Report

In a tight Ryman League Cup 3rd round tie vs AFC Sudbury it was Ross Wall who broke the deadlock 4 minutes from time as he turned sharply in the box and fired past Robinson.

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Tuesday 06-December-2016 – League Cup
HORNCHURCH 1 SUDBURY 0

HFC – Mott, Bentley ©, Da Cruz, Lee, Cooper, Chouman, Thompson (Hursit 81), Osman (Hussain 78), Coley (McKenzie 59), Wall, Cohen

S – Robinson, Newman, Austin, Okay, Henshaw, French, Blackwell (Bantick 64), Clarke © (Williams 73), Callander (Parker 73), Wales, Eagle
Subs – Carroll, Reynolds

Officials – Michael Robertson-Tant with Ayrton Hursey and Jim Pope

Scorer – Ross Wall 86
Bookings – Thompson 78 (H), Williams 78 (S), Cooper 85 (H), Newman 90 (S)
Duration 46.00 + 47.00
Attendance 76

HORNCHURCH 1 SUDBURY 0

On a very mild night, there was never any danger of the pitch being frozen, but there were some concerns when the mist began to creep in an hour before the start, but it quickly lifted.

With players injured or cup-tied, it was an unusual Hornchurch team that took the field for the league cup match, which attracted only a minimum of interest on the terraces.

Hornchurch kicked towards the windmill end of the ground, and twice in the opening five minutes Abs Thompson opened up the right side, his first cross skimming the far post, and his second deflecting off a defender for a corner.

On ten minutes Gary Cohen picked out Ross Wall, and Callum Robinson in the Sudbury goal made a good save.

Hornchurch continued to have the better of the territorial play and Cohen almost broke through on the left but was tackled before he could shoot.

Wall went close with a first time volley, and Sudbury, who until then had only managed one attack, winning a corner which came to nothing, had a scoring opportunity with a Luke Callender free kick, but Sam Mott was ideally positioned to make the save.

Cohen fired wide from a Wall pass, whilst another Thompson run ended with a good interception by Aidan Austin at the expense of a corner.

Ross Wall went close a minute into the second half, but the visitors began to force the pace, and, controlling the midfield, they had more of the attacking play.

Mott saved well from Callender, and another long-range shot curled against a post.

At the other end Nathan Cooper headed wide from a Ben Osman corner, Coley hit a shot wide, and a well-flighted Osman free kick drifted wide of the near post.

Kenzer Lee went close with a header and then took on a defensive role to deny Sudbury an opening, as play swung from end to end.

Taj Hussain, who has now signed for Southend Manor on a dual-registration basis, came on for Osman.

Leon McKenzie, who had replaced Ayrton Coley, sent a long ball out to Thompson on the right wing, and Thompson made one of his characteristic runs down the wing, before crossing into the middle, where McKenzie directed his header too close to goalkeeper Robinson.

There was a lengthy stoppage following an incident on the River Side of the ground, which ended with Thompson being booked, and play had scarcely restarted when Dylan Williams was shown a yellow card for an off-the-ball incident involving Alex Bentley.

Jamie Hursit replaced Abs Thompson, and Jed Chouman sent a free kick over the wall but wide of the goal as Hornchurch stepped up the pace.

Nathan Cooper was shown a yellow card, and a minute later Hornchurch took the lead with what proved to be the only goal of the match, when Ross Wall moved onto a long pass from the right, and weaved his way past a defender before gliding the ball into the net.

This proved to be the final scoring chance, as Sudbury were unable to set up any attacking moves, and in the final minute the referee dealt with another altercation, before showing a yellow card to Jack Newman.

Surprisingly there was only two minutes of stoppage time, but Sudbury could do little to prevent Hornchurch locking the play up in the left hand corner.