Sussex Athletic 2–0 Hitchin Athletic: the basement escape

Match report

Look, I’ll be straight with you: for sixty minutes on Thursday 6 August, this was a match for people who find paint-drying a bit too frantic. It was a stale, joyless affair that looked destined to end in another stalemate, which would have suited Hitchin Athletic just fine given their current obsession with the draw.

So here's the thing: Sussex Athletic have been out of sorts lately, floating near the bottom of the table with a general vibe of misplaced hope. But they managed to find a gear in the second half that Hitchin simply didn't possess.

The deadlock finally snapped in the 61st minute. Mateusz Kowalski, who has been a bit of a nuisance for opposition defences this week, found a way through in open play to make it 1-0. It wasn't a goal of profound beauty, but it was a goal that effectively broke the spirit of a Hitchin side that had spent an hour doing absolutely nothing of note.

The match was well and truly killed in the 81st minute when Bautista Carrasco-Páez converted. Carrasco-Páez has been all over the place recently, scoring and assisting with a sort of chaotic regularity, and this second goal ensured Sussex could stop sweating. It was the kind of clinical finish that makes a manager look like a genius for ninety minutes, even if the rest of the game was largely a slog.

Honestly, I reckon Hitchin will tell themselves they were just one moment away from a point, but the reality is they were outclassed when it mattered. Sussex take the three points and climb away from the basement, while Hitchin are left to wonder why they can't actually win a game.

There is very little time to reset before Matchday 13 tomorrow.