Horsham 2 v Folkestone Invicta 2
Saturday 23rd December 2006
Ryman League Premier Division

reporter: Mark Wells

Horsham missed out on regaining top spot in the Ryman Premier Division after a disappointing draw against struggling Folkestone Invicta. Having established a 2-0 interval lead, there looked only one winner as the hosts stroked the ball around competently, scoring twice in a two minute spell and looking on course for their twelfth league win of the season. Yet the second half saw a complete turn around in fortunes as, far from resigning themselves to a fourth successive defeat, Folkestone took the game to their opponents, levelling the scores before the hour mark and, but for a good save by Hornets' 'keeper Alan Mansfield late on, might have completed the unlikeliest of comebacks.

With Carl Rook available again after his three match suspension, Ryan Rummery stepped down to the substitute's bench with Lee Carney asked to fill the supporting role that had worked so successfully at Tonbridge the previous week. Folkestone were delighted that their own striker, Mark Saunders, had passed a fitness test and he was joined in attack by leading scorer Ellis Remy who had returned to the club after being released last month for financial reasons. The visitors' defence was bolstered by another returning player, Sam Kola Okikiolu, who took the place of the experienced Adam Flanagan who was sidelined with a stomach injury.

The match began with the Hornets attacking down the slope but it was Stuart Myall, playing against his former side, who had to put in a hasty clearance when Remy took a high ball on his chest and shaped to shoot. Gary Charman's close control created a chance after just three minutes when he cut inside Saunders and curled a right foot shot just over the crossbar and Carney's shot was similarly off target a minute later. With the home side enjoying the bulk of the early possession, the Folkestone midfield put in a number of strong challenges with captain Michael Everitt's tackle on Myall provoking strong words from Horsham assistant manager Tommy Warrilow. On ten minutes, a deep cross from Nigel Brake was headed on to the roof of the net by Rook and the striker's next contribution was to result in the first goal of the afternoon. John Westcott's right wing corner was nodded on by Rook and Kevin Hemsley was on hand to volley home his first goal for the club with the Folkestone skipper unable to prevent the ball from entering the net via the upright. The lead was doubled less than a minute later and it owed everything to Brake's pace, power and delivery. A patient build up had begun with Rook racing onto a perfectly timed through ball from Jacob Mingle before laying the ball back to Myall and on to Lewis Taylor who spread it wide to Brake on the opposite flank. The former Sutton United man had scored direct from a cross in the win at Tonbridge the previous weekend and a repeat looked on the cards as he took on James Everitt, got past him on the outside, and curled in a delicious ball that looked to be heading into the back of the net before Rook appeared to thump in a header from virtually on the goal-line to extend the hosts' thoroughly deserved advantage. Damian Abel almost reduced the arrears on twenty minutes when he sent in a curling effort that Mansfield pushed behind at his near post but Horsham continued to create the best chances and Mingle should have done better when he found himself on the end of Brake's misdirected shot, only to poke the ball wide of the goal. The Seasiders' boss, long serving Neil Cugley, made an early change, replacing the ineffective Remy with Jimmy Corbett just before the half hour and he almost marked his introduction with a goal within moments of coming on when Ben Sly sliced his shot into the substitute's path but he slashed the ball wide from a tight angle.

Charman showed his frustratingly petulant side when he was booked for throwing the ball away after referee Will Bull had failed to spot an earlier infringement and, from the resulting free-kick, the visitors won themselves a corner which Corbett scuffed wide after Mansfield's punch had landed at his feet. The visitors were lucky to escape further punishment, ten minutes before the break, when Taylor raced onto Mingle's fine through pass only for goalkeeper Tony Kessell to perform a good sliding tackle, outside of the penalty area, and Rook got too much elevation on his attempt to chip the ball back into the empty net. Abel became the second recipient of Bull's yellow card for catching Mansfield on the shin when contesting a long pass out of defence and both sets of players came together when Michael Everitt's dangerous challenge left Brake in a heap, earning the skipper a caution while Mingle and Kevin Watson were spoken to for some pushing off the ball. The final chance of the half fell to the visitors for whom Saunders ghosted in unmarked at the far post to head Watson's free-kick into the side netting.

The opening quarter of an hour of the second half saw chances at both ends after the visitors surprised their hosts by taking the game to them, using the slope to their advantage, and they ought to have halved the deficit inside the first five minutes when a free-kick from Watson flew across the face of Mansfield's goal with none of the four Folkestone players in attendance able to apply the crucial touch. However, the Horsham defence was breached on fifty-one minutes when the Seasiders retained good possession, despite being put under pressure by the energetic midfield pairing of Mingle and Taylor, and the ball was moved out to the right flank from where Sly fired in an inch perfect cross for Saunders to head home from close range for only his second goal of the season. Horsham immediately went on the offensive and Charman could have restored the two goal cushion but he overran the ball which was gratefully cleared by the Folkestone defence and Mansfield had to advance quickly from his line to thwart the lively Abel. A poor clearance inside the Folkestone penalty area was hoofed straight up into the air and, although Carney jumped highest, he could only direct his header straight into the arms of Kessell. James Everitt was fortunate to escape censure when his robust challenge on Taylor sent the midfielder crashing to the turf in front of the home dugout and Charman could consider himself even more fortunate when he again pushed the ball too far ahead of him, allowing James Everitt to intercept and the Horsham man showed his frustration by kicking out at the defender before crashing the ball against the foot of the post after the whistle had blown. The missed chance was a disappointment for Brake who had instigated the attack with a wonderfully timed challenge inside his own penalty box to dispossess Abel.

The visitors had begun the half brightly, with Abel, Saunders and Sly increasingly influential, and it was Abel who was to score the equaliser on fifty-nine minutes. The goal was a personal disaster for the otherwise impeccable Hemsley whose decision to allow Paul Lamb's long ball out of defence to run out for a goal-kick backfired when Corbett wrestled possession away from the Hornets central defender and squared the ball to Abel who had the simple task of slotting home from six yards to the despair of the home fans. Horsham were rocked by the goal and failed to re-establish themselves on the game with their passing all too often falling short and, with Carney suddenly looking a forlorn figure up front and Mingle and Taylor's earlier energy now looking spent, the home fans were beginning to anticipate the unthinkable. Yet Charman might have calmed the nerves, a quarter of an hour from the end, when Westcott latched on to Carney's defence splitting pass to roll the ball across the face of goal where Charman, with just James Everitt to beat on the goal-line, smacked his shot against the post from six yards. That was Westcott's last taste of the action as he was replaced by Rummery but his replacement's first touch was to get him in trouble with the referee when he was harshly booked for an alleged foul on James Everitt.

Assistant referee Barrie Small was coming in for a lot of stick from the home fans for some dubious decisions, as tensions grew on the terraces, but his award of a corner for the home side with just seven minutes remaining seemed a popular one but Charman, stretching, could only hit the resulting cross into the car park behind the goal. There remained one final chance in the game and it fell to the visitors when Saunders released the eager Abel who picked out Corbett but the substitute could only send his header straight at Mansfield and the two sides had to settle for a point apiece from this, the first ever league meeting between the clubs.

Results elsewhere meant that, not only did Horsham miss out on the opportunity to regain top spot in the table, they slipped a place to fourth after Chelmsford City's 5-0 demolition of Slough Town enabled them to leapfrog the three teams above them. Having performed so admirably against the likes of Chelmsford, Bromley, Heybridge Swifts, AFC Wimbledon, Ramsgate and Billericay Town, it is the club's inability to finish off the lower sides that continues to frustrate boss John Maggs and he will insist that his players go into each game with the 'big match' mentality if they are to continue to maintain the momentum at the top of the league. Boxing Day's visit to struggling Worthing would be an ideal opportunity for his players to put that right.

Horsham: 1.Alan Mansfield 2.Stuart Myall 3.Nigel Brake 4.Eddie French 5.Kevin Hemsley 6.Lewis Taylor 7.Jacob Mingle 8.John Westcott (Rummery) 9.Carl Rook 10.Lee Carney (Goncalves) 11.Gary Charman Substitutes: 12.Tom Graves 14.Matt Geard 15.Jose Goncalves 16.Ryan Rummery 17.Rob Frankland

Folkestone Invicta: 1.Tony Kessell 2.Kevin Watson 3.Paul Lamb 4.Samuel Kola Okikiolu 5.Liam Friend 6.James Everitt 7. Michael Everitt 8.Damian Abel 9.Ellis Remy (Corbett) 10.Mark Saunders 11.Ben Sly (Chandler) Substitutes: 12.Jimmy Corbett 14.Joe Neilson 15.Roy Guiver 16.Martin Chandler 17.Luke Stonebridge

Goalscorers:

Horsham - Hemsley (15) , Rook (16)

Folkestone Invicta - Saunders (51), Abel (59)

Attendance: 488