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AFC HORNCHURCH 2 AVELEY 1
Player news – Ronnie Fletcher has joined Tooting & Mitcham. Darren Behcet has also joined Tooting & Mitcham.
Match news – the Capital League match this coming Thursday has been postponed.
Aveley started strongly, and Joe Woolley had to tip a long range shot over the bar, and then the corner was cleared after the ball bobbed dangerous close to the goal. Hornchurch quickly recovered, when Elliot Styles cleared up field to Lewis Smith to played the ball out to Joe Anderson on the left. The resulting cross reached Martin Tuohy whose first time shot skimmed the post.
Tuohy won a free kick, and although Jon Hunt lurked, it was Andy Tomlinson who floated the ball at goal and keeper Dave McCartney did well to hold the ball onto the bar. A Hornchurch corner was only part cleared, back to Jon Hunt, whose follow up shot was scrambled off the line, whilst a Smith – Tuohy move ended with another corner when Harry Milton tackled.
Evans Kouassi had been causing some problems on the left, where Rickie Hayles was nursing a back injury, and when Hayles conceded a free kick, it was Joey May who sent the ball deep into the goalmouth where Woolley punched clear. When Jon Hunt limped off with a knee injury, Tommy Black came on, and Hornchurch quickly settled down with Tommy operating on the right. Frankie Curley flicked the ball through to Lewis Smith but keeper McCartney rushed out to kick clear, but the ball was played back to the wing, where Tommy Black crossed for MARTIN TUOHY to head home for his sixteenth goal of the season.
Hornchurch almost increased their lead when Joe Anderson sent Black away, and McCartney made an excellent save to keep the ball out of he net, turning the shot over the bar for a corner. Tomlinson sent the ball into the goalmouth and Curley headed narrowly wide. Hayles sent a long pass through to Smith but Lewis hit his shot a fraction too high and the ball went over the bar.
Hornchurch stepped up the pace in the second half, and powered forward, and they went further ahead after a Smith shot had been deflected for a corner. Tomlinson sent the ball over, and it was cleared off the line, but ran out to REISS NOEL ten yards outside the area, and he promptly hammered it back through the packed defence and into the net.
Simon Glover gave Tuohy an opening and his shot went out for a corner, which Tomlinson took and Styles headed over, whilst a Tomlinson free kick found Curley whose header was deflected around the post for another corner. A Smith run opened up the Aveley defence and Curley ran through but his shot went narrowly wide.
Loud appeals for a penalty were rejected when McCartney raced out of goal and appeared to pull Tuohy down, but the referee awarded a corner, considering the challenge to be fair. JAKE CASS came on for Aveley, and less than thirty seconds later he pulled a goal back for Aveley, when Styles slipped and Cass ran through, took the ball around Woolley, and despite the close attention from Anderson, he screwed the ball into the net from a narrow angle.
Black created a chance for Smith a minute later, but Lewis turned inside the defender only to hit his shot wide of the post. Aveley came forward strongly, and Woolley did well to tip a long range shot from the left wing over the bar for a corner. Aveley grew desperate, perhaps a little too much, as Paul Shave, after two lectures, was booked for his third offence, to be followed into the book soon afterwards by Ellis Remy, and then by Joe Keith, whose somewhat spectacular fall inside the area was not appreciated by the referee, despite the loud appeals from Aveley for a penalty. The appeals were repeated two minutes later when another Aveley played went down, but Elliot Styles had already tackled and cleared the ball.
Michael Spencer came on for Tuohy and Tambeson Eyong replaced Smith, but Aveley did not look like gaining a point. The closest they came was a corner which was headed away by Styles.
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