Match Report
Ryman league: Division One South
 Walton Casuals 1 Douglas 31 |  Horsham YMCA 2 Simpson 69 Rowland (og) 72 |
| Source: Allan Norbury, West Sussex County Times |
THE SHEER presence and experience of Horsham YMCA frontman Matt Russell turned this game on its head as he inspired his side to come from behind to beat Worthing 2-1 on Saturday.
Trailing to a first half Dominic Douglas goal, YM boss John Suter threw Russell into the action shortly after the break, and the move reaped the rewards.
Two deadly deliveries from Andy Ottley and Russell's movement caused enough panic in the Worthing box to result in a goal for Matt Simpson and an own goal from Ollie Rowland.
It was a particularly sweet result for Suter, who enjoys a fractious relationship with the Worthing management team, which was soured further when the Rebels signed YM top scorer Joe Keehan last week.
"It's very satisfying," Suter enthused. "It is a tremendous result, the opposition are going for the play-offs, they have taken one of our best players and our top goalscorer and to come down to their patch being second bottom, go 1-0 down and come back to win 2-1 you cannot help but to be on a high, I'm very pleased."
A poor opening 20 minutes was briefly illuminated when the ball fell for ex-YM man Scott Kirkwood on the edge of the box and his effort was palmed away by Chris Winterton, and for the visitors, Greg Palmer headed over. But in the main, neither side could exert enough pressure to create a real opening with attacks fizzling out on the edge of the box.
Then, on the half hour, Worthing took the lead in strange circumstances. Both teams thought the raised flag on the far side was for offside, but the assistant was flagging for an infringement on the near touchline. From the resulting free-kick Martyn Flack was only able to divert the ball into the path of Douglas who celebrated his first goal for the Rebels.
Something was missing from YM's game in the final third, and while the visitors toiled Worthing were almost in again and it took a fine saving tackle from Matt Duffield to deny Shaheen Sadough.
Ottley linked up with Palmer shortly after the break to fire a tame shot at Rikki Banks, and that was to be Palmer's last involvement of the day as he made way for Russell.
It looked an inspired move on 61 minutes when Ottley's free-kick was headed home by the substitute, only to be denied by the offside flag.
There was nothing to save Worthing on 69 minutes though, another Ottley dead ball from 25 yards out was flicked in by Simpson at the far post, and YM were level.
With the hosts rocking, YM staged an action replay three minutes later. From almost the exact same spot, Ottley's free-kick was touched on by Russell and Rowland buried his attempted clearance before burying his face in his hands.
It took some vital interventions from Seb Kazemi and Flack in the final ten minutes to deny the Rebels, who showed their intentions to continue attacking when Winterton kicked the ball out to allow Ottley to receive treatment. Perceived by YM as unsportsmanlike behaviour there was some pushing and shoving at the final whistle, but Suter's men had already landed the vital blow.
He commented: "I told them not to spoil it, we have hurt them enough. The damage has been done on the field."
Man of the Match: Matt Russell - changed the game with his movement and link up play.
Magic Moment: Matt Duffield's tackle on Shaheen Sadough could have gone unnoticed but it kept YM in the game.
Teams:
Horsham YMCA: Winterton;Duffield, Flack, Woodburn, White; Greenfield (Jupp 70), Simpson, Kazemi, Grant; Palmer (Russell 53), Ottley.