Charman slams ‘worst’ Horsham performance

All the goals came in a disastrous first 45 minutes - former Hornet Pat Harding with a brace along with goals from Dan McLaughlin and Kai Bichard - and though a Bichard own goal gave the visitors hope at 2-1, Charman admitted his side were well beaten.

“That’s as bad as we have been pretty much all season,” said the player/assistant manager, who began Saturday’s match up front before helping to shore up the defence in the second half to prevent further damage.

“We were really, really poor, errors cost us on the day but it wasn’t only that because the better side on the day won and by the right score line as well.

“It’s one where everyone has to hold their hands up and say that simply wasn’t good enough.

“They seemed to want it more than us, they had more control of the ball, were first to challenges and were just superior to us. It’s a shame because player for player we are just as good as them if not better but we just didn’t turn up and put in any sort of performance.”

The defeat, Horsham’s 12th in the league of the season, made it six Ryman South games without a victory. Simon Colbran’s side slid to 17th in the table with the defeat and with Horsham now just five points off second-bottom Walton Casuals, Charman has warned they could face successive relegations if their form doesn’t improve quickly.

He said: “The bad weather hasn’t helped but everyone’s had the same so that’s no excuse. We are six without a win and although a few of those were draws, like against Maidstone it’s just not good enough.

“I think it’s time to go back to basics, we need to knuckle down because we need at least four more wins to still be in this league next year. It seems crazy talking about going down but if we have another six games without a win we’re in real trouble.

“The next few games are absolutely massive and I’d say we need to take between seven and nine points from our next five games.”

This Saturday Horsham are due to host Walton & Hersham at Gorings Mead.