Horsham 4 v Fleet Town 1
Tuesday 11th April 2006
Ryman League Division One

Reporter: Mark Wells

Horsham moved to within a point of leaders Ramsgate with a solid and, at times, spectacular performance that eventually wore down a spirited Fleet Town side. An afternoon downpour led to an early evening pitch inspection but referee Irvine Woodward gave the thumbs up to the delight of the 328 crowd and, one would suspect, the players and supporters of Fleet Town who had already seen this fixture postponed five weeks earlier. After drawing at Dulwich Hamlet at the weekend, the Hornets knew that they had to win this, their game in hand, if they were to remain in with a chance of overhauling Ramsgate in the chase for the title. But their supporters were acutely aware of the threat posed by the visitors who had lost just nine times this season, had destroyed John Maggs’ side back in November, and could now count Kevin Cooper – so frequent a thorn in Horsham’s side – among their number. The former Met Police and AFC Wimbledon striker has few peers at this level with an impressive goalscoring pedigree that has seen him do service at more than twenty clubs. Horsham, though, are not among that long list after the thirty-one year old turned down the chance to join the Hornets earlier this season, prompting some sections of the crowd to give him some good-natured stick during the game.

Mark Hawthorne’s ankle injury enabled Matt Geard to slot into the vacant midfield position, after sitting out the previous two matches through suspension, and Ian Payne’s inclusion at full-back saw Nigel Brake given the left-wing role with John Westcott dropping to the bench. Fleet’s thirteen goal leading scorer, Ed Smith, was absent but, surprisingly, Cooper was named only as substitute – to the relief of the home crowd.

The visitors were quickest to settle in the soggy conditions and, in only the second minute, Andy Howard was forced to concede a corner to halt an attack from the pacy Martin Girling. As the kick came in, an unmarked Paul George volleyed goalwards and Eddie French had to hack clear. Horsham won a corner of their own four minutes later, following good work by Geard and Lee Carney, but Payne was off target as the ball dropped invitingly to him, twenty yards from goal. Carney then combined with Jamie Taylor down the right but the striker’s dangerous ball into the penalty area was cleared and Rob Frankland had to make the first save of the night when Sam Pearce worked the ball on to James Field who skipped away from the challenge of Tom Graves and fired in a shot that rebounded to safety off the ‘keeper’s legs.

Horsham thought they had taken the lead on eleven minutes when Carl Rook latched on to a pass from Payne but his cool finish was ruled out by the linesman’s flag. The offside decision, though correct, was marginal. Taylor headed Brake’s excellent cross wide and a snap shot from the same player was narrowly off target from twenty yards before the deadlock was broken on twenty-two minutes. A free-kick was played in right-footed by Carney, ten yards in from the left touchline, and French’s flick header sent the ball into a posse of players with Rook claiming the vital touch to divert it past the helpless Paul Smith in the Blues’ goal. Field should have drawn the sides level just before the half hour mark when Matty Lewis’ accurate cross picked him out, unmarked and in acres of space, at the far post but the young midfielder’s control was poor allowing a relieved Frankland to smother ball at his feet. Gary Charman seemed to be revelling in the conditions and a storming run presented Taylor with an opening that was deflected behind for a corner. But the visitors attack continued to carry a threat and slack play from the Horsham midfield resulted in a corner that Frankland had to punch away from the head of Steve Noakes. Girling’s cross then saw Sam Pearce charging in but, stretching, he could only direct his shot wide from eighteen yards. Charman's efforts deserved better reward after winning the ball on the edge of his own penalty area and embarking on a surging run into the heart of the Fleet defence but a misplaced place saw the move collapse and Brake’s cross proved just too high for Taylor as the hosts ended the half on top.

Fleet manager Andy Sinton decided that his side need a cutting edge to their approach play and sent on Cooper in place of Lewis at the start of the second half. However, it was Horsham who threatened first when panicky defending allowed Taylor to get in a shot that Smith could only palm out to Rook who promptly laid the ball off for Charman to hit a side-foot shot that was cleared off the line. The resulting corner saw Charman flick on Geard’s flighted cross but Rook couldn’t keep his far post header down and it sailed harmlessly over the crossbar from three yards. Geard’s determined run looked to have earned his side a penalty when he was sent sprawling inside the area, only for referee Woodward to surprise everyone by awarding a goal-kick, and a driven cross by Carney was taken off Rook’s headed by the diving Charman as the home side began to dominate proceedings. And they were rewarded for their positive approach with a second goal after fifty-two minutes when Rook cut inside and curled an exquisite shot beyond the reach of Smith and into the far corner of the net.

Fleet tried an instant reply when Field evaded Graves’ lunge but Frankland was quickly off his line to block the shot with his legs and, within a minute, the visitors fell further behind when Carney’s excellent cross was despatched at the far post by Brake for his fourth goal of the season. Horsham were rampant at this stage and might have scored one of the goals of the season when a superb move involving Charman and Carney ended with Rook just unable to take the latter’s pass in his stride as he raced in on goal. Brake sent in a speculative shot from distance that failed to dip in time but it was quickly forgotten when Horsham rounded off their scoring after sixty-three minutes with a wonderful goal that owed everything to the strength and determination of Rook who was enjoying a fine performance. Chasing a hopeful ball down the right, he out-muscled his marker before sending a delicious cross into the penalty area for Taylor to send a diving header into the back of the net to the delight of the Queen Street crowd.

With the game seemingly beyond the visitors, Sinton gave Tony Millerick a rare run-out, in place of Danny Smart, and, almost immediately, French had to produce a great challenge to deny Nathan Smart. Further substitutions were made with less than twenty minutes remaining, John Mutch replacing Paul George and James Cant coming on for the excellent Carney, but it was French versus Smart again, shortly after, with the Hornets’ skipper blocking a dangerous run from the Fleet number nine. Cant wasted no time in getting into the action at both ends of the pitch when he deflected Will Salmon’s shot behind for a corner, moments after his run and cross had set up Rook for a first time shot that went wide.  Girling threaded a clever ball through to Smart but the striker, enjoying his debut season in the first team, found Frankland a formidable barrier as the Horsham stopper was smartly off his line to block the shot with his body. Maggs introduced John Westcott in place of Brake but his side were to pay the penalty for sitting back as Cooper's obligatory goal reduced the arrears from Girling’s cross. Howard should have restored the four goal advantage, five minutes from the end, when a short corner routine saw Geard’s driven cross pick out the central defender, standing neglected at the far post, but his volley was blazed high over the bar from close in. The closing stages belonged, almost exclusively, to the Fleet attack. Mutch headed a corner over the top and Payne had to head behind for a corner as the Blues threw everything forward although Smart possibly took these tactics a little too literally when he collided with Frankland when competing for a high ball after Field’s shot had ballooned off of Cant and the ‘keeper had to receive treatment from Geoff Brittain. The physio’s healing hands clearly did the trick as Frankland launched himself across goal to keep out Field’s excellent free-kick with just a couple of minutes remaining. Smith enjoyed his own little cameo, a minute from time, when Charman’s spectacular effort forced the Fleet custodian into an acrobatic tip over.

Horsham’s victory impressed the visiting manager who immediately tipped the Hornets to not only go on and gain promotion, but also take the championship crown and, with only five games to go, who might bet against it ?


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

Fleet Town: 1.Paul Smith 2.James Mann 3.William Salmon 4.Matty Lewis (Cooper) 5.Steven Noakes 6.Paul George (Mutch) 7.James Field 8.Sam Pearce 9.Nathan Smart 10.Danny Smart (Millerick) 11.Martin Girling Subs: 12.John Mutch 14.Anthony Millerick 15.Kevin Cooper 16.Steve Cole 17.David Smalley

Goalscorers

Horsham: Rook (22, 51), Brake (53), Taylor (63)

Fleet Town: Cooper (83)

Att: 328