WITHDEAN 2000 5 HORSHAM 3

HORSHAM U16s:
Team: Dominic Burchell, Joseph Giacomelli, Ben Mulcahy, Anthony Dumbrill, Sam Lee, Matthew Rance, Adam Hutchings, Jordan Ruff, Patrick O'Sullivan, Darren James, Marcus Southon, Alexander Green, Adam Goddard, George Magnus
Scorers: Lee, O'Sullivan, James

Horsham Youth Under 16s lost their 100% record in the quarter finals of the county cup away to Withdean 2000 on Sunday.

On a pitch that resembled a ploughed field, Horsham took the lead in the first five minutes when Sam Lee drilled home a corner from Marcus Southon. Ten minutes later Withdean equalised when they managed to scramble the ball home in a packed penalty area.

The game was proving by now to be an open affair, with both teams pushing forward, and halfway through the first half the Hornets once again took the lead when a delightful through ball from Southon found Alexander Green who threaded the ball neatly into the path of Patrick O’Sullivan to calmly pass the ball into the Withdean goal.

Just as it was looking like that the Hornets were going to take a 2-1 lead into the half-time break, a long hopeful ball forward found the Withdean striker one on one with the Horsham 'keeper, who was adjudged to have brought the striker down, and the forward evened up the score-line from the penalty spot four minutes into added on time.

Withdean took the lead shortly into the second half when a free header found the back of the net but it wasn’t long before Horsham levelled the scores through Darren James with a powerful header from an inch perfect cross from Green.

With the game quickly going from one end to the other, both defences were working hard although the score-line wasn’t showing this, and midway through the second half a long throw found confusion in the Horsham defence which resulted in the Hornets keeper palming the ball into the back of his own net.

This meant that Horsham had to throw everything they had at Withdean but it wasn’t to be and, with Horsham pushing forward, they found themselves vulnerable at the back and with five minutes left to play, a sudden break from Withdean took advantage of this and duly made the final score 5-3.