Match Report
John O'Hara Cup: Semi Final
 Three Bridges 1 Dunk 76 |  Horsham YMCA 2 Bradley 22 Elliott 41 |
| Source: Allan Norbury, West Sussex County Times |
STILL in the hunt for the County League crown and now in a cup final, Horsham YMCA manager Chris White is a happy man.
He watched his side make heavy weather of dismissing nine man Three Bridges on Tuesday to reach the final of the John O'Hara League Cup, after they had built up a seemingly unassailable 2-0 lead.
Eight months after joining the Gorings Mead club, and rebuilding the squad from scratch, White is starting to see the fruits of his labour.
He said: "It's great for the club and all the lads. It's a new squad and we are still in with a shout of winning the league and we're in a cup final. It's not been a bad sea¬son so far.
"We need to push on and make it as hard as we can for (Division 1 leaders) Eastbourne United. We need to win our two games in hand and stay on their tails."
Goals from Ryan Bradley and Paul Eiliott put YM firm¬ly in charge, but Bridges mounted a spirited fightback despite red cards for mid-fielders James Grant and Joel O'Hara. Bridges marksman Carl Dunk caused a scare 13 minutes from time when his free kick found the postage stamp, and they did look likely to level - especially through the darting runs of Dean Wright, but ran out of time.
White said: "It's the old story. Sometimes it's harder to play against ten men. They had nothing to lose and chucked the kitchen sink at us. We didn't keep the ball well enough in the second half."
It was a match played in foul conditions at Hassocks in the shadow of the South Downs, and kicking with the crosswind slightly against, YM mastered the weather earlier.
After a slow start, YM grabbed the lead when Matt Geard drilled a free kick into the box - Bradley touched it goalwards and when it came back off the post, he and any number of players could have claimed the final touch.
The lead was doubled on 41 minutes, a patient build up on the left saw Geard turn provider again, and he picked Eiliott out to nod in a stoop¬ing header.
Bridges were becoming more and more frustrated - a string of marginal decisions went against them, and that boiled over when James Grant was given his second booking for an harmless foul on the halfway line. He had been warned about mouthing off earlier, and referee Graham Kane decided he'd had enough.
Paul Faili's Bridges had to set the agenda in the second period. Wright was a con¬stant menace with his pace and Craig Stoner, a new YM recruit from Burgess Hill, made a good stop to keep out a Chris Williams stinger.
The game's defining moment came when O'Hara was cautioned for a soft chal¬lenge in the centre circle, and two minutes later he was in the showers. There was no disputing the second yellow though, as he had a sly tug of Eiliott's shirt while the YM striker raced clear.
Bridges looked stunned and dead on their feet - they did have time to muster one response though, Dunk's beauty of a free kick from the edge of the box which gave Stoner no chance.
Man of the match: Paul Eiliott - led the line superbly.
Magic moment: The final whistle, which meant no extra time, and a chance to get in out of the rain.
YMCA: (4-3-3):Stoner; Williams, Metcalf, Flack, Timms; Marshall, Geard (Rhodes 71), Watts; Sadough, Eiliott (Death 75), Bradley.
