Match Report
Brighton Charity Cup: Quarter Final
 Worthing United 1 Shelley.J 45 |  Horsham YMCA 3 Russell.M 15, 80 Levett 27 |
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| Wick win 4:2 on Penalties | |||
Date: 25th March 2006 Location:The Robert Albon Memorial Ground
Source: Alan Norbury, West Sussex County Times
YM BOSS John Suter praised his side's old fashioned grit in a win which cut the gap to leaders Ringmer to two points.
Ringmer had been running away at the top of Division 1, but with a combination of a 1-0 loss at Eastbourne Town on Friday and YM's games in hand, Suter's men have been able to reel them in.
Wasteful showings in front of goal from YM had threatened to ruin their title defence, but with three goals from four shots on target against Worthing, their strikers appear to have found their range again.
"When we had to battle, we did," said Suter.
"I have always been an admirer of footballers who work hard like that."
Matt Russell grabbed a brace to make sure of the points, his second coming ten minutes from time in a fraught second period.
Heavy rain throughout the match made for a tricky surface, and produced many hair raising tackles - Dean Garden was caught below the knee with one nasty lunge and eventually had to come off.
Struggling United were on the back foot early on, as Ellis Hooper blazed over optimistically from 30 yards after Dave Gellatly touched a free-kick into his path.
YM were soon in front, Mazin Hudai won a free-kick near the corner flag and Garden's ball was cleared as far as Gellatly. The midfield-er's shot was deflected to Matt Duffield who squared for Russell to apply the finishing touch.
This settled the match down and the Gorings Mead outfit enjoyed long spells of possession, without hurting the hosts.
Nick Levett, who had a fine game on the left of midfield, added the second on 27 minutes when he planted a header past Sam Figg after skipper Duffield made light work of beating Dan Keech to cross.
Worthing's gameplan was to turn defence into attack with speed but were always vulnerable to long passes from YM as they tried to keep the ball off the sodden floor.
Ian Chatfield wasn't tested in the YMCA goal until 35 minutes when Paul Curtis headed into his grateful arms.
A spell of Worthing pressure late in the half saw Shelley flick a tame effort at Chatfield, before he scrambled home a goal on the stroke of half-time.
The goal threatened to change the complexion of the match, and three minutes after the break Joe Shelley could have levelled but shot wide after James Bird's slip.
James Rhodes had a new lease of life and attempted to run at the YM defence at every opportunity, Neil Shelley should have done better when put through after Rhodes robbed substitute Adam O'Carroll.
United captain Steve Pickles went close before YMCA restored their grip on the game through Duffield and Gellatly, who had to quarry possession.
The midfield almost combined to release Russell but the ball rolled to a stop in the mud.
Russell was still full of running up front and coolly chipped Figg to make certain of the result with ten minutes remaining.
Suter commented: "Matt Russell continues to be an outstanding centre forward for me.
"It was a very important three points, we didn't want to be affected by Ringmer's result."
Team: (4-4-2): Chatfield; Garden (Fitzgerald 86), Westgate, Hooper, Bird; Duffield, Potter (O'Carroll 57), Gelletly, Levett; Russell, Hudai (Grant 65).