York Road curse strikes again (13.03.04)

THE York Road curse struck again on Saturday, as United were well beaten by a straightforward but highly effective Thurrock side.
The visitors had the ball in the net with less than 60 seconds on the clock, as Steve Heffer headed home from close range, only to have his effort slightly controversially ruled out for offside.
However, it took only another five minutes for Thurrock to expose the Magpies’ ineffectual defence once again, as the troublesome Simon Martin easily beat the offside trap before sliding the ball past Phil Wilson.
The visitors very nearly doubled their lead five minutes later, when Martin let fly with a snap shot from the edge of the box, which required a smart save from Wilson.
Tresor Kandor was then guilty of a dreadful miss from the edge of United’s six yard box, as he sent an unopposed header just wide of the upright.
United appeared to be heading for a hammering until, on 23 minutes, the speedy Rob Martin accelerated past his marker and fired a low ball into the box.
With two defenders and the keeper to beat, Luke Costello somehow got the final touch and bundled home the equaliser.
United actually played quite well after this, with Martin and Ben Hammond causing problems down the right, while Rob Haworth and Danny Bolt began making penetrating runs through the middle.
However, the Magpies’ revival was cut short on 34 minutes, when Kandol rose unopposed to head a Dave Collis free-kick into the top corner, as the defence stood watching.
The game was effectively ended nine minutes into the second half, when Cliff Akurang pounced on a rebound and smashed the ball home from the edge of the six-yard box. United briefly raised their game to put some pressure on the Thurrock goal.
But, as the missed chances mounted, the Magpies gradually became more and more dispirited.
In one last desperate throw of the dice, John Dreyer introduced Martyn Lee and Joe Flack to the fray, only to see his side slip further behind to a Terry Bowes solo effort on 79 minutes.
With the game in injury time, Kandol produced one more talking point, when he tangled with Brendan Gallen off the ball and left the defender lying on the floor clutching his face.
Unfortunately, none of the officials saw the incident, leading to a bad tempered final few minutes of play.

AERIAL BARRAGE: United’s goal-scorer Luke Costello gets back to defend during Saturday’s disappointing 4-1 defeat to high-flying Thurrock. Ref:84755/11.