Uxbridge’s own version of dry January came to an end with a chastening defeat at fellow play-off hopefuls Hartley Wintney on Saturday, this being their fourth match without a win since the victory over Kingstonian at the end of December. ‘The Row’ were fully deserving of the win, and with an aggregate score of 9-1 in favour of the Hampshire side this season, The Reds will be glad to see the back of both the month and their opponent.
The game started slowly with neither side creating too many openings, Jonathan Hippolyte had a half chance on 7 minutes but his low shot was straight at home keeper Nick Jupp. One minute later came a good chance for the home side, but Seb Karczewski’s free header went well over the bar. The half wore on and the hard-working Hartley Wintney side began to exert themselves on the match, taking the lead on 26 minutes. A cross from the right by Ellis Osborn was not dealt with by the Uxbridge defence, and Calvin Camara was on hand to tuck the ball away. On 32 minutes an Uxbridge freek-kick appeared to strike the hand of a defender in the box, however the officials waved away the protests, this decision was to haunt The Reds, as a few minutes later the home side were awarded a spot kick of their own, when CJ Fearn was adjudged to have impeded the attacker - there were no appeals from the home side, and the decision seemed to baffle all of the 347 in attendance. George Winser made no mistake from the spot, to leave Uxbridge facing a mountain to climb.
HT 0-2
Any hopes of a comeback were quickly extinguished early in the second half, on 55 minutes the ball was lost in Midfield and was picked up by Charlie Pastance who advanced to the edge of the box and then curled a fine shot into the far corner leaving George Legg with no chance. Barely two minutes later it was four, as a poor backpass was seized upon by Camara and he rounded Legg to square to Winser who duly despatched the ball into an empty net. It should have been five on the hour but a combination of last ditch defending a great block from Legg, kept the score to just four. With the game won The Row sat back on their lead and Uxbridge did finally start to create some chances. Josh Addae put in a fine cross on 69 minutes, which defender Ross Stepney skewed the clearance onto his own post, and then saw the ball cleared. One minute later substitute Andrio Brandao thought he had scored from close range, but was adjudged to be offside. Soon after Hippolyte broke clear, but keeper Jupp was able to get out quickly and smother the chance as the striker tried to go round him. The home side continued to terrorise The Reds defence though and only a superb save from Legg from Postance’s header on 72 minutes kept the score down. It was five however on 80 minutes when Hartley Wintney earned a second - less contentious - penalty for a foul in the box. Winser stepped up confidently to dispatch the kick for his hat-trick. There was time for a first goal in Uxbridge colours for Hippolyte in stoppage time, as a ball over the top caused some hesitation in the home side’s defence and the former Hayes & Yeading man nipped in between the 2 defenders for something of a consolation goal.
All in the ground were then treated to an incredible sunset, which we all hope is not a metaphor for Uxbridge's play-off hopes - and the visit of in-form Moneyfields to Honeycroft next week will be a big test indeed.
FT 1-5
Att 347
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