Horsham's play-off hopes suffered a setback after crashing to an embarrassing defeat at rock bottom Waltham Abbey. The team branded by John Maggs as "the worst side we've ever played" after the January meeting at Gorings Mead showed a greater desire and energy and fully deserved the victory that moves them off the bottom of the league in front of a sparsely populated Capershotts crowd.

"None of my players emerged with any credit ," fumed Maggs after the game. "Chris Riley came on and has probably played himself in to contention for Saturday but otherwise I thought we were really poor. I told the lads that this is why we won't win league titles. The really top sides will come here, ignore the miserable surroundings, stayed focused, pick up a 1-0 win and then back on the coach and home. Job done. I don't think it helped us missing Alex Haddow again and I had reshuffle the pack, play some players out of position, but we had no shape about us. I will make changes for Saturday, some positional and some will find themselves on the bench, but it won't surprise me if we go and beat Tooting now. I've said before that nothing surprises me in this division and there's going to be a few more funny results before the end of the season."

The Hornets were unchanged from the side that struggled to overcome another of the relegation candidates, Bognor Regis Town, just 48 hours earlier while the hosts brought in Lee Sontag for Harry Elmes and Dave Ayres for Joe Clemo in the only changes to the side beaten 2-0 at Hastings United 12 days earlier.

It was a cagey opening from both sides, on a bitterly cold Thursday night in Essex, with Horsham creating the best of what few goalscoring chances there were in the opening quarter of an hour when Steve Davies played a quick headed one-two with Ben Andrews only to see his looping header tipped over the 'bar by Abbotts' 'keeper Harry Ricketts. More Horsham pressure resulted in a corner but a loose pass from Claude Seanla quickly handed the initiative back to the home side and Jordan Bostock's powerful run down the right produced an opening for Billy Holland to cut inside the visitors' unusually fragile defence and beat Josh Pelling with a cool finish.

The Essex boys had a chance to go two up shortly after, Holland again causing trouble for the back four when, from a similar position from where he scored his opener, he saw his effort cannon back off the upright. Marc Sontag also got in on the action for the hosts but his shot was put over the crossbar.

The Abbots were looking the better side by now, with Holland and Crace looking dangerous, and the latter was left frustrated when his shot was cleared off the line by Sam Page following an error from Anthony Acheampong. The Hornets broke momentarily, midway through the first half, and a long crossfield pass from Jack Page found Pat Harding in a touch of space but the current leading goalscorer saw his shot saved by the impressive Ricketts.

Another defensive error from Horsham almost let Waltham in again, Sam Page the culprit this time, and the skipper was a relieved man when James Elmes put his shot high and wide. More pressure continued until the stroke of half time but Horsham were given hope for the second half when a huge slice of luck that saw them undeservedly go in to the break on level terms. A mix up at the back for Abbey resulted in them conceding a needless corner which Sargent whipped in, Bostock got the flick on and captain Andy Keepence was on hand to divert the ball in to his own net.

H/T Waltham Abbey 1-1 Horsham

The second half continued on from the first with the visitors producing more poor football, although Andrews had a free-kick saved inside the first few minutes. However, Waltham Abbey pushed on to try and claim the 3 points they so desperately needed to avoid relegation.

Keepence looked to make amends for his own goal error with a volley from yet another corner but agonised as his shot fizzed wide of Pelling's goal. The frozen home support  didn’t have to wait long for the winning goal, though, when Horsham again needlessly conceded possession in their own half and a quick throw was capitalised on, Holland playing in Ricci Crace to slot the ball home from 12 yards.

Even some inspired substitutes couldn’t rescue the game for Horsham, as Tony Nwachukwu replaced the ineffective Seanla and Chris Riley came on to make his debut in place of Jack Page. This saw a slight change in emphasis when Andrews switched with Davies from attack to midfield but it wasn’t to be for the visitors as they lacked the finishing touch all evening and Sargent typified Horsham's night by twice trying his luck from long range and seeing his shots fly over the bar.

Sam Tucknott showed some more promise down the right, taking on players and creating chances, but his final product lacked any sort of punch and was eventually played out the game. It seemed now that Waltham Abbey were happy to kick the ball high and long into the corners as Horsham pushed for the elusive equalizer. Andrews had a free header well held by their ‘keeper and it wasn’t until the fourth official announced the added time that the visitors seemed to shift up a gear.

A succession of corners saw some mad scrambles in the box but again it was a case of too little, too late as the referee blew his whistle and put an end to another away defeat for Maggs’ side.

NEXT MATCH: v Tooting & Mitcham United (h) Saturday 6th March 2010