HBU 8 v 1 Letchworth, a promising strong win for United.

Rodrigo was awarded Man of the Match in his Debut performance for HBU in the Premier League.

Match Report
Premier League HBU v Letchworth
Date: 20th Oct; Venue: Bay Arena

Herne Bay United’s 2nd Premier League game of the season and first home game and with the season blown wide open from the start with some major upsets in other results United wanted to show consistency.
Letchworth returned to the Premier League last season and were a sound solid team capable of causing upsets and demonstrated this last season in this fixture at United and with wins under their belts this season would be looking to continue their progression.

United started with a young side with the oldest player in the starting 5 being 22 years of age and Rodrigo Carvalho making his debut in the Premier League for United and after a initial good couple of minutes Carvalho quickly made his mark and netted with very composed finish taking his chance once Howe’s in the Letchworth net committed. United continued to look the most dominant, playing some good building passing and looking like the stronger team on the rink.
After some very close shots and possibly some missed opportunities Carvalho got his second on a quick counter attack.
United looked comfortable and Letchworth rarely making any real chances and this is when United made some unforced errors and put pressure on themselves so even when playing strongly at times came very close to conceding and letting the opposing team get back into a game that should be put out of reach. This was what happened and Letchworth got one back and with 15 minutes remaining in the first half.
The first changes to the United formation were made and a very promising performance from Tom White who scored a very well built goal with 10 minutes left of the 1st half. United continued strongly and finished the half looking very much in control leaving the half-time score at 3 – 1.

Again United continued where they left off and within the first 5 minutes United were 5-1 up with a goal each from Fabio Vicente and Joe Singleton.
United again remained in control but were committing the more regular team fouls but Jay Williamson was very strong in the United net and Letchworth’s Ricky Jupp was stopped on both occasions in the second half. As the half went on with neither team scoring, United were having the majority of the opportunities, the game begun to show signs of becoming a little more scrappy but United cemented the win with Carvalho confidently finishing from the spot and getting his hatrick. David Todd added another and Neil Austin converted a penalty in the final seconds giving United a very strong score line of 8 – 1 to conclude the game.

It was a good solid first home performance of the season for HBU showing places for improvement but also very promising performance from Rodrigo Carvalho getting a hat-trick on his debut and being awarded ‘man of the match’ but also very strong performances from all United’s young players.
Manager Philip McVey commented after the game: “Overall I was pleased with the result and the performance. We controlled the game for long periods. Defensively we looked solid and confident in attack. I was very pleased with Rodrigo who was making his debut for his 1st team. There are no easy matches this year and the league is going to come down to the wire, every win will be vital.”
HBU Squad: Jay Williamson, Joe Singleton(1), Dan Butcher, Rodrigo Carvalho(3), Simon Hosking©, Neil Austin(1), Fabio Vicente(1), Tom White(1), David Todd(1), David Garlick

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