Horsham 3 v Walton Casuals 5
Tuesday 3rd October 2006
Westview League Cup third round

Horsham's dismal League Cup record continued as they conceded five goals for the second match in a row at a soggy Atspeed Stadium. Walton Casuals were expected to provide the Hornets with an opportunity to bounce straight back after their 5-1 mauling at Walton & Hersham a week earlier but, despite holding a 2-1 advantage at the break, the home side failed to secure the win that would have seen them through to a rare appearance in the last sixteen of the competition.

A torrential downpour, 24 hours earlier, had casts doubts as to whether the game would actually go ahead and no doubt the majority of the 168 crowd wished it hadn't after witnessing a display that promised so much in the early stages only to fall dramatically away in the second half. Absent Hornets manager John Maggs, enjoying a few days break, will be as puzzled as the fans to explain how his side can go from producing the sort of solid, assured displays that had seen them go on an eight match unbeaten run at the start of the season to the two shambolic performances served up inside the past eight days. The absence of broken leg victim Ian Payne has led to a reshuffling of the defence and, although the experienced Stuart Myall has been drafted in from Folkestone Invicta, Payne's organisational skills seem to have been badly missed and Maggs will undoubtedly use Thursday night's training session to tighten up the defence that has now failed to keep a clean sheet in twelve matches.

While Horsham's players were putting their feet up at the weekend, following their early FA Cup elimination, the visitors were falling to a 2-1 defeat at home to Kingstonian, their fifth defeat of the season, and hopes were high among the supporters for a repeat of last season's league victory. The side showed four changes from the Walton & Hersham debacle with Alan Mansfield preferred in goal to Gareth Williams and Matt Geard made his first start since 25th August at full-back, enabling Nigel Brake to push forward into the left midfield role in place of Jose Goncalves. Lewis Taylor replaced club captain Andy Walker who joined Goncalves on the bench.

Players from both sides struggled to keep their footing in the opening exchanges, with several of them having to hastily change their footwear. However, the hosts impressed going forward and looked every inch a team thirty-nine places above their opponents. However, it was the visitors who stole the lead on twenty-eight minutes when lively winger David Ocquaye raced to clear to score through Mansfield's legs. However, the Hornets were soon back on level terms when Jamie Taylor fired home from the edge of the area and the Premier Division side were able to go into the break with a one goal advantage when Brake lashed the ball home from close range.

If the Horsham supporters were hoping to side their side emphasise their senior status in the second half, they were in for a shock. Walton were level once more, less than a quarter of an hour after the restart, when Kristian Webb headed home Anthony Gale's cross to score his second goal of the season and worse was to follow, nine minutes later, when Geard brought down an opponent and Gale crashed home the resulting free-kick from twenty-five yards. With the game entering its closing moments, Taylor popped up with his second of the game to make the score 3-3 but Horsham's prolific marksman missed a glorious chance to register his third hat-trick of the season just before the close.

Taylor thought he had made an early breakthrough in extra-time but his close range effort was ruled out for offside and the visitors made the most of their good fortune by taking the lead for a second time, a minute later, when substitute Craig Carley latched on to Scott Harris' long ball to score from the edge of the box. The second period of extra-time found the Hornets pushing forward in search of an equaliser and they were caught out when Jack Watkins broke free to score his first goal for the club and put the seal on an excellent win for the Surrey side.

Horsham must now hope to repair their fragile confidence ahead of Saturday's Ryman Premier Division fixture against Harrow Borough with a big, expectant crowd promised.

Horsham: Alan Mansfield, Stuart Myall (Goncalves), Matt Geard (Charman), Eddie French, Tom Graves, Lewis Taylor, Lee Carney, John Westcott, Jamie Taylor, Carl Rook (Walker), Nigel Brake. Subs: Jose Goncalves, Gary Charman, Andy Walker, James Cant, Gareth Williams