Hastings United with impressive triumph over Whitehawk in FA Trophy replay.

Trailing to Kacper Lopata’s close-range finish, scored toward the end of the first-half, United responded by dominating the second-half and were rewarded by two excellent Davide Rodari goals. Victory sets up a trip to Weymouth for the third qualifying round. As inclined to do, United manager, Chris Agutter again put faith in his crop of talented young players. Compared to a full-strength Whitehawk, United showed seven changes with only four of Saturday’s team retained in their starting line-up. With the early evening showers having cleared, and a full moon adding to the floodlights, the game began in near-perfect conditions. Within minutes, Rodari demonstrated how much of a thorn in the side he intended to be to Whitehawk’s defence. Sprinting after a short back-pass, only James Broadbent’s dash from his line cleared the danger. Shortly after, James Pool cut out a Whitehawk clearance to give Rodari a shooting opportunity. Only a great save by Broadbent diverting the ball over the bar with his fist kept the game scoreless in the early exchanges. The next chance also fell to Rodari. After being fouled in the centre-circle the freekick made its way into his feet. A smart turn and shot was saved low down and hurriedly hacked clear by a defender. Midway through the first-half Whitehawk took a foothold in the game. Winger Dave Martin and fullback Luke Emberson combined down the right and though the initial cross missed everyone, the inviting cross from the opposite wing saw Connor Tighe kick fresh-air in the six-yard box. Tighe though remained involved, first blasting over after a swift counter-attack, before going much closer with a shot from the edge of the area, just a foot above the crossbar. A long delay followed. An accidental coming together left United’s Ollie Weeks flat on his back, suffering a bad shoulder injury which forced him off. When the game restarted United seemed distracted and Whitehawk won a series of corners. United cleared each of them until the fourth was flicked on and hit home at the far post by Lopata to give Whitehawk the lead. Half-time: Whitehawk 1 – 0 Hastings United United began the second-half brightly, Ryan Worrall setting the tempo with some neat interplay in the centre-circle. Their positive intentions soon came to fruition. Pool picked up a loose ball in midfield and sent Kenny Pogue away down the left with a lovely weighted pass. Pogue clipped a first-time ball into the area which Rodari buried from eight yards. Three players, three touches, from half-way to goal, stunning in its simplicity. United level after 50 minutes. Almost immediately Rodari nearly repaid the favour. Holding the ball up for Pogue to hit a shot from 20 yards which almost caught the keeper out. United were in charge now. Jake Elliott and Leon Greig (on for Ollie Weeks) exchanged passes for Tom Chalmers to cross from the by-line. This was desperately cleared by a defender for a corner despite Broadbent being in a good position to gather. Worrall’s corner was headed over by Pogue. Unlike the first-half, at the midway point of this half United underlined their control. Elliott set off on a strong run, past three men and all the way into the Whitehawk area. His pull-back was accurately slammed into the far corner by the arriving Rodari from just inside the area. A great run and a superb first-time finish again to the delight of the United supporters behind the goal. Whitehawk continued to play some good football but without creating any chances. An attempted overhead kick by Duane Ofori-Acheampong their only noteworthy effort. With fifteen minutes remaining, the impressive Greig ran onto another Pool through ball and was bearing down on goal when pushed over on the edge of the area by Martin. The foul earned him a yellow card which could easily have been red. Rodari, with the chance of a hat-trick, fired the resulting free-kick narrowly wide of the top corner. With time running out Whitehawk threw bodies forward. A cross to the far post was prodded back into the six-yard box for Ofori-Acheampong who, with the goal gaping, could only divert the ball over the bar. Relief for United but overall a fair return for their performance. Notably, Louis Rogers did not have to make a save in the second-half. The referee’s final whistle, which followed the subsequent goal-kick, was the cue for United’s players, management and fans to begin celebrating a fantastic victory. Full-time: Whitehawk 1 – 2 Hastings United Hastings United: Rogers, Black, Hull, Weeks (39’ Greig), Elliott, Rodari, Chalmers (73’ Ajakaiye), Pogue (81’ Azeez), Worrall, Pool, Lovatt Unused subs: Clarke, Pope, Dixon, Clark Whitehawk: Broadbent, Emberson, Banya, Kissock, Lopata, Hamilton, Muggeridge, Ovenden (87’ Rogers), Ofori-Acheampong, Tighe, Martin (80’ Rodrigues) Unused subs: Walsh, Campbell, Deda, Torres, Unwin) Attendance: 157 Next game: Saturday 16th at home to Phoenix Sports in the league, kick-off 3pm.