Horsham YMCA’s FA Cup campaign comes to an end

Former YM forward Gavin Gordon was sent off for the visitors for violent conduct eight minutes after the break, but Peter Buckland’s side failed to make the extra man count as their Ryman League opponents proved too strong.

YM boss Buckland commented: “It wasn’t a very good night. We never really got going and played the entire game at about eighty percent. It was a very even game on Saturday, but I wouldn’t say that it was that close today. The best team won.

“It was a good Redhill performance, it has to be said. We were playing a decent side but it’s quite annoying when you know that if we had played to our capabilities that we could have got a result tonight. But I guess that is football.

“The players are a bit despondent at the moment. There is nothing wrong with their desire and commitment. That is always there and we’re lucky from that point of view, but it just wasn’t a typical YM performance tonight.”

Both sides made a lively start to the tie, with the returning Martin Smith arrowing an effort for YM straight at the goalkeeper, before Redhill’s Chris O’Flaherty watched a curled twenty-yard free kick acrobatically kept out by Simon Lockwood in the hosts’ goal.

The YM stopper was called into action again three minutes later to deny a poked effort from Reds’ playmaker Fiachra McArdle, after which the resulting corner was flicked into the side netting at the near post by defender John Difford.

Redhill looked increasingly dangerous going forwards but Lockwood continued to keep the hosts in the game, this time parrying another awkwardly bouncing O’Flaherty strike to safety.

Two disallowed goals for offside then followed in the space of eight minutes. The visitors first had a McArdle tap in wiped out, before a YM breakaway ended with Smith curling the ball into the top corner, but he had needlessly strayed beyond the Redhill defence to receive the pass into him, and so his effort was also discounted.

Lockwood then produced his best stop yet. Some excellent work from Redhill’s Joe Bingham down the left culminated in an inch perfect cross for front man Gordon, and just as his header looked destined for the far corner, the outstretched YM ‘keeper was there to expertly palm the ball to safety.

Hosts’ skipper Ashley Dugdale volleyed wide of the far post at the opposite end shortly after, before the Reds broke the deadlock just before half time.

A long throw down the left was not fully cleared and after the ball found O’Flaherty over on the right edge of the area, he fed Bingham and the midfielder ghosted past his man before coolly firing right footed into the far corner.

The visitors could have doubled their advantage just three minutes after the restart when Dean Carden cheaply gave the ball away in his own half, McArdle fed Gordon, but after rounding Lockwood, he could only side foot against the post from close range.

And things then went from bad to worse for the striker, as he was shown a straight red card by referee Graeme Ions moments later for throwing an alleged forearm into YM defender Matt Crane as the pair tussled during a throw in.

Despite the advantage in personnel, YM struggled to test Redhill goalkeeper Michael Hunter, and could have fallen further behind as they left themselves susceptible to the counter attack.

Lockwood denied O’Flaherty for the third time in the evening after the wide man all too easily got in behind the YM back line, before substitute Tyrone Pink was also thwarted by the stopper from fifteen yards.

As the game entered the latter stages, the hosts were forced to commit more men forward, although they found it hard to break down a resolute Redhill defence.

The warning signs of a visitors’ second came when Bingham chested down a cross field pass and saw his volley again saved by Lockwood, before the tie was ended as a contest just sixty seconds later.

George Cousins raced down the Redhill right and crossed for Pink, whose tame effort from close range somehow found its way under Lockwood, whose late error dampened an otherwise superb performance.

The home side’s best chances all game fell in the final few moments as substitute Farzad Bidgood stabbed inches wide of the top right corner from inside the box and Dave Brown forced a smart save from Hunter with a dipping effort from range.

Buckland concluded: “When they went down to ten men, they just set up with two banks of four and looked to hit us on the break because we were always looking to go a bit more gung-ho.

“The second goal was a fluke. I thought that Simon [Lockwood] had an outstanding game and was probably close to man of the match, but the ball just trickled through his legs there at the end.

“The particularly disappointing thing is that I think we only really forced their goalkeeper into one real save. Sometimes you get a bit caught up in the moment in the dugout and perhaps their back four might have been a bit better than I’m giving them credit for.

“We just couldn’t break them down. Their players worked really hard and when they went down to ten men they worked even harder, so we got what we deserved out of the game at the end of the day, which was absolutely nothing.”