Sussex County League: Division One
Match Report
Sussex County League: Division One
 Horsham YMCA 1 Hillier 76 |  Sidley United 1 Ham 43 (pen) |
Match Ball Sponsor: FIRE RISK UK | Source: Tom Norris |
HAWTHORNE HAPPY WITH POINT BUT YM DESERVED MORE
Mark Hawthorne could only manage a point from his first game in charge of Horsham YMCA, although it could so easily have been the winning start, and three points he had been hoping for.
|
Match Stats |
||
|
Horsham YMCA |
V |
Sidley Utd |
|
12 |
Shots On Target |
3 |
|
9 |
Shots Off Target |
10 |
|
1 |
Offsides |
7 |
|
9 |
Corners |
4 |
|
9 |
Fouls |
15 |
|
1 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
|
0 |
Red Cards |
1 |
Casey Ham's penalty gave the visitors a deserved half time lead, but YM bounced back in a spirited second half display. Sidley had striker Chris Gould sent off for a second bookable offence, moments before George Hillier tapped home an equaliser with a quarter of an hour left to play.
And the hosts were then twice denied by the woodwork, and twice saw efforts cleared off the line in a frantic final ten minutes that should really have seen YM complete their comeback.
New boss, Hawthorne, commented, "It's disappointing not to get a win. I think we shaded it, and we probably did deserve it, and maybe on another day we would have won.
"However, as far as I'm concerned we were making plenty of chances and we looked pretty sound at the back. There were a few dodgy spells here and there, and there were other things that weren't quite right, but by and large I was pretty happy. I just didn't want to start off with a defeat, and so it was good to get a point on the board."
With Brad Curtis and Tom Lyons departing to join former manager Sammy Donnelly at Ringmer, YM welcomed back Lee Wood, Dean Wright, Nick Sullivan, Dan Smith and George Hillier to a bolstered starting line-up.
And the hosts got off to a lightening start, Nick Sullivan and Lee Wood both forcing smart saves from Sidley goalkeeper, Josh Willis, inside the first five minutes.
Jason Taylor flashed a rare effort for the visitors across goal, but it was YM who looked the more likely to open the scoring. Jahmahl King saw his shot blocked wide when he was found unmarked at the back post, before Lee Wood's forty-yard run and lay-off fed Hillier, only for the striker to slice wide.
And YM began to rue their missed opportunities as Sidley forced their way back into the encounter, dominating the latter stages of the first half.
Gould blasted over from the edge of the box when well placed, before some neat work from Jared Lusted teed up Ham, who headed over. A Lusted cross then evaded everyone in the YM penalty area, forcing 'keeper Simon Lockwood into a fine save, acrobatically clawing the ball off the line.
The Blues' pressure finally paid off though, as striker Lewis Hole was clumsily tripped in the box by YM defender Dan Sullivan. Referee, Michael Lowe, pointed to the spot, and Ham smashed home the resulting spot kick to give the visitors a deserved half time lead.
The second forty-five, however, was all about the hosts, as YM dominated from the outset. Timmy Martin replaced the injured Dean Wright upfront, and he laid in Wood to swerve YM's first effort of the half just over the bar.
Matt Crane then saw a dipping volley expertly kept out by Willis in the Sidley goal, before King leapt highest to head just over from a Dan Sullivan corner.
Blues forward, Gould, was then dismissed for a second yellow card in as many minutes, signalling an even greater onslaught of YM pressure.
The hosts went three at the back, and it didn't take long for them to profit from the advantage of an extra man. A long free kick was flicked on by the unmarked King, teeing up Nick Sullivan whose stinging volley forced a great reaction stop from Willis, only for Hillier to poke home the rebound from close range.
And from then on in it was all one way traffic, but a miracle as to how YM failed to net a winner. King again leapt highest to meet a Dan Sullivan corner, his header brilliantly tipped onto the bar by Willis, and Martin's resulting shot blocked wide.
Crane saw another header cleared off the line, before YM's frustration was furthered late on, as yet another King effort was blocked on the line, this time by his own man, Sullivan.
Hawthorne added, "I'm not going to start talking about luck because I don't really want to go down that road. Today was promising and we made a lot of chances, but I thought our finishing could have been better.
"It was a pretty good performance, and to come from one-nil down was a good show of character. There's a lot to work on, things we need to improve, but the lads all seem to be there for me.
"There'll be two sessions this week where we'll work on stuff from today that I wasn't too happy about, but that we can get better on, and I'll think we'll go forward and improve."
Hawthorne's new coaches, Alan Kenworthy and Tom Fawdry joined him in the YM dugout, and whilst during the week the new manager said he wouldn't be extensively adjusting his squad, on Saturday he did highlight the absence of two of his first team regulars.
"Ashley [Dugdale] is out for three games, so we're not going to be seeing him for a little while and I think Liam's [Hunter] going to be out for a month as well. I've signed on a few youngsters from the Youth team, so they'll be available for next week, and we'll be doing our sessions on a Monday night now alongside the Youth team to help them and just make the club feel as one."
YM face a tough task away at AFC Uckfield next Saturday, where they'll be hoping to register their first win in seven league outings.
YM (4-4-2):Lockwood, D. Sullivan, Crane, King, Stillwell, Wood (Fawdry 83), Scally, Smith, N. Sullivan, Hillier, Wright (Martin 45)
Unused Subs: Hawthorne
