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Reporter: Mark Wells
Horsham's promotion drive continued to falter after a dour goalless
draw with lowly Carshalton Athletic. Missing the creativity of Lee
Carney and the pace of both Nigel Brake and Lee Farrell, all sidelined
through injury, the Hornets failed to impose themselves on a side that
had lost each of the three previous meetings, conceding ten goals
in the process. Aside from a cleverly worked free-kick, and a second
half effort from Jason Ward, Aaron Howe's goal was barely threatened
as the visitors struggled to shake off Tuesday's poor performance at
Billericay and John Maggs' frustration will have been heightened further
with Gary Charman a doubt for Tuesday's visit of AFC Wimbledon after a
back problem prevented his reappearance after the break.
Maggs had elected to drop Kevin Hemsley to the bench with Tom Graves
partnering Eddie French in the centre of defence and Matt Geard was
preferred at left-back to the surprise of some supporters who began to
question the future of Yinka Salaam at the club. With Farrell
sidelined due to a groin problem, Austin lined up alongside Chamal
Fenelon no doubt still discussing who got the final touch on Horsham's
third goal against Leyton last weekend.
A beautiful sunny February afternoon had the majority of the 356
crowd, among them a sizeable contingent from West Sussex,
shielding their eyes as the game commenced but, in hindsight, many of
them might have preferred to have been dazzled by the winter sun as a
bobbling pitch, and over-fussy officiating from referee Frank Meilack,
made for a poor spectacle at the War Memorial Ground.
A cagey opening from both sides produced little of note until an
eighth minute free-kick for Horsham almost gave them the lead. In what
looked a well rehearsed routine, Stuart Myall rolled the ball in to
Fenelon who laid the ball invitingly in for Taylor but his left foot
drive went the wrong side of the post to deny the Hornets a fine goal.
Free-kicks and corners were always likely to be the best chance either
side might come to producing a goal and Geard had Horsham's next
chance when Austin was brought down by the impressive Liam Harwood, a
target of Bristol Rovers, and Taylor's pass was played
across the edge of the penalty area from where Geard fired a first
time shot wide. Former AFC Wimbledon striker Rob Ursell showed some
neat touches and it was he who had the Robins' first sight of goal
when a suspiciously offside looking Dwayne Plummer was played clear of the Hornets'
defence and cut the ball back only for Ursell to find the netting
behind the goal, rather than in it.
Ursell's next effort, perhaps a touch optimistically from 30 yards,
suffered a similar fate as goalmouth action became scarce. An
excellent tackle by Harwood prevented Ward from putting Austin in on
goal, after a mistake by Ryan Watts, before another free-kick produced Paul Seuke's
first save of the game as the match approached the half hour mark.
Ursell swung the ball in and when Barry Stevens found Plummer on the far side of the
area, only Seuke's bravery prevented his low cross from being
converted at the near post by Stuart Harte. From the clearance, a poor touch from
Fenelon wasted a glorious chance of a breakaway goal when Horsham were
presented with a 3 on 1. Mr Meilack's insistence in punishing anyone
who dared speak out of turn at a number of his puzzling decisions saw Austin enter the notebook as the players appeared to grow
as impatient as the spectators.
Myall was unfortunate to see a long range drive clear the frame of
Howe's goal and French was indebted to Seuke's quick reactions when a
towering goal-kick from Howe cleared the Hornets' skipper to leave
Watts
in a race with the Horsham stopper who just got there first, almost
carrying the ball over the eighteen yard line. There was just enough
time for Taylor and James Evans to pick up cautions after an exchange of verbals
before the half-time whistle went, leaving supporters hopeful for
better fare in the second half.
H/T Carshalton Athletic 0
Horsham 0
Charman's non-appearance after the interval meant a rare run out for
Ian Payne who slotted in to the left-back spot with Geard taking up
Charman's advanced role on the flank. Horsham supporters were given
false hope of an improved second half showing when Ward's jinking run
ended with him sending in a shot straight at Howe after just 22
seconds and, for their part, the home fans were also encouraged when a
corner was headed off the line by Myall but it was a false dawn as the
ball seemed to spend as much time off the pitch as on it. The
introduction of Zak Graham for Stevens failed to provide
the spark for Carshalton although they enjoyed the greater possession
helped, it should be said, by far too many misplaced passes from the
Horsham players.
French was booked, another caution for questioning a
decision by Mr Meilack, and Seuke saved well from Harte whose effort
wouldn't have counted anyway after straying offside. A shot from
Graham was
barely worthy of the name after it sliced woefully towards the corner
flag and the game threatened to boil over when a touchline spat
involving Ward, Mingle, Hart and Watts suddenly developed in to a
free-for-all in front of the dug-outs with players rushing in from
both sides. Curiously, after adopting such a tough stance towards
dissent, the referee saw fit to administer just a few
sterns words to Ward and Harte for their part in the melee.
With quarter of an hour remaining, the perpetually substituted Austin
made way once again, this time for Steve Davies, and Carshalton
brought on Phil Ruggles for Plummer and it was the much travelled former
Leatherhead and Molesey man who wasted a great chance for the hosts,
with ten minutes left, when he mishit a cross behind Seuke's goal with
team-mates waiting expectantly in the centre. Ward was withdrawn after
suffering from cramp and Mark Hawthorne was back on the pitch in which
he enjoyed a successful spell for the Robins, helping them to the
Division One Championship in 2003. However, even the experienced
midfielder struggled to get to grips with the uneven surface and was
as guilty as his team-mates in sending passes astray.
Payne came to his side's rescue when his crucial challenge averted the
danger after a fabulous pass from Evans looked to have put Graham in behind
the defence and, in an almost identical move, another astute pass from
Evans sent David Graves clear only to be repelled by the advancing Seuke with the
ball ricocheting across the face of the goal before being cleared.
With the clock ticking down Horsham survived two huge let-offs when,
first, a diving French opted to chest sub Michael Johnson's cross behind for a corner amid
strong calls for a penalty and then, in injury time, Seuke
inexplicably fielded a clear backpass from Myall to present Carshalton
with a free-kick, some 10 yards from goal. But, in keeping with the
previous 90 minutes, Ursell's' strike was poorly executed and the
ball cleared Seuke's goal by some distance leaving both sides to
settle for a point and the supporters hoping for rather more
entertainment in the games ahead.
NEXT MATCH: v AFC Wimbledon (h) Tuesday
12th February ko 7.45pm |
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