Former West Ham United trainee Tony Stokes piled further misery on the Hornets with a brace of quality goals as Concord recorded their first league victory of the campaign over a Horsham side whose losing run was extended to a seventh match.

The free-scoring midfielder-turned-forward struck after just 4 minutes to give the Essex club the crucial early lead in this bottom of the table clash and the Hornets were left with a mountain to climb when he doubled his tally with a near identical strike after 21 minutes. The hosts did their best to fight back; Dane Luchford sent a chip just over and later saw an overhead kick strike the outside of a post, but a deflected effort from Harry Elmes highlighted Horsham's current misfortunes and finally killed off any resistance to lift Rangers above their hosts who drop to second bottom of the Ryman Premier Division table.

The preceding week had been one of striking similarities for these two troubled sides. Saturday had seen both held to a 2-2 draw by lower league opponents, only to lose their respective midweek FA Cup replays in front of their own fans, and the fall-out among the Horsham faithful led to a strongly worded response from manager Justin Luchford. Yet it was a good-sized crowd that gathered in support of the Hornets for this latest attempt at registering a first home win of the campaign, the attendance swelled by the presence of several hundred youngsters who were taking advantage of the Kids for Free initiative, and the majority were almost cheering a goal as early as the second minute when Callum Dunne, Tony Nwachukwu and Craig Davies all combined down the right but an unmarked Luchford somehow contrived to spoon Davies' cross over the top from 8 yards.

Both sides were fielding debut-making goalkeepers, with former Arlesey Town stopper Richard Haywood lining up in the visitors' goal and Ken Westoby making his competitive first team appearance for the hosts following the midweek departure of Matt Armstrong-Ford. But it wasn't to be a happy homecoming for the one time Horsham Youth 'keeper who was picking the ball out of his net after 4 minutes when Stokes collected a pass and stepped inside Jake Jacobs before hitting a perfectly placed shot, low into the far corner beyond the unsighted Westoby.

Horsham tried to hit back quickly and Haywood's fingertips prevented Luchford's well executed chip from dropping just inside the angle of crossbar and post. The home side had an even better chance on 17 minutes when Dunne dropped the ball beyond the defender for Davies to run on and force a save from Haywood. Luchford saw his follow up effort blocked but he reacted quickly to send an overhead kick towards the open goal, only to turn away in anguish as the ball brushed the outside of the post and away from harm. 

Haywood then had a let off when he dropped Russell Eldridge's inswinging corner and was grateful that no Horsham player was on hand to profit from his mistake. But within minutes, it was 2-0 to Concord when Stokes received a pass from James Elmes and slipped the ball on to his right foot before producing an accurate finish in to the same spot as before. Two goals down, game over? If that's how the Horsham players felt, they certainly didn't let it show as they continued to look for an opening.

Kane Rice wasted a decent opportunity when the defence opened up invitingly for him but his right-foot strike went high and wide and then Davies completely missed a perfectly-weighted cross from Ray Freeman, with defender Arthur Lee almost doing the striker's job for him, inadvertently deflecting the ball narrowly past his own goal. Harry Elmes sent a fierce volley just over the top for the visitors before a long Westoby clearance found Luchford, just before the break, but when his far post cross was nodded down by Freeman, Davies sent his snap shot just wide of the target 

H/T Horsham 0 Concord Rangers 2

A foul on Luchford, on the edge of the Concord penalty box, gave Eldridge the chance to line up a free-kick and, when the shotl rebounded back off the defensive wall, Calum McGeehan slammed the loose ball inches past the post. Eldridge was then forced to perform his defensive duties when some ineffective Horsham tackling enabled Stokes to work his way into the box but Eldridge's block was timed to perfection and the danger was averted.

McGeehan went close again, this time from a header after Nwachukwu had set up Eldridge for the cross, before the hard-working Tommy Youle was replaced by Williams Peauroux. But then came a sustained period of Rangers pressure during which they might have scored in any one of three quickfire attacks. On 62 minutes, Stokes displayed neat control before seeking out Tyler Campbell who had more time than he realised and sliced a hurried shot wide, and when the roles were reversed, a minute later, Stokes could only find the side netting after Westoby had narrowed the angle.

When Stokes broke through Jacobs' challenge and laid the ball off for Ryan Ware, it looked like the visitors were about to claim their third of the afternoon but another rushed effort sent the ball well wide for a wasted opportunity for the Essexmen.

Concord sent on Kyke Asante for the lively Campbell and, within minutes, the substitute advanced down the right and picked out the unmarked Harry Elmes at the far post. The forward was afforded the time and space to bring the ball down on his chest and strike a shot that deflected wickedly off Jacobs and into the net for a fortuitous third goal and that, this time, really was that.

Concord sought to slow the game down by sending on Ellis Skidmore and Matt Marshall late on, while Horsham replaced the limping Freeman with Adam Hutchings, and it was Horsham who had the next chance of the match when Luchford hit his effort harmlessly wide after a patient build-up. Harry Elmes was similarly wasteful for the visitors, five minutes from time, but it wouldn't matter as they would hold out comfortably for the precious three points.

Match photos at flickr courtesy of John Lines