HORNCHURCH 1 HEYBRIDGE SWIFTS 0
Saturday 07-April-2018
HORNCHURCH 1 HEYBRIDGE SWIFTS 0
HFC - Mott, Hursit, Porter, Lee, Cooper, Styles ©, Hogan, Roberts (Oluwatimilehin 71), Assombalonga (McKenzie 68), Purcell, Warner (Collis 90)
Subs - Livings, Palmer
HS - Jessup, Ramon, Cawley, Abdulla, Henshaw, Baker, Chatting (Godbold 73), Krasniqi, Callender, Ashford (Gardner 80), Luque
Subs - Stevenson, Dark, Sambridge
Officials - Michael Chard with Dajour McKenzie-George and Stephen McKee
Scorer - Hogan 33
Bookings - Baker 18 (HS) - Luque 40 (HS)
Duration 46.00 + 50.00
Attendance 287
HFC - red and white stripes / black / black
HS - black and white stripes / white / red
HORNCHURCH 1 HEYBRIDGE SWIFTS 0
On a mild Spring afternoon, both defences were on top throughout much of an intriguing encounter, and the outcome was settled by a sensational goal from Connor Hogan.
Swifts had an early chance when a long throw by Kreshnic Krasniqi found Luke Callender, whose shot was blocked by Nathan Cooper, with Sam Mott comfortably dealing with the corner when it came across.
On 8 minutes George Purcell tried a shot from outside the area, but a fraction too high and over the bar, and shortly afterwards a Purcell free kick met the same fate.
Swifts always looked dangerous and a Juan Luque run ended with a timely tackle by Jamie Hursit, to concede another corner. Harrison Chatting sent the ball into the goalmouth, where Mott punched firmly away.
At the other end, a Purcell shot was turned out for the first of two corners in quick succession, whilst a Krasniqi throw reached Sam Ashford, with Elliot Styles blocking the hard shot.
The only goal of the game arrived in the 33rd minute, when Connor Hogan, out on the wing, won possession, turned, and from forty yards, hit an incredible shot hard over the defence and into the far corner, for his first goal since joining Hornchurch.
Swifts continued to come forward, without troubling the home defence, and the closest they came to scoring was when Luque slotted the ball to Ashford, whose shot across goal appeared to drift out of play, although a corner was awarded.
The second half saw Swifts coming forward at every opportunity, but apart from a series of long Krasniqi throws, and eight corner kicks, Sam Mott was only occasionally called upon to gather the ball.
The best chance came from yet another long throw, which landed ideally for Luke Callender, but his shot was comfortably blocked, and as the match moved towards its conclusion, so the visitors lost their momentum, and allowed Hornchurch to get back into the game as an attacking force.
Hornchurch could have wrapped it up fifteen minutes from time when Styles played the ball upfield to Leon McKenzie, who in turn touched through to Purcell, and although his lobbed shot beat Jake Jessup, the ball dropped on to the roof of the net.
In the final ten minutes Hornchurch were rarely troubled, and manager Colin McBride made a masterful substitution, with Dave Collis coming on to boost the defence, in what was his one hundredth game for Hornchurch.
Hornchurch remain ten points clear at the top of the table, on 92 points, and only Bowers (maximum possible 95) and Potters Bar (94) can catch them.