Match Report
Ryman League: Division One South
 Horsham YMCA 3Gordan 17, 33 Collewijn 62 |  Merstham 5 Ottaway 30, 45, 53, 85 Marvell 40 |
Match Ball Sponsor: | Words by Tom Norris |
Horsham YMCA slumped to their second league defeat in four days, as Merstham striker Harry Ottaway ran riot at Gorings Mead on Tuesday night.
He scored four of the visitor’s five goals in a sharp performance up front, but will have YM goalkeeper Mark Fox to thank for the large part his side’s 5-3 victory. The keeper, who was beaten softly for every one of the Moatsider’s goals, will simply want to forget his dire performance, and the result, which leaves YM still precariously close to the foot of the table.
On a cold and windy evening at the Mead, it was YM who made a particularly uncharacteristic start to the game. Used to conceding goals early on at home, it was they who dominated the initial encounters of the first half, and some early pressure saw them take the lead just after the quarter hour mark. Some neat work from midfielder Scott Kirkwood teed up home debutant Adam Cheadle, whose stinging shot from twenty-five yards, could only be parried by the Merstham keeper. Striker Gavin Gordon was on hand to follow up, sliding in to poke the ball home.
However, the goal only seemed to liven the visitor’s up and they soon begun creating chances of their own. Dale Marvell first saw his curled effort just clear the bar, before a flurry of further attacks brought some last ditch defending from the hosts. Then on the half hour mark, the breakthrough finally came for the visitors. Some superb work from Anthony Myers down the Merstham left set up Adam Moriarty, whose inch perfect cross found Ottaway at the far post. With the indecisive Fox left stranded in the YM goal, the striker’s job was made easy and he nodded the ball comfortably past the onrushing keeper.
In spite of the setback, YM pressed forward once more and three minutes later had regained the lead. A Fabian Brown cross found Gordon inside the penalty area and the powerful striker made no mistake in grabbing his second of the evening, with a header that looped over the bewildered Merstham keeper and into the net.
The Moatsider’s then took the game to their hosts in the remaining ten minutes of the half, piling pressure on the YM goal with every attack. Aaron Murphy first wasted a golden opportunity to make it two a piece when he failed to keep his composure in front of goal, before Keeper Fox then had a clearance charged down and blocked, only for the resulting shot to fly just wide. YM looked like conceding every time the visitors went forward and it was only a matter of time before Merstham were back on level terms. With five minutes of the first half to play, Dale Marvell delivered a high, floating cross into the YM area that beat everyone, including keeper Fox, who misjudged the bounce before slipping over, and allowing the ball to simply trickle into an empty net.
YM’s embarrassment then grew even further just on the stroke of half time. Striker Ottaway picked up a loose ball just outside the box and unchallenged by anyone around him, was allowed to let fly with a low driven shot that beat the outstretched hand of Fox at his far post.
YM manager, Colin Jenkinson, rejoined his coaching team on the touchline for the second half, having watched his side’s torrid first half performance from the stand. However, things got no better for the hosts, and only eight minutes into the second forty five, Ottaway doubled the visitor’s lead, also rounding off a very well taken hatrick. More great work from speedy full back Myers down the Merstham left, this time saw him turn provider, as his precise cross found the number ten unmarked in the YM box, and he was able to head the ball back across goal and past the scrambling keeper.
Two goals up, Merstham began to relax and started picking holes in the YM defence with ease. However an unexpected lapse in concentration allowed the hosts back in, when defender Craig Vernon failed to deal with a long ball from Cheadle up field. His backward header cleared his own keeper and allowed substitute striker Joey Collewijn to run on and profit from the mistake, nodding the ball into the empty net, with only his first touch of the game.
With half an hour to play, Jenkinson’s men hoped they may get a result from the fixture, but there was little sign of a comeback on the cards. Victory was then secured for the Moatsider’s five minutes from time. Ottaway concluded a fine individual display with his fourth of the night, another header that keeper Fox should really have done better with.
Manager, Jenkinson, was reluctant to speak after the game but Phil Fitzgerald, a member of the coaching staff at the club gave his view on the team’s display. ‘We didn’t enforce what we wanted to do in most parts [of the game] and for me, it was a very patchy performance.’ Fitzgerald, who also manages the Youth team at YM, added, ‘With new players coming in all the time, it’s always going to take a while for them to gel together’. However, this seems to be the main problem surrounding the team at present. With so many different players coming and going each week, the side lacks shape, stability and understanding between members of the squad.
YM’s next fixture will be a tough task away to league leaders Leatherhead on Saturday.
YM (4-4-2): Fox, Newman, Woodburn (c), Nicholls, Weir, Sachies (Collewijn 61), Kirkwood, Cheadle, Mercer, Brown (Douglas 45), Gordon
