Match Report
County League:Division One
| Horsham YMCA 3 Taylor 20 Duffield 49 Churchill 79 |
Arundel 2 Hack 36 Griffen 53 |
Date:2nd September 2003 Location:Gorings Mead
Source Richard Bryne, West Sussex County Times
YM PROVED that they can 'win ugly' with an unconvincing performance against Arundel.
They led twice through Gil Taylor and skipper Matt Duffield but gifted their opponents two equalisers, and even after Phil Churchill gave them the tead for a third time had to hang on in the closing minutes to secure all three points.
The game might look like a five-goal thriller on paper but was an uninspiring affair, punctuated by goals as neither keeper had much to do but pick the ball out of the net.
"We deserved to win, we had more attacking play." felt home manager John Suter, although he admitted it had not been great entertainment. "I was very disappointed with the first half. It was a dull game, slow, predictable and uninteresting."
Suter told his players that much at half-time and they responded with an improved performance but hardly looked like championship contenders on this showing. "I was disappointed, we gave away such soft goals but we worked hard in the second half and showed more urgency and did play at a higher tempo."
YM lacked the composure to kill off the game but managed to survive an anxious five minutes of stoppage time as the visitors pressed for an equaliser. "I was thinking here we go again. We were nervous after what happened against Gosport," admitted Suter after they recently conceded an injury-time equaliser in the FA Cup.
The win leaves YM third in the table but Suter is unhappy with their form. "It's not been as good as it could've been. We have not played as football as I would have liked."
However, he was without players of the calibre of Wayne Potter, Dean Carden and Phil Fitzgerald and knows that the side are not really doing themselves justice at the moment. He also knows that if they can find the sort of form they showed at times last season, they can mount a serious title challenge.
On a pleasant night the home side had an ideal opportunity to impress new sponsor Victor Gladwish, his wife Tina and son Matthew, who were watching from the stand but there was little to rouse the spectators until Gil Taylor scored a superb opener in the 20th minute. The striker ran on to Paul Young's pass, skipped past the last defender and headed straight for goal before slipping the ball neatly past Arundel keeper Andy McCarthy.
But the goal failed to lift the game as neither side passed the ball fluently. The whippet like Churchill ran gamely up front but twice the YM striker failed to go past the last defender after promising approach work.
Joel O'Hara showed his usual tenacity, the gangly midfielder entertaining the crowd when he somehow managed to flip the ball over his head with both feet while battling on the floor for the ball.
However, the visitors' equaliser was as soft as a two-week old banana. Andy Lutwyche needlessly conceded a free-kick when he shoved Gary Norgate in the back and when the ball was floated into the box, the YM defence simply watched as Start Hack stretched out a leg and prodded the ball home from close range past the exposed Scott Kenward.
Young, who looked good with the ball in an unaccustomed position on the right side of midfield, looked the likeliest to create an opening. He made one searing run from deep in his own half but the move ended when he tried to take a return pass from Taylor on the edge of the area. The former Broadbridge Heath striker then almost put the hosts ahead in injury time after he cut in from the right and flashed a shot across the face of the goal.
Whatever Suter said in the home dressing room during the break sent YM out with a bit more bite and within four minutes Duffield capped off a nice move down the left when he danced past a defender and placed a precise shot into the top left-hand corner as McCarthy stood and watched.
But any hope the goal would lift the hosts evaporated when they gifted Arundel a second equaliser. Kenward took a page out of the 'Calamity James' coaching manual and needlessly came charging out to the edge of the box to try and collect a cross. The YM keeper clattered into the back of Lutwyche and only succeeded in flapping the ball out to Mike Griffin who drilled a low shot into the empty net from just outside the D.
YM almost went ahead again when Tim Brown latched Onto a loose ball and his shot was palmed over by McCarthy but it was hard to pick a winner at this point.
In the 74th minute Churchill missed a great chance to regain the lead. Young again created the opening as a defender slid in to cut out his intended pass to Taylor. The ball ran to Churchill ten yards out but instead of keeping his shot low the striker tried to lift the ball past McCarthy and the keeper came out sharply and saved.
At the other end Norgate flashed a shot across goal but in the 79th minute Churchill made up for his earlier miss, showing all his poaching instincts, when he swept in Young's low cross from the right at the near post. But the goal failed to settle YM. Lutwyche, wh had looked composed at the centre of the hom defence, had a moment of madness when his weal back header almost let in Miles Scerri.
Scerri, then lived up to his name with a smart turn and shot that sneaked past the post to the relief of the home fans.
The home side hung on nervously for more thar five minutes of stoppage time but Arundel never really tested Kenward, and they looked disappointec not have taken a point, but come April these are the sort of games that make all the difference if you are going to win the title.
Tina Gladwish presented man of the match Duffleld with a bottle of wine after the game but Young was not far behind after another eye-catching performance on the wing.
Team: Kenward; Charman, Lutwyche, Fenn Sleat; Young (Durrant 90), Duffield, Brown. OHara: Taylor (Price 80). Churchill.