‘Everybody was excellent’ in FA trophy win, says Colbran

A brace from Gabriel Odunaike and further strikes from Billy Dunn and Ross Morley saw Horsham through to the First Qualifying Round of the FA Trophy, where they face a trip to Hastings United.

Colbran said: “In the first half I was a bit worried. I think we had a bit of a hangover from what happened on Sunday (winning in the FA Cup), we were a bit lethargic and I could see in the warm-up that was the case.

“I thought in the second half everybody was excellent again. We took the game to them and made sure we won it.”

The result appears convincing, but such a comfortable win looked unlikely when Chipstead reduced the deficit to 2-1 with minutes to play.

Colbran joked: “Isn’t that always the way?!

“Five minutes before their goal I said to Rob (Frankland, goalkeeping coach) that I hate 2-0 at this time of the game, because if a team scores they are going to be coming at you. But I think even when they did score, we had it under control.”
And the manager reserved specific praise for midfielder Scott Harris.

He said: “He looks like he is doing the easy work so people don’t mention him a lot.

“I thought he was absolutely brilliant today - he picked up all the bits and pieces, kept the ball and didn’t give it away and won his fair share in the air as well.”

Colbran said he was pleased with the Hornets’ cup form - they have earned more than £10,000 in prize money this season - but added that they need to improve league performances.

The boss added: “It is all very good winning these cup games and bringing in the money, which is obviously fantastic for the club, but the league is our bread and butter and we still want to do something in the league.”