Littlehampton Town 2 v Horsham 6
Tuesday 23rd January 2007
Brighton Charity Cup

Reporter: Mark Wells

Lee Farrell won the family bragging rights on Tuesday evening with an amazing six goal haul to help the Hornets to a comprehensive Brighton Charity Cup win. On any other occasion, Horsham's on loan striker would have been congratulated on his exploits by his brother Scott but, given that his older sibling is assistant manager at Littlehampton Town, the post-match handshakes might have been forgiven for being slightly less sincere than usual. The pacy frontman had been the subject of an audacious approach by the Golds during the summer and how they must have rued his decision to remain at the Dripping Pan as his dazzling display earned him a hat-trick in each half and would have had manager John Maggs purring at the thought of his new acquisition terrorising Ryman Premier Division defences in the coming month.

Despite achieving reasonable success in the competition (the Hornets won the trophy in 2003 and 2004), many supporters have been angered by the club's continued participation in the Brighton Charity Cup claiming that it stretches their modest squad unnecessarily. Yet, with the fragmented Alliance Reserve League providing little opportunity for players to return from injury, this match provided the perfect opportunity for Gareth Williams to make his long awaited appearance between the sticks, having missed almost four months through injury. Maggs opted for a mixture of experience and youth, taking with him four members of the under 18 squad but resting Carl Rook, Jacob Mingle and Gary Charman.

The home side are enduring a torrid season, sat rock bottom of the County League Division One table without a home win all season and having conceded five goals in each of their previous three games so it  was no surprise that it took Farrell just three minutes to make his mark when he latched onto a pass from Lewis Taylor and comfortably beat Jon Hendrick. Farrell then turned provider when he crossed for Ryan Rummery but his strike partner failed to convert the chance, giving Hendrick an easy save, and Littlehampton surprised their opponents by drawing level on fourteen minutes. Referee Davis waved play on after Nigel Brake had hit the deck, holding his ankle, and Liam Waller's cross was gleefully despatched past Williams from close range by Jehan Huet. Horsham's attacking ambitions frequently floundered on the linesman's offside flag, with Stuart Myall's searching passes down the line towards Brake keeping the official busy, but the Hornets should have retaken the lead when Taylor's header was scrambled off the line only for Hendrick to expertly tip Kevin Hemsley's effort over the crossbar. But, despite the visitors' apparent control of the game, it was the Golds who were to score next. As with the home side's opening goal, there was a hint of controversy about the build up in which Danny Cooper appeared to be in an offside position when he collected a lofted pass from Tom Bird and when on to fire assuredly past the exposed Williams. But Horsham were behind for less than ninety seconds when John Westcott's deep cross was headed back by Brake for Farrell to score. Westcott went close himself soon after, edging a shot wide of the upright, before play was brought to a halt when the floodlights failed just over the half hour mark. The players were able to return after around twenty minutes and the Horsham players recovered from the interruption sufficiently to add a third goal on the stroke of half-time when Brake's surging run down the flank ended with a driven cross that Farrell slid home from six yards.

With the interval bringing another break in play, the Horsham fans who had travelled down to support their club might have been excused for wishing they'd stayed at home but Farrell's second three goal blast was a fair reward for their commitment on a cold and breezy night. They had a scare, though, soon after the restart when Hemsley appeared to take Neil Alexander's legs in the Horsham area but the penalty appeals were waved away and Farrell inflicted further misery on the hosts with a fourth goal on sixty-three minutes. Rummery's effort looked bound for the corner until Hendrick pushed the bobbling ball around the post but Farrell was in the right spot to convert the resulting corner after Rummery had headed on. Twelve minutes later it was five and, once again, the goal owed everything to Farrell's pace; Brake's pass sending his team-mate through to race in on goal unattended, sidestep the 'keeper and slotting into the unguarded net. To their credit, Littlehampton battled gamely on and Williams did well to tip over a shot from Ryan Hudson but it was left to Farrell to have the final say of the night, completing his remarkable double hat-trick five minutes from time when he converted another Brake cross.

Littlehampton Town: 1.Jonathan Hendrick 2.Shane Merrick 3.Dale Campbell 4.Robert May 5.Kevin Clayton 6.Jehan Huet 7.Ryan Hudson 8.Liam Waller 9.Neil Alexander 10.Danny Cooper 11.Tom Bird Substitutes:12.Ollie Rowland 14.Barry Pidgeon 15.Stu Smith 16.Stan Elder

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

Goalscorers:

Littlehampton Town - Huett (14), Cooper (24)

Horsham - Farrell (3,26,45,63,75,85)

Attendance: TBA