Horsham 0 v Lewes 3
Tuesday 6th March 2007
Sussex Senior Cup quarter-final replay

reporter: Mark Wells

If a week is a long time in football, a fortnight can feel like a lifetime. Two weeks ago, Lewes were saved from elimination from the Sussex Senior Cup only by Lee Farrell's last gasp equaliser at the Dripping Pan that set up a replay between these two fierce rivals. With The Rooks' fortunes apparently sliding faster than something fast and slidey, John Maggs' side approached the re-match in confident mood with a virtually full strength squad fresh from a weekend off after their league game at Margate had been postponed. However, with last Tuesday's tie controversially going the same way, the sides were forced to wait a further week before trying again. In the intervening days Lewes, finally able to muster their first choice eleven in several months, hammered luckless Dorchester 5-1 in the league while the Hornets were left to count the cost of their often physical encounter with Leyton that left Gary Charman, Lewis Taylor and Carl Rook, along with hamstring victim Stuart Myall, out of this Tuesday night fixture as the initiative fell once again with the East Sussex side. Inevitably, the Conference South side proved too strong for Maggs' patched up team, scoring three times in the final twenty-two minutes to give the scoreline a misleadingly one-sided look after the home side had more than matched their opponents for over an hour. Dean Wright, making his first start for the Hornets in place of Rook, led the line superbly alongside the experienced Kevin Cooper, causing the Lewes defenders problems with his pace and exuberance and Lee Carney was back to his creative best in midfield.

A 2pm inspection surprised many when the Queen Street pitch was declared fit to play, despite torrential rain throughout Sunday and a similar spell during the night, but it had drained sufficiently by kick-off time that the players had little difficulty with the conditions during the entire ninety minutes. However, the threat of another postponement, coupled with the attraction of live football on the TV meant that the attendance was a meagre 338 giving strength to the suggestion that Senior Cup ties might, in future, be played on Saturdays to encourage bigger crowds. However, those that were in attendance were to witness an entertaining and intriguing clash that saw little evidence of the cynical side that had dogged past encounters between the sides. The visitors made four changes to the eleven that had begun the match at the Dripping Pan with Matthew McEntegart, one-time Horsham loanee Lee Farrell, and Leon Legge all dropping to the subs bench in favour of Craig O'Connor, Jamie Cade and Lewis Hamilton while Portuguese trialist Jordao appears to have left the club, Steve Elliott taking his place. As well as Wright, Maggs was also forced to name three of the under 18 side that had faced Lewes in last week's County Youth Cup Final - the contrast in the respective squads all too obvious with the Rooks' bench containing the likes of Farrell and Jean-Michel Sigere, both goalscorers against the Hornets in last season's cup final.

Boosted by their good win in Dorset, Lewes set about their hosts immediately and Paul Booth sprung the offside trap after just three minutes, forcing Gareth Williams to race quickly from his line to hack clear and a snapshot from Simon Wormwull had the 'keeper making a fine save. Carney, restored to the Horsham midfield, showed some fine touches on the edge of the Lewes penalty area but Wright was unable to take the ball in his stride after being played through on goal. It took just seven minutes for this historically fractious fixture to see its first booking, Matt Geard receiving a caution for upending Steve Elliott with a late challenge, and Elliott soon followed after bringing down Wright. On thirteen minutes, a long ball out of defence reached Booth who moved it out wide for Cade to sidestep Eddie French and send a fierce right foot shot just wide of the far post. At the other end a patient build up, and a neat touch from Carney, allowed Wright to turn his marker before hitting a shot towards goal that was deflected away by former Crawley captain Ian Simpemba and good anticipation from Geard saw him intercept a loose ball out of defence and fire in a shot that had goalkeeper Steve Williams scampering across his goal. Horsham had a strong appeal for a penalty turned down on twenty-seven minutes when a lofted ball from Tom Graves appeared to hit Elliott on the forearm but neither linesman nor referee were convinced and the ball was cleared. A weak goal-kick from Williams put his defence under pressure when the ball was quickly played into the path of O'Connor who hit a good shot that enabled Williams to redeem himself with a fine save at his near post. The Hornets enjoyed a good spell around the half hour mark when Cooper's header was deflected behind for a corner and, from Westcott's resulting kick, the prolific striker turned well to send in a shot that was blocked on the line by Wormwull. Cooper was then presented with a half chance after Nigel Brake's clever pass found its way beyond Steve Robinson but the central defender was quick to recover, doing enough to prevent the Horsham man from getting his shot on target as his lobbed effort dropped wide. Lewes might have taken the lead in the final moments of the half after Jacob Mingle lost possession and Gary Holloway played the ball in to Booth who moved away from French and arrowed a shot across the face of goal that took a touch from Williams to concede a corner. The flighted cross was fumbled by the goalkeeper who quickly made amends by producing a fabulous save from Cade whose powerful strike looked destined for the back of the net.

Goalless at half-time, the home side could be pleased with their efforts but they were soon under pressure after the interval when Holloway skipped around Kevin Hemsley, tight to the goal-line, and teed up Wormwull but his shot was blocked and cleared by Graves. Horsham had a second penalty appeal denied when Cooper went down under a challenge inside the area and Graves produced a fine tackle to stop the dangerous Booth as he closed in on goal at the other end of the pitch. Cade showed clever feet to sidestep two Horsham defenders but his curling effort went just too high and a desperate challenge by Lewis Hamilton prevented Cooper from getting a sight of goal as the game continued to ebb and flow. The Hornets' best chance of the night came just before the hour when Carney and Geard worked a quick free-kick, the former throwing Elliott a classic dummy and racing into the Lewes penalty box before pulling the ball back towards Wright but the youngster's shot flew high over the crossbar. O'Connor had the ball in the back of the net after a swift break had torn through the Horsham defence but his effort was chalked off for an offside offence and Wormwull curled a shot wide with the outside of his foot after O'Connor's guile had helped him escape the attentions of Graves. The deadlock was finally broken on sixty-eight minutes and it was the visitors who edged in front when Simpemba's free-kick was hit long towards the edge of the Hornets' penalty area. Graves stretched to head clear but the ball dropped for Wormwull to cross perfectly for Booth who had peeled away from his marker before placing a firm header past Williams. The visitors thought they had doubled their lead within two minutes when good approach play down the left involving Hamilton and O'Connor led to another good cross that was despatched cleanly on the volley by Wormwull only for the linesman to signal once again for offside. Lewes began to take control of the game after the goal and Booth went close when he headed Wormwull's corner over the crossbar. Horsham came close to an equaliser when Geard looked to take Williams by surprise with a quickly taken free-kick but the big 'keeper did well to turn the curling strike away at full stretch. The match had been played in good spirit although Paul Kennett was booked for a reckless challenge on Brake on seventy-three minutes as the visitors looked to take the sting out of the game. Both sides made substitutions with Farrell replacing O'Connor and Jamie Baxter coming on for Wright who received a good reception from the crowd having worked tirelessly up front. The Horsham switch had Baxter moving into right-back, Graves into midfield and Mingle into attack but it was the Rooks who profited from the change when Cade and Wormwull combined to create the opening for Farrell whose shot was well saved by Williams only for the ball to rebound kindly for the substitute who nodded home from close range. Cade was replaced by Junior Kadi, shortly after, and a late chance for the home side came when Carney floated a long range chip wide of the upright before the leaving the field with cramp, under 18s captain Kieran Johnson taking his place. Lewes boss Steve King made his final substitution of the night, sending on Matthew McEntegart for the injured Wormwull, and they came close to extending their lead when Simpemba's free-kick saw Holloway send a good effort just too high. The visitors completed the scoring in the final minute when Booth took a neat touch inside the penalty area before tucking his shot underneath Williams' dive and the small band of Rooks fans could look forward to a repeat of last year's semi-final meeting with Worthing and maybe a late season rally that might yet take them into the promotion play-offs. The scoreline was harsh on an understrength, yet nonetheless determined, Horsham side who, yet again, matched their 'superior' opponents for long periods but were left to rue the injuries to key players that may have longer reaching effects with tough league games ahead.

Horsham: 1.Gareth Williams 2.Tom Graves 3.Nigel Brake 4.Eddie French 5.Kevin Hemsley 6.Lee Carney (Johnson) 7.Jacob Mingle 8.John Westcott 9.Kevin Cooper 10.Dean Wright (Baxter) 11.Matt Geard Substitutes: 12.Lee Saxby 14.Jamie Baxter 15.Stuart Myall 16.Kieran Johnson 17.Alan Mansfield

Lewes: 1. Steve Williams 2.Steve Elliott 3.Lewis Hamilton 4.Paul Kennett 5.Steve Robinson 6.Ian Simpemba 7.Jamie Cade (Kadi) 8.Gary Holloway 9.Craig O'Connor (Farrell) 10.Paul Booth 11.Simon Wormwull (McEntegart) Substitutes: 12.Junior Kadi 14.Lee Farrell 15.Matthew McEntegart 16.Leon Legge 17.Jean-Michel Sigere

Goalscorers:

Lewes- Booth (68,90), Farrell (78)

Attendance - 338