Hampton & Richmond 1 Hastings Utd 0
Written by Rob Overfield Hits: 1164
A combination of the heat and the first game of the season conspired to produce a match that never really got going. Both teams created few chances on goal but only Max Hustwick was able to convert his to give the Beavers a much needed opening day win, the club's first since the promotion season of 2006/07.
Early on, neither side really were able to make anything like a clear chance but on 35 minutes, Attwood forced a full length save from Rodney Chiweshe, which as the nearest the visitors came to troubling the goal in the first half.
With half time looming through the heat haze of the day - about 28C at kickoff - a free kick was awarded to the Beavers in the left hand corner. Simmonds' free kick was met at the back post by Max Hustwick, whose accurate header beat Armstrong-Ford in the Hastings goal.
After half time, Charlie Moone managed to miss an open net from a yard or so after Joe Benjamin had chased and won a seemingly lost cause in the corner, his cross saw Moone slide in to meet the cross but his slide was mis-timed and he could only just deflect the ball wide.
Hastings Utd held the upper hand for long periods and the Beavers appeared content to absorb the pressure and try and catch the U's on the break; with two minutes left, Jon-Jo Bates tried a speculative shot from the touchline, which had Armstrong-Ford scrambling to make the save.
As it was, but for some wildly inaccurate shooting, the visitors would have surely gathered an equaliser, and it took until stoppage time for them to actually make contact with the netting; unfortunately it was the outside of the side netting from Attwood's late free kick.
Chiweshe, Kamara, Jenkins (C), Hickey, Hustwick, Powell, Benjamin (Bates 73), Holloway, Moone, Simmonds (Turner 73), Johnson (Cousins 81)
Subs not used: Ciarder, Jeffreys
HRBFC 1
Hustwick 43
Hastings Utd 0
Att 269