It's that time of year again ! Yes, the 10th Mascot Grand National is here again and Horsham's popular mascot Howie the Hornet will be hoping to live up to his billing as second favourite when he takes on a staggering 74 fellow runners at Huntingdon Race Course this Sunday, 5th October. More...

Horsham face new opponents after being handed a home tie against Bristol based Paulton Rovers in today's FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round draw. Rovers are currently unbeaten in all competitions this season and sit in 6th place in the Southern League Division 1 South & West table but Hornets boss John Maggs was upbeat about his side's chances of progressing to the final qualifying round for the second successive year. More...

Hornets Review reached a proud milestone this evening when it claimed its 500,000th 'hit'. Originally set up in November 2004 as a means of displaying videoed goal highlights on-line, the site was adopted as the club's official site in 2006 and reached its peak with more than 8,000 views recorded in one day on the build up to last season's historic FA Cup 2nd round tie against Swansea City. My thanks go to Jim Bravery, Tim Harrison, Adam Hammond, Neil Clarke, David Hempstead, John Lines, Ivan Raby and everyone who has contributed to its success.

Horsham's fortunes received a massive boost this afternoon with a 2-1 win at Folkestone Invicta. Having failed to score in two successive defeats against Dartford and Hastings, the Hornets might justifiably been labelled as underdogs going in to this FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round tie (sponsored by Eon) with fourth placed Invicta of Ryman Division One South but Andy Howard calmed any nerves with his first goal of the season on 36 minutes and Evan Archibald deservedly doubled the lead, 18 minutes from time, when he headed home Lee Carey's cross. The home side set up a tense finale through substitute Craig Wilkins' 87th minute goal but Horsham held on to take their place in Monday's draw. Full report...

John Maggs has warned that it will take a massive improvement from his players if they are to maintain an interest in this season's FA Cup competition ahead of Saturday's tricky looking 2nd Qualifying Round tie at Folkestone Invicta (kick-off 3pm).
"We were very poor against a poor Hastings team last night and I'm told we were just as bad in the last hour at Dartford," Maggs admitted. "Unfortunately I have to say to everyone - the fans, the players, the directors - be prepared...it might not happen for us this year. Make no mistake, we'll be going to Folkestone to try and get a result but some people seem to think that because we had a good run last year it'll happen again. It took over a hundred years for us to get to the second round, and we've only reached the first round on two other occasions so we've got to be realistic. Folkestone gave us a thrashing last year and still got relegated but they've rebuilt their team and are fourth in the league and even with my first choice side we would have been in for a hard match."
With key players remaining absent through injury, Maggs will be forced to field the same squad that lost to Hastings although he will await the result of a fitness test on Lee Carney before naming his side. The inspirational midfielder, who has missed the last three games with a poisoned foot, had targeted the weekend's cup tie in which to make his comeback but with physio Andi Marfleet recommending a further ten day's rest, his inclusion in the travelling party might be more in hope than expectation from the manager.
Invicta have lost just once this season and are currently one of three sides locked on seventeen points behind Ryman Division One South leaders Kingstonian. Club record goalscorer Richard Dryden leads the scoring charts again this season and he will be hoping to mastermind Horsham's downfall once more after scoring both goals in a 2-1 win for Invicta that knocked the Hornets out of the FA Cup in 2001.

Hastings' Frankie Sawyer heaped more misery on Horsham with both goals in a 2-0 victory that extended the Hornets' winless league run to 6 games. Injuries to key players forced John Maggs in to selecting a changed line-up, with Ian Payne making his first start of the season in an experimental back three, but the home side fell behind after just 13 minutes when Sawyer converted a pass from former Hornet Marc Whiteman. Hastings 'keeper Greg Nessling scooped a goalbound effort off the line, and Jack Page hit a post, before the former Millwall trainee made it 2-0 on 59 minutes when he tucked away a rebound after Paul Seuke had saved Marc Williams' shot. Horsham enjoyed the bulk of the late possession but were unable to break down the Arrows' defence and the East Sussex side had chances to extend their lead with Sawyer going close to completing a hat-trick.
Full report...

Teenage midfielder Michael Dale has been drafted in to the squad for Wednesday night's Ryman Premier Division meeting with Hastings United at Woodside Road (ko 7.45pm), a match that both clubs need to win to revive their flagging fortunes following a wretched run of 5 games that has seen the two sides amass a total of just 4 points between them. Dale, an unused substitute in the opening day win at Canvey Island, has yet to make his Hornets' debut but a lengthening injury list looks to have opened the door for the youngster who has previously represented the club at U16 and U18 level. Three players with rather more experience will line up against their former clubs with Horsham's Lee Carey and Russell Eldridge looking to get one over on their ex-Hastings team-mates while Mark Whiteman will be hoping for a repeat of his winning goal against Harlow Town 2 weeks ago as he makes his first appearance against the Hornets since leaving Queen Street in 2005. Eddie French, Sam Page, Lee Carney and Gary Charman continue to miss out on the action but Alex Haddow is expected to be pronounced fit after limping out of Saturday's defeat at Dartford. Last season's corresponding fixture saw Horsham take the points with an injury time penalty from Lewis Taylor after Eldridge was adjudged to have handled. Carey had earlier scored the Arrows' leveller from a free-kick.

Sam Page faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after fears that he might have broken his collar bone were confirmed earlier today. The former MK Dons youngster was initially treated in Maidstone Hospital for a dislocation after falling awkwardly during yesterday's defeat at Dartford but doctors at Croydon's Mayflower Hospital broke the bad news following x-rays today. This latest setback is a devastating blow to the club who have already lost Page's early season defensive partner Eddie French to a broken leg and Lee Carney (foot) and John Maggs faces the possibility of a further setback this week when Gary Charman visits a specialist about his damaged knee with the prospect of an operation and a lay-off of up to 12 weeks.

Horsham suffered an afternoon to forget on their first ever visit to Dartford's impressive Princes Park stadium, crashing to a 4-0 defeat and losing Sam Page to a dislocated shoulder. The skipper was taken to hospital after falling awkwardly after just 14 minutes of a hitherto evenly fought encounter but Brendon Cass give the home side the lead after half an hour. Andy Howard had a goal ruled out for offside before two goals in three minutes, either side of the break, from man of the match Lee Noble put the home side out of sight and Cass added a fourth six minutes from time. Full report...

A first ever league meeting between Horsham and Dartford awaits as John Maggs takes his side to the impressive Princes Park stadium this Saturday hoping to get their Ryman League campaign back on track following last Sunday's FA Cup success (kick-off 3pm). Mark Knee returns to the squad after recovering from a hamstring injury and recent signing Billy Franks is set to make his Horsham debut in the centre of defence but Eddie French, Gary Charman and Lee Carney miss out through injury.
Dartford, last season's Division One North Champions, currently lie in 19th place with one win and two draws from their eight fixtures and they will also be hoping that last weekend's FA Cup success will provide the springboard for a successful campaign after securing their first home win of the season with a 3-2 win against Hastings United. Although our paths have never crossed in the battle for league points, the two sides have met in cup competition with the Darts responsible for ending Horsham's longest FA Trophy run with a 3-1 replay success in 1977 and the Hornets also needed two attempts before gaining belated revenge in 1996 when Richard Knight's goal secured an FA Cup Preliminary Round victory after a 1-1 draw at Erith & Belvedere.

John Maggs has been thwarted in his bid to strengthen his defence after learning that Hastings United captain Rhys Whybourne has decided to stay with the Arrows for the foreseeable future. Maggs was confident of completing a deal for the 22 year old central defender this week, after making a 7 day approach, but a telephone call today confirmed that last season's Player of the Year had decided to remain at the Pilot Field.

"A winnable tie" is John Maggs' reaction after Horsham were drawn away to Folkestone Invicta in the Second Qualifying Round of the FA Cup. The Kent club, now playing in Ryman League Division One South after last season's relegation, defeated Premier Division Ramsgate in Saturday's First Qualifying Round tie and will be hoping for a repeat of Horsham's last visit to the Buzzlines Stadium when Neil Cugley's side emerged 4-1 winners. "It won't be an easy tie but then it's not as hard as it might have been either. We had a bit of setback last year when they beat us 4-1 down there after our game against Swansea but we won't be thinking about that. But one thing's for sure, we'll have to be in a better frame of mind than we were on Sunday if we're going to get anything out of the game. The tie will take place on Saturday, September 27th.

John Maggs admitted his disappointment and sadness at Liam Baitup's decision to quit the club, just a month in to the new season. The former Eastbourne Town striker expressed his desire to leave after being substituted during yesterday's match against Colliers Wood, just 20 minutes after stepping off the bench to replace Shane Graham. "It was a very hard decision to make," admitted Maggs, "and I certainly wouldn't have done it had we had the game sewn up. But, at 1-0 up, I needed someone who could go on and hold the ball up for me up top and Liam didn't do that. He got caught offside 3 times so every time we were playing the ball upfield, we were effectively giving it straight back to the opposition." Maggs' decision to keep Baitup on the bench in the recent match against Dover Athletic and opting to play Mark Knee in a lone striker's role drew criticism from some quarters, not least of all Baitup himself, and it was the striker's frustration at a lack of a starting place that prompted his announcement to leave the club after a career that lasted just 7 games. "I was really upset that I had to take him off," added Maggs, "but I stand or fall by my decisions. It's not in my nature to do anything to upset a player's confidence and I've apologised to Liam, and his father, but his body language told me that he was in no mood to play football and I can't have players who aren't prepared to do that for me. At the end of the day I guess you can say that my decision has been vindicated because I felt we got more out of Gavin (Geddes) when he came on and we've won the game ."
Meanwhile, Maggs has added former AFC Bournemouth teenager Billy Franks to his squad as cover for the injured Eddie French. The Worthing based centre-back made several appearances in the Cherries' first team squad, making his debut against Tranmere Rovers in a League One clash.

Horsham's FA Cup campaign got off to an unconvincing start as they laboured to a narrow success against Colliers Wood United today. Evan Archibald spared Horsham's blushes with a 29th minute goal but the home side will be relieved to be in the hat for tomorrow's Second Qualifying Round draw after Woods' Mark Longley missed a late chance to send the tie in to a replay in South West London. For full match report and the winning goal, click here

Horsham begin their quest for more FA Cup glory this Sunday when they welcome Colliers Wood United to Woodside Road for a 1st Qualifying round tie (ko 3pm). The match, put back 24 hours to accommodate landlords Worthing's tie with Margate, is Horsham's first appearance on the Sabbath for more than 7 years when a huge backlog of fixtures left them facing 17 games in 36 days, culminating in the ridiculous situation of 3 games in successive days.
Memories of last year's record breaking run to the second round of this famous competition are indelibly etched in the minds of everyone associated with Horsham Football Club but manager John Maggs feels that supporters' expectations will put his players under even greater pressure to repeat last year's heroics. "Last year's run was a fantastic achievement and really put the club on the map but my message to our supporters is that it's unrealistic to expect us to do that every season. But we'll be doing everything we can to emulate that success, of course, because we've seen how much a good run can mean to the club in terms of profile and revenue and I know the fans love a cup run."
Part of the attraction of the cup competitions is the opportunity to meet different sides and Colliers Wood are no exception. In fact, this is only the third season in which the Woods have participated in the FA Cup but they will be no strangers to Woodside Road having been beaten 3-0 by Worthing back in 2006. The Combined Counties Leaguers have already notched up 2 wins on the road in the preliminary rounds, against Banstead Athletic (2-0) and East Grinstead (3-0), and Maggs has spoken to his East Grinstead counterpart for the low-down on Sunday's opponents. "I talked to Steve Norris and he reckons that they (East Grinstead) put in their worst performance of the season but he feels that we'll have too much for them and there's no doubt we'll start as big favourites. But we've got to make sure we're professional. We'll treat them with respect but hope that it's us who are in the hat for Monday's draw."
The Hornets will be without 4 regulars through injury with Eddie French (broken tibia), Lee Carney (bruised foot), Gary Charman (twisted knee) and Mark Knee (hamstring) all absent so Shane Graham stands by for his first start of the season and Maggs has hinted that there may even be a shock recall for former striker Gavin Geddes. Colliers Wood are currently struggling at the wrong end of the Combined Counties League table, with just one win from five games, and were knocked out of the FA Vase last weekend by Epsom & Ewell despite holding a 2-0 advantage after just 10 minutes.

Lee Carney faces up to 5 weeks on the sidelines after picking up a foot injury in last night's 2-2 draw at Ramsgate. "We thought he'd broken his foot," John Maggs explained today. "But he was sent to Redhill hospital and it turns out that he's severely bruised a bone and the doctors have told him to rest up for 6 days and not put any weight on it. I anticipate he'll be out for 4-5 weeks." Carney's absence will be a major blow to Maggs who is already without long term absentee Eddie French and the manager received a further setback when it was revealed that Gary Charman is also likely to miss the next couple of weeks after twisting his knee in the same match. "Yes, Gary's another one. He's gone in there and twisted his knee and, although he seems comfortable, it's going to take a couple of weeks to recover. Mark Knee's probably out for another 2 weeks as well so we're up against it a bit at the moment."
Maggs, though, is keen to keep a positive view on the season and maintains that "someone will take a hiding from us one day". Reflecting on a game in which his side conceded a late goal for the second match in a row, Maggs said "I thought we played extremely well in the first half. 10-15 minutes in to the second half we could have been 5-1 up but we didn't take our chances, they put us under some pressure and we started to panic a bit. I said to Mark (Hawthorne) that the script's written and they'll go and score and that's what they did. I should have kept my mouth shut ! We should have won the game but I guess that we'd have taken a point at the start of the night so we shouldn't be too disheartened."

A last gasp goal from Nick Davis secured Ramsgate's first home point of the season and left Horsham cursing their luck after conceding an injury time goal for the second match in a row. Things looked rosy for the Hornets when Evan Archibald's fourth of the season gave them a 13th minute lead and the visitors enjoyed the better of the opening stages despite losing Gary Charman to injury inside the first 10 minutes. However, Ben Laslett atoned for putting through his own goal in last season's corresponding fixture by firing home the equaliser on 21 minutes only for Lee Carey to restore the lead before the interval when he crashed home a volley from 18 yards. Horsham began the second period looking the brighter side but it took a couple of fine saves from Paul Seuke from Mo Takaloo and Lee Minshull to keep them in front until Davis took advantage of confusion in the Horsham penalty area to head home in the closing seconds of the game. An injury-time flare up saw Ramsgate's Aaron Firth dismissed to put an ugly end to an entertaining game. Full report....

Eagle-eyed supporters will have spotted a familiar face on their visits to Woodside Road this season and it might not be too long before they're chanting his name again after a surprise revelation by John Maggs earlier today. Gavin Geddes, former hero and villain to the Horsham supporters, has been seen casting a watchful eye over his former side in recent weeks and Maggs has confirmed speculation that the prolific striker may still pull on the green and amber jersey one more time. "Gavin's approached me and asked if he can train with us," admitted Maggs. "The lad's in good shape and he's keen to show us what he can do." The irony of the announcement is not lost on the Hornets' supremo who admits that he may come in for some stick from the fans at the suggestion of the 35 year old rejoining the club for an incredible sixth time. "I've read the fans' forum," he laughed, "and the fans are always saying who's John got lined up next...Gavin Geddes or Dave Flemming because both of them have had a few spells with us but I'm not bothered about that. All I know is that Gavin's a proven goalscorer and it wouldn't be the silliest move to sign him on Ryman forms if we thought he could do a job for us. It would be great to know that I've got someone on the end of the 'phone that I could call on if I'm short of players." Geddes, who last played for Horsham in 2004, scored 79 goals in 141 appearances, twice topping the scoring charts, but supporters will also recall his failure to turn up for a number of crucial games that saw him leave the club under something of a cloud. Meanwhile, Maggs also confirmed that he has made a 7 day approach for a central defender, currently plying his trade in the Ryman Premier Division.

Mark Knee misses Tuesday night's trip to Ramsgate after limping out of the weekend loss against Sutton United with a damaged hamstring. The former Worthing striker's injury is the latest in a number of setbacks to hit John Maggs who described his side's injury time defeat against the Us as 'a cruel result'. Already resigned to the lengthy absence of Eddie French, Maggs has seen Alex Haddow, Evan Archibald, Jacob Mingle and Lee Farrell all confined to periods on the sidelines but he remains optimistic that his side will be among those battling it out for promotion at the end of the season, if his squad can just stay injury free. "Saturday was a real setback. I felt we played well against Sutton and made them look quite ordinary at times but, once again, we paid the price for not putting our chances away. We've got a good side here and I hope the fans can see that. We didn't play particularly well against Heybridge or Harlow but we've given Staines, Dover and Sutton a hard game and they're going to be among the top sides at the end of the season for sure. Alright, we've lost 3 games on the bounce but I know that we'll become a difficult side to beat when we have everyone fit." On the plus side, Maggs was boosted by the return of Archibald and Farrell on Saturday and he was further heartened with the news that Haddow should be among the travelling party for tomorrow's long journey to Kent.
While the Hornets were suffering late heartache at Woodside Road, Ramsgate were inflicting similar misery on Wealdstone where Aaron Firth's 87th minute goal secured only the Rams' second win of the season, all of them away from home. Somewhat surprisingly, Jim Ward's side have lost all three of their matches at the Southwood Stadium, already equalling their tally of last season that was to be a contributory factor behind Ramsgate reaching the play-offs. Ward made a number of new signings during the close season including goalkeeper Jack Delo, a 2003 FA Youth Cup semi-finallist with Charlton Athletic, Sittingbourne's player of the year Joe Dowley and teenage midfielder Dane Sutton but it is two returning former players who will be most familiar to Hornets fans. Striker Mo Takaloo, scorer of both goals in Maidstone's 2-1 win at Queen Street in December, captained the Rams to promotion in to the Ryman League in 2005 and repeated the act with the Stones two seasons ago before returning to the Rams for the new campaign while ex-Hornet Steffan Ball re-signed for Ward after starting this season at AFC Hornchurch. Sam Jones, now with Dover Athletic, hit a hat-trick for Ramsgate in last season's corresponding fixture that saw the Hornets defeated 3-2.

Gavin McCallum smashed home an injury time winner as Sutton United inflicted a third successive defeat on the Hornets in a match that, for the second Saturday running, the hosts should have had wrapped up by half-time. A spurned opportunity after just forty seconds let the visitors off the hook and Paul Nicholls twice denied Lees Carney and Carey in a goalless first half. With the strong wind and torrential rain blowing in the faces of the Sutton players after the break, it was a surprise when they took the lead when Adam Wilde lifted the ball over Paul Seuke on 58 minutes. The conditions did play their part in Horsham's equaliser, though, when Carey's 70th minute corner caught in the wind and ended up sailing under the crossbar but Liam Baitup, Lee Farrell and Jacob Mingle all missed good chances to give the Hornets the lead and they were caught out in the first minute of injury time when a good run from Sutton substitute Craig Dundas ended with McCallum turning in a low cross to the delight of the travelling contingent. Match report, and brief highlights, are now on-line

Horsham boss John Maggs admitted to having been proud of his players despite Tuesday night's defeat at Dover Athletic. The Hornets fell to their second successive defeat to slip to 6th in the Ryman League Premier Division table but he was delighted with his players' response following Saturday's heavy loss to Harlow Town. "I couldn't have asked for any more from my players last night," he confessed. " I asked for a big performance after Saturday and I got it. We played really well against a very strong side, on a very good pitch, and scored a copybook goal to take the lead. Our attitude was spot on and we soaked up a lot of pressure and might even had made it 2-0 but their equaliser was just one of those goals. I didn't think the free-kick should have been given for their winning goal. In fact, Andy Howard was having his shirt pulled so I thought it should have gone our way but Seukes was disappointed to have been beaten by the shot. It went under his body and he held his hand up to the lads after to say he was at fault but I'm not blaming him for it. If it wasn't for my goalkeeper, we could have been beaten by 4 or 5 goals. The players were absolutely gutted in the dressing room because they thought they'd done enough to get at least a point but there's not too many sides going to get a win at Dover, not with that fan base behind them. Yes, I'm disappointed, but I can take a lot of positives from the game and hope we can take the same performance in to Saturday."

Two goals in the final 14 minutes from Dover's John Wallis sent Horsham crashing to a second successive defeat at the Crabble tonight. The home side enjoyed the better of the first half but it was Jacob Mingle who marked his first start of the season by putting the Hornets ahead on 38 minutes, finishing off a neat one-two with Lee Carney, and they held on to that lead until the interval thanks to a series of saves from Paul Seuke. The goalkeeper came under even more pressure after the break as the hosts dominated and he was a relieved man when Sammy Moore's long range shot hit the post. But Dover grabbed a deserved equaliser when Wallis struck from 25 yards and he followed that up with an even more spectacular effort, smashing a 30 yard free-kick past Seuke with just 4 minutes remaining. Horsham slip to 6th in the Ryman Premier Division table. Match report is now on-line

Horsham's FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round tie against Colliers Wood United at Woodside Road has been arranged for Sunday 14th September, ko 3pm, to avoid clashing with landlords Worthing who entertain Margate the same weekend.