Ben Andrews was sent off as Horsham's miserable cup form continued with defeat against Barton Rovers on a damp and chilly Bedfordshire night. For the few hardy travelling fans, memories of Chippenham, Maidenhead, Swansea, Stevenage and Lewes must have seemed a lifetime away as the Hornets crashed out of the FA Trophy to a side struggling at the wrong end of the Southern League Midlands Division and who, after 20 minutes of Saturday's tie, looked dead and buried at 4-1 down.

Once again John Maggs' side put in a ragged defensive display and, although they might claim that Russell Bull's match-winning goal should have been ruled out for offside, the damage was mainly self-inflicted with a series of costly errors that has now seen them concede 26 goals in the last 10 matches and exits from each of the major cup competitions without winning a single tie for the first time since 2003.

A 3 hour journey from West Sussex was hardly ideal preparation but the inclusion of Andrews and Alex Haddow, both of whom had missed Saturday's 4-4 draw, gave the Hornets a boost and both were named in the starting XI in place of Anthony Acheampong and Jack Page while Ian Payne deputised for the injured Mark Knee on the left of the defence. Bull, injured after scoring 2 goals in the tie at Gorings Mead, was on the Barton Rovers bench alongside goalkeeper Grant Beckwith who made way for former Slough Town stopper Michael Parkin.

Having been stunned by an early goal at the weekend it was the Hornets who started the brightest this time and centre half Paul Andrews had to block a shot from Alex Haddow, after Claude Seanla had threaded a ball across the box, and they were soon threatening again when a smart move began with slick passing on the edge of the box and ended with a venomous shot from Russell Eldridge that went just wide of the upright.

However, Horsham were unable to sustain their early pressure and were once again punished for a lack of concentration in defence when Ricky Case picked up the ball from the left wing and, drifting in on his right foot, he was allowed to run at the victors’ back four and strike a shot that went under the diving Rob Tolfrey to give the hosts another early lead. As on Saturday, Horsham were quick to respond and substitute Tony Nwachukwu announced his arrival as replacement for the injured Jack Lyons by shooting straight at goalkeeper Michael Parkin, who parried the ball to the unmarked Pat Harding and the predatory front man couldn’t miss, slotting the ball home from 6 yards to level the scores.

It was now Barton’s turn to pressurise the Hornets’ nervy defence and Sam Spencer fired over from 20 yards after good build up play. But the next move proved to be victorious for Spencer and his team-mates as he raced to the byeline to collect a pass from Ross Hanley and send in an excellent ball for the unmarked Richard Pringle to nod home at the near post. Horsham’s task was made even harder when a controversial decision from referee Mr Forrester saw them reduced to 10 men after just 26 minutes with the dismissal of Andrews, who seemed to take ball first then man, and the game looked destined to turn in the hosts’ favour even further. However John Maggs’ men stuck gamely to their task and forced a second equaliser from an in-swinging free kick by Eldridge that missed Harding’s head by inches but fell kindly in front of Seanla who rammed the ball home at the far post. Numerically disadvantaged they may have been but the goal brought renewed confidence to the visitors and they pushed on in search of a 3rd goal only to be frustrated by Andrews who was in the right place again to cut out Harding’s dangerous pass  in what proved the last action of another highly eventful half.

H/T Barton Rovers 2 – 2 Horsham

Bull emerged from the bench after the half time interval and he instantly added a threat to Horsham’s weakened 3 man defence. With the substitute making a nuisance of himself in the area, a high ball from Joel Mason fooled Tolfrey as he came out to collect and Pringle beat the ‘keeper to the ball to flick on to Spencer, in acres of space, and he lashed it into an empty net with Tolfrey stranded in no man’s land. Barton really began to take advantage of their extra man, as they exploited the space on both wings, and the ball worked its way through to Case who fired wide of the goal from a promising position. Horsham looked determined to draw the scores level for a third time, though, and Haddow threaded a perfect ball through to Harding, whose trickery and skill saw him get the better of 2 defenders but his shot ricocheted back off the striker and harmlessly behind for a goal kick.

Barton’s weakness came in dealing with the pace of Seanla, Nwachukwu and Charman  and the visitors began to exploit this by playing balls through their defence. Nwachukwu played in Charman who raced onto the ball and cut it back across goal but Harding’s shot was blocked behind for a corner. But the pressure didn’t last long on the Barton goal as the hosts kept catching Horsham on the break, with the Ryman Leaguers’ limited numbers back to defend. Bull switched a pass across field to Mason who played the ball first time into the box where the unmarked Spencer had more time than he thought and rushed his shot, spooning the ball over the crossbar.

Horsham continued to battle away but, when a cross from Nwachukwu found Charman rising highest in the box, he placed his header wide of the mark. Nwachukwu once again provided one of his superb crosses but, this time, it was Seanla who wasted the opportunity by finding the advertising boards behind the goal, rather than the space between the posts. Another moment of controversy effectively sealed Horsham’s fate, 8 minutes from the end, when Bull collected a pass from Pringle in an offside position but was allowed to race clear to calmly slot past the helpless Tolfrey and spark mad celebrations from the home side.

This fluctuating tie took a further twist when Horsham caught Barton napping for one last time as a ball in from Sam Page was headed back out to Charman who controlled the ball and hit it on the bounce, looping the ball over Parkin and in to the net via the underside of the cross bar for the goal of the night. Horsham had one final chance to send the game into extra time when Eldridge’s pass enabled Nwachukwu to race through from a tight angle but his shot was charged down by Parkin and the hosts were able to see the game out and deservedly progress into the second qualifying round of the FA Trophy after 180 minutes of hard work against higher league opposition.

NEXT MATCH: v Cray Wanderers (h) Saturday 7th November ko 3pm