Match Report
County League: Division One
 Eastbourne United 1 Atkin 45 |  Horsham YMCA 3 Russell.M 7 Atkin (og) 11 Reeve (og) 17 Duffield 61 |
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Source: Alan Norbury, West Sussex County Times |
YMCA displayed the fighting spirit required to retain their title as they went top.
Struck down by a succession of injuries, John Suter's men have had to start chiselling out results in the pursuit of Ringmer, and finally overhauled them with a gritty 4-1 victory at Eastbourne's Oval ground.
Boss Suter said: "Three points was all that mattered, that's what we came here for and that's what we came away with.
"How we did it is not important at this stage of the season."
A Matt Russell opener, plus two own goals in the first 17 minutes gift wrapped YM a comfortable lead, and on the surface, it appeared to be a cakewalk for the Gorings Mead outfit. But the match was packed with incident, not helped by strong winds and bone dry pitch, which culminated in emergency striker James Grant receiving his marching orders for an alleged head butt.
Winger Joel O'Hara set the tone with a crunching tackle on Louis Parsons in the opening seconds, and challenges continued to fly in throughout.
Kicking against the wind, YM settled quicker and Russell struck the opener. Dave Gellatly won a free-kick on the right hand side of the box and Dean Garden's whipped ball was turned in by Russell nipping in at the near post.
Four minutes later YM found themselves two up, a Gellatly free-kick from the left flicked off Andy Atkin's head and over floundering keeper Sam Reed.
Confident they had the match firmly in their palm, YM started to control play, and it wasn't long until the third went in.
Ian Chatfield's long clearance was controlled by Russell, who poked the ball into space for O'Hara, spun and ran in anticipation of the return pass. O'Hara drove it in low and hard, only for centre-back Mark Reeve to divert the ball past Reed.
Three goals from one attempt - YM's recent wastefulness in front of goal was temporarily consigned to memory.
Atkin almost atoned for his own goal misery by shooting over for United, who had so far failed to get into their stride, and Scott McDonald's near post flick was a reminder that Eastbourne were not dead and buried.
But YM were superior in midfield and continually dug out possession, skipper Matt Duffield did exactly that before being denied by Reed's smart save.
As half-time loomed, YM voices could be heard calling for concentration, an Eastbourne goal now could change everything. The defence couldn't have been listening.
Barrie Westgate was caught on the ball by Nathan Crabb after collecting Ellis Hooper's short pass, Crabb fed Atkin who held off Hooper's attentions to fire past Chatfield.
"It was a stupid goal to give away before half-time," commented Suter.
The reverberations of Atkins' strike continued as United attempted to pile on the pressure early in the second period - but YM remained steadfast, even after they were reduced to ten men. Grant saw red for an off the ball incident which saw United defender Reeves slump to the ground motionless and clutching his head.
A long delay which followed Grant's indiscretion ruined Eastbourne's momentum, and YM were soon on the front foot again.
Duffield increased their advantage after a flowing move, Russell laid Garden's ball into the captain's path for him to rampage into the box and hit a stinging shot beyond Reed.
Losing Grant appeared to galvanise YM's resolve and wave after wave of attack came, O'Hara went close on three occasions as the visitors closed out the result.
Suter said: "Two own goals makes it sound lucky, but there were two very good balls into the box which were difficult to defend.
"Matt [Russell] worked very hard, but it was a team performance. Duffield's goal was the one which demoralised them.
"There's only one occasion when it's important to be top of the league, and that's the last day of the season, both teams will drop points between now and the end of the season."
Team: (4-4-2): Chatfield; Garden, Hooper (Woodburn 79), Westgate, Levett; Duffield, Bird, Gellatly, O'Hara; Grant, Russell (Plumridge 88).
