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reporter: Jim Bravery
After the excitement at
Queen Street on Tuesday evening when Horsham progressed to the final
qualifying round of the FA Cup, the cup exploits continued with
the long trip to the Kent coast to take on fellow premiership side
Ramsgate in the FA Trophy. Horsham supporters were concerned that
Tuesday's epic tie would have an effect on the game this afternoon
but, although the game could loosely be described as a murder, mystery
and suspense - with a bit of pantomime thrown in as well - it had the
right ending for the travelling fans. Ramsgate certainly enjoyed the
greater possession but a combination of excellent saves by Tuesday’s
hero Alan Mansfield, coupled with the home side's failure to convert a
plethora of chances, will be hard to accept for the Rams.
Despite several of his
players picking up injuries during the win against the Dons, John
Maggs was forced into just the one change for this match with the
unfortunate Andy Howard facing a period of time on the sidelines with
a rumoured hairline fracture to his foot, leaving Eddie French to
partner Kevin Hemsley in central defence for the first time since the
defeat at Hastings United at the beginning of September. The Hornets'
bench had an attacking look to it with John Westcott, Lee Farrell and
Chamal Fenelon among the substitutes.
As early as the second minute ex Hornet Steffan Ball was well placed
but put the ball over the top of the visitors' goal. A minute later,
Ball had another shot which hit the post. Horsham took the lead in the
sixth minute in their first attack when Nigel Brake crossed the ball
to Simon
Austin
in the six yard box and his header carried enough pace to squeeze in
between the post and former Lewes goalkeeper Paul Wilkerson who must
take some of the blame. A good build up involving Lewis Taylor, Lee
Carney, Jacob Mingle and Brake earned the visitors a corner from which
the ball was knocked back to Gary Charman who side-stepped the
defender but had his shot blocked by the alert Olly Schulz.
Ball was a constant menace but his free kicks were well marshalled by
the Horsham defensive wall. Taylor tried a speculative shot which
ended up high and wide of the Rams’ goal and, at the other end, Shaun
Welford shot from the corner of the six yard box prompting a save from
Mansfield. Welford was also responsible for long throw-ins and, from
one such ball, a defensive clearance landed at Sam Vallance’s feet but
his volley was blocked by the alert Brake. In the twenty-seventh
minute Ball was through again, forcing Mansfield to make a good save
with his feet. Warren Schulz then had a better chance but put his
header wide of the post. The Rams pressure was beginning to tell on
the Hornets defence with Ball again guilty of failing to put away two
good chances. This was followed by an Olly Schulz header which
Mansfield saved.
On the half hour mark, and very much against the run of play, Horsham
doubled their score when a twenty-five yard effort from
Mingle
hit the back of the net with the goalkeeper again looking to be at
fault. Brake, who will miss next weekend's FA Cup clash with
Chippenham Town due to suspension, was lucky to get away with a poor
tackle on Welford for which the referee decided to not even award a
free-kick to the obvious disapproval of the home dug-out and
supporters. Lee Minshull conceded a corner, from a dangerous Carl Rook
centre, and the kick was cleared to the unmarked Ball who homed in on
goal but he scuffed his shot and the ball went wide of Mansfield’s
goal.
With half-time rapidly approaching, Welford tested Mansfield but the
'keeper was able to make a good save.
H/T: Ramsgate 0 - 2 Horsham
With neither side adopting any change in personnel during the break,
it was Ramsgate who came out of the blocks the quickest and Tom Graves
helped his 'keeper out by kicking a goal bound effort off the line
and, almost immediately, Ball’s long shot was deflected for a corner.
The resulting kick found Welford hitting a perfect cross to Warren
Schultz but his effort hit the side netting with many of the home fans
believing he had scored.
Mansfield, who was to have a hectic second half, was on hand to thwart
Minshull’s shot with a good save low to his left. The Hornets were
finding it difficult to build up any form of attack but conjured up a
half chance when Taylor’s pass ended up at Mingle’s feet. His shot on
goal was only palmed away by Wilkerson, Austin reacted the quickest
but his shot only hit the side netting. At the other end, Ball had two
chances but, on both occasions, Mansfield was equal to them making
brilliant saves in the process. A French header from Carney's corner
just cleared the bar before Ball went through once more, forcing
Mansfield into yet another fantastic save.
With half an hour of the match remaining, Maggs sent on Westcott for
Gary Charman and, for Ramsgate, Andy Hadden was replaced by Dan
Dolton.
The Rams were awarded a free kick about thirty yards out but Ball’s
shot cannoned off the wall and went out for a corner. The resulting
kick was easily cleared by the Hornets defence. A further change saw
Maggs withdraw Austin from the attack and brought on Fenelon for the
last twenty-five minutes. The game was tending to flow from end to end
now and Warren Schulz headed over a great opportunity when it seemed
easier to score. The failure of the Rams to turn their goalmouth
chances into more tangible reward was to hit them hard, two minutes
later, when Rook got clear of the home defence, looked up and pulled
the ball back across the penalty area to
Fenelon
who side-stepped the defender and cracked a shot past the diving
Wilkerson to put Horsham 0-3 up in the seventy-first minute. The game,
from Horsham’s point of view, now seemed to be won but the Rams had
different ideas. Two minutes after Horsham’s third goal, Nick Davis
had a free header which he somehow managed to put over the top. With
fifteen minutes to go, Ramsgate made a double substitution taking off
skipper Warren Schulz and Vallance, replacing them with Scott Holden
and Danny Wisker.
The sun was a major factor throughout the game, particularly in the
second half, and the Rams constantly used this to their advantage by
playing the ball out wide on the right and pumping high crosses into
the penalty area forcing the defenders and Mansfield to look straight
into the blinding light.
There seemed destined to be a twist in the tail with both sides
continuing to create chances. Mansfield had to save at the feet of
Welford while Fenelon broke away at the other end but, with Rook
calling for a square pass, the big substitute chose to shoot instead
and his shot was saved. This was followed by a Carney free kick but
Brake’s header was saved by the 'keeper.
In the eighty-first minute Minshull’s cross into the box found the
grateful
Welford
perfectly placed to thump a header past the exposed Mansfield to give
the Rams some hope. A long throw from Carney ended up at Westcott’s
feet and his first time effort scraped the wrong side of the post, to
the relief of the home supporters. At the other end, Graves had to
make a timely intervention to prevent Ball from getting a shot in but,
a minute later,
Welford
was put through and made no mistake scoring his second goal to make it
a nail biting final five minutes.
With the match now on a knife edge, and the home supporters cheering
their team on to a possible upset, Maggs put on the experienced Stuart
Myall at left back in place of Carney, moving Brake forward to try and
counter attack. Welford was the main threat, though, and Mansfield was
again the saviour of his team when he pulled off another fine save
from the dangerous striker. Welford’s last piece of action, however,
was crucial to the final result. His excellent cross in to the near
post was met by the head of substitute Holden but, rather than give
the home supporters the goal they yearned for, the ball crashed back
into play off the upright and was gratefully cleared by Graves.
There was one final opportunity for the Hornets as Mingle put Rook in
on goal but his shot was saved by the home custodian.
The match ended with Horsham in the hat for Monday's draw with the
Rams supporters feeling they were robbed and, over the ninety minutes,
they probably didn’t deserve to lose based on the number of chances
they had created. John Maggs will be pleased with his team’s display
after the gruelling exertions of Tuesday night and will be hoping that
his side get through the midweek Senior Cup tie with Rustington
without further injury ahead of Saturday's big FA Cup tie in
Wiltshire.
NEXT MATCH: v Rustington (h) Tuesday
23rd October ko 7.45pm |
