HORSHAM v HASTINGS UNITED

Goring's Mead, Horsham

Ryman League Premier Division

Saturday 18th February, kick-off 3pm

MATCH PREVIEW

Hugo Langton will be hoping that the midweek outing to Pagham will serve his side well for the visit of Hastings United this Saturday as the Hornets look to make amends for their 5-0 drubbing at the Pilot Field back in October.

With the icy conditions having brought the Ryman League to a near standstill over the past 3 weeks, the Brighton Charity Cup tie gave the players a welcome run out and Hugo hopes that the Arrows’ prolonged inactivity will work in Horsham’s favour.

“To be fair, in the first half we were like headless chickens,” he admitted “because we hadn’t played for so long and I’m hoping Hastings will be like that on Saturday. They’ve not played since the end of January but I know Sean Ray very well and he will have them right up for the game. He’s a no nonsense bloke who demands very high standards because he sets them himself and, for that reason, they will come to us eyeing all three points. I know it’s a cliché but Sean really is ‘Mr Hastings’. For as long as I’ve known him he was destined to become manager of the club and I wish him every success in the role, after Saturday!”

Ray was appointed player/manager a few days after that rout of Horsham and enjoyed decent early success with 4 wins in 6 competitive matches but just one league victory since late November has seen the East Sussex club drop to 18th place, just a point outside the relegation zone. With both sides, then, sitting at the wrong end of the table it’s a match that each will be eager to win. “Both teams are in a bad run at the moment but I’m expecting a good contest,” added Hugo. “It will be a very hard game for both sides and the teams will have to work hard for their rewards but we should see a game where the ball is on the floor because both sides like to play football.”

The Hornets boss suffered a baptism of fire when he took the side to Hastings for his first league match in charge after taking over from Justin Luchford but doesn’t believe the outcome of that match will have any bearing on Saturday’s meeting. “We didn’t play at all well up there but the thing about that game was that at 1-0 down, a man down and facing a penalty, then you’re going to be up against it. To then go down to 9 men and with nothing to defend, well you’re out of the game. Fair play to Hastings, though, they were clinical and I was glad to get out of there with just 5-0 to be honest.”
 

TEAM NEWS

Horsham
Skipper Callum Dunne is rated 50/50 after complaining of a sore groin following Tuesday’s match at Pagham but Ray Freeman returns to the squad after work commitments kept him out of the midweek cup tie.
 

Hastings United
Suspension rules out Jamie Crellin and Jordan Woodley but the Arrows are otherwise expected to be at full strength. Goalkeeper Matt Armstrong-Ford is in line for his first appearance at Gorings Mead since leaving the Hornets in October
 

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

• The first ever meeting between the sides resulted in Horsham sealing a notable league and cup double when they followed up their 1899/1900 West Sussex Senior League title by claiming the Sussex Royal Irish Rifles Cup two weeks later with a 2-0 win over Hastings & St Leonards

• The two clubs have contested 5 Cup Finals, Hastings edging things with 3 wins

• Horsham's last Sussex Senior Cup Final triumph came with a 2-1 win over Hastings at the Goldstone Ground, Brighton on 26th April 1976

Down Memory Lane:

18th February 2009 - Horsham marched in to the quarter-finals of the Isthmian League Cup for the first time in their history with a dramatic extra-time victory over Dartford. In a game of fluctuating fortunes, the Hornets looked to have thrown away their chances of victory after relinquishing a comfortable half-time lead and it took an 89th minute equaliser from 17 year old substitute Tony Nwachukwu to send this tie in to an additional thirty minutes before Williams Peauroux headed the winner with just five minutes remaining. John Maggs’ side were seemingly in control of this 4th round tie at the interval with Claude Seanla’s 4th goal of the competition giving the hosts a deserved first half advantage. However Dartford, 3-0 winners at Woodside Road less than four weeks earlier, found an early breakthrough when Brendon Cass headed home and James White made the most of some enterprising play by Adam Gross to put the visitors firmly in the driving seat until Nwachukwu’s late introduction swung the match back in Horsham’s favour. Final score: Horsham 3 Dartford 2 (Ryman League Cup 4th round)