Horsham 0 v Boreham Wood 2
Saturday 31st March 2007
Ryman League Premier Division

reporter: Mark Wells

Horsham's slim chance of achieving a second successive promotion looks to have been ended thanks to two goals from in-form Byron Harrison as Boreham Wood leapfrogged the Hornets in the Premier Division table with their first league victory at Queen Street since 1968.

John Maggs' plans were dealt a blow at lunchtime when Jacob Mingle withdrew from the side through injury, joining Nigel Brake and Kevin Hemsley on the sidelines, and Horsham's small squad was further hit when fellow midfielder Lewis Taylor limped out of the action after half an hour of a wretched encounter that was spoilt by a lively pitch, a strong wind, and two sides who seemed to realise that they had nothing left to play for this season. Both clubs have enjoyed a consistent season in the Isthmian League top flight, proving difficult sides to beat after earning promotion from their respective leagues last season, but the campaign looks to be heading for a mediocre finale for the Hornets who have recorded just four league wins since the turn of the year and, despite retaining a mathematical chance of reaching a promotion play-off place thanks to regular slip-ups from their league rivals, the players already appear to be looking towards the summer break and the opportunity to recharge their batteries.

The visitors showed two changes to the side that had won at improving Hendon last weekend, Simon Thomas and Danny Hart coming in for Paul Armstrong and Greg Morgan up front, but it was 19 year old Harrison with whom Wood's hopes lie after the striker had scored nine goals in his previous six appearances since joining from Worthing in December. Horsham began the game attacking down the slope and enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges during which Lee Carney's free-kick eluded everyone in the penalty area before dropping wide of the goal and Eddie French saw his goalbound header cleared off the line by Marvin Samuel. Taylor collected a knock early on that was to leave him hobbling around in some discomfort but Horsham's afternoon was to get worse on ten minutes when a quick break led to the visitors' opening goal. A throw-in, parallel with Boreham Wood's penalty area, was cleared by the defence and Harrison was allowed to run fifty yards before releasing Michael Cox on the right and racing into the box to get onto the end of his team-mate's cross to steer the ball home at the far post to almost total silence around the ground. The long hard season looked to be taking its toll on the home side and Taylor and Gary Charman exchanged verbals as they clashed over the former's misplaced pass. Taylor almost brought a smile back to the supporters' faces when he thrashed a volley over the bar and Charman's far post header, from Stuart Myall's cross, was comfortably held by goalkeeper Noel Imber as the home side struggled to find any fluency to their play. The visitors, beaten 2-1 at home by Horsham in September, had clearly done their homework on their opponents and worked hard in midfield to negate any creative flair there might have been but, with the below-par Carney nursing bruised ribs from the midweek trip to Margate, Mingle absent and Taylor's influence reduced after that earlier knock, the Hornets looked a pale imitation of the side that had destroyed teams such as Bromley and Billericay Town earlier in the season. Wood managed to fashion another chance of their own, midway through the half, when Cox released Thomas down the right flank and the striker cut inside French before lashing a wild shot across the face of goal and out for a throw. Charman attempted an ambitious volley from thirty yards but came closer to finding the equaliser when his goalbound header, from Myall's long throw, saw Samuel come to his side's aid once more to head the ball off the line. It seemed as though Horsham's best chance to level the scores would be through a set play and Carl Rook would have been celebrating his nineteenth goal of the season had it not been for an acrobatic save from Imber, after French had helped on John Westcott's corner. Carney's wind assisted free-kick had Imber wrong footed as it deflected off the wall and went behind for a corner but, with Taylor having taken another knock, Maggs was left with little option other than to introduce Jamie Baxter to the fray - the teenager moving to right-back, Myall across to the left with Geard moving out of defence and into the centre of midfield. This reshuffle left the hosts at sixes and sevens for a while and the Hertfordshire side almost capitalised on their confusion when they forced a corner that was flicked on by Thomas towards Ryan Morgan but the full-back's finish lacked conviction, sending the ball sailing into the car park. Williams' decision to leave a goalbound header from Thomas was a little too close for comfort as the ball dropped inches wide of the upright and, although Rook headed wide from Myall's deep cross, it was the visitors who finished the half strongest and almost doubled their lead on the stroke of half time when a stinging drive by Cox was only palmed out as far as Thomas who somehow contrived to hit the base of the post with the goal gaping.

The interval gave the opportunity to catch up on the progress of the watching Ian Payne who had been out of action since suffering an horrendous multiple leg break, ironically against Boreham Wood in September. Incredibly, the popular full-back can still only manage light training - cycling and walking - after being told that he may still be suffering from a small fracture, some six months after his accident. Maggs might have wished that the former Crawley man had been available for selection for this match after the visitors unlocked the home defence within just two minutes of the restart, Chris Bangura picking out Harrison's clever run behind the defence, but Williams made a sharp save at his near post to stop Wood from increasing their advantage and Tom Graves was on hand to clear Morgan's effort of the line from the resulting corner, after Luke Gregson's shot had been blocked. Harrison should have done better than to head wide after Cox's excellent cross had picked out his unmarked colleague, eight yards from goal, as Wood made most of the early second half running. Kevin Cooper had shown a couple of neat touches during the first half but the hosts were struggling to create goalscoring chances after the break and the experienced striker was replaced by new signing Shane Graham with half an hour remaining. An error in defence almost gifted the visitors a second goal when Charman's header left Williams stranded only for French to head the ball away from danger. Charman was creating problems at the other end, five minutes later, when he hooked the ball back towards goal after a weak punch from Imber but the ball drifted harmlessly wide. The Horsham defence was in disarray when a pass by Westcott was allowed to run through to Williams who slipped and managed only to clear the ball as far as Danny Hart whose pass picked out Tommy Williams but, as he sliced his shot towards the far post, Bangura put the chance wide from close range. Astonishingly, more farce was to follow within sixty seconds when Williams slipped under no apparent pressure and Bangura was quickly on to the loose ball, sending his shot towards the empty net. Seeing that he'd got his angles wrong, Bangura chased his own effort and retrieved the ball as it rolled past the far post, laying it off to Thomas who, in turn, teed up Gregson who sidefooted the ball wide to prompt a chorus of 'riding on a donkey' from the Horsham fans although the comment might have been directed at Gregson or Williams for their part in the fiasco. A rare move of quality from the Hornets should, perhaps, have produced the equalising goal with just ten minutes remaining when Carney's excellent pass, with the outside of his right boot, sent Westcott scampering away down the right and the winger's good delivery was met by Rook only for the club's leading scorer to head wide. A fine double save from Williams kept the home side in the hunt but the result was put beyond doubt, shortly after, when possession was conceded midway inside the Horsham half and Bangura was given the freedom of the penalty area to attack Williams' goal only to overrun the ball, a bobble taking it away from the goalkeeper and back off the post from where Harrison was able to poke the ball home from on the goal-line for his second of the match - the goal perhaps summing up a scrappy encounter. The game ended on a sour note with Myall and Bangura both booked by referee Field for an off-the-ball incident and the whistle blew, moments later, to put the majority of a disappointing 334 crowd out of their misery with insult added to injury for my fellow reporter who discovered that his 'other' team, Wolverhampton Wanderers, had crashed 6-0 at home to Southampton. It's a cruel game sometimes.

Horsham: 1.Gareth Williams 2.Stuart Myall 3.Matthew Geard 4.Eddie French 5.Tom Graves 6.Lewis Taylor (Baxter) 7.Lee Carney 8.John Westcott 9.Kevin Cooper (Graham) 10.Carl Rook 11.Gary Charman Substitutes: 12.Shane Graham 14.Dean Wright 15.Jamie Baxter 17.Alan Mansfield

Boreham Wood: 1. Noel Imber 2.Marvin Samuel 3.Ryan Moran 4.Tommy Williams 5.Mark Smith 6.Luke Gregson 7.Michael Cox 8.Byron Harrison 9.Chris Bangura 10.Simon Thomas (Reynolds) 11.Danny Hart Substitutes: 12.Joe Reynolds 14.unknown 15.Laurie Stewart 17.Callum Horton

Goalscorers:

Boreham Wood - Harrison (10,85)

Attendance - 334