 yard box. The away team literally parked the bus, with nearly every player on the line, but despite a valiant attempt from Charlie Shearing to stop the shot, they could only watch as it deflected off him into the corner of the net, with Shearing injuring himself in the process.

Agonising minutes passed, and then with 4 minutes remaining, Middleton was allowed to return. Herstmonceux piled on the pressure, and with time nearly up, Conor was brought down on the edge of the Rye area, with the referee booking the Rye defender for the challenge and Middleton for his response. The resulting free kick was deflected over the bar, leading to what would surely be the last corner of the game. Carl encouraged Finlay to come up, and we had 9 players in the Rye penalty area, with our ‘keeper side by side with theirs, and the solitary Henry Richards waiting on the half way line. The cross came over and was powered goalwards by Brian Growns, their goalkeeper was able to turn it against the post, only for it to bounce against a defender’s knee and into the goal. 3-3, and the crowd went wild. Well, the Chairman and substitutes did anyway. The game restarted and Rye had only one thought: to push for the goal that would give them the win. But it was Herstmonceux who took the initiative and a telling through ball saw Ade Fermin bearing down on goal, only for the referee to blow for full time. 3-3, and a fine result in what had been a fairly fought and competitive match.

Unfortunately the referee then saw fit to call Fermin back and when he refused, he received a yellow card, presumably for his reaction, to what seemed to be a strange ending to the game. Referee’s are supposed to avoid controversy, not court it, and for this official to blow up, (he had said there were at least 3 minutes of overtime), seemed a little hasty. Middleton also protested this, and earlier decisions, and was awarded a second yellow card, which marred what had been a good performance for the away team. Despite the strange end to the game, this highlights the battling spirit of the team, and the unity of both sides at the Club, with a number of players stepping up from the 2nd's to play their part.