Horsham 1 v Brighton & Hove Albion 0 (aet)
Wednesday 7th December 2005
Sussex Senior Cup Third Round

Reporter: Mark Wells

Horsham claimed the prize scalp of Brighton & Hove Albion in an evenly matched, and entertaining, third round Sussex Senior Cup tie on a sodden Queen Street pitch. The torrential rain that accompanied the match from first whistle to last was not conducive to good football, yet both terms emerged with credit for trying to play their natural game and the supporters were treated to an intriguing contest that was ultimately settled by Lee Carney's powerful drive, a minute before the end of the first period of extra-time.
Carney had missed the weekend's win over Leatherhead with a bout of 'flu so the last thing he would have wanted was to have to run around for two hours in the cold and wet. However, his goal was a just reward for a combative display from the Hornets' midfielder who looks to be approaching the sort of form that had made him a firm favourite with the Horsham faithful.

The only other change to Saturday's line-up was at full-back where regular incumbent, Ian Payne, was reportedly involved in a car accident earlier in the day leaving Tom Graves to slot into the vacant spot.

Although billed as a reserve side, Brighton fielded a number of players with first team experience including long-serving defender Kerry Mayo, Cyprus under-21 midfielder Alexis Nicolas, and burly centre forward Mark McCammon and it was the visitors that threatened first but efforts by McCammon and Dean Cox failed to test Hornets goalkeeper Gary Elliott. Lee Carey, a scorer against Horsham during a loan spell with Tonbridge Angels earlier this season, was unlucky not to repeat the trick when he slid in to meet Cox's eighth minute cross but he was unable to make contact at the far post and McCammon sliced across the face of goal after a break from Mayo as the Albion started brightly.

Horsham's first effort came after eighteen minutes when Carney's free-kick was headed back out to the shaven headed midfielder who lobbed the ball back into the danger zone for Graves to head on but Jamie Taylor could only snatch at the shot, sending it wide of the target. A miscued pass from Gary Charman presented Brighton with their next opening as McCammon burst forward before sending over an inviting cross to the unmarked Chris Breach who put his header wide. Some quick, neat passing between Graves and Florian Mateos almost set up Carney with a chance before a cross from Mateos led to Tommy Elphick sending the ball towards his own goal, causing former French under-21 goalkeeper, Florent Chaigneau to head the ball away from his own six yard line before seeing it put behind for a corner.

Andy Walker was fortunate when he lost possession on the halfway line, leaving his side stretched at the back, but Nicolas' pass to Carey was overhit and the Hornets escaped punishment. They were also spared a minute later when Nicolas flashed a shot across goal that whistled past the far post.

Carney should have put his side ahead, five minutes from the break, when Mark Hawthorne took advantage of a slip by Cox and swung over a terrific cross that Carney looked to spectacularly volley but he slipped at the vital moment and the ball trickled towards the grateful Chaigneau. Both sides had chances to open the scoring before the break with Mateos' clever pass finding Taylor but Horsham's leading marksman could only send his shot wide of the far post and then a long ball into the Horsham penalty area was missed by both Graves and McCammon leaving Cox in the clear but he blazed wildly over the crossbar from eight yards out to the relief of the exposed Elliott.

The incessant rain left the majority of fans choosing to remain undercover at the interval, rather than risk a soaking on the way to the clubhouse, and it continued unabated as the players returned for the second period. With their side now attacking down the slope , Hornets supporters hoped that their side would take advantage of the conditions and fire in a couple of shots to test Chaigneau but Hawthorne's attempt to do just that ended in failure as the ball flew into the deserted Cowshed Stand.

McCammon showed surprisingly good footwork to slip between Graves and Matt Geard on the edge of the Horsham penalty area but his shot lacked venom and the same player knocked the ball wide after it had fallen fortuitously to him off the body of Graves. A quick break by Charman opened up the Albion defence and his pass to Carney was quickly helped on to Mateos but the Frenchman's shot was off target.

Gary Elliott had enjoyed a fairly trouble-free evening yet he showed that the conditions hadn't disturbed his concentration when he got down well to push a shot from Cox around the post as the lively winger continued to look the most promising outlet for the visitors.

With twenty minutes remaining, John Maggs replaced Andy Walker with Dominik Hudak and the big striker was immediately involved in a neat one-two with Taylor, earning Horsham a corner that was headed over by Charman. Taylor then spurned the best chance of the evening when, with ten minutes remaining, he played a ball into Carney on the edge of the box before receiving a superb return pass that left him with just the 'keeper to beat but his low shot was well saved.

Albion's assistant manager, Bob Booker, made a double substitution in a late effort to win the tie in normal time, sending on Scott Chamberlain and Adam Hinshelwood for Nicolas and Carey and the move almost paid dividends when Chamberlain got on the end of a Mayo free kick but shot wide of the goal. Maggs was forced into a late substitution when Charman took a blow to the ankle and was replaced by Simon Berry and, shortly after, referee Woodward's whistle indicated a further thirty minutes of extra-time would be played.

Most of the Albion players took the opportunity to put on fresh shirts during the break, making it difficult to know who was who so it was fortunate that the first shot of the first period came from the recognisable face of Horsham's Berry who fired a shot into the arms of the big 'keeper. On the energy sapping pitch, many fans thought that Albion's superior fitness might be the undoing of the home side during extra-time but the Horsham players were every bit Albion's equals and arguably looked the more likely to score especially as McCammon continued to prove wasteful up front. The former Brentford and Millwall man had been out of action since August and certainly looked off the pace, leading to a number of disgruntled Albion supporters indicating their displeasure at his performance.

Despite the conditions, Mr Woodward had enjoyed an incident-free match with barely a bad tackle made in the entire match. That was to change, though, when Hawthorne reacted angrily to an unpunished foul on him by Cox and exacted his revenge on the unfortunate Adam Mountford with a reckless challenge that earned the former Sheffield United player a yellow card. This was the cue for some wild challenges from both sides before the players settled down once again and tried to earn their side the win that would dispense with the need for a replay.

To the delight of the home fans, it Horsham who made the breakthrough with a fine move just before the end of the first period. Mayo overran the ball when attempting to start another attack for the visitors and Graves clipped the ball back down the line for Mateos to pick out Hawthorne. Mateos continued his run and received a return pass before cutting it back for Carney to run on and blast the ball home from the edge of the area.

Hudak should have extended the lead, five minutes after the interval, when he found himself in the clear but volleyed wide and he was nearly made to pay a minute later when Hinshelwood was put through but Elliott came off his line quickly to avert the danger.

Determination from Taylor and Berry forced the Albion defence into an error that saw Hudak set up Carney but he dragged his shot agonisingly wide of the far post and Elliott had to perform heroics once more after Berry missed a through ball to leave Hinshelwood clear of the defence but the Hornets were left to play out the final moments before celebrating a deserved victory.

Horsham: 1.Gary Elliott 2.Tom Graves 3.Matt Geard 4.Eddie French 5.Andy Howard 6.Andy Walker (Hudak) 7.Mark Hawthorne 8.Florian Mateos 9.Jamie Taylor 10.Lee Carney 11.Gary Charman (Berry) Subs: 12.Dominik Hudak 14.Simon Berry 15.James Cant 16.John Farley 17.Rob Frankland

Brighton & HA: 1.Florent Chaigneau 2.Steve May 3.Kerry Mayo 4.Tommy Elphick 5.Gary Elphick 6.Adam Mountford 7.Chris Breach 8.Alexis Nicolas (Chamberlain) 9.Lee Carey (Hinshelwood) 10.Mark McCammon 11.Dean Cox Subs: 12.Dan Leach 14.Scott Chamberlain 15.Adam Hinshelwood

Goalscorers

Horsham: Carney (104)

Att: 336