Horsham 1 v Crawley Town 0
Wednesday 15th March 2005
Sussex Senior Cup Semi-Final
(at Woodside Road, Worthing)

Reporter: Mark Wells

Horsham booked themselves a first Sussex Senior Cup final appearance in twenty-seven years thanks to Tom Graves' twenty-fourth minute goal that heaped more woe onto Crawley Town’s sorry season. The Reds' manager, John Hollins, might have been hoped that his side's luck had changed after a rare win against fellow Nationwide Conference strugglers Scarborough at the weekend but, after a promising start, they allowed their opponents to get back into the game and earn the win that the excellent Eddie French and Andy Howard deserved. The Horsham centre-backs put in near faultless displays in the heart of the defence as they kept the Crawley attack at bay for the full ninety minutes. Not that this was a 'backs to the wall' performance from the Hornets as they more than matched their visitors during the second half, with a hard-working display that made a mockery of the fifty places that separated them from their full-time opponents.

Crawley’s off-the-field problems have been well documented and their players’ frustrations were exacerbated with the news that they would not be paid for appearing in this match, having already seen their salaries reduced by 50%. Horsham manager John Maggs, himself a former Crawley employee for thirty-seven years, was hoping that his side could take advantage of his former club’s misfortune and record a famous win that would earn them a May Bank Holiday showdown against either Lewes or Worthing and, with Jamie Taylor, Mark Hawthorne, Nigel Brake and Ian Payne all having spent time on Crawley’s books this was a match that the Horsham players were desperate to win.

As expected, only a modest crowd assembled at Worthing's Woodside Road with many fans choosing to stay away in protest at the choice of venue and the hefty £9 admission fee, making the relatively heavy police presence a little unnecessary. Hollins gave debuts to teenagers Michael Bostwick, Jack McLeod and Dean Pooley, after their recent arrival from Millwall, while Omari Coleman started up front after coming off the bench to score against Scarborough at the weekend. However, Coleman’s profligacy in front of goal was to prove disappointing from a player whose season had seen him on the books of Lincoln City, Aldershot and Gravesend & Northfleet and ultimately cost Crawley the chance of a third Senior Cup final appearance in four years.

Hollins’ side started the game brightly, taking the game to the Hornets in search of an early goal and, when Horsham’s poorly executed offside trap gave Sacha Opinel time to send in a testing cross, Rob Frankland had to show a safe pair of hands when under pressure from Coleman. A minute later, Opinel’s pace enabled him to reach a long ball that French had allowed to run out of play but the Horsham skipper was saved further embarrassment when the cross was cleared. Danny Ekoku almost capitalised on Howard’s misjudgement when he controlled a bouncing ball on his thigh before striking a volley into the side netting from twenty-five yards and John Westcott was on hand to help out when Frankland missed his punch as the Horsham rearguard came under relentless early pressure. McLeod was the next to try his luck, latching onto Coleman’s through ball and toe-poking a shot wide of Frankland’s right hand post, before Crawley were forced into a substitution when goalkeeper Phil Smith was withdrawn with a leg injury and Rikki Banks, a youngster on work experience from Crystal Palace, took over between the sticks. Coleman then fired wide of goal with a miss that was to typify his night’s work and his side was punished just a few minutes later with Horsham’s first real attack. Bostwick found Ekoku with a quick pass and, when Frankland was only able to palm the striker’s dangerous ball away, Coleman dragged his shot wide of the open goal to the disbelief of the fans behind the goal. Horsham promptly countered down the right and, when Taylor earned his side their first corner of the night, Graves was on hand to sweep the ball home from six yards despite the attentions of several Crawley defenders. Although Horsham were slowly getting in to the game, the goal was certainly against the run of play but, perhaps indicative of Crawley’s recent luck, it was to prove the decisive moment as the psychological advantage of conceding a goal while being the better side for long periods clearly had a damaging effect on the Reds.

Coleman continued to disappoint in front of goal when he headed Bostwick’s cross wide as the Conference side tried to grab an instant equaliser and Taylor's thirty-five yarder gave Banks a comfortable save. Horsham were forced into a reshuffle, eight minutes from the break, when Charman failed to shake off an ankle injury picked up earlier in the game and his place was taken by Matt Geard who promptly slotted into the left-back role enabling Brake to move into a more advanced position. Rather than disrupt the Hornets’ game plan, Brake provided an extra dimension down the left flank and a good cross into the box should have been punished but Westcott’s poor touch allowed a defender to clear the danger. Mark Hawthorne, one of Horsham’s most consistent performers this season, was enjoying one of his best displays in the midfield and his terrific pass set up another Horsham attack that was ended with a desperate clearance as Taylor waited to pounce as Maggs’ side ended the half in encouraging fashion.

An ankle injury meant that Hawthorne failed to reappear after the interval so Ian Payne moved into the back four with Tom Graves moving into the midfield but Crawley began the second half as they had the first with Neil Jenkins’ header forcing Frankland into an uncomfortable save. Horsham countered with a quick break involving Taylor, Carney and Brake with the latter’s low cross hastily cleared by Opinel. David Woozley’s dipping shot was dealt with by Frankland, taking the ball cleanly from under his crossbar, and Brake volleyed over from Carney’s long throw. Taylor and his strike partner, Carl Rook, were working hard to close down the Reds’ defence but, when pressure from the midfield created a promising opening, Westcott wasted the Hornets’ numerical advantage when his overhit pass ran through to Banks.

Danny Clay became the first to enter referee Clive Penton’s notebook for a late tackle on Payne and Geard evened things up, moments later, for a clumsy challenge. Banks wasn’t inspiring much confidence in the Crawley goal with a series of poor clearances keeping the pressure on his defence although he wasn’t alone as a number of his more established team-mates were guilty of misplaced passes and slices to the obvious delight of the Horsham contingent. The young ‘keeper’s blushes were spared when he completely missed Carney’s flighted free-kick but no Horsham player was on hand to capitalise while, at the other end, Frankland showed good strength to deny Jenkins after good work from Steve Burton on the left touchline. Coleman became the second Crawley player to be cautioned, for a foul on Westcott, as the Reds’ frustrations became evident but it took a superb tackle by Howard to stop the rampaging Burton as the Crawley substitute looked to make the most of a slip by Geard.

Horsham were in control during the final stages of the match and, when Banks dropped another high ball from Carney to concede a corner, it looked as if the Hornets would be able to see out the game in their opponents half. Yet, with Penton adding on an unusual amount of injury time, Coleman was given one last chance in which to score but, from only eight yards out, and with goal at his mercy, the striker put his volley wide after more good approach work from Burton. Incredibly, there was still time for Frankland to turn Chris Giles’ speculative shot round the post before Penton’s whistle signalled the start of Horsham’s wild celebrations.


Horsham: 1.Rob Frankland 2.Tom Graves 3.Nigel Brake 4.Eddie French 5.Andy Howard 6.Mark Hawthorne (Payne) 7.Lee Carney 8.John Westcott 9.Jamie Taylor 10.Carl Rook 11.Gary Charman (Geard) Subs: 12.Dominik Hudak 14.Ian Payne 15.Florian Mateos 16.Matt Geard 17.Gary Elliott

Crawley Town: 1.Phil Smith (Banks) 34.Michael Bostwick 36.Dean Pooley 12.David Woozley 11.Neil Jenkins 35.Jack McLeod 6.Leonard Mendy 20.Danny Clay 17.Sacha Opinel (Giles) 9.Danny Ekoku (Burton) 19.Omari Coleman Subs: 4.Danny Brown 10.Steve Burton 23.Lee Blackburn 26.Chris Giles 40.Rikki Banks

Goalscorers

Horsham: Graves (24)

Att: 401