Horsham 1 v Staines Town 1
Saturday 13th January 2007
Ryman League Premier Division

reporter: Mark Wells

It was a case of third time lucky as Horsham and Staines were finally able to get a full ninety minutes under their belts, sharing the points in front of a 378 crowd at the Atspeed Stadium. With both sides having seen each of their previous two matches abandoned due to the wet weather, it was with some trepidation that the teams set foot onto the Queen Street pitch in the face of driving rain that was to sweep the length of the pitch for most of the first half.

Last weekend's abandoned match at Carshalton Athletic meant that Ryan Rummery was forced to watch this match from the sidelines, while he served his one match suspension, while Lee Carney had still to recover from the illness that had kept him out of the side since before Christmas. On the plus side, Nigel Brake had recovered from his ankle injury and returned to the defence with Tom Graves stepping down to the bench. For their part, Staines made three changes to the team that earned a 1-1 draw against AFC Wimbledon last time out with former Reading apprentice Shaun Allaway replacing James Courtnage in goal, recent signing Andre De Lisser taking over the number nine shirt from Howard Newton and the lanky ex-Brighton full-back Peter Smith moving in to fill the right-back spot.

Horsham and Staines had fought out an entertaining goalless draw on the opening weekend of the season but the wet conditions were always going to be the winner in a game that Horsham showed signs of early promise only to relinquish the upper hand to their opponents in the final quarter. The hosts began the match attacking the car park end and forced an early free-kick that, in a pre-rehearsed routine, saw John Westcott turn and hit a shot that ricocheted kindly into the path of Kevin Hemsley who could only nudge the ball wide of the post. A head injury caused Staines' Kevin Warner to seek early treatment, after colliding with a team-mate, and a frenetic opening seven minutes ended with the midfielder receiving a caution for a high challenge on Westcott. A right wing corner provided an opportunity for Gary Charman to test Allaway when Smith's weak header fell to him, ten yards from goal, but his wild swing misconnected with the ball and the chance was cleared. Moments later, Stuart Myall's raking pass out of defence was missed by the experienced full-back and Charman was in again, this time overrunning the ball, allowing Allaway to get in an important block when a Horsham goal looked on the cards. Good control was at a premium on the greasy surface although Westcott was one of the few who looked comfortable, bringing Myall's searching pass down on his chest and tricking his way past his marker, but his excellent cross came to nought as both sides struggled to create a clear goalscoring opportunity. Warner fired in a right foot shot that zipped past Alan Mansfield's post in a rare attack for the visitors but a slip by Hornets' skipper Eddie French allowed Mark Nwokeji to attack at pace and Kevin Hemsley did well to pressure the Staines forward into an early shot that was comfortably held by Mansfield. At the other end, Brake cut in from the left flank and hit a vicious drive that swerved and dipped, forcing Allaway to take no chances in parrying the ball away to safety.

The deadlock was broken after twenty-six minutes when Charman's pass picked out Westcott who cleverly skipped inside onto his left foot and curled an exquisite shot across the 'keeper and into the far corner of the net for his sixth goal of the season. A confrontation between Smith and Jacob Mingle, midway inside the Staines half, almost saw the lead extended when Myall picked out Charman with the free-kick but Hemsley was unable to convert the winger's knock-on and the danger was cleared. Nwokeji's pace was causing Myall and Hemsley a few problems in defence but the Hornets continued to look the more dangerous side and Rook's header, from Brake's cross, looked destined for the bottom corner until Dave Sargent's intervention turned the ball behind for a corner. Good interplay between Charman, Mingle and Rice ended with the former hitting the ball over the top of the goal, it having taken a bobble on the increasingly churned up surface. Despite being on top for most of the opening forty minutes, Horsham were to have a huge let off when Nwokeji hit a tremendous shot that smacked down off the underside of the crossbar and De Lisser, off balance, could only hit the rebound into the trees behind the goal as Staines sought to give themselves something to build on for the second half. That said, the hosts might have doubled their lead when French's free-kick was neatly chested down to Charman by Rook and, when Brake's teasing cross was headed away, Rook was in the right place to send in a shot on goal that was hacked clear for a corner. Staines' in-form striker Ali Chaaban had had an indifferent first half but it took a timely intervention from Hemsley to prevent the Lebanese striker from getting in a shot on goal as the half drew to a close with the Hornets good value for their slender lead.

With no changes to either side at the interval, it was the home side who threatened first when Myall's free-kick hung up in the breeze for Charman to nod it on but Rook's header could only find the top of the net to the relief of Allaway who was stranded, having started to come for the cross. Great work on the left by Nwokeji set up a chance for Chaaban but French was equal to it, producing a good block to avert the danger, just three minutes after the restart. Two minutes later, Swans' boss Steve Cordery made the first of three substitutions by sending on Jake Newton in place of Smith but it was left to Gareth Risbridger to make the chase as Charman's pacy run down the left ended with a pull back to Rook at the near post but he couldn't adjust his position sufficiently and the ball cannoned away for a goal kick. Hornets boss John Maggs was soon pushed into a substitution of his own, replacing the hard-working Rice with Tom Graves after fifty-three minutes as things began to get fractious in the middle of the pitch. Andre Scarlett was booked for scything down Charman, with Risbridger fortunate to escape a caution after blatantly kicking the ball away after the whistle. Not so lucky was Chaaban who followed his team-mate into referee Warren Atkins' book for dissent. Staines were unfortunate not to draw level in the fifty-seventh minute when a Horsham corner routine was cleared and Scarlett began a quick counter-attack that saw him exchange passes with Nwokeji before releasing Chaaban who jinked his way past several challenges inside the Horsham penalty area before striking the angle of post and crossbar. A weak shot from Warner was to signal the end of his afternoon as he was replaced by Hussein Isa on sixty-seven minutes and Risbridger was finally to get his name in Mr Atkin's notebook for his part in a three man assault on the flying Brake. The talented Chaaban was beginning to make his mark on the game but it was Lewis Taylor who drew appreciative applause when he acrobatically volleyed over from Westcott's left-wing corner with a quarter of an hour to go. The hosts' failure to secure the second goal was causing some anxiety on the terraces and Chaaban added fuel to the fire when he did well to shake off the attentions of Mingle to create space for himself, only to shoot into the side netting. With Dean Thomas now providing further fresh legs to the visitors' side, after replacing De Lisser, it was the Swans who were finishing the game the stronger and they were to gain the inevitable equaliser with ten minutes remaining. French's missed header put Hemsley into trouble at the back and Chaaban's quick thinking took him away from the defender before wrong footing him and slamming a swerving shot past Mansfield for a fine goal.

Horsham almost grabbed an instant reply when they promptly broke up the other end and Rook helped Westcott's cross back into the penalty area from where Charman's header was cleared from under his own crossbar by Staines' skipper Adam Thompson. Play was becoming stretched and Chaaban's strong run at the heart of the Horsham defence went unchecked, enabling him to lay the ball off intelligently into the path of Isa who drilled a shot over top from an acute angle. Sensing the win, the visitors poured forward and, in their frustration, both Taylor and Graves picked up cautions as the Hornets' play became ragged. With the game entering stoppage time, Maggs sent on Matt Geard for Mingle but the former Burgess Hill man had little time to make a contribution with Staines remaining in the ascendancy. Thompson almost capitalised on some indecision by Brake by tearing away down the right side of the area and sending in a tantalising cross that flew across the face of goal and Chaaban's quickly taken corner to Risbridger had the same result without a player of either side able to get the telling touch.

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

Staines Town: 1.Shaun Allaway 2.Peter Smith (Newton) 3.Dave Sargent 4.Adam Thompson 5.Danny Gordon 6.Andre Scarlett 7.Kevin Warner (Isa) 8.Gareth Risbridger 9.Andre De Lisser (Thomas) 10.Mark Nwokeji 11.Ali Chaaban Substitutes: 12.Jake Newton 14.Hussein Isa 15.Jordan Kiffin 16.Dean Thomas 17.Jon McDonald

Goalscorers:

Horsham - Westcott (26)

Staines Town - Chaaban (80)

Attendance: 378