Ten man City suffer Urchins home defeat

City suffered a first home defeat under the stewardship of Darren Way against Hornchurch this afternoon. A second half double by McQueen, either side of a red card for Jordan Alves, secured the points for the Urchins.

City suffered an early blow when Alex Fisher, back in the starting XI to counter the physically imposing visitors, suffered a nasty looking head injury and had to be replaced by Scott Wilson after just nine minutes. Despite this City enjoyed the better of a low-key first half. A goalmouth scramble on 15 minutes saw Wilson’s eventual shot blocked then just past the half-hour mark Ewan Clark’s 20-yard shot was pushed away by keeper Terry. Hornchurch began to pose a greater attacking threat toward the end of the half but Harvey Wiles-Richards confidently dealt with several dangerous balls into the box. They were fortunate not to go down to ten men in first half stoppage time when Phillips’ knee to Joe Raynes head was adjudged only worthy of a booking.

The pattern of the game changed little after the break but on 57 minutes Hornchurch broke the deadlock through McQueen’s hooked volley which flew past Wiles-Richards. City’s hopes of a comeback were dealt a further setback in the 75th minute when substitute Jordan Alves saw a straight red card for kicking out Wraight. City didn’t allow their numerical disadvantage to deter them and pressed for an equaliser, Kieran Parselle seeing his 79th minute header tipped over the bar by Terry. Five minutes later a strong fun by Jesse Nwabueze saw him bundled over in the box but the referee waved away the penalty appeals. And in stoppage time the Urchins added a second as Scannell crossed for McQueen to net from eight yards.