“Not good enough?”

Relegation is the threat that still haunts the Pilot Field. After United’s defeat to Leiston on Saturday (16 March) and with the lower ranked Thurrock winning  against Wingate and Finchley last weekend and drawing mid-week with high-flying Concord Rangers,  United is pushed into the drop zone, three points from safety, writes HOT’s Liam Willis.

Hastings United Player Manager Sean Ray described Saturday’s action against Leiston as “not good enough for the first hour”. As I explained in my report, the Hastings United squad did not start to fight for the game until the realisation kicked in that a defeat was imminent –  too late!  In an interview with the local newspaper after the game,  Sean Ray said, if the squad had played like that for the whole game, he was confident that United could have got something from it.

Tuesday night’s postponement of the home match against Harrow Borough keeps the games totting up for United, with having more games to play than available days to play them. Ray has requested a season extension, which is an extreme measure.

United have 14 games left this season, potentially 15.  The 13 league games  are all vital and the Sussex Senior Cup Semi-Final against Bognor Regis Town next month a face-saver. United’s busiest week comes in the first week of April.  Four difficult games in one week are in the offing, one against Lewes away on Saturday  30 March, league-leaders Whitehawk at home on Monday 1 April, the semi-final against Bognor Regis Town at Lancing FC on Wednesday 3 April and away to Bognor Regis Town again on the Saturday 6 April.

Never has your support been so vital for your home club. Come down, get behind your local team and give them the lift that they need! This season’s FA Cup run brought the most memorable moments, but no one can forget this as league survival is more important for anyone at this stage of the season.

Only two teams are relegated at the end of this season from the Ryman Premier League. The teams placed  21 and 22 in the table will be relegated and sitting presently in those places are Hastings United and Carshalton Athletic. The league table as of 18 March is shown above.

Saturday 23 March is a very important day for United. United visit East Thurrock – a good run of form has seen them move up to mid-table. Only 17 points separate United in 21st place with East Thurrock in joint 9th place with Kingstonian. Each game we lose, makes the following game a must-win.  Never has your support been needed more. The remaining fixtures are shown below:

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