Hawks salvage a point at the death

By Peter Butcher

WHITEHAWK, lying second in the Ryman Premier table, needed a 90th-minute penalty to avert defeat at East Thurrock tonight (Tuesday).

They dominated the first half but missed several simple chances and it was the home side who came closest to scoring when Kris Newby hit a post.

And it was the Essex side who took the lead ten minutes after half-time with a harmless-looking effort from defensive debutant David Obaze which Hawks keeper Chris Winterton fumbled over the line.

It appeared that it would not be Whitehawk’s night but they were given their late chance to square it from the spot and Jed Wallace obliged (pictured by Mikey Cartwright). Hawks are three points behind leaders Margate but now have only one game in hand.

Not far away, another last-minute penalty gave Hendon all three points in their relegation battle at Thurrock, who replaced them in the bottom two. Jack Paxman gave Thurrock a 23rd-minute lead which they held until 13 minutes from time, when Howard Hall equalised.

Then veteran Darren Currie converted the late penalty to give Hendon a second successive victory and their first of the season away from home, lifting them to 19th in the table.

Hampton needed to win at Harrow to move into a play-off place but they were beaten 4-3. New signing Shaun Lucien put Harrow ahead after 25 minutes and Danny Leech made it 2-0 before Charlie Moone pulled one back in the 42nd minute.

Michael Peacock, whose last-minute own goal meant defeat for his side at Leiston on Saturday, made some amends by putting Harrow 3-1 up six minutes after the interval and a Gary Jones penalty 12 minutes from time made victory almost certain.

But Hampton pulled one back through Mo Bettamere in the 82nd minute and when Gary Holloway struck in the 88th Harrow had to sweat it out through the closing stages.

Bury were another side who could have moved into the top five, but they had to come from 3-1 down to escape with a 3-3 home draw against Leiston.

Emmanuel Osei and Gareth Heath put the visitors 2-0 up by the 25th minute and the rest of the goals came in a mad eight-minute spell midway through the second half. John Sands put Bury back in the game only for Joe Jefford to restore the two-goal margin. Then Sands struck again and recent signing Adam Tann salvaged a point.

Ryman League interest in the FA Trophy ended cruelly at Halifax, where a goal in the third minute of added time accounted for Maidstone. Gareth Seddon’s header put Halifax ahead after five minutes but Stones quickly gained the upper hand and Alex Brown snapped up a loose ball to equalise in the 23rd minute.

In the second half Halifax gradually reasserted themselves without breaking through and a replay was looking certain until Seddon swept in a cross from Jon Worthington to give the Yorkshiremen a 2-1 win.

Sudbury pulled well clear of the Ryman North danger zone with a second successive 2-0 victory, this time at Waltham Abbey. Ben Bowditch opened the scoring in the 17th minute and Russell Pond clinched it with nine minutes left.

Wroxham booked their place in the League Cup quarter-finals, beating Soham 7-6 in a penalty shoot-out after a 0-0 draw in which a goalline clearance denied the visitors a last-gasp winner. The first 13 penalties were successful before Mark Howlett-Foster was denied by Nathan Pauling and Wroxham booked their trip to Concord in the last eight.

Where next?

K's go through in fiery finish ONLY two of the four scheduled games tonight (Wednesday) survived the late afternoon rain, and the most eventful of them was at Imber Court where Kingstonian reached the League Cup quarter-finals with a 3-2 victory over Met Police.
Focus on the volunteers A BOOK of football pictures without a single picture of a footballer: it can only be the latest publication by Eastbourne-based photographer David Bauckham.

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