A very wet and windy week haas culminated in me visiting the Len Salmon Stadium, home of Hashtag United of the Isthmian Premier League, for their home fixture against Hastings United.

The fixture promised some fireworks on this bonfire weekend, as both teams are separated by one place, with Hastings United eleventh with 17 points from 12 matches and Hashtag United in twelfth, with 16 points from the same number of matches.

Hastings United recently changed manager, sacking Paul Barnes early into his tenure before taking on Chris Agutter only a week ago. Hastings have seen most of their goals come this season from the boots of David Rodari (8 goals) and Femi Akinwande (8 goals), neither of whom figured in the squad today.

Hashtag United, managed by Jay Devereux, have found goals harder to come by, with their top scorers, to date, being Misha Djemaili (4 goals) and Alfie Cue and Greg Halford (both 3 goals).

The Len Salmon Stadium is also home to Bowers & Pitsea of the Isthmian League South East Division. It has a capacity of 3500 with seating for 500.

The ground benefits from floodlighting and a 3G pitch. It has a main stand and clubhouse with covered standing behind both goals. There are two smaller pitchside covered and seated stands, as well as a refreshment stand (Bower Burgers) and good car parking.

The game opened up with heavy Hashtag United pressure, mostly led down the left hand side of the attack, through the dangerous Hassan. In the 26th minute it was, however, the away side who went ahead, with a headed finish by Jason Fregene from a long throw in.

Within a minute Hashtag United were level with a fine shot from range, by Misha Djemaili catching me out with my filming and the Hastings United Goalkeeper, Charlie Grainger, in his goal, to make it 1-1.

The half saw attacking opportunities for both sides but at the break the game was fairly tied at 1-1.

The second half saw both teams testing each other out with forays towards the opposition goals. On 49 minutes Hastings United went ahead when John Ufuah crossed for Tayo Oyebola to slot the ball home, making the score 1-2.

This prompted Hashtag United to camp in the Hastings United half, as they tried to preserve the unbeaten spell, that had made the Len Salmon Stadium a fortress since April 2022.

As the full time whistle went it was Hastings Hnited whose players and fans celebrated, with a crucial win for new manager, Chris Agutter.

Hashtag United will clearly pose problems for many teams at this level and looked really creative going forward. The day was made extra special for me as my Uncle and cousin were randomly attending today and we had a surprise and chance encounter!