Sussex County League: Division One
Match Report
Sussex County League: Division One
 Horsham YMCA 4 Wright 28, 60 Hunter 33 Wood 76 |  East Grinstead 2 Gordon 13, 20 |
Match Ball Sponsor: | Source: Tom Norris |
WRIGHT RUNS RIOT AS DONELLY DEDICATES SECOND HOME WIN TO FANS
Horsham YMCA finally put their home demons to rest, as they came from behind to beat local rivals East Grinstead and record just their second league win at Gorings Mead this season.
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Match Stats |
||
|
Horsham YMCA |
V |
East Grinstead Town |
|
7 |
Shots On Target |
5 |
|
3 |
Shots Off Target |
6 |
|
8 |
Offsides |
0 |
|
6 |
Corners |
5 |
|
10 |
Fouls |
17 |
|
2 |
Yellow Cards |
5 |
|
0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
Former YM front man, Gavin Gordon, looked set to haunt his old club, putting the visitors two up inside the first twenty minutes, but a resilient YM bounced back, instigated by a tremendous performance from Dean Wright. The striker bagged a brace, whilst Liam Hunter and Lee Wood also found the net to secure an important three points against former YM assistant-manager, Simon Funnell, in his new position as boss of The Wasps.
And the victory may well have come courtesy of some superstitious changes made by manager Sammy Donnelly, whose side have performed remarkably better on their travels this season.
‘I had the lads down early and we trained and worked on set pieces, free kicks and phases of play and I wanted to use the away changing room and the away dugout,’ he commented. ‘I think it all helped towards the build up, and from now on we’re going to use the away changing rooms!’
On top of the pre-match training and strange disguising of the game as an away fixture, Donnelly also welcomed back winger, Lee Wood and midfielder Liam Hunter, whilst the suspended Matt Crane and unavailable Nick Sullivan were both missing.
Both sides made a slow start, and a frustrated YM tried to force the issue, strike partners George Hillier and Wright both caught offside when clean through on goal. But it was the visitors who took an unexpected lead on the quarter hour mark, defender Ashley Dugdale failing to intercept a Ryan Wallis cross, allowing former YM man, Gordon, to fire into the corner from the edge of the box.
The Wasps should have doubled their lead moments later, as a long goal kick was flicked on, allowing striker, Sam Cane, to cross for the on-rushing Aaron Watson, only for the winger to slice his shot wide from 12 yards.
A fragile YM defence failed to react to the clear warning signs given, and two minutes later, Gordon had grabbed his second. Some simply calamitous defending first saw the ball failed to be cleared down the YM left, before goalkeeper Simon Lockwood forced himself into a hole and scuffed a clearance straight to the visitors. The YM back line never recovered, and a bobbling ball across goal was eventually smashed home by Gordon from just inside the box.
The hosts fought back in what had become a scrappy affair, and ten minutes later were rewarded for their efforts following their first and second attempts on target. George Hillier’s shot on goal was blocked behind and the resulting Dan Sullivan corner was crashed home on the half volley by Wright from the edge of the box.
This spurred Donnelly’s men on, and minutes later they found their equaliser. A long Sullivan ball forward released Wright, who, although speeding away from goal, was unnecessarily brought down in the box by another former YM player, Mark Fox, in The Wasps’ goal. The stopper then briefly redeemed himself, diving smartly to his left to keep out George Hillier’s spot kick, but Hunter was on hand, reacting quickest to side foot the rebound past the sprawling ‘keeper.
Grinstead’s Max Pelling then went close at the opposite end, poking the ball into the arms of Lockwood from close range, before YM’s best move of the half almost gave them a lead at the break.
Wright was again involved, deftly flicking the ball inside to Hillier from the left touchline. His threaded through ball then found Wood in space down the flank and the speedy winger produced a delightful return cross, which a diving Hillier headed just over the bar.
The second half followed in a similarly disjointed vein. Gordon fired wide for The Wasps and Hillier saw a deflected shot fly over in the opening exchanges, before YM took the lead for the first time in the fixture.
Lee Wood fed Hillier on the edge of the box, and the striker’s skilful run and clipped cross found the head of a diving Wright at the far post, who nodded home.
A greater urgency from both sides lit up the play, but the number of clear-cut chances seemed to dry up. A Gordon cross provided Grinstead skipper, Dave Gellatly, with a brilliant chance to equalise, but he could only guide his glancing header inches wide of the far post.
And then YM furthered their lead, punishing The Wasps for their earlier missed opportunities. Winger, Timmy Martin, beat his man down the YM right and pulled the ball back for the onrushing Wood, who poked home from close range to give the hosts some breathing space.
The Wasps threatened very little after YM’s fourth, and it was the hosts who should have added to the score line, Hunter’s whipped cross, five minutes from time, struck over by an outstretched Hillier at the far post.
‘It’s a massive, massive win for us, and we’ve got three games in hand over them,’ added boss, Donnelly. ‘Credit to the lads though; because we gifted them both goals, and then hauled ourselves back in to the game.
‘Second half, I think we took over and definitely deserved the win, without a shadow of a doubt. Dean Wright was huge out there – he was a giant for us. He got the game by the throat and was outstanding for me. They weren’t a bad side, and to come back from two-nil down it was a good win. I’m so pleased for everyone.
‘And there were three good officials, although people will say I’m only saying that because we won. But I thought that they had a bit of man management about them.’
And when asked about his former assistant at YM, Donnelly insisted that the game wasn’t about getting one over on old pal, Funnell.
‘Simon’s managing now and he’s going to find that he can’t do certain things. As a manager, you can tell the players what to do, but you aren’t on the pitch playing, and so he’s got to take that on board.
‘It was no real rivalry though. It wasn’t about beating Simon, but about us turning our fortunes at home around. It was an important one for the supporters today, and that’s who I dedicate the win to. We’ve got Rye coming up which we know won’t be easy, but we’ll deal with that during the week.’
YM (4-4-2): Lockwood, D. Sullivan, King, Dugdale (c), Gregory, Wood, Hunter, Smith, Martin (Graham 87) (Conteh 95), Hillier, Wright (Scally 66)
Unused Subs: Hawthorne, G. Donnelly
