Horsham 1 v Carshalton Athletic 1
Tuesday 22nd August 2006
Ryman League Premier Division

Reporter: Mark Wells

Horsham remain unbeaten after their opening two matches of the 2006/7 season but will be desperately disappointed not to have taken all three points after allowing visiting Carshalton Athletic to snatch an undeserved draw in the dying seconds of the match.

The Hornets had their noses in front for over an hour of this game, thanks to Carl Rook’s 31st minute strike, and were good value for their lead against a surprisingly average Carshalton side who failed to seriously test Horsham ‘keeper Gareth Williams all night. Yet, with the game entering the fourth minute of injury time, a free-kick from David Graves led to a mix-up in the Hornets box with the ball eluding everyone and dropping gently into the back of the net past the despairing Williams. It was a harsh lesson for John Maggs’ side who have quickly learned that you have to turn possession into goals if you are to gain any rewards in this league.

The Hornets boss handed a debut to pacy Portuguese winger Jose Goncalves while Lee Carney was handed the captain’s armband with previous incumbent, Andy Walker, forced to sit alongside John Westcott on the bench as the two players nursed niggling injuries. Captaining the side for the visitors was Horsham’s player of the year, Mark Hawthorne, who had rejoined the Robins during the summer and home fans would also have recognised the familiar faces of ex-Dulwich Hamlet players Paul Seuke and Omari Coleman.

An encouraging midweek crowd of 356 saw Carshalton attacking down the Queen Street slope in the first half and Eddie French had to produce an excellent tackle on Craig Dundas to prevent the Robins from giving his side a seventh minute lead. From the clearance, the Hornets began an attack of their own that spanned the width of the pitch but after Goncalves’ pass had found Carney in the visitors’ penalty area, Jamie Taylor was unable to convert at the near post, giving Seuke an easy save. Taylor’s pace gave early signs of causing Athletic’s defence problems and only the sharp eyes of the linesman prevented him from a run on goal after taking Carney’s pass on his chest. Carshalton were awarded a number of free-kicks in dangerous areas during the opening exchanges with Matt Geard spoken to by referee Steve Briffett for a strong challenge on Dundas, Tom Graves heading the resulting free-kick behind for a corner. Carney went close on nineteen minutes when he collected a lay-off from Jamie Taylor and set off on a typically surging run but his long range effort went past Seuke’s scrambled dive and the upright. A minute later, Charman took advantage of a lucky ricochet to escape his marker and embark on a mazy dribble into the heart of the Carshalton eighteen yard box but his cross flashed across goal, too far ahead on the incoming Rook, and out for a goal-kick.

Dundas might have done better with a header after Mark Marshall had broken from a melee of players on the Horsham right and crossed into the box but the Carshalton striker could only apply the faintest of touches and the ball was cleared. Coleman came closest to breaking the deadlock when he rose unmarked to meet a near post flick-on from Marshall’s corner but he couldn’t quite steer the ball home at the back post. After creating a plethora of chances in their opening game, without converting any of them, it was left to Rook to open Horsham’s Premier Division account in the 31st minute when a determined run and cross from Charman was joyfully volleyed home from six yards to give the hosts a deserved lead. Williams had to get down sharply to preserve the advantage, five minutes later, when Dundas’ overhead kick took a touch off Geard to deflect it towards the far corner. Goncalves showed he had the confidence and power to go with his undoubted pace when he latched onto Carney’s throw and hit a rasping drive from distance, straight at Seuke, and Dundas remained in the thick of the action when his strong challenge prevented Lewis Taylor from a clear run on goal as the first half drew to an end. Geard was shown the yellow card, five minutes before the break, for a deliberate handball and David Graves headed Colin Hartburn’s free-kick over the crossbar before Graves' Horsham namesake made a crucial interception to stop the menacing Dundas. The first period ended with a half-chance falling Horsham’s way when Carney’s long throw was headed out to Charman and, when his volley was blocked, Goncalves curled the loose ball high over the top.

Carshalton had been tipped by many to be among the front runners this season, following their relegation from the Conference South, and they set about Horsham in the opening stages of the second half with Hartburn sending a left foot shot wide of the post and Graves failed to get enough purchase on a header after ghosting in unmarked to meet Marshall's cross. The Hornets were momentarily rattled and French was cautioned for a foul on Steve Gibson. It took a fabulous pass from Carney to regain the initiative for Horsham, sending Goncalves clear down the right and only a hasty clearance from Danny Boxall prevented Rook from adding to his earlier goal. Charman was left frustrated after a spell of determination and some good interplay involving Graves, Jamie Taylor and Carney created an opening for the Horsham winger but his weak effort was easily saved by Seuke. John Cartledge almost put through his own goal from a teasing Charman cross before visiting manager Dave Garland decided to replace the ineffective Gibson with Tom Carter and the substitute almost made an immediate contribution when he outpaced Graves only for a fortuitous deflection to guide the ball harmlessly back to Williams. The former MK Dons midfielder helped liven things up for the Robins and Tony Quinton's shot was deflected over by French before the Horsham defender was turned expertly by Carter whose left foot shot went narrowly wide of the far post.

A rare mistake by the otherwise excellent Carney resulted in a corner for the visitors which David Graves headed into the hands of the grateful Horsham 'keeper for, arguably, the Robins' best effort of the game. At the other end, Rook's never-say-die attitude won his side a corner that was put just over the crossbar via Jamie Taylor's acrobatic overhead kick and one final throw of the dice saw Tom  on to replace Marshall. Taylor couldn't direct his header enough to concern Seuke and, when Williams plucked the ball off Carter's head from Boxall's long free-kick, it seemed like the Hornets were going to be able to celebrate their first win of the season. But, with the referee adding an indeterminable amount of injury time, Rook's attempts to help out his midfield resulted in an untidy challenge on Platel, some twenty yards from goal. There seemed no danger as the softest of free-kicks was chipped into the Horsham box until Graves, receiving a call from Williams, ducked to allow the ball through to his 'keeper only to see it elude his team-mate and drop gently into the back of the net. The Carshalton players were understandably elated at their escape and Mr Briffett allowed just six further seconds of play before bringing proceedings to an end. Horsham secretary Jeff Barrett's dejected tone over the pa system said it all.
 

Horsham: 1.Gareth Williams 2.Ian Payne 3.Matt Geard 4.Eddie French 5.Tom Graves 6.Lewis Taylor 7.Lee Carney 8.Jose Goncalves (Westcott) 9.Jamie Taylor 10.Carl Rook 11.Gary Charman
Subs: 12.Andy Howard 14.John Westcott 15.Andy Walker 16.James Cant 17.Alan Mansfield

Carshalton Athletic: 1.Paul Seuke 2.Colin Hartburn 3.Danny Boxall 4.Mark Hawthorne 5.David Graves 6.John Cartledge 7.Mark Marshall (Carter) 8.Tony Quinton 9.Omari Coleman 10.Craig Dundas 11.Steve Gibson (Platel).
Subs: 12.Alhajie Jabbie 14.Laurent Hamici 15.Daniel Platel 16.Tom Carter 17.Bobby Hooper

Goalscorers:

Horsham - Rook (31)

Carshalton Athletic - Hartburn (90 +4)

Attendance: 356