Hythe Town eventually broke down a stubborn Worthing United defence to win 3-0 to go through to the next round of the Emirates FA Cup on Saturday at Reachfields.
Hythe piled on the pressure but found it difficult to get the vital break through. In the first period they had numerous chances and dominated the play. They created the first opportunity on ten minutes as Kieron Campbell got the ball into Zak Ansah who miscued his attempt into the path of Charlie Webster who drove the ball over the bar.
A long range effort from Ansah followed but it went straight into the arms of the busy Worthing keeper and manager Matt Evans. Jack Sammoutis then had a free kick which he rolled to Ansah who fired wide. The chances kept coming with Campbell driving the ball from the left straight at Evans and then Nigel Neita pounced on a loose ball but his effort was deflected to be caught by Evans.
Sammoutis was then to have a free kick which looped just over the bar. Evans was on hand again to deny Campbell as he worked his way along the by-line and then another free-kick from Sammoutis was headed over by Chris Kinnear. Worthing had to wait until the 41st minute to threaten for the first time as Toby Funnell had a shot from the left easily held by Hythe keeper George Kamurasi who had a very quiet half.
The Cannons continued their domination at the start of the second half as Campbell played the ball onto Ansah but his effort was easily saved by Evans and then the same combination ended with Ansah heading the ball straight at the visiting keeper. Funnell was to have only the second effort on target for the visitors on 63 minutes as he hit a long range drive but Kamurasi saved easily.
The hosts had to wait until the 73rd minutes to breakdown the solid Worthing defence as Ansah got onto the ball and unleashed a shot that was buried into the net to give Hythe the lead. A second came only three minutes later as Jack Sammoutis got onto a loose ball and placed his shot in the corner of the net leaving Evans rooted to the spot.
Campbell ran onto a ball from Neita and unleashed a shot that was saved at full stretch but the third goal and Ansah’s second came nine minutes from time as a sublime lob from the edge of the area found its way into the net to make it 3-0. A neat one-two between Ryan Palmer and Webster followed with the former curling a shot wide and then the Cannons had a golden opportunity to put the icing on the cake as Neita got on the end of a Josh Stirman cross but he spooned the ball over from close range.
Hythe’s superiority told in the end but it was credit to the visitors that it took so long to seal the victory. The draw follows on Wednesday next week to find out who Hythe will face in the 1st Qualifying Round but before them they have to host Herne Bay in a league fixture on Monday with a 3pm kick-off.
Team: George Kamurasi, Salvyn Kisitu (Ryan Palmer 62 mins), Aziz Lyoubi, Chris Kinnear (Mitchell Chapman 84 mins), Nathan Daly, Mitchell Dickenson, Charlie Webster, Nigel Neita, Zak Ansah, Jack Sammoutis (Josh Stirman 84 mins), Keiron Campbell.
Scorers: Hythe Town – Zak Ansah 73 & 81 mins, Jack Sammoutis 76 mins
Attendance: 191