Gate Held To A Point At HDP

Margate had to settle for a point as they were held to a goal less draw against AFC Hornchurch at a rainy Hartsdown Park on Tuesday evening.

It proved to be a dominant display from The Gate but it was the visitors who started brightly with Louis Wells called upon early on to produce a good block to deny Urchins frontman, George Purcell.

As the half wore on, Margate began to gain a stronger grip on the game and carved their first opportunity when Jordy Robins’ pinpoint pass found George Brown on the right-hand side, the young winger whipping in a ball which Alex Flisher headed just over the crossbar.

Frannie Collin came close with a set-piece delivery minutes later, a testing ball mixed with equally testing conditions, causing mayhem in the Hornchurch box but the visitors were eventually able to clear their lines.

Soon after, Tom Murphy produced a plucky shot from distance which was smartly pushed wide by Chafer in the AFC Hornchurch goal.

Whilst enjoying the majority of time on the ball, The Gate had to be alert when Nana Boakye-Yiadom’s run towards goal resulted in a blocked shot by Wells. The deflected effort was headed goal bound until a fantastic goal-clearance from Jack Paxman.

Chafer produced a number of smart saves before AFC Hornchurch had the crossbar to thank for denying their hosts, as Collin’s right footed screamer smashed the post before being cleared.

A golden opportunity was created before the stroke of half-time when a Flisher throw was guided into the box by Murphy and into the path of captain Liam Friend whose header went over.

The second half begun in similar vein to the first, as Margate continued to ask questions of their opponents, Collin with another free-kick saw his effort skim just wide.

As the weather continued to deteriorate, Margate enjoyed their own slice of luck when a slippery, scooped pick-up by Wells almost trickled over the line.

Margate continued to press for an opening goal as Brown continued to impress down the wing and touched the post with a delightful strike on the edge of the box.

Connor Dymond linked with Brown minutes later as the Colchester loan-ee lofted a cross into the penalty area. Well positioned, Flisher managed to make powerful contact on the volley but his shot went over yards from goal.

Chafer produced another sublime save when Flisher and Collin combined again and the AFC Hornchurch shot-stopper was on hand to deny Flish once more.

Liam King was called upon to make his debut for the club and was involved with another attacking move linking with Collin whose smart run beat the Hornchurch defence, enabling time and space to deliver a great cross which found Dave Martin at the back post.

It was almost a fairy tale return to Hartsdown Park for Martin but his volley missed the target.

In the end, Hornchurch weathered the storm over an entertaining 90 minutes. The Gate extend their unbeaten run in the Bostik League to three games, as attention turns to the final home fixture of 2018, scheduled to take place against Whitehawk on Saturday 22nd December.

Margate: Wells, Paxman, Mills, Dymond, Friend ©, Swift, Brown (King), Robins, Flisher, Collin, Murphy (Martin)

Subs: Kallameire, Barnard

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