Heath Exit Vase Against Organised Holmesdale
Following their disappointing result against Newhaven, the Heath had a chance to pick themselves up again against Kent side Holmesdale FC in the FA Vase.
The Blues travelled with a light squad, with various injuries piling up it meant they travelled with just 12 fit senior players – 3 under 18’s featuring on the bench, the familiar Oscar Kemp alongside Liam Deere and Frankie Osborne.
The Hosts took a very early lead, just 4 minutes in breaking down the left flank on the counter-attack following a Heath corner and applying the clinical touch to give the Heath an early setback. Things went from bad to worse for the visitors, when a free kick out wide was delivered into the box, finding its way through all the players in the box and nestling in the far corner, doubling Holmesdale’s lead inside 20 minutes.
Despite coming close on a few occasions in the first half, the Blues entered the changing rooms with a mountain to climb in the second 45. A bit of Hayden Skerry magic halved the deficit in the 57th minute, the winger out on the right taking on his man and drifting inside to find space for the shot which found the near bottom corner.
Heath’s foot back in the game was short-lived however, as Holmesdale were awarded a penalty just a few minutes later, Alfie Jones diving the right way but it was too well placed for Heath number 1 to make the save.
Charlie Pitcher had the ball in the back of the net with 15 minutes to go, Skerry’s shot parried to the striker who tapped home but the linesman’s flag was up straight away and the Blues remained behind by 2 goals. Late in the game, both teams grew frustrated, with fouls and yellow cards for both teams, and deep into injury time the Heath had to finish the game with 10 men, Skerry’s protests against a foul resulted in a yellow card and a sin bin. The full-time whistle brought Heath’s FA Vase dream to an end, with their re-arranged league match with Peacehaven & Telcombe on Tuesday night, they hope to right their wrongs and pick up a much-needed 3 points.