Match Report
Sussex County League: Premier Division
| Selsey 1 A.Morey 73 |
Horsham YMCA 1 Churchill 32 |
Date:28th Feb 2004 Location:High St ground
Source: Richard Byrne, West Sussex County Times
YM'S FAILURE to take their chances cost them two points when stragglers Selsey snatched a late equaliser from their only clear-cut opportunity of the match.
The visitors' shooting was so wayward they were more in danger of hitting shoppers in Budgen's car park than the back of the net. They wasted a basket-load of good chances before Phil Churchill finally put them ahead after 32 minutes with a poached goal.
At half-time few people would have backed the hosts to get anything from the game, but while the second-bottom side looked like a team that will be playing Division 2 football next season, they do not lack spirit, and equalised with 17 minutes left when skipper Alun Morey slammed the ball in off the underside of the bar after his initial effort was saved. By that stage YM had run out of ideas and never really looked like snatching a winner.
"I keep calling it a defeat because that's what it feels like," admitted disgruntled YM manager John Suter. "I was quite pleased with the first half performance even though we missed early chances. I was beginning to think it was one of those days, when we were creating chances and not putting them away. But when Phil Churchill scored it settled me down."
Suter knew his side will not get a better chance to add to their paltry one win on the road but they hardly did themselves any favours with a disjointed second half performance.
"We stopped doing all the good things we were doing in the first half and made mistakes all over the park," admitted the YM boss. "Our inability to finish it off just kept their heads up. That's what happens when you don't put away the opposition."
The appalling playing surface, which could have doubled up as a set for the next Apollo 13 movie, was a mitigating factor but ultimately YM only had themselves to blame.
"The pitch was very difficult, you never knew how it was going to bounce but having said that we still had more than enough chances to win," said Suter.
James Plumley returned in goal for YM because lan Chatfield was playing for Horsham, but the visitors went into the match without skipper Matt Duffield and fellow midfielders James Bird and Joel O'Hara. But anyone who has been to Selsey - which was hit by the famous tornado in 1998 - knows it is not the place to be on a cold day.
With Churchill and Steve Davis looking lively up front. It looked like YM would blow away the fragile home defence. Paul Young skied over a chance after just four minutes and all the action was in the home half of the pitch.
In the ninth minute Davis engineered an opening on his left foot despite the bobbly pitch, and his shot was heading for the top corner before Luc Curling stretched out his right hand and palmed the ball over. Phil Churchill
After quarter of an hour, Churchill, who has looked back to his best in recent weeks, robbed the hesitant Sean North and weaved his way towards goal but sliced horribly wide as the pitch again had the last say. The home side rarely threatened - the nearest they came to an effort on goal was Peter Wood's attempted scissor kick.
YM dominated possession as Wayne Potter started to get them passing, spreading the ball with short sensible passes rather than looking for ambitious long balls. Young, playing out on the right, twisted past several players and fired a low shot that Curling clung to at the foot of his post. Davis fluffed another great chance when Tim Brown's flicked header sent him clear on goal. The striker had almost too much time and after going round the keeper who blocked his shot for a corner.
Selsey's defence looked about as solid as a jelly in a microwave and when Lee Molyneaux attempted to head Dean Garden's cross back to Curling, Churchill nipped in and stole the ball. The striker then clinically rounded the keeper and stroked the ball into the empty net.
Typically YM eased off rather than push for a second goal and the few spectators who dared to venture out of the clubhouse rushed back into the warm at the break.
YM should have made the game safe within a minute of the restart when Young again surged forward. But the striker, perhaps mindful of the pitch, curled a shot narrowly wide rather than slide the ball into'' the path of the unmarked James Still.
Davis, who worked hard but had one of those afternoons when nothing quite went right, wasted an even better chance three minutes later. Still whipped in the best cross of the match but Davis' downward header lacked power and Curling blocked. The rebound fell to the striker but instead of shooting, he tried to pull the ball back for Young who was robbed by Sean Morey's great tackle.
The YM widemen became peripheral figures as the home side, sensing they were still in with a chance, started to push forward. Potter became an increasingly isolated figure in the middle as his shouts of "let's up it a gear" fell on deaf ears. Poor Nathan Sleat spooned an attempted pass straight off the pitch as the visitors became frustrated with the conditions and their inability to kill off the game.
While Selsey certainly wanted it, judging by a silly melee after Lee Paul was fouled. Mark Lee was certainly fired up but his furious complaints after he was penalised for a blatant handball earned him a card.
With Paul working hard up front there was always the chance Selsey might nick an equaliser and they did in the 73rd minute. Alun Morey met a left wing corner with a powerful header and James Plumley's magnificent one-handed parry was instantly forgotten when the home skipper whacked in the rebound. It was tough on Plumley, who spent most of the afternoon keeping warm, that his team-mates reflexes did not match their keeper's.
The sun came out to shine on the hosts - Plumley's only other meaningful act was to put on his cap. Neither side looked like conjuring up a winner and poor Davis, who was crudely felled from behind by Molyneaux, limped off before the end.
It was cold and dispiriting and YM have to wait another week to put it right as Suter is away tomorrow taking charge of Sussex's match with Cornwall at Lancing.
Team: Plumley; Garden, Silsby, Westgate, Sleat; Young, W Potter, Brown, Still; Churchill, Davis (Brabon 87).