The closure of the M26 and M20 made the journey to Margate a tedious one, but honours were shared in a game which could have gone either way. We hit the bar twice in the second half, but Elliott Buchanan had a chance to net the winner in injury time, only to shoot well wide and perhaps a draw was a fair resuIt. It was our first-ever visit to the wide open spaces of Hartsdown Park, the feeling of spaciousness being enhanced by the fact that there was no cover on two sides of the ground, but an enthusiastic home crowd of well over 600 ensured a lively atmosphere.
Scott Donnellly shot wide following an early Margate corner, whilst Nat Jarvis was off target when out through by James Clark as we began to look dangerous and it was no surprise when Stefan Brown scored after 17 minutes, finishing off a good move with a clinical finish to give us a deserved lead. Michael Thalassistis mis-kicked completely when Luke Moore had opened up our defence, but our defence dealt fairly easily with the home forwards.
Margate came out for the second half in a determined mood and put us under pressure, scoring after 53 minutes when Buchanan en an unstoppable 25-yard free-kick which gave George Legg no chance.
The game was fairly even thereafter but we were unlucky when Luke Williams hit the underside of the bar,and the ball bounced down and was hammered away. James Clark’s shot was blocked and he then struck the bar as we strove for the winner, but although we brought on all three subs, giving Louis McGrory his first chance in a Hungerford shirt, we were unable to break through again and almost paid the penalty when Buchanan shot wide in injury time as the home side threatened to snatch the winner .
Team;Legg, Tyler, John,Jones, Day, Williams,Clark(McGrory),Herring, Jarvis,Brown(Goodger), Preen(Bignall). Suibs; Rusby, Shorey.