Horsham have been paired with Shoreham in the second round of the Brighton Charity Cup, drawn this week. The Musselmen currently sit midway down the County League Division One table with 10 wins and 10 draws from their 28 games but should provide Horsham's expected 'second string' with a testing evening having conceded just 7 goals in their last 14 games. The tie is due to take place at Shoreham's Middle Road ground on Wednesday 12th March at 7.45pm.

Horsham were expected to secure the signing of Worthing's Danny Davis tonight in time for the weekend's Ryman Premier Division fixture with Hendon. The midfielder was a popular figure with Rebels fans, making 130 appearances for the Woodside Road club before being released by manager Alan Pook earlier this month. "Danny's a quality player," commented Hornets boss John Maggs. " He's been at Brighton and can play up top, even though he's actually a midfielder." Davis' versatility will be welcomed by Maggs who continues his attempts to bring in a recognised striker to help boost his side's promotion aspirations. "I have to work within the club's financial structure, of course, but that makes it a bit difficult as any striker worth their salt is on big money and we aren't in a position to spend that sort of cash," Maggs admitted. "I could have brought in an established striker from another Ryman Premier club but we couldn't afford him and I was in with a shout of getting Jamie Taylor back on loan but he decided to go to Grays instead. Believe me, I share the supporters' frustrations but rest assured that I am doing everything I possibly can to bring someone in as it's the one area of the side that I feel needs strengthening".

Horsham missed the chance of moving in to third place in the Ryman Premier Division after slipping to defeat against a determined Heybridge side tonight. The Hornets were hoping to build on last week's excellent performances at Hornchurch and Chelmsford and, for most of the first half, looked comfortable against their Essex visitors without really testing the goalkeeper. It took another fabulous strike from Jacob Mingle to give them the lead when he curled home a 25 yarder on the stroke of half-time but, within 15 minutes of the restart, the home side found themselves behind thanks to David Wareham's well struck effort and a clinical finish from Reggie Savage. Despite the introduction of Lee Carney for the final half hour, Horsham couldn't find another goal and it was the Swifts who were celebrating another good win, just 3 days after defeating AFC Wimbledon by the same score. Full report...

John Maggs has agreed to the release of goalkeeper Alan Mansfield who has joined near neighbours Horsham YMCA for the remainder of the season. The former Three Bridges custodian has seen first team opportunities limited since his controversial sending-off against Eastbourne Town in November and some impressive displays by Paul Seuke has left Mansfield a frustrated spectator. "Alan's too good a goalkeeper to be left on the bench," admits Maggs, "and I can understand his frustration. I've agreed to let him go to YM to keep him fresh but I have an agreement with John Suter that we can recall him if Paul is unavailable for any reason."

Stuart Myall has apologised to his manager and team-mates after Saturday’s late dismissal that left the Hornets facing the final moments against Chelmsford City with just ten men. The experienced full-back picked up a second yellow for a foul on Steve Clark to earn his first dismissal in over 70 appearances for the Hornets and John Maggs reveals that he immediately apologised for his rush of blood. “He said sorry as soon as he came off,” said Maggs. “He’s had a push at the lad and then flicked out at him off the pitch. I’ve got no complaints about the sending-off. It was unlike Mylo but it was a definite booking and it means he’s another one who’s going to be suspended.”

Horsham came away from Melbourne Park with an excellent point as their makeshift side frustrated the league leaders who failed to win at home for only the 4th time this season. With several players absent through injury and suspension, John Maggs handed debuts to midfielders Dean Lovegrove and Gavin Bolger and both players contributed to a strong performance that completed an excellent week for the Hornets who have taken 7 points from 3 matches. Horsham's best chances fell to Gary Charman who twice saw good efforts saved by Clarets goalkeeper Danny Gay while, at the other end, new England C international Ricky Holmes dragged wide of the target. Stuart Myall was sent off in the closing stages after receiving  two yellow cards but Horsham hung on for an excellent point to keep their promotion play-off ambitions on track. Full report...

Horsham's player crisis took another twist today when Chamal Fenelon quit the club after deciding to take a break from football. The striker, on loan from Havant & Waterlooville until the end of the season, cited personal reasons for his decision to walk out on the club just 24 hours before their visit to table topping Chelmsford. "Cham's decided to take a break to get himself sorted out," revealed boss John Maggs. "There's a lot going on in his life at the moment and we respect his decision and hope that he manages to get himself sorted." Maggs has moved quickly to strengthen his injury hit squad by bringing in midfielders Dean Lovegrove and Gavin Bolger from Woking and Cove respectively. 19 year old Lovegrove has played much of this season on loan at Worthing while the experienced Bolger lists AFC Wimbledon and Leatherhead among his previous clubs and both players will be a welcome addition to tomorrow's squad that travels to Essex without the injured Ian Payne, Nigel Brake and Lee Carney and Eddie French, Jacob Mingle, Lewis Taylor and Simon Austin who are all suspended.

John Maggs admitted that the match had been a 'useful exercise' after his experimental Horsham side claimed a narrow 1-0 win against County League Division Two Southwick to progress in to the 2nd round of the Brighton Charity Cup. Ben Bissett, on work experience from League One side Gillingham, marked his first Horsham appearance with the only goal of the game but it was the club's youth team players who caught the eye for the Hornets boss. "The young lads at the back in particular, Tom May and George Magnus, did very well. They kept a good shape, did the simple passing well and got in to some good areas around the pitch. They did everything I asked of them and showed a lot of potential." Maggs admitted that it was difficult to judge the ability of several 'trialists' against lowly opposition and would need to watch them again before making any decisions on whether to take them on a permanent basis. Full report...

Horsham were rewarded for a dogged display with a victory at Hornchurch that moved them above their Essex opponents and in to 4th place in the Ryman Premier Division table. Despite the absence of Lee Carney, Nigel Brake, Jacob Mingle, Gary Charman and Ian Payne, the Hornets took control of the first half and deservedly led through strikes from Tom Graves and Andy Howard at the break. Hornchurch, who had scored 3 times in the last 5 minutes to defeat Carshalton at the weekend, threatened to repeat their heroics when Frankie Curley reduced the arrears with 25 minutes to go but the Hornets withstood plenty of late pressure, and some dubious refereeing decisions, to claim a vital victory and a league double over Colin McBride's side.
Click here for full report and goals

At a Board Meeting on Thursday last week, the matter of the dilemma over shortage of fit and available players was discussed. I want to make it clear that the Board is unanimous in its desire to back John Maggs' promotional challenge and John has been given the green light to seek out players he wants to come to the Club. At this stage of the season, players with the kind of necessary pedigree are not readily available and it takes a lot of hard work through network contacts to come up with quality players. With the full backing of the Board, John has been making enquiries into bringing such players to the Club for the promotional push and we are hopeful of announcing the signing of new players in the next few days.

Horsham Football Club would like express their shock and sorrow at the passing of Herve King, the Ringmer FC defender who tragically passed away on Saturday afternoon. The 27 year old reportedly collapsed after  just 17 minutes of the Sussex County League match against Three Bridges and was rushed to the Royal Sussex Hospital in Brighton where, despite the best efforts of all concerned, he was pronounced dead a few hours later. Herve has featured against Horsham for Ringmer and Burgess Hill Town and our deepest sympathies go out to his family, friends and team-mates at this sad time.

An injury time minute penalty from Lewis Taylor secured a welcome three points for Horsham who move up to 7th place with their first win in 4 games. Lee Farrell gave the Hornets a 14th minute lead, their first goal in almost 5 hours play, lobbing goalkeeper Lee Worgan from 20 yards and the home side enjoyed the better of the first half hour. However, an injury to Jacob Mingle saw John Maggs' team lose the initiative and Hastings hit back with an equalising goal, 3 minutes after the break, when Lee Carey struck an excellent free-kick in to the bottom corner of the net. The visitors went on to dominate much of the remainder of the match although they were fortunate not to go behind once again when Stuart Myall's 67th minute free-kick rebounded off the post. A plethora of missed opportunities for Hastings looked like securing Horsham a point until Myall's late free-kick struck substitute Russell Eldridge on the hand and Taylor coolly stepped up to beat Worgan from the spot to the delight of the majority of the 566 crowd. Full report and goals....

John Maggs has challenged the board to 'back me or risk losing our chance of promotion' as he looks to bring in new additions to his injury hit squad. Lee Carney and Nigel Brake are unlikely to feature again this month and Gary Charman, Lee Farrell, Stuart Myall and Tom Graves will miss training on Thursday night after picking up various knocks during the last few days. "We are getting down to the bare bones again," admits the Hornets supremo. "And we've got a load of suspensions coming up which are going to hit us hard, too. Take Jacob Mingle for example. He's going to miss the Hornchurch and Chelmsford games. Both massive games and Lewis Taylor will also be out for Chelmsford. I've told the board that we can go one of two ways. They can back me, give me some money to strengthen the side so we can make the play-offs, or they can say no and then we'll have to see what happens. If we get the players in, and we're still in with a shout, then the supporters will keep coming to watch us, the money will come back through the turnstiles so it's a win/win situation in my eyes." Kevin Hemsley misses the visit of Hastings United this Saturday due to overseas commitments.

Horsham's goalscoring malaise continued as AFC Wimbledon gained revenge for their FA Cup defeat with Luis Cumbers and Robin Shroot grabbing the goals in a 2-0 victory that lifts the Dons in to 2nd place in the Ryman League Premier Division, yet still 12 points behind runaway leaders Chelmsford City. The Hornets were without the injured Lee Carney, Nigel Brake and Gary Charman while Lee Farrell was fit enough only for the bench and Chamal Fenelon's absence was a mystery to everyone including manager John Maggs. But, despite their depleted number, Horsham put in a marked improvement on their last two outings and competed well in a first half that provided plenty of action for the 1135 crowd but poor marking enabled Cumbers to head home Tony Finn's 23rd minute cross to give the visitors the interval lead. The Hornets enjoyed the better of the play immediately after the break but suffered a blow in the 56th minute when Shroot fired home the decisive second goal. Plenty of endeavour followed from the hosts, without producing too much threat to the Wimbledon goal, and the visitors were able to hold on for the win.
Full report and goals...

Our Ryman League Premier Division trip to Ashford Town (Mx) has been re-arranged for Tuesday, 1st April (ko 7.45pm). This match was originally scheduled to have been played last week but was postponed due to the Tangerines' Middlesex Senior Cup commitments.
Click here to see the updated fixture list in full

Horsham remain in 8th place in the Ryman Premier League Division table after an uninspiring display at Carshalton. The Hornets barely registered a shot on target as they drew their second blank in four days against a side they had beaten convincingly in each of their previous three meetings. The Robins, boosted by three new signings,  shaded a poor match and saw a goal-line clearance and a save from Paul Seuke deny them victory. Jason Ward went close for the Hornets in his first start since signing last Saturday, and Lewis Taylor might have done better from a well worked free-kick, but the visitors were pleased to hear the final whistle after surviving some late pressure. Full report....

A first half goal from Billericay's Rikki Burbridge was enough to end Horsham's seven match unbeaten league run and move the Blues into fifth place in the Ryman League Premier Division table. Despite playing with Burbridge as a lone striker, the home side deservedly took the points against a Horsham side who offered little attacking threat and who were indebted to goalkeeper Paul Seuke for a number of fine saves. The Hornets slip a place to eighth although, with fellow promotion hopefuls Staines Town and AFC Hornchurch also dropping points, John Maggs side remain in a strong position from which to challenge for a play-off spot.
Full report...

John Maggs' hopes of landing another two loan players were dashed today when the plug was pulled on both deals. "We were offered one player who I know would have excited the supporters but unfortunately we've discovered that he has a hamstring problem so it wouldn't have been good business for us to sign him on for a month with no guarantees that he'd last the full period and the other player has opted to join another club so we've missed out on him, too. I'm disappointed but we've signed three players this weekend and I'm we'll see how things progress. I don't want to end up with the same situation we had last season where we struggled to put a side out for the last couple of months. We have a very difficult month ahead of us and I need to have cover, that's why I signed the lads on Friday."

Congratulations go to Mr O'Gorman-Collins who won £50 in the 200 Club's January draw, and to Yinka Salaam whose number was drawn out of the hat in the Holiday Club draw made prior to Saturday's match against Leyton. If you want to stand a chance of winning up to £250 on the 200 Club or a fortnight's holiday for 2, a £600 holiday voucher OR a £500 cash prize in the monthly Holiday Club draw, see a club official or email John Newell for an application form. Click here for more details

Horsham have been drawn away to Southwick in the 2nd round of the Brighton Charity Cup. The Club's decision to defend the trophy they won against Chichester City United last April has been explained by manager John Maggs who reassures supporters that the competition will not hinder his side's quest for promotion from the Ryman Premier Division. "Far from it," argues the Hornets boss. "We have a number of trialists that I need to take a look at and, with no reserve side this season, this will be the best chance I'll get to see what they can do. As well as these players, I'll be mainly fielding the youngsters and those on the fringes of the first team. Alan Mansfield, for instance, hasn't played since before Christmas." The tie will take place at Southwick's Old Barn Way ground on Wednesday, 20th February (KO 7.45pm)

Former Horsham player of the year, Mark Hawthorne, is back at the Club as one of 3 new signings made this weekend as John Maggs looks to strengthen his side in the chase for promotion to the Blue Square Conference (South). The former Torquay United pro has been training with the Hornets to regain fitness following a lengthy spell out of the game through injury but the experienced midfielder put pen to paper on Friday and was drafted in to Saturday's squad that faced Leyton. Maggs has also swooped to sign one time Millwall trainee Jason Ward on the recommendation of former Hornets boss John Yems. Ward, a Jermaine Pennant lookalike who has trialled for Tranmere Rovers and also saw action at Grays Athletic a couple of seasons back, can play anywhere in the midfield and will be eligible to play at Billericay Town on Tuesday night. The final player in this triumvirate of new arrivals is Ben Rayner, another player who is at home in the middle of the park, and who made 8 appearances for Carshalton Athletic last season after progressing from the youth ranks. Rayner was also named among the substitutes for yesterday's match. We welcome them all to Horsham and wish them well for the remainder of the season.

A goal of the season contender from Jacob Mingle was the highlight of a five goal romp by the Hornets who added to basement side Leyton's woes in front of another 500+ crowd at the Atspeed Stadium. Horsham dominated the first half but led by just one goal at the interval, courtesy of Lewis Taylor's 9th minute header, before Mingle's blockbuster signalled the start of three goals in eight minutes. Picking the ball up 25 yards from goal, the midfielder flicked the ball into the air before unleashing a viciously dipping volley that gave Leyton captain Sam Tanner no chance in goal. Chamal Fenelon claimed the final touch from close range to make it 3-0, after Tanner fumbled Mingle's shot, and the former Maidstone man then set up Lee Farrell for a fourth. Sub Kareem Imbert broke away for a consolation goal for the strugglers before Farrell wrapped it up in the final minute. Full report...