DEFLECTION LEAVES REBELS LOST

"THERE WILL BE hiccups along the way." That was the line from Worthing boss Alan Pook's matchday programme notes and the manager would have certainly been winded after his side's performance on Monday.
By The Newsroom
Published 2nd Sep 2004, 13:25 BST
Updated 8th Jun 2018, 01:19 BST

With the Worthing town carnival in full swing around a mile away, a rescheduled 3:30pm kick-off brought no celebrations at Woodside Road, thanks to a disciplined Hampton performance which was enough to take all three points.

Only two minutes had elapsed when Worthing full-back Ian Payne's slack pass presented Hampton forward Adrian Allen with a clean run on goal, only for the lively striker to blast over.

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In a first half, where the Rebels struggled to find any rhythm, the visitors were handed chance after chance from set-pieces as Worthing's over eagerness to get into the game resulted in a number of free kicks.

Hampton again nearly went ahead after 20 minutes when striker Michael Currie raced straight through but his attempted lob over advancing keeper Mark Ormerod sailed over.

Worthing's luck ran out on the half-hour when the visitors took the lead. Dean Wells' driven free-kick clipped Hampton skipper Jamie Jarois on the end of the Rebels wall, sending the ball past Ormerod's despairing dive.

Worthing's only chance of note fell to Shaun Grice a minute before the break when his header from a Brahim Elouhmani corner glanced wide.

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At half time Pook shuffled his pack moving to a 3-4-3 formation with versatile full-back Mark Knee moving to a striking position. Pook also removed Payne and sent on Chris Dicker in a second half re-jig which nearly paid immediate dividends, thanks to a succession of Rebel corners.

Knee rose well to one of these early set-pieces but his header was hacked off the line. As Rebels pushed forward Hampton were left to curse Ormerod who produced a fine stop with his legs to deny the visitors a second. Paul Rogers' introduction brought more fluidity to Worthing's game but they still struggled to create any goal scoring chances with only a late Nko Ekoku header going close.

WORTHING: Ormerod; Payne, Pullan, Lutwyche, Knee; Nabil, Ducille, Grice; Elouhmani, Ekoku, Ruggles: Subs: Dicker (Payne 45), Rogers (Ducille 62), Pulling (Ruggles 75). Att: 414.