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reporter: Jim Bravery
Hornets boss John Maggs could offer no excuses after watching his
side's unbeaten pre-season record fall with a comprehensive defeat at
Fleet Town. "We were very disappointing" said the Horsham supremo. "It
was a poor pitch but we underperformed and were outplayed by a
physical side but that is something that we will need to get used to
next season. For me, the only plusses were the performance of Kevin
Hemsley and that we were able to give Carl Rook 90 minutes of action.
I'm disappointed to have lost but I'm happy to have got this defeat
out of the way before next weekend and I can promise supporters that
they will see a different performance against Maidstone."
Both
teams entered this final pre-season encounter without defeat with the
hosts hoping to make it a Ryman Premier double by adding the name of
Horsham to that of Tonbridge Angels whom they defeated the previous
weekend. Under the League’s new boundaries, Andy Sinton's side now
find themselves playing in the Southern League Division South and West
and must rank among the promotion favourites having finished among the
play-off places last season and, with both teams putting out strong
squads, it augured well for a good contest although the visitors were
missing recent signing Chamal Fenelon through illness.
On an extremely hot sunny afternoon, more appropriate for cricket than
football, the game got under way with Horsham kicking up the steep
slope on a surprisingly poor pitch whose numerous bare patches gave
way to dry and bumpy conditions that made ball control difficult for
both teams. Horsham’s normally expansive passing game was at a premium
on the uneven pitch but Lee Carney, fresh from his man of the match
performance midweek, created the first chance of the match when his
left wing cross was knocked back by John Westcott to Tom Graves but
Blues' 'keeper Paul Smith was able to make a routine catch. The home
side had their first chance after ten minutes after a good one two
between Nathan Smart and Adam Wallace saw the latter’s shot force a
good smothering save from Alan Mansfield. Michael Douglas failed to
live up to his famous name when he skied a shot well over the bar
having seen his first effort well blocked by skipper Kevin Hemsley in
the thirteenth minute.
With players becoming frustrated by their inability to control the
ball, the game degenerated into an often physical battle that
someone described as being played like a cup final rather than a
friendly and it was amazing that no one was seriously hurt. Had this
been a league or cup encounter, it is likely that the referee would
have administered several yellow cards - and maybe the odd red -
rather than just the odd lecture. Ironically, only one player was shown a yellow
card in the first half, Wallace seemingly booked for dissent when he
questioned a Gavin Barnes tackle on Carl Rook, although Nathan Smart
was extremely lucky not to get a card having committed three heavy
challenges and the first half petered out with only the odd free kick
and wild shot going off target that kept the goalkeepers interested.
H/T: Fleet Town 0 Horsham 0
Half time saw a change in personnel with Maggs
replacing Andy Howard, Graves, Jacob Mingle and Westcott with Eddie
French, Yinka Salaam, Matt Geard and Gary Charman respectively but it
was Fleet who went on the attack immediately after the restart,
forcing a free kick on the edge of the Hornets penalty area. Philip
John struck his effort past the wall toward the top corner, only to be
denied by a fantastic tip away by Mansfield. Within a minute, French
was caught out when his miskick allowed Eddie Smith to get in behind
the defence but, with only Mansfield to beat, he hit his shot wide of
the relieved 'keeper's post. Kevin Hemsley required treatment for a
cut mouth after an aerial collision had left him slumped on the ground
and the pressure the home team were applying paid dividends moments
later when Smith again got in behind the static defence and Mansfield,
closing down the angle, succeeded only in impeding the striker with
the referee awarding a penalty kick despite Smith managing to slot the
ball home. By way of consolation,
Smith
took the kick himself hitting the ball into the bottom corner, sending
the keeper the wrong way to give the Blues a forty ninth minute lead.
With Horsham now pushing forward more, a couple of chances went begging.
A long Carney throw found Charman but his left footed volley lacked
direction, going high over the bar. Charman then collected a good pass
from Carney, played a pass to Lee Farrell who teed up Geard and only
quick reactions from Steve Noakes blocked the first attempt. Geard’s
follow up found the head of Charman who, nine times out of ten, would
have scored but this time his effort was well over the bar which just
about summed up Horsham’s day. Geard was becoming involved in a lot of
the play but his badly timed tackle left right back Mark Paterson
unable to continue. Fleet
were still finding the Horsham defence in generous mood and it came as no surprise when danger man
Smith
got himself on the end of another good pass to smartly put his shot
past the exposed Mansfield in the fifty sixth minute.
Andy Sinton took Smart off after he was again guilty of another
heavy tackle on Carney, probably to ensure that he had his services
for next weekend's season opener, and Geard's free-kick saw
Charman putting a header in on target from what the linesman ruled was
an offside position. Philip John went close at the other end, his shot
going wide, while Mansfield had to come off his line to thwart Wallace
after he had been put in by substitute James Wise.
Smith
completed his hat-trick on seventy four minutes, applying the required
finish to a great through ball from John. With more arguing going on
amongst the Horsham players the referee decided to take action and
booked both Geard and Lewis Taylor for dissent. Wallace was replaced
with Austin Best coming on, a few changes saw John moving forward
more.
Horsham’s only bright spot of a dismal performance came in the seventy
eighth minute when the ball found its way to
Farrell
on the edge of the penalty area and he turned and hit a great left
footed strike into the top corner with Smith rooted to the goal line.
Three minutes later it was Geard setting up Nigel Brake, bursting into
the area, but having done the hard work he seemed to be caught in two
minds whether to shoot or cross and his final execution was something
between the two.
With nine minutes left the jubilant Smith was subbed, leaving the
pitch to well deserved applause, with George Hardy coming on for the
last few minutes. Another half chance fell to Geard, from a pass by
Farrell, but on his weaker right foot the ball rolled through to the
home custodian. The final piece of action featured two of the
substitutes, Austin Best slotted a perfect pass into James
Wise
who calmly slotted a fourth goal past the stranded Mansfield to record
his first for the club. With the referee bringing the game to an end
three minutes later the Hornets trooped off the pitch with downcast
looks indicating a very poor performance.
With the league season getting underway in seven days time, it could
well be a trial for Maggs to try to find his best starting line up
after a stuttering performances from most of the team, with only the
captain able to say he had a reasonable game.
Fleet, though not thoroughly tested, fully deserved their victory.
NEXT MATCH: v Maidstone United (a) Saturday 18th August ko 3.00pm |
