Horsham 4 v Ramsgate 1
Saturday 2nd September 2006
Ryman League Premier Division

Reporter: Mark Wells

There was champagne aplenty at a soggy Queen Street as Jamie Taylor's hat-trick capped a day of celebration for the Hornets in front of a crowd of 376. The diminutive striker needed just two goals to register the magical one hundred mark for Horsham and, when he converted Carl Rook's 84th minute knock down to score his second of the game, the crowd rose in acknowledgement of one of the club's most prolific strikers of recent years. Taylor's injury time third gave the home side their second successive 4-1 win at the Atspeed Stadium and, with it, maintained their unbeaten start to the season that elevated them to 6th place in the table.

The afternoon's proceedings had begun with a presentation to John Westcott, whose selection for this match became his one-hundredth in Horsham colours, and with Lee Carney celebrating the midweek birth of his second child by resuming the captaincy in the absence of Andy Walker, the mood in the Horsham camp was understandably buoyant. However, no-one was under any illusions as to the difficulty of the task ahead as last  season's Division One champions arrived at Queen Street having already earned themselves a valuable point on their travels this season at AFC Wimbledon. Such has been the Rams' lack of summer additions to their playing staff that eleven of today's squad took part in this corresponding fixture last season, with newly signed goalkeeper Chris May hoping for a repeat of the clean sheet he kept on his last appearance at Queen Street for Hastings United back in January.

Jim Ward's side have developed a reputation as an efficient and workmanlike side and they got off to a good start when captain Mark Munday fired a shot into Gareth Williams' midriff as early as the first minute. New signing Warren Waugh showed quick feet to skip past a couple of challenges on the edge of the Horsham penalty area before sending a shot over the crossbar as the hosts struggled to impose themselves on the game in the early stages. Jamie Taylor wasted Horsham's first opening when he elected to shoot when a pass to the overlapping Westcott might have been a more productive outlet but that was soon forgotten when Westcott put the Hornets ahead, somewhat fortuitously, after twelve minutes. Picking the ball up midway inside the Ramsgate half, the centurion cut back onto his left foot and curled a cross towards the waiting Rook and Taylor only for the ball to elude everyone and sneak into the far post past May's despairing dive. Shaun Welford might have evened the score within three minutes when referee David Buck waved aside Horsham's offside claims and the striker ran on to Dean Hill's long ball from defence, only to put the ball into the side netting from an acute angle. Taylor should have doubled the lead when Carney's right-footed corner fell to him, just three yards out, but the striker couldn't adjust his footing quickly enough and May was able to pounce. Ian Payne's inadvertent flick on from Liam Morris' throw presented a half chance for Stuart Vahid but his acrobatic volley cleared the crossbar by some distance and, two minutes later, the visitors fell further behind. Again Westcott was involved, displaying the sort of skill that earned him the player of the season award two years ago, as he took the ball down on his chest, tricked his way past Hill and delivered an exquisite cross into the penalty area. Eddie French made a nuisance of himself, Rook's header bounced down off the crossbar and Taylor nodded home from a matter of inches to take him tantalisingly close to his personal landmark.

The Hornets were the more constructive of the two sides, although Waugh remained a constant threat for the visitors, and another excellent move saw Rook head wide from Graves' cross. Persistence from the men in amber and green created a shooting chance for Graves, and Rook was a whisker away from turning the ball home as he slid in to meet the defender's low shot. John Maggs' side have developed a tremendous understanding and awareness of each other's play over the past eight months or so and this was emphasised when Rook's intelligent running found Carney moving into space inside their opponents' penalty area but his drag back towards Taylor lacked the necessary power and was cleared. However, the Rams were able to reduce the deficit when Waugh profited from some slack play from Payne to allow Warren Schulz to release Welford and the pacy frontman accelerated away from Graves before finishing well across the face of the 'keeper and into the far corner of the net.

Nigel Brake was lectured by Mr Buck for a seemingly innocuous challenge on Stuart Vahid and was fortunate to escape further censure when his ill-timed challenge through the back of the same player, just moments later. The Hornets were rocking for a while but the dangerous Taylor was looking lively and a snapshot from Rook's cute touch whistled narrowly past May's right hand upright. As the conditions began to worsen, with driving rain lashing into the players' faces, Waugh made a strong run and played a neat one-two on the edge of the box but his finish couldn't match the build up and the ball sailed harmlessly over the top. Williams had an anxious moment when Stuart Vahid was released down the Ramsgate right and cut inside Payne, before apparently over-running the ball, only to stick out a leg to stab the ball goalwards, hitting the 'keeper's body and going behind for a corner. May's quick reactions prevented Brake from reaching Taylor's incisive pass before three successive corners meant the hosts ended the half on a high note.

The interval saw only one substitution take place, that of Simon Pettit for Waugh, and Horsham's two Taylors almost got the second half off to a flying start when Lewis hit the ball wide after following up Jamie's blocked effort. A cross from the Ramsgate left saw Stuart Vahid's flying header set up Welford at the far post and Payne combined with Williams to clear the danger after the initial shot was pushed away by the 'keeper. Munday had to be alert when Brake arrived at pace to get onto the end of Rook's pull back and, at the other end, French timed his challenge to perfection to dispossess the marauding Welford as the game switched from end to end. However, Ramsgate's next attack was to lead to the unfortunate Payne having to leave the field following a clash with Williams and Welford. A long ball over the defence led to a straight race between Graves, Payne, Williams and Welford and the Rams striker could consider himself unlucky to have a free-kick awarded against him following the inevitable collision. Matt Geard was sent on as replacement for the former Crawley man, who had to be helped from the pitch by both physios, and he was soon in trouble with the officials, receiving a yellow card for a reckless lunge on Stuart Vahid. As the resulting free-kick broke down, a quick Horsham break saw Rook fire a shot straight at the goalkeeper to the frustration of the home crowd who sensed that the next goal would be crucial to the outcome of the match. Will Graham followed Geard into the referee's notebook after scything down Brake but worse was to follow for the Ramsgate defender when he went down in a heap, after contesting a corner with Williams and Andy Howard, and had to be stretchered off to be replaced by Ryan Bernard.

Horsham were making good use of their wingers, with both Westcott and Brake seeing plenty of the ball, and it was Brake who was at the heart of the hosts' next two moves. With a quarter of an hour remaining, his flighted cross was headed wide by Rook and then he played in Taylor, whose pace had taken him clear of both the covering defender and goalkeeper, but his first touch was heavy and the ball rolled out for a goal-kick. Lee Minshull was sent on in place of Warren Schulz as we witnessed the sad sight of an ambulance arriving to treat the stricken Graham. The heavy rain was making conditions very difficult and what appeared to be a good pass from the substitute towards Welford quickly ran out of play on the slippery surface. Taylor's historic moment came after 84 minutes and was, once again, the result of more good teamwork from the home side. The referee ignored the linesman's flag as Rook fought his way out of the clutches of his marker to switch play to the left flank, bringing Geard into the attack. The full-back's chip found the head of Rook at the far post and his knock down enabled Taylor to score off the post before celebrating his achievement with his strike partner and adoring fans behind the goal. With the match entering its final moments, Horsham tried to take the heat off the game by passing the ball around and Minshull's frustrations got the better of him as he appeared to raise a hand at Graves, earning both players a lecture from Mr Buck. Taylor was inches away from converting Brake's slide rule pass and Pettit's late effort seemed to sum up the visitors' afternoon as the ball went high and wide before landing in the car park.

The icing on the cake for Horsham came in the seventh minute of stoppage time when Carney, showing no effects from the excitement of Wednesday's new arrival, worked hard to win the ball in midfield before sending an inch perfect pass through the flat-footed defence for Taylor to race on and claim his second hat-trick in eight days, sliding the ball confidently past May.

Horsham: 1.Gareth Williams 2.Tom Graves 3.Ian Payne (Geard) 4.Eddie French 5.Andy Howard 6.Lewis Taylor 7.Lee Carney 8.John Westcott 9.Jamie Taylor 10.Carl Rook 11.Nigel Brake
Subs: 12.Matt Geard 14.Kieron Johnson 15.Jose Goncalves 16.James Cant 17.Alan Mansfield

Ramsgate: 1.Chris May 2.Edd Vahid 3.Dean Hill 4.Liam Morris 5.Will Graham (Bernard) 6.Mark Munday 7.Michael Yianni 8.Warren Schulz (Minshull) 9.Shaun Welford 10.Warren Waugh (Pettit)  11.Stuart Vahid
Subs: 12.Simon Pettit 14.Ryan Bernard 15.Lee Minshull 16.James Gregory 22.Jurgen Wild

Goalscorers:

Horsham - Westcott (12), J Taylor (21, 84, 90+7),

Ramsgate - Welford (33)

Attendance: 376