Hassocks 2 v Horsham 3 (after extra-time)
Tuesday 31st January 2006
Sussex Senior Cup quarter-final

Reporter: Jim Bravery

Horsham progressed to the semi-finals of the Sussex Senior Cup for the first time in six years but not before Badgers Ales County League side Hassocks had given them a few scares on the way. This was a match that should, on paper, have been reasonably straight forward for the Ryman League side but recent poor results had left Horsham with a fragile confidence that the hosts sought to exploit from the first blow of referee Warren Atkin's whistle.

Hornets manager John Maggs made some alterations to the team beaten by the Metropolitan Police at the weekend with Gary Elliott returning in goal and Lee Carney back in the midfield after serving a three match suspension. There was no place in the squad for Andy Howard or Tom Graves while the experienced John Farley had returned to Tonbridge Angles after being released by the club earlier in the week. Lying in wait for the winners of this tie were Nationwide Conference side Crawley Town whose manager, John Hollins, was among a good sized crowd at Hassocks' Beacon ground.

After defending a dangerous free-kick inside the opening minute, the visitors went on the counter-attack through Gary Charman - the winger winning his side the first corner of the game. And it was Charman who got on the end of Matt Geard's flag-kick but his volley was blocked and John Westcott's follow up lacked accuracy, sending the ball wide of the target. But it was the hosts who shocked the Horsham following by taking the lead after just five minutes. From the goal kick, Hassocks launched an attack down their potent right side and poor defending from the visitors allowed the ball to find its way into the penalty area. After two shots were blocked, the ball fell nicely at the feet of Richard Thomas who made no mistake, sending a left foot drive into the bottom corner of the net.

Despite this setback, Horsham began to knock the ball around well, trying to conjure up an equaliser but Hassocks' goalkeeper, Joel Harding, was determined to record his twelfth clean sheet of the season. The visitors had a terrific chance to restore parity on eight minutes but an unmarked Eddie French wasted a golden opportunity to score against his former team when he opted for power over placement and Westcott's intelligent pass was wasted as the Hornets' skipper blasted wide from three yards. The pressure was still being applied by the visiting side and Charman saw his header just miss the far post before another breakaway saw the Hornets defence opened up again but this time the final shot was saved by Elliott whose clearance set another attack up. Charman was involved again and his inch perfect pass found Carney unmarked but his effort went just the wrong side of the post.

It was beginning to look as though Horsham's luck had deserted them when, in the twenty-fourth minute, Jamie Taylor turned an apparently perfect slide rule pass into the net only for the linesman's flag to rule the little striker offside. At the other end, Ian Payne was twice called into action, clearing a shot off the line from Pat Harding and, later, making another last ditch tackle to thwart Matt Robbins as he was about to shoot. Prior to this, Charman had two chances but his shots lacked direction and flew harmlessly wide. A Westcott header, when well placed, was saved by Harding and then a good ball from Taylor presented Westcott with another chance that was cleared. Westcott then turned provider but Taylor's full length diving header went the way of the others and just missed the post. The final effort of the first half fell to Carl Rook but his headed effort, from Carney's cross, went wide.

As the players trooped off for a half time break, the little club house was packed with fans trying to generate some heat on a freezing night before the start of the second half.

The second period began with Horsham's defence being put under extreme pressure and it took a typical challenge from French to avert the danger. Within a minute, Carney turned the game on its head with a brilliant solo strike. Receiving the ball from Charman, wide on the left, he cut inside the full back and hit a shot across Harding's dive that curled just inside the far post to draw the sides level.

Most supporters assumed that Horsham would grab the game by the scruff of the neck and go on and win comfortably but things don't always go to plan in football as the hosts regained the upper hand within two minutes. Horsham were punished for casual marking as the build up, again down the right, saw the Robins' Mickey Turner venturing forward before striking a shot that Elliott could only send back into his path and the full-back, with the skill a goalscoring forward would be proud of, chipped the young 'keeper and watched it sail into the unguarded net to restore the County Leaguers' advantage.

Horsham were enjoying the bulk of the possession but, every so often, they would get caught by a swift breakaway and could consider themselves fortunate not to be punished by one of them. Yet the best chances fell to the visitors and Joel Harding, finding himself under increasing pressure in the home goal, denied Charman in a one-on-one. Carney was bossing the game more and more and looked to be the player most likely to work some magic but, when he won himself a free kick on the edge of the area, his curling kick round the wall found only the side netting. Hassocks were still posing the occasional problem for the Horsham defence and a sixty-second minute corner found Ashley Marsh totally unmarked but his header went wide of the upright. Four minutes later Thomas again found himself through on goal but, like a lot of other efforts on the night, the shot went wide.

With one of the Hassocks players down injured, the lone voice of Hornets' chairman Frank King could be heard shouting "COME ON HORSHAM". Perhaps it was a cry of help for his management team to try something different and, sure enough, a change in personnel was soon forthcoming with the introduction of Dominik Hudak. Payne made way for the big Slovakian striker who was thrown up front with Taylor and Rook in an effort to get a result. The Robins also made an enforced change, taking off the injured Chris Brown and replacing him with Brendan Leahy. The visitors' substitution had the desired effect in the seventy-ninth minute when some frantic action in the Hassocks penalty area saw Rook claim Horsham's second equaliser of the night. Hudak somehow managed to squeeze Westcott's cross on to Taylor but the shot was blocked before falling to the feet of Carney whose rushed shot was off target. However, the Hornets deserved their luck as the ball fell kindly for Rook who knocked it home at the far post to set up a tense finale. Hudak then proved his worth at the other end, heading a dangerous corner to safety.

An all-action final ten minutes of normal time saw the Hornets applying constant pressure but Taylor's free-kick went high and wide. Geard was the next to tee up a chance for Mark Hawthorne but his goalbound shot hit the raised hands of a Robins defender only for Mr Atkin, standing just a few yards away, to wave play on. As the ball was knocked down the right flank, the frustrated Geard came into contact with the Hassocks winger and the linesman flagged as both players wrestled on the ground. After consulting his assistant, Atkin decided that Geard was the aggressor and Horsham were down to ten men for the second game in a row. However, Geard's dismissal spurred the Hornets on as they continued to push forward in search of the winning goal and Carney's goalbound effort was superbly saved by Harding after good work from Rook. Harding again denied the visitors when he tipped Hudak's header over the crossbar following a corner and Andy Walker shot wide before earning a rebuke from the Horsham management when he elected to pass wide to Westcott rather than knock the ball into the danger zone and the whistle blew moments later, sending the match into a period of extra-time.

James Cant replaced Hawthorne at the start of the first period with the midfielder struggling to shake off a knock he received earlier in the game. From the kick off, Hassocks were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the visitors' penalty area after Taylor, chasing back to help out the defence, totally mistimed his tackle. Robins' captain Chris Hewitt took the kick which took a deflection off the wall but Elliott was in the right place to save. Horsham scored the decisive goal with five minutes of the half remaining when the impressive Carney was put clear of the defence and, as his effort was blocked, the ball rebounded to Hudak whose pass allowed Rook to tuck away his fifth goal in four games to the jubilation of the visiting fans. There was still time for a Carney free kick but his ball into the box evaded everyone and went straight through to Harding.

The second period of extra time saw the ten men dominating, their superior fitness telling over their tiring opponents. Rook took on the defence but his pass to Hudak was overhit and Harding was out to collect. Carney hit another superb shot that Harding saved after more good work from Rook had set up the opportunity. There was one last chance, and that fell to Charman, but his header from a Carney free kick was again saved by the overworked Harding. The referee's final whistle came as a major relief to the Horsham players, management and fans alike. Hassocks almost caused a shock and deserve a huge round of applause for putting up a tremendous fight from beginning to end. Crawley will be the favourites for the semi final but, if Horsham play with the conviction the Hassocks players showed, then there is always a chance of an upset.

Hassocks: 1.Joel Harding 2.Mickey Turner 3.Richard Thompson 4.Chris Hewitt 5.Stuart Faith 6.Ashley Marsh 7.Graeme Beveridge 8.Chris Brown (Leahy) 9.Matt Robbins 10.Richard Thomas 11.Pat Harding Subs: 12.Brendan Leahy 14.Joe Fernley 15.Ian Dawson 16.Anthony Hibbert 18.Phil Wickwar

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

Goalscorers

Hassocks: Thomas (5), Turner (52)

Horsham: Carney (50), Rook (76,97)

Att: 321