Sekajja worked, yes, but he is very much in the minority of strikers who've been able to consistently score for us.
Sekajja didn't actually score many goals until the final few weeks of last season, I think he had 6 in 30+ appearances until he got eleven in his last twelve starts. But he was a very quick and mobile forward with a lot of stamina who worked the flanks and would pull defenders with him to leave more space for others. Boakye-Yiadom is similar in some respects, but younger and less technically polished. I've no idea where Sekajja is right now - all his online profiles have us down as his current or last club. I thought he was a bit impatient putting himself around for trials, no doubt at the prompting of an agent. If you're good enough clubs will come looking for you - had he stayed with us and maintained his form from the end of last season I'm sure bigger clubs or Sutton would have been queueing up to give him a chance by the mid-season transfer window, like the two Hampton forwards Jamal Lowe & Nicke Kabamba who got picked up by Portsmouth last January.
I thought they were a tidy team who played with confidence and put together some good moves. They certainly didn't look like a team a division below us: whether that's down to us being crap or them being good depends on your point of view, I guess.
They had some decent players who wouldn't look out of place in the Premier Division, played neat football, and looked a better (or at least more confident) team than Tooting for a start, whereas Hamlet's performance for at least the first 45 minutes was very lacklustre. We reverted to the same team and formation as at Leiston other than Beaney for Carew in a straight swap, so Clunis was shunted out to the left of a front three with Ferguson on the right.
Hamlet had plenty of possession as always but did very little of note with it until the final quarter of the match, while Hastings had a number of shots on target albeit from distance and without really testing our keeper. The first really good goal attempt of the match led to the visitors taking the lead when an absolute screamer from just outside the box, rising and swerving, was brilliantly tipped over by Edwards only for the resultant corner to unlock our defence as the ball scrambled into the net at the far post.
Their busy centre forward had proved a handful for Hayles, who was maybe fortunate to get the benefit of the doubt on more than one occasion for challenges of dubious legality. We made an attacking change at the interval with Boakye-Yiadom replacing Hayles, Ming into the back three outside Weatherstone, Clunis to right wing-back and Ferguson tucking in behind the front two. It was really only after Carew & Faal came on midway through the half that we began to look capable of fighting our way back for at least a draw. A low shot from Carew tipped around the far post was our first decent effort on target as far as I recall. Then Faal worked a shooting opportunity for himself on the edge of the box, the keeper parried, and Boakye-Yiadom pounced hungrily to tuck away the rebound. The game seemed to be heading for a replay until the final minute when a passing move in the right hand corner resulted in Boakye-Yiadom being released into the box where he wriggled past a defender and shot low into the net via the inside of the far post. Then, shortly after four minutes of added time had been indicated Boakye-Yiadom surged forward through the middle and attempted to slip a pass outside to Faal only for a defender to inadvertently play the ball straight back to him and leave him with a clear run at an exposed keeper, whom he beat with aplomb.
Whilst the late goals may appear to flatter us, I think it also emphasises how difficult it is to defend indefinitely against a side that has a lot of possession (as we do) and moves the ball relentlessly from one side of the field to the other and back again, probing for openings and waiting for the right moment to thrust forward, without losing your shape or leaving little gaps that can be exploited. In the first half either we weren't playing that game at a high enough tempo, or Hastings had the energy to close us down and negate us, but they couldn't sustain it for the entire duration of the match.
Team (3-4-3): Edwards - Weatherstone, Hayles, Chambers - Ming, Kargbo, Beaney(c), Shaw - Ferguson, Dumaka, Clunis. Subs: Boakye-Yiadom (for Hayles), Faal (for Dumaka), Carew (for Ferguson), James, Onovwigun, Mohamed (not used).
