Maidenhead United 2 v Horsham 1
Saturday 4th November 2006
FA Trophy second qualifying round

reporter: Mark Wells

Horsham's disappointing cup form continued as they were sent tumbling out of the FA Trophy on a sunny afternoon in Berkshire. The architect of their downfall, once again, was former Lewes predator Lee Newman whose two second half goals made it seven wins in a row for the Magpies who are enjoying something of a resurgence under new manager Johnson Hippolyte. The Hornets, though, pushed their Southern League opponents all the way and can consider themselves unfortunate not to come away with at least a draw after impressing for long periods of the game.

Former Horsham winger Florian Mateos was among the healthy travelling contingent who gave their side a rousing reception as they took to the field and captain Eddie French assumed the early advantage by winning the toss and electing to attack down the pronounced York Road slope with the sun in the eyes of debutant Maidenhead 'keeper, Delroy Preddie. John Maggs was able to welcome back Lee Carney to the midfield after injury had kept him out of the midweek defeat of Ashford Town and there was also a return to the starting line-up for Gary Charman, scorer of Tuesday night's winning goal. Opposing them were former Hornet Rob Hughes and one time Lewes striker Dwain Clarke.

Horsham might have opened the scoring after just four minutes when the defensive trio of Stuart Myall, French and Kevin Hemsley combined; Hemsley heading just wide after French had flicked on Myall's throw. Lewis Taylor brought a fine save from Preddie as the visitors enjoyed plenty of early possession with Maidenhead's first effort on goal not arriving until the  seventeenth minute when Craig Lewington lashed the ball wildly off target. Magpies' leading scorer, Craig O'Connor, danced inside the challenges of French and Lewis Taylor before dragging his left foot shot wide of Alan Mansfield's upright but it was Horsham who continued to look the more inventive and Charman sent a speculative first time volley wide after being picked out by Carney. French was looking assured at the back, winning countless aerial battles, but he was caught out by the tricky O'Connor when the striker slipped the ball through French's  legs and the Horsham skipper was cautioned by referee James Evamy for bringing the Maidenhead man down. Ashley Smith's clever back heel gave Clarke the opportunity to home in on goal but his finish lacked composure and fizzed harmlessly across the face of goal and Westcott fired in an effort that was closer, yet still failed to test the 'keeper. Newman had been superbly marshalled by French during the first half but he showed that he still had the poacher's instinct when he stole in front of his marker to meet Hughes' right wing cross, only to mishit his effort to give Mansfield an easy save and French thought he'd scored when he was first to another of Myall's long throws but his flicked header landed on top of the goal. A patient build up involving Goncalves, Carl Rook and Lewis Taylor saw the former put his namesake in the clear but Jamie's first time shot was straight at Preddie who made a low save. Newman, perhaps frustrated by his side's lack of penetration during the previous forty minutes, became the second player to see yellow for kicking the ball away and home hearts were in their mouths, minutes later, when Smith's nonchalant chested pass back to Preddie almost dropped invitingly for Charman as the goalless first half drew to a close.

The temperature began to drop after the interval as the sun dipped behind the covered terrace and Hippolyte sent on Stephen Hughes for the disappointing Clarke, a substitution that would ultimately turn the tie in the home side's favour. The bustling striker was soon in the action, sending in a testing free-kick that Mansfield punched unconvincingly behind for a corner. O'Connor thought he had opened the scoring after just five minutes of the second half when Ryan Parsons' shot fell to him through a crowd of players but the linesman's flag was rightly raised with the Magpies' striker clearly offside. Horsham's increasingly familiar throw-in routine almost saw Hemsley turn the ball in at the near post but Preddie was alert and threw himself smartly to his left to turn the ball behind. The Hornets' goal led a charmed life on the hour mark when Myall, attempting to keep the ball in, simply conceded possession to Stephen Hughes who sent Newman away but the man who scored last weekend's winner against Merthyr Tydfil was unable to find the target, hitting his shot agonisingly wide of the far post with no-one able to get the decisive touch. At the other end, Rook volleyed wastefully over when a pass to Westcott looked a more profitable option. Hughes was rightly cautioned for a robust challenge on Westcott after a two-footed challenge sent the Hornets' winger crashing to the floor and the substitute's frustrations were compounded three minutes later when the visitors took the lead. Once again, it was a throw from Myall that caused problems for the hosts' defence as Rook flicked on for Taylor who emerged from the pack to volley past Preddie from eight yards to enter double figures for the season. Hippolyte immediately made a switch, sending on Adie Allen for Rob Hughes, and his side were level within three minutes. The long ball out of defence, that had proved so ineffective for most of the game, finally came good for the home side when Parsons' hasty clearance eluded French to allow Newman a clear run on goal before providing the clinical finish past Mansfield. Worse was to come for the Hornets, six minutes later, when Maidenhead somehow claimed the crucial second goal out of nothing. There seemed little danger when Goncalves played an innocuous pass to Mansfield but the 'keeper delayed his clearance a fraction too long and could only watch in horror as the ball cannoned off the back of Newman's legs before rolling into the empty net. Ironically, Preddie almost befell a similar fate when a spot of showboating from the former Yeading custodian threatened to backfire on him as Carney blocked an attempted clearance but, this time, the ball dropped harmlessly wide of the unguarded goal. Westcott had been well shackled by Parsons and, with ten minutes remaining, Maggs replaced his winger with Matt Geard as Goncalves moved to the right wing while Hippolyte replaced the limping Newman with Yashwa Romeo. It was Maidenhead who finished the stronger as the toll of playing up the slope in the second half finally seemed to catch up with the Horsham players. Parsons escaped the attentions of Goncalves to send in a great cross from the touchline that found its way to the unmarked Allen at the far post but his shot somehow flew behind off a posse of players when another goal looked on the cards. Another fine delivery, this time from the right, drew an ineffective punch from Mansfield that was headed goalwards by Romeo only for Hemsley to deflect the ball wide for a corner. A third goal would have been extremely harsh on the visitors who were left to rue their inability to turn possession into goals during the first half and, when Geard's quickly taken injury time free-kick was comfortably fielded by Preddie, it was time for the supporters to remove their flags and traipse back to the waiting coaches and cars before heading home.

Maidenhead United: 1.Delroy Preddie 2.Ashley Smith 3. Ryan Parsons 4.Mark Nisbet 5.Dwane Lee 6.Rob Hughes (Allen) 7. Craig Lewington 8. Abdul Osman 9.Craig O'Connor 10.Lee Newman (Romeo) 11.Dwain Clarke (Hughes) Substitutes: 12.Stephen Hughes 14.Lewis Driver 15.Adie Allen 16.Yashwa Romeo 17.Chico Ramos

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

Goalscorers:

Maidenhead United - Newman (69, 75)

Horsham - J Taylor (66)

Attendance: 332