Horsham's recent league form deserted them as they crashed out of the Championship Manager Cup with this disappointing defeat to landlords Horsham YMCA. True, the Hornets lined up without Sam Page, Ben Andrews, Claude Seanla, Alex Haddow and Gary Charman but John Maggs refused to accept their absence as an excuse for a performance that, with few exceptions was as far removed from Saturday's display at Canvey Island as this December evening's rainfall was from the heatwave that accompanied the sides' pre-season meeting back in August.

“I was embarrassed by what I saw tonight," Maggs fumed. "and disappointed that some of the boys didn't do themselves justice. We made 8 changes to Saturday's side some, like Sam, Ben and Gary, enforced but we should still have had a strong enough side to have won the game. The players were told beforehand that they were all fighting for the shirt but some of them obviously didn't fancy it and we just seemed to give up after the first goals went in.

It was wet and miserable out there but, in fairness to YM, they adapted to the conditions fare better than we did and probably deserved the win. The strange thing is that we could have been 3-0 up after quarter of an hour but their goalkeeper was quality in the first half and saved them on a number of occasions. But we never really got any width to our game. Lee Carney tried to bring the wide men in to it but we never had enough quality in our crosses. I'm very disappointed that our unbeaten run is over and we have to make sure we bounce back from this at Aveley on Saturday."

Despite starting strongly, the Hornets fell behind on 21 minutes when Tom Manton made the most of an error from goalkeeper Craig Bradshaw and that's the way the match remained until Terry Dodd put the tie beyond the reach of the Premier Division side with YM's second on 77 minutes. Despite Carney's promptings, on a slippery pitch, the Hornets could find no way past Tony Di Bernardo in the YM goal as Chris White's team became the first to prevent Horsham from registering a goal this season.

Maggs handed a debut to recent signing Jorge Lopes, in place of the injured Charman, and there was a return to action for Mark Knee after a 5 match absence. Jack Lyons made his first start since the FA Trophy defeat at Barton Rovers, joining his brother Tom in attack, while former YM midfielder Steve Sargent tried his best to stay dry on the bench alongside Harding, Seanla, Haddow and Jack Page. YM also showed several changes from the side that gained a creditable 1-1 draw at Division One table-toppers Folkestone Invicta at the weekend, with the suspended Matt Geard missing out on a match–up with his former club, but ex-Hornets Gavin Geddes, Nigel Brake and Mark Pulling were among those in a white shirt keen to put one over on their more senior opponents.

The match was barely a minute old when an error from Brake gifted possession to Jack Lyons but Tom might have done better when played in to space by his sibling, only managing to smash the ball straight at Di Bernardo from close range. Despite the sweeping rain, the bright start continued as Tony Nwachukwu’s acceleration earned his side a corner and then, in their next attack, Di Bernardo pulled off an excellent save to keep out a Carney piledriver from 20 yards. Jack Lyons should have given Horsham the lead on 7 minutes when Delando Smith’s measured pass picked him out, unmarked, behind the YM defence but his cute chip, although beating Di Bernardo, went wide of the upright.

Tom Lyons brought another good reflex save from the goalkeeper but YM were offering little in reply during the opening exchanges, save for an optimistic penalty appeal when Mike Huckett’s header hit a clutch of bodies inside the Horsham box, and their attacking options were reduced on 18 minutes when Huckett limped out of the action to be replaced by John Westcott. Within minutes, the Hornets’ former Player of the Year was celebrating a goal when Brake’s free-kick was fumbled by Bradshaw and Manton bundled the ball home at the foot of the post, despite the efforts of Mark Knee on the line.

A quick exchange between Carney and Steve Davies created an opening for Nwachukwu that was sliced wide but YM, boosted by their fortuitous lead, hit back and Anthony Acheampong had to block a shot from Tom Lawley after being picked out by Geddes. The veteran striker then put a dangerous ball in to the penalty area that was hacked away by Knee and Lawley’s shot was deflected behind from the resulting corner as the game began to develop in to a more even contest. Chris White was forced in to a second substitution on 37 minutes, sending on Drew Cooney in place of Brake, and the replacement’s first involvement was immediate when a fine tackle on Jack Lyons prevented the midfielder from racing clear of YMCA's back line.

The classy Carney was making a mockery of the conditions underfoot but Di Bernardo was on hand to save Smith’s header after Nwachukwu had been picked out with a tremendous pass by the creative midfielder. Pulling’s rising shot failed to test Bradshaw, James Nicholls’ downwards header stuck in the mud and was easily collected by Di Bernardo, and the half ended with Steve Metcalf testing Bradshaw from the edge of the box to give YM increased confidence for the impending second half.

H/T Horsham 0 Horsham YMCA 1

Horsham made a change during the interval, replacing Davies with Sargent, but it was the Division One side who began the half the more positive as Manton curled an effort wide after a good run by Lawley. Pulling fired in an effort that flew narrowly over Bradshaw’s crossbar, prompting another change from Maggs with the introduction of Page for Nwachukwu and, shortly after, Harding for Tom Lyons.

Sargent shot in to the side netting but Dodd did even better to dig an effort out of the mud while sat on the floor, bringing a sharp save on his goal-line from Bradshaw before a brief flare-up in the centre-circle between Pulling and Jack Lyons earned both players a lecture from referee Tim Robinson. Lyons was less fortunate, moments later, when he was late in the challenge and was shown the yellow card. His contribution was more constructive on the hour mark when he and Lopes combined to set up Carney to shoot over the top and another fine attack ended with Harding’s ball having just too much pace to put Page in on goal.

Westcott had the chance to put another nail in his former side’s coffin when he pounced on Bradshaw’s hasty clearance but couldn’t get the required accuracy and the Horsham goal survived a big let-off. The respite was brief, though, when YM grabbed the killer goal a quarter of an hour from the end when Lawley was put through by Geddes’ clever backheel and his low cross was slammed home by Dodd.

The goal served to give the Hornets a belated wake-up call and, with Acheampong thrown in to the attack, Lopes tested Di Bernardo’s faultless reactions but Maggs’ side’s pursuit of a grandstand finish left them stretched and, when Smith conceded possession inside the YM half, a quick breakaway ended with Manton shooting wide from the edge of the area. Dodd left the field to appreciative applause from the YM contingent, to be replaced by Sadough, before Lyons set up Harding to shoot left-footed at Di Bernardo and Westcott probably should have done better than to blaze wastefully over following more selfless play from Geddes.

The margin of defeat would have been even greater for the Hornets had Geddes’ injury time effort not stuck in the mud on the goal-line but no-one could deny that YMCA were the worthy winners and can look forward to Friday's draw while the Hornets can only reflect on this latest in a season of cup failures.>

NEXT MATCH: v Aveley (a) Saturday 12th December ko 3pm