Horsham YMCA up to seventh with victory over Loxwood

Horsham YMCA assistant manager Julian Miller admitted Loxwood pushed his side ‘as far as they could’ but they couldn’t prevent YM from recording a 3-1 victory to move up to seventh in the Southern Combination Premier Division.
Dean Carden sealed the points with his 64th-minute penalty. Pictured against Little Common. 03/08/19. Pic Steve Robards SR1919179Dean Carden sealed the points with his 64th-minute penalty. Pictured against Little Common. 03/08/19. Pic Steve Robards SR1919179
Dean Carden sealed the points with his 64th-minute penalty. Pictured against Little Common. 03/08/19. Pic Steve Robards SR1919179

Matt Daniel opened the scoring with a typical poachers finish when debutant Johden de Meyer’s strike crashed off the bar before falling into his path but Sam Karl fired in an equaliser for the Magpies just before half-time.

YM went back in front five minutes after the break when Tony Nwachukwu’s effort rebounded off the post before Ash Wadhams tucked in the rebound, and Dean Carden sealed the points with a 64th-minute penalty.

Miller was full of praise for his bottom-placed opponents.

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He said: “It was a much better performance. Loxwood gave everything they had but we needed the three points and I’m glad we got them.

“They play their football the right way, and it’s a bad situation for them. Sometimes players give up, but there was none of that, they pushed us as far as they could, so fair play to them.”

He continued: “In the end it was comfortable. We could have been four up before they scored but it’s coming together, and Johden on his debut did really well. People are showing good attitude and everyone’s buying into it, so I’m very pleased.”

Loxwood manager Alex Walsh was pleased with an improved performance from his side.

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He said: “We were on top for large parts of the game and got ourselves back into it but, unfortunately just a couple of little things fell to them.

“We’ve got to look at ourselves though. We were giving away preventable silly fouls and could have been better in the final third but overall, small margins cost us.

“I don’t think we deserved to lose the game. We actually played quite well.”

Half of the Loxwood side were under the age of 19 and Walsh was impressed with how they appeared to cope.

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He said: “Rob East came in, in goal. He’s a young lad and did really well for his first bit of football in the first team this season so I’m pleased for him.

“We’re helping the young players gain valuable experience for us and it’ll be nice to see a couple of others as well.

“There were definitely positives and for long periods of the game we played well so that’s encouraging too.”

Both sides are back in action this Saturday with YMCA set to travel to in-form Horley Town, while Loxwood host fellow strugglers East Preston in a proverbial ‘six-pointer’.

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Horsham YMCA: Jeal, Carden, Lovegrove, Gilbert (Evans 64’), Harding, Ryder, Nwachukwu (Frankland 76’), Dugdale, Daniel, de Meyer, Lemon (Wadhams 45’). Unused: Clarke, Hunt.

Loxwood: East, Brodie, Jenkins, Slaughter, Webster, Allen, Frankland, Hawkes (Kouate 80’), Magrath, Goldson, Karl (Veneti 56’). Unused: Colbran, Dunningham, Morey.

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