Match Report
SFCA RUR Charity Cup: Quarter Final
 Hailsham 2 French 62 Stevens 69 |  Horsham YMCA 2 Hudai 79, 89 |
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| Hailsham won 3:1 on Panalties (AET) |
Date: 7th January 2006 Location:Beaconsfield
Source: Steve Payne, West Sussex County Times
YM'S CUP hopes were dashed in the mud at Hailsham, on Saturday - but only after the lottery of spot kicks.
The visitors should have sewn the tie up in the first 20 minutes but struggled to find the net.
They then paid for the lack of finishing as Hailsham took a 2-0 lead.
But two goals from sub Mazin Hudai gave them a lifeline, only to have it cruelly snatched away.
"For about 30 minutes we played some of the best football we've played all season," said manager John Suter.
Fellow Division 1 side Hailsham are no mugs and a series of wins has hauled them up to fourth in the table.
But YM's early play was quicker, more accurate and far more determined.
With Matt Russell out injured and Dave Gellatly cup tied, though, it was left to Kris Trevor and James Grant to supply the forward power.
However, in the first 30 minutes, defender Nick Levett had two great shots saved and midfielder Ellis Hooper blasted one over the bar.
The rusty Trevor - playing his first game in seven - also had three decent chances either sav.ed or go off target and it seemed inevitable that YM would score.
But it was not to be and Hailsham clawed their way back, with several shots either saved by keeper Jan Chatfield or blocked.
Trevor continued to threaten after the break and had one shot fly just over the bar and a header saved in the first five minutes.
But, after 62 minutes, the home side's Scott French fired in a shot which took a wicked deflection off defender Dean Garden past Chatfield.
Seven minutes later, Levett received a yellow card for a foul outside the box and Nick Barden's free-kick was tipped over by Chatfield.
From the corner Simon Stevens fired a header in for 2-0.
With 14 minutes to go, YM pulled off Trevor and brought on Mazin Hudai.
Three minutes later and a mazy run saw the Egyptian rattle the ball in for 2-1.
Then, with minutes left, Hudai took advantage of more poor marking to fire in the second and take the tie into extra-time. "Maz took both his goals well. I was confident going into extra-time and confident going into penalties," remarked Suter.
Both sides had a shot in a fairly tame additional half hour, leaving it to be decided on penalties.
Garden showed why he takes YM's spot-kicks with a powerful shot and then Chatfield saved Barden's effort. However, Russell Eldridge, Matt Duffield and Hudai's shots were saved, while Peter Cooper, Stevens and Paul Richardson converted theirs for victory.
"I'd like to say that we don't mind, that we can concentrate on the league but it's not true. I would have liked to have gone to a cup final. You cannot recover from a cup defeat it's fatal but Ringmer lost in the league and can still easily win it," commented Suter.
The only compensation for the day was the news filtering in that, down the road, league leaders Ringmer had lost to near neighbours Eastbourne.
If YM win their three games in hand, they will go one point clear at the top.
Team: (4-4-2):Chatfield; Garden, Carter, Woodburn, Levett; Duffield, Hooper, Eldridge, O'Hara (93 Lucas); Trevor (Hudai 76), Grant.