Horsham too hot for Chichester

City keeper Jack Fagan and his defence try to keep Horsham at bay / Picture by Tommy McMillan

The home side had the ball in the net early on as Terry Dodd finished simply after Mark Knee broke down the left and pulled the ball back, but the whistle went as the defender had strayed offside.

Josh Clack’s effort was catching practice for home keeper Gareth Williams and less than a minute later Horsham led. A ball across the area found Joe Shelley and he twisted and turned in the six-yard box before firing through Jack Fagan’s legs.

City levelled on 21 minutes after great work on the byline by Kieran Hartley, who broke two challenges and drilled across goal, but after a parry from Williams, Rob Madden stabbed home the equaliser.

Horsham retook the lead on 36 minuets as a Dodd shot deflected off-target and was headed back across goal from Kieron Pamment to smash home from close range.

On 56 minutes, there was a hefty collision between Fagan and his own defender Madden as they tried to clear as Dodd latched on to a through ball, but after treatment, both were able to continue.

Pamment looked to have added a third on 61 minutes as Jordan Clark’s reverse pass put Pamment in one-on-one and he beat the goalkeeper only to have his effort hooked off the line.

Fagan went down clearly feeling the ill effects of the earlier collision and was replaced by Austen Holden.

And his first touch was to pick the ball out of the net as a lovely through ball by Farmer allowed Darren Boswell to deftly flick over the replacement stopper.

Horsham should have had a penalty in the closing stages as Clark was felled by Atkinson, but the referee gave a free-kick just outside the area. That was not going to deter Clark, however, as he spotted a gap in the wall and fired into the bottom corner for 4-1.

CITY: Fagan (Holden 73), Buckland (Kendall 45), Atkinson, Bingham, Hartley, Boyle, Case (Kelly 71), Wild, Clack, Hegarty. Unused subs: Smith.

OLLIE BERRY

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