by Oliver Birch - Sports Editor
The University of Brighton's Hastings Campus kicked off their second campaign in the BUCS league with a comprehensive 4-1 victory away at Roehamption University.
The new look Panthers side gelled instantly after a limited pre season, and produced a solid all round performance on their first outing of the season.
Following a two hour coach journey, the away side had little time to warm up, and were forced to weather an early storm from the home side. However Hastings soon settled into the game and started to dictate the play, with little troubling the Panthers defence early on.
Just after the twenty minute mark, the away sides pressure paid off. Left back Arnold Xhikola won the ball just inside the Hastings half, before clipping the ball over the home sides defence for striker Brian Maka. The Panthers striker brought the ball down well before slotting Sam Willett through one-on-one with the Roehamton keeper, and the midfielder produced a composed finish to put the away side 1-0 up.
Ten minutes later Willett doubled the Panthers' lead and grabbed his second of the game. Strong work from man of the match, Callum Moriarty, just outside the Hastings area set winger Mustapha Gray free down the right hand side. Gray, who ran the home sides left back ragged all game, breezed past him once again before crossing for Willett, who produced another cool finish two put the away side 2-0 up.
Hastings' defensive line went relatively untroubled for the rest of the first half, as the Panthers comfortably saw their lead out to half time. Roehamton started the second half quickly, looking to overturn the two goal deficit, but the Panthers' defensive shape held firm.
Skipper Oliver Birch, Darcy Hollis, Ryan Taylor and Xhikola built a solid partnership at the back, giving 'keeper Matt Milne very little to deal with. And it wasn't long until defence turned to attack for the Panthers' third goal. Panny Artemiou and Moriarty won the ball in midfield before Artemiou played winger Dan King in on the left hand side. King skipped past the Roehampton defence to the byeline before clipping the ball back to Willett on the edge of the area. The Hastings midfielder watched the ball drop onto his foot before unleashing a venomous volley in search of his hat-trick. Roehamton's keeper managed to get fingertips to the ball before fumbling in the six yard box. King pounced on the rebound before the home sides keeper produced another save, only for Maka to react first on the rebound and stab the ball home.
The away side took control of the game once again and looked set to take the three points back to the coast.
And with just twenty minutes left, King made it four with a moment of ingenuity:
The Roehamton keeper stopped the ball from crossing the line for a Hastings corner, before rolling the ball out in his six yard box. King was alert to the confusion in the home sides defence and passed the ball into the net to put the result beyond any doubt.
The home side pulled one back through a free kick with five minutes remaining, wrong-footing the Panthers keeper, before Milne quickly made up for it by saving a last minute penalty to keep the score at 4-1. The away side almost made it five with the last kick of the game, but King's shot skimmed the crossbar before the referee blew the final whistle. Hastings travel back to the south coast with three points and a cup fixture against The University of Creative Arts hoping to build on their quarter final cup run last season.
The new look Panthers side gelled instantly after a limited pre season, and produced a solid all round performance on their first outing of the season.
Following a two hour coach journey, the away side had little time to warm up, and were forced to weather an early storm from the home side. However Hastings soon settled into the game and started to dictate the play, with little troubling the Panthers defence early on.
Just after the twenty minute mark, the away sides pressure paid off. Left back Arnold Xhikola won the ball just inside the Hastings half, before clipping the ball over the home sides defence for striker Brian Maka. The Panthers striker brought the ball down well before slotting Sam Willett through one-on-one with the Roehamton keeper, and the midfielder produced a composed finish to put the away side 1-0 up.
Ten minutes later Willett doubled the Panthers' lead and grabbed his second of the game. Strong work from man of the match, Callum Moriarty, just outside the Hastings area set winger Mustapha Gray free down the right hand side. Gray, who ran the home sides left back ragged all game, breezed past him once again before crossing for Willett, who produced another cool finish two put the away side 2-0 up.
Hastings' defensive line went relatively untroubled for the rest of the first half, as the Panthers comfortably saw their lead out to half time. Roehamton started the second half quickly, looking to overturn the two goal deficit, but the Panthers' defensive shape held firm.
Skipper Oliver Birch, Darcy Hollis, Ryan Taylor and Xhikola built a solid partnership at the back, giving 'keeper Matt Milne very little to deal with. And it wasn't long until defence turned to attack for the Panthers' third goal. Panny Artemiou and Moriarty won the ball in midfield before Artemiou played winger Dan King in on the left hand side. King skipped past the Roehampton defence to the byeline before clipping the ball back to Willett on the edge of the area. The Hastings midfielder watched the ball drop onto his foot before unleashing a venomous volley in search of his hat-trick. Roehamton's keeper managed to get fingertips to the ball before fumbling in the six yard box. King pounced on the rebound before the home sides keeper produced another save, only for Maka to react first on the rebound and stab the ball home.
The away side took control of the game once again and looked set to take the three points back to the coast.
And with just twenty minutes left, King made it four with a moment of ingenuity:
The Roehamton keeper stopped the ball from crossing the line for a Hastings corner, before rolling the ball out in his six yard box. King was alert to the confusion in the home sides defence and passed the ball into the net to put the result beyond any doubt.
The home side pulled one back through a free kick with five minutes remaining, wrong-footing the Panthers keeper, before Milne quickly made up for it by saving a last minute penalty to keep the score at 4-1. The away side almost made it five with the last kick of the game, but King's shot skimmed the crossbar before the referee blew the final whistle. Hastings travel back to the south coast with three points and a cup fixture against The University of Creative Arts hoping to build on their quarter final cup run last season.