East Preston 1 v Horsham 3
Tuesday 3rd April 2007
Brighton Charity Cup

reporter: Jim Bravery

Horsham took a step closer to reaching the final of the Brighton Charity Cup for the fourth time in five seasons with a comfortable win against County League side East Preston. After Saturday's dismal showing against Boreham Wood, the Hornets put in a thoroughly professional performance to run out deserved winners with teenagers Dean Wright and Jamie Baxter showing some good touches that might suggest further outings for the pair as the season draws to a close. Baxter, in particular, deserves special praise after playing in his fourth match in as many days having appeared as a first half substitute in the defeat against Boreham Wood before playing his part in the under 18s' County Youth League championship triumph on Sunday and then turning out for the club's under 18s Southern Youth League side that defeated Lingfield on Monday evening. The young full-back put in a solid display on a difficult, bumpy surface, before being replaced with ten minutes remaining, while Wright's energetic running up front kept the East Preston defence on their toes all game, culminating in a clever touch to set up Carl Rook for the decisive third goal on the stroke of full time.

With injuries to Jacob Mingle, Lewis Taylor, Nigel Brake and Kevin Hemsley, boss John Maggs' squad selection was simple; he would take any player who was fit to play ! Alan Mansfield returned to don the goalkeeping gloves in place of Gareth Williams while Wright filled the absent Lee Carney's role alongside Rook to form a three-pronged attack with Kevin Cooper. Matt Geard took Taylor's place in midfield, Baxter slotted into the right-back berth with Brake's place on the opposite flank taken by Stuart Myall and youth team players Lee Saxby and Ben Thomson were on the bench alongside two goalkeepers in Williams and Rob Frankland. For the home side, only James Rhodes, Phil Churchill, Sonny Banks, Tom Levitt and Paul Brown remained from the squad which had lost 7-1 at Queen Street in an August friendly.

The visitors began the game in determined fashion, going onto the offensive from the first whistle, and should have taken the lead as early as the second minute when a good interception from Baxter helped create an opening for John Westcott to cross into the penalty area only for Wright to volley over from close range. The young defender was caught out, shortly after, when a long clearance from EP's goalkeeper Tom Rand dropped over his head and Kevin Budge took the ball well on the bounce but was denied by Mansfield, who was off his line smartly to block the shot, and a minute later the Hornets took the lead. Rook did well to find an opening and fired in a shot that deflected off Jeb Keet and, from the subsequent corner, Eddie French flicked on for Tom Graves to steal in in front of Cooper to head home. Drama followed when, as the players returned towards the centre circle, attention was drawn to linesman Dave Huggett who lay poleaxed by the corner flag - the apparent target of a stone, thrown through the trees that surrounded the pitch. The game was held up for almost ten minutes as the official received treatment before bravely continuing, despite clear evidence of the assault; a red mark visible on the side of his neck. East Preston tried gamely to restore parity and James Rhodes' snapshot called Mansfield into his first save of the night on ten minutes. A sublime pass from Gary Charman paved the way for Horsham's next meaningful attack when he picked out Westcott from deep inside his own half and the winger skipped around Ben Harwood before sending a dipping left foot piledriver that crashed away off the crossbar with Rand beaten. Baxter was the next to go close after finding Cooper on the edge of the box and then joining the attack before sending a shot narrowly past the far post as the visitors threatened to increase their lead. Charman had a shot that was blocked and when Westcott regained possession of the loose ball, Charman once again tried his luck, this time frustrated by the goalkeeper who pulled off a fine low save to concede a corner. From the resulting kick, French headed over at the near post. Wright and Myall both had shots blocked amid scenes of frantic defending from the East Preston players and Rook had the ball into the net on twenty-two minutes only for referee Paul Barrett to disallow the effort for offside. The hosts fashioned their best opening of the night when Dan White combined with Rhodes down the left but Rhodes' finish couldn't match the approach, the ball ending up in the side netting. Rhodes was involved again, soon after, when he created a shooting chance for former Hornet Phil Churchill but his volley flew harmlessly over the top of Mansfield's goal. As the Hornets' attacking play appeared to lose momentum, the home side continued to threaten and Baxter's timely block prevented White from getting his shot away before the striker's header was well saved by his post by Mansfield after Budge's header had wrong footed the visitors' defence. Referee Barrett elected to play the advantage after Rhodes appeared to be fouled on the edge of the area by French but, fortunately for Horsham, White's shot was blocked and the danger was cleared. The final chance of the half fell Horsham's way when Charman met Myall's deep cross but was unable to convert the difficult chance and the half ended with Horsham holding a slender, but deserved, advantage.

EP manager Chris White was forced into a change during the break after Keet complained of feeling unwell with Levitt was sent on as his replacement. The second half started slowly with Geard creating perhaps the only effort on goal in the opening quarter of an hour, breaking through from midfield only to scuff his shot wide of the near post. EP's experienced captain, Des Guile, had the dubious honour of collecting the only booking of the night when he fouled Rook and Rand held on to an effort from Graves after Geard had helped on another Westcott corner. Myall shot straight at the goalkeeper, as he looked to follow up last Tuesday's goal against Margate with another for the club, and Wright was denied by Rand who stood up well after the teenager's pace had taken him clear of the last man. It was another set-piece that brought about Horsham's second goal on seventy minutes. Again, Westcott was the provider, sending over a deep cross that was fed back by Baxter to Geard and his cross was headed on by Graves for Cooper to finish adroitly on the volley. The goal signalled a change in personnel for both sides with Cooper immediately replaced by Ben Thomson for his first team debut while Sonny Banks came on for Churchill and the East Preston man quickly went to work, turning Baxter before cutting inside and sending a shot inches wide of the upright with Mansfield scrambling uncomfortably across his goal. Sensing the substitute's possible threat against his tiring full-back, Maggs took off Baxter and sent on Lee Saxby and, moments later, Graves had to produce a vital header after Levitt had sent in a dangerous cross. The home side's persistence was rewarded, eight minutes from time, when Levitt's free-kick was turned in by Banks but Horsham held firm and Rook created space for himself, bringing a save from Rand, before a long clearance from Charman found the eager running Wright who intelligently nodded the ball inside for Rook to win the race with the goalkeeper and clip the ball past him into the empty net to give the final scoreline a satisfactory look to it for the small number of travelling of supporters. Horsham should now face Ringmer in the semi-finals of the competition although, given the debacle concerning their second round opponents, Hornets' fans should wait for official confirmation before planning their Tuesday night out.

East Preston: 1.Tom Rand 2.Simon White 3.Ben Harwood 4.Jeb Keet (Levitt) 5.5.Steve Metcalf 6.Des Guile 7.Phil Churchill (Banks) 8.James Bentley 9.Kevin Budge 10.Dan White 11.James Rhodes Substitutes: 12.Paul Brown 14.Tom Levitt 15.Sonny Banks

Horsham: 1.Alan Mansfield 2.Jamie Baxter (Saxby) 3.Matt Geard 4.Eddie French 5.Tom Graves 6.Stuart Myall 7.Dean Wright 8.John Westcott 9.Kevin Cooper (Thomson) 10.Carl Rook 11.Gary Charman Substitutes: 12.Lee Saxby 14.Ben Thomson 15.Gareth Williams 16.Rob Frankland

Goalscorers:

East Preston - Banks (82)

Horsham - Graves (9), Cooper (70), Rook (90)

Attendance: 47