Giles delighted as Horsham YM continue flying start with amazing cup comeback
After an hour of their Sussex Senior Cup tie at Shoreham, Horsham YM looked like being dumped out – 3-0 down with their travelling supporters about to set off for home to avoid further punishment,
But, not prepared to accept defeat, YM took inspiration from Lazarus, Houdini and The Great Escape to pull off a barely credible win in their second victorious penalty shoot out in a week.
In the first half YM had three corners and most of the possession, but Shoreham defended well, and, 10 minutes before half time James Lyon-Monk put the hosts ahead.
After the break, following a Shoreham corner, Taylor Edwards doubled Shoreham's lead before scoring again. But, to YM's great credit they kept pushing and were soon rewarded with an opportunist goal from Leon Fisher.
Then, sub Tommy McKenna clawed back another goal, with Ousmane Balde Dansoko dramatically equalising almost immediately.
Tense cup football followed, with normal time finishing 3-3. In the ensuing penalty shoot out Shoreham missed with their first and fourth attempts, while YM converted their first three, breaking the Musselmen's hearts.
YM boss Liam Giles - elated and relieved in equal measure - told the County Times: "I made seven team changes to keep us fresh and at 3-0 down we used the bench.
"The boys put in a fantastic shift to equalise and at that point we had them rattled and might have scored again to put it to bed. To come back and win from being so far behind is a great achievement, but winning this cup is a very long haul!"
Giles is delighted with YM’s start to 2025-26.
"We're third in the table, just three points off leaders Haywards Heath and we've had four consecutive away wins - the first time we've managed that for ages. Also, we're still in four of the five cups we've entered, so I'm very happy, but it's a very long season, and we don't want to start getting ahead of ourselves,” he said.
On Saturday YM return to SCFL Premier Division action, hosting 12th-placed Little Common, then on Tuesday, in the RUR Charity Cup they travel to Lancing (18th in the SCFL).