Arundel 1 v Horsham 2
Saturday 22nd October 2005
Sussex Senior Cup Second Round

Reporter: Mark Wells

Horsham survived a late onslaught from their hosts before finally emerging victorious from a match that had passion and commitment aplenty from both sides and, at times, threatened to get out of hand after a series of elbows and niggles escaped punishment from a poor set of officials.

The torrential rainfall of the previous twenty-four hours had been replaced by a pleasant Autumnal afternoon and a good number of Horsham supporters had made the short journey to the picturesque Mill Road ground. John Maggs' plans were already hit by the absence of Lee Carney and his midfield options were further reduced when Mark Hawthorne was ruled out after dropping a door on his foot on Friday night. With Matt Geard also absent through illness, and the substitutes' bench looking more like a line-up from Casualty - John Farley was carrying a knock and Rob Frankland suffered a setback to his recovery from injury in training on Thursday - it was clear that Horsham were down to the bare bones of the squad. However, Maggs threw down the gauntlet to Vic Short and his Arundel side by playing a three-pronged attack with Jamie Taylor, Dominik Hudak and Florian Mateos all in the starting line-up.

Horsham had an early chance to score when Mateos seized on a loose ball on the edge of the Arundel penalty area, went round a defender and set up Taylor but the Hornets' hot-shot was closed down quickly and his shot went wide of the mark. A finely balanced opening saw the hosts force a couple of early corners but they were rocked on twelve minutes when an innocuous challenge saw Mullets' captain Kevin Bush stretchered off, and ultimately taken to hospital via an ambulance. Matters were made worse for the Mullets, moments after the restart, when a John Westcott free-kick caused mayhem in the Arundel penalty area and Mateos swooped to crash home, repeating his exploits of the previous season when the Hornets had ended Arundel's Brighton Charity Cup hopes.

Horsham continued to press, and a quick break involving Hudak, Taylor and Andy Walker saw the latter hit a low shot that skidded just wide of Ben O'Conor's right hand post. Determined play from Mateos presented Nigel Brake with an opening but he could only drill his shot across the face of goal and the former Sutton man was forced into embarrassed acknowledgement of the travelling supporters when his woeful cross brought an end to another promising attack, prompting cries of "Riding on a Brakey" from the Lardy Army.

Hudak should have doubled the visitors' lead on twenty-one minutes when Barry Pidgeon failed to clear under pressure from Taylor and the ball fell kindly for the big Slovak but his dinked ball over the 'keeper dropped agonisingly wide of the far post. The visitors continued to dictate play and a rehearsed corner-kick routine saw Brake's pass find the influential Walker but his right foot shot went just wide of the post. As the ambulance left the ground with the unfortunate Bush inside, a collision between Horsham goalkeeper Gary Elliott and Dave Walker left the Arundel man in a heap. Fortunately, the Mullets' number nine was able to continue after lengthy treatment .

Horsham were playing all the football in the first half and a second goal would have been just reward for their endeavours but they were frustratingly pulled back by the linesman flagging for offside. Hudak was proving a handful for the Arundel back four and Jon Tucker became the first player to find his way into referee Slaughter's notebook when he wrestled the big man to the ground. Horsham's Walker was to follow, just two minutes later, when a series of debatable decisions against the Hornets midfield man prompted a verbal outburst and a booking. Horsham's coach, Tommy Warrilow, was becoming incensed by what he saw as a number of unfair challenges that were going unpunished by a weak set of officials and, when Josh Sutcliffe went through the back of Westcott in injury time, Maggs' number two delivered a tirade of abuse towards the linesman. Sadly for Westcott, the challenge saw him twist his knee, forcing him out of the remainder of the match with initial reports suggesting that he had damaged his medial ligaments. The resulting free-kick saw Graves and Sutcliffe challenge for the high ball, bringing vehement protests from players and supporters alike when the Arundel number three appeared to handle the ball.

Horsham were almost made to pay for the lack of a second goal when a 'route-one' attack from the home side saw O'Conor's long goal-kick helped on to Matt Huckett but his first time volley just cleared Elliott's crossbar.

Arundel started the second half brightly and a slip by Ian Payne let in Andy Boxall who got away from Eddie French but his low shot was well saved by Elliott. However, with many supporters still making their way from the clubhouse, Horsham extended their lead courtesy of a fine passing movement that saw Taylor put Hudak through for a composed finish across the goalkeeper, the ball nestling just inside the far post. Mateos then chased a seemingly lost cause before teeing up Taylor but his shot went wide as Horsham looked to turn the screw.

It was a disputed refereeing decision that brought the hosts back into the game when an Arundel corner surprisingly led to Mr Slaughter pointing to the penalty spot. However, Maggs' admission that he had seen Brake's push suggested that it had been more clear cut than most would have admitted yet, either way, the Arundel players were lifted by Matt Huckett's goal and they started to enjoy some good possession. The Mullets also enjoyed some good fortune at the other end, too, when the ever-willing Mateos won the race for the ball and tried to flick the ball past the defender only to see it hit the Arundel player's hand. Yet, where it had seemed that Slaughter was one of the few at Mill Road to have seen the earlier infringement by Brake, it would appear that he was the only one who didn't spot this incident and play was waved on. In the confusion that followed, Hudak was booked for a lunge at an Arundel player who went theatrically to ground, prompting players from both sides to come together for some serious finger wagging leaving Slaughter in danger of losing control of a game that, although just a Sussex Senior Cup tie, seemed to be too big a game for him and his officials to take charge of.

French stood up well when faced by the marauding Mike Huckett and Mateos produced a superb challenge on Lee Barnard as the Horsham players showed that they weren't prepared to relinquish their lead without a fight.

A surging sixty-yard run run from Walker resulted in Brake winning his side a corner which broke to Taylor but his fierce shot flew over the crossbar and, from another Brake corner, French set up Walker whose superb strike was matched by the brilliance of O'Conor who tipped the stinging effort onto the crossbar and behind for a further corner. Taken from the right this time, Castrechino's cross was met by Hudak but his header was comfortably claimed by the 'keeper.

With time ticking away, Horsham should have settled the nerves when Hudak powered his way through a challenge to present the Hornets with a four versus two situation. However one delayed pass meant that, by the time the ball was played out to Brake, a defender was able to narrow the angle and the shot went wide. Castrechino then had a chance when Hudak, enjoying arguably one of his more successful ninety minutes, laid the ball off to Brake and the winger's ball to the far post gave Castrechino the time to juggle the ball into a shooting position but his effort was deflected over the bar.

Arundel threw everything at Horsham in a desperate attempt to equalise and Andy Walker produced a marvellous clearance from inside his own six-yard box to prevent a certain goal with just minutes remaining. A chipped ball into the Hornets' penalty area found Matt Huckett in yards of space but he failed to hit the target with a volley and, right at the death, Castrechino failed to deal with a bouncing ball and Sutcliffe's mishit shot fell invitingly to the on-rushing Huckett but he blazed his shot wildly over the bar and out of the ground.

Arundel: 1.Ben O'Conor 2.Lee Barnard 3.Josh Sutcliffe 4.Barry Pidgeon 5.Stuart Hack 6.Kevin Bush (Tucker) 7.Jason Wimbleton 8.Andy Boxall (Hammond) 9.Dave Walker 10.Matt Huckett 11.Mike Huckett Subs: 12.Jon Tucker 14.Louw Haga Hamond 15.Jim Smith

Horsham: 1.Gary Elliott 2.Carlo Catrechino 3.Ian Payne 4.Tom Graves 5.Eddie French 6.Florian Mateos 7.Andy Walker 8.John Westcott (Cant) 9.Jamie Taylor 10.Dominik Hudak 11.Nigel Brake Subs: 12.James Cant 14.Mark Hawthorne 15.John Farley

Goalscorers

Arundel: Matt Huckett

Horsham: Mateos (14), Hudak (46)

Att: TBA