Dean Inman's late header earns Hampton and Richmond a point on the road
By Joe Acklam
30th Jan 2023 | Football
Dean Inman's late header earned Hampton and Richmond a point on the road against Havant and Waterlooville.
The hosts dominated the first half, but a performance from Alan Julian which earned him a spot in the National League South team of the week kept them at bay.
James Roberts eventually did put Havant in front with a fine free-kick from range, but Inman headed home from a corner to earn a point for Hampton.
The late goal means that the Mel Gwinnett era begins with a draw, although the Beavers are now just one point outside of the drop zone.
After eight minutes a long ball over the top sent Sam Deadfield clean through on goal, but the flight of the ball deceived him and his scuffed effort rolled into the welcoming arms of Teddy Sharman-Lowe.
Hampton failed to clear a corner and Havant kept the pressure on as Ben Shroll worked the ball wide to Roberts, he steadied himself and looked to curl the ball into the far corner from the corner of the box, but the shot whistled wide of the post.
Havant then passed up a golden opportunity as Muhammadu Fall barrelled down the left and played a low cross in that found Roberts, but he took too long over the finish and his effort was smothered.
Fall went from almost provider to almost goal scorer shortly afterwards as he made another driving run from out wide to the top of the box and his dipping shot came back off the crossbar.
Havant continued to pepper the Beavers goal in the first half when Roberts stood up a cross to the back post where Paul Rooney met it with a powerful header which Julian did well to hold on to.
Havant finally broke through after 67 minutes when Roberts won a free-kick on the right side of the penalty area after a clumsy challenge from Luis Fernandez, the forward dusted himself down and whipped the resulting set piece into the far corner of the net.
This goal woke Hampton up and they could have levelled when Jake Gray's free-kick found Tommy Davis eight yards out, but his volley went straight at Sharman-Lowe.
With five minutes left on the clock it was another Gray set piece which got the Beavers back on terms as his floated corner found the storming run of Inman and his thunderbolt header flew into the net.
Havant still had a chance to win it when Roberts' floated cross came to Rooney in the middle, but his touch let him down and the ball rolled behind for a goal kick.
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