Poland may have abolished their monarchy in 1918, but the Magpies faithful serenaded their own Polish King on Saturday as a brace from Olaf Koszela saw Dorchester defeat Hungerford, overcoming both a numerical disadvantage and the weather with a whirlwind performance against the backdrop of Storm Darragh and its fierce weather conditions.
On a weekend where only two league fixtures went ahead due to a combination of the weather and the FA Trophy, Tommy Killick's men knew they had the chance to climb back into the playoff spots with a victory, and Killick made four changes to his starting XI from last weekend's draw at Wimborne. Ieuan Turner, Wes Fogden and Ollie Haste all came into the side, as did Harry Hutchinson who made his first start since his successful loan spell at divisional rivals, Winchester. Marcus Daws and Matt Buse dropped to the bench, Will Spetch and Tom Bragg were both suspended following their red cards seven days earlier.
With strong winds swirling, the Magpies attacked the Tesco end in the first half, but there was little to separate the sides in the opening exchanges. The first incident of note came after 17 minutes when Hungerford thought they had taken the lead as Rhys Tyler's shot from the edge of the area was deflected in off of the back of his teammate, Kyle Tooze. The Crusader's celebrations were short-lived though as the assistant's raised flag saw the goal ruled out for offside. Five minutes later and it was the Magpies who went close as Luke Pardoe was fed the ball by Koszela, but Pardoe's rising effort found the KFC carpark and not the top corner. Both sides seemed tentative and struggled at times with the conditions, but as the game approached the half-hour mark, it burst into life.
27 minutes were on the clock when the Crusader's skipper, Tyler, attempted to shield the ball in the corner from Hutchinson, but Tyler was unaware of Wes Fogden, who was able to steal possession at the byline. Hutchinson's excellent cutback was met by a perfectly timed run from the advancing Pardoe, and he swept a left footed effort into the top corner to notch his third of the season and break the deadlock. The lead would only last for three minutes though as Hungerford soon equalised, although it was not without controversy.
As a loose ball broke into the Dorchester box, Ollie Haste went to ground for a crunching tackle on Elis Watts, and although he won the ball first, the follow through seemed to be what caught the eye of referee, Paul Barber, who had no hesitation in producing a red card for Haste, and awarding a penalty. A penalty that was converted by Louis McGrory, who slammed the ball high to the left of Gerard Benfield. Things went from bad to worse for the Magpies two minutes later as Hungerford took the lead. A swift move down the Hungerford right saw Tooze's pass slammed past Benfield's outstretched arm and into the far corner by Alefe Santos. The Magpies were denied a penalty of their own on the stroke of halftime as Shaquille Gwengwe went down as he tried to get on the end of Pardoe's through ball, but his protests were for nought as referee Barber remained unmoved before bringing the opening stanza to an end seconds later.
Neither side many any personnel changes at the interval, and despite their numerical disadvantage it was Dorchester who started the second half the brighter. Two corners came to nothing, but the equaliser followed soon as Corby Moore struck his second of the season. Minutes had been played when Koszela played the ball back to Moore on the edge of the box. Moore's strike from around the 20-yard mark seemed to be one that the visiting keeper, Ryan Clarke, had covered, but he was deceived by the bounce and the ball nestled in the back of the net, much to the delight of a raucous bypass end.
A vicious strike from Koszela nearly made it 3-2 four minutes later, but his effort fizzed narrowly over the bar. Seconds later, Clarke went someway to atoning for his earlier error as he had to be at his very best to claw away a Gwengwe header, and Fogden could only stab the ball wide shortly after following more good work from Koszela as the latter had pulled the ball back from the byline to the near post. Anyone watching would have been forgiven for thinking that Hungerford were the side playing with ten as the disadvantaged Magpies were beginning to dominate, and Killick made his first change of the afternoon with 15 minutes to play as Luke Roberts was introduced in place of Gwengwe. And three minutes later, the ten men regained the lead.
78 minutes had been played when Fogden was given all the time in the world to whip in a cross from the right, and Koszela was able to guide a deft header into the far corner from the penalty spot to send the home fans wild. There had been little more than four further minutes played when Koszela bagged his second of the afternoon to put the game beyond doubt. Jack Dickson's ball up-field was turned into Koszela's path by Roberts on the halfway line, and Koszela ran at the retreating defence, turning them both ways before drilling a shot hard and low past the right arm of a helpless Clarke in the Hungerford goal for his 12th of the season. He could have had a hat-trick moments later as his relentless pressing saw him steal back possession just outside the box, but this time Clarke stood firm as he saved with an outstretched leg to deny the home side a fifth.
Wayne Robinson and Brendan Holmes were introduced for Koszela and Fogden respectively as Killick looked to see the game out, and the final whistle sounded soon after as the Magpies broke their five game run of draws in emphatic style. The win moves the side up to fifth and back into the playoff places, and Killick's men will look to tighten their grip on a top five place as they travel to sixth placed Walton & Hersham this coming Saturday.
Starting XI: Benfield; Dickson, Turner, Haste; Pardoe, Moore, Ngalo, Hutchinson; Fogden (Holmes), Koszela (Robinson); Gwengwe (Roberts). Subs not used: Buse, Daws.
Attendance: 565
Written by: Stuart Voss