Match Report
Ryman League: Division One South
 Horsham 0 |  Horsham YMCA 2 Manton 21 Dodd 77 |
| Source: West Sussex County Times |
IT WOULD have taken a brave betting man to back Horsham YMCA to beat their tenants for only the second time in 40 years.
But goals from Tom Manton and Terry Dodd upset the odds as YM turned the tables on Horsham with a thoroughly deserved 2-0 win in the Ryman League Cup on Tuesday night. It was a result which delighted the Gorings Mead faithful, and left Hornets boss John Maggs hurt and embarrassed.
He refused to offer excuses for his side's performance even though he had fielded a weakened side, his opposite number Chris White had done the same in tricky conditions.
YM keeper Tony Di-Bernardo kept his fourth clean sheet in three games since joining from Worthing, and his ar-rival has sparked a surge of confidence.
White declared: "Delighted with the boys, it's progression and we're getting progression each week at the moment.
"I think we are looking a decent side right now. At the beginning of the season we could not keep a clean sheet, we were getting ourselves in front and now we look like we can.
"We have defended from the front and the two up front worked rqally hard in the second half. It's not a big squad but it's very tight knit and they are fighting for each other."
The tie came almost two years to the day since the Hornets played at Swansea's Liberty Stadium in a FA Cup second round replay - if that was a high, this was a low.
"I'm really disappointed and a bit embarrassed," Maggs said.
"They were still peppering us in the last 15 minutes and we gave up the ghost. It's not good enough.
"Barton Rovers this year is a typical example, and now YMCA in the cup, we seem to turn up and think we have a divine right and we don't put in a performance. That has hurt us tonight."
It could have been so different had Horsham taken one of a number of decent early chances, Lee Carney's fierce drive was palmed over by Di-Bernardo and Jack Lyons went close with a dinked finish which scraped the outside of the post.
The wet conditions contributed to the opener as Craig Bradshaw allowed a Nigel Brake free kick to slip out of his grasp, and Manton scrambled home from close range on 21 minutes.
Horsham were rattled and the only other chance of note they created before the break saw Di-Bernardo cling on to a looping Jorge Lopez header at full stretch.
YM had every reason to be content with their work so far, and Maggs introduced Jack Page and Steve Sargent to shake his side up, but Brad-shaw remained the busier of the two keepers - keeping out attempts from Tom Lawley and Mark Pulling.
A second YM goal always looked on the cards, and after Lawley and Gavin Geddes combined well, Dodd dug out a good finish from under his feet.
It might even had been three when Shaheen Sadough's shot just missed Geddes' lunge and got held up in the mud before the line.
Man of the match: Tom Lawley, terrorŽised the Horsham defence.
Magic moment: More a like a key moŽment - if Jack Lyons had taken an early chance it might have been different. YMCA(4-4-2) :Di-Bernardo; Metcalf, Brake (Cooney 38), Virgo, Cook; Pulling, Huck-ett (Westcott 18), Cook, Lawley; Geddes, Dodd (Sadojgh 84).