Isthmian South Central 8 Feb 2025
South Park (Reigate) 1
- George Vincent (1’)
Hanworth Villa 0
Match Report
After a three-week hiatus, Hanworth Villa returned to action with a 1-0 defeat to South Park (Reigate) on a frustrating afternoon at Whitehall Lane.
After conceding inside 40 seconds, Villa’s attack struggled to break down South Park’s organised defence which meant we slipped to tenth in the league.
Villa, on 43 points after 26 games played, now trail fifth-placed Hartley Wintney by five points, although all teams from sixth to ninth have played extra games.
Three points for South Park meant they leapfrogged Sutton Common Rovers and Guernsey to 18th place, escaping the relegation zone.
Manager Simon Haughney admitted the three-week break was a factor in an underwhelming performance.
He said: “We did look very rusty, we’re not making 10 yard passes count. The effort was definitely there and we tried to get back into the game.
“We tried Rayan (in the #10 role) which did not work as he prefers to see the ball opposed to back to goal. When Dunny (Shane Dunne) went in there that changed and that’s something I learnt today. I thought he had better composure on the ball.
“Fair play to South Park they defended stoutly. I thought they came out like a steam train and they’ve done well to hang on.”
With captain George Wells ruled out of this fixture, Haughney handed a debut to new centre-back Joe Peters, while Finlay Macnab made a much-anticipated return from injury.
Playing for the first time in three weeks, Villa naturally had to shake off some rust and we were duly punished in the opening minute.
After just 39 seconds, South Park took the lead after George Vincent tucked a cutback into the bottom corner following Peters’ miscued clearance.
Villa could well have been two goals down 15 minutes later, but an unmarked Bobby Mills curled his effort wide from a pinpoint cutback.
Villa’s best chance came on the stroke of half-time, after a long free-kick was flicked towards the edge of the six-yard box.
Manny Parry reacted quickest to power a header on target, but goalkeeper Danny Bracken was well positioned to smother the ball.
There were other moments in the first half when Villa threatened, Abdullah Javaid having had two penalty claims denied, but Haughney’s men struggled to create clear cut opportunities.
It was the same story in the second half, as South Park’s defence held firm and limited us to half chances.
Sam Merson’s long throws briefly caused problems, but the home side thwarted any danger with a series of blocked shots.
Villa had another two penalty appeals for handball past the hour mark, but the referee was not interested.
Haughney introduced KJ Osu and Quincy Patterson after the hour mark, but left his final three substitutes till stoppage time.
Haughney added: “I just thought we had so much momentum. Set piece after set piece. Sometimes when you start tinkering around you can lose that momentum.”
Dylan Randall was one player thrown on after stoppage time, and will need some time to build up his match fitness before starting games.
About new signing Peters, Haughney said: “I thought he showed immense character, he’s just coming to the group. His clearance should have been better for the first goal but he what I like is he stuck his hand straight up.
“He’s accepted that he was a part to play in that goal but after that he was possibly one of our best players on the pitch.”
Villa will host Leatherhead in a rearranged fixture on Tuesday, before playing another home game against Westfield next Saturday.
Haughney added: “I’m not going to make the excuse of missing games because we had a real injury crisis for a run of games and the weather actually saved us for a couple of weeks.
“I’m sure the more we play, we will get better. We still got 16 games to go and I said to the boys as long as we bounce back, we’ll be fine.
“What we can’t do is have three of four defeats and start feeling sorry for ourselves. Big game on Tuesday against Leatherhead and we’re really looking forward to it.”
