Ten-man Horsham YMCA battle back - Billingshurst take point - Swans grounded

Our thanks go to Martin Read, Liam Gallagher and Bob Paine for submitting reports. Send your football news and views to [email protected]

Horsham YMCA 3 – 3 Saltdean United

On Tuesday’s frosty night at Gorings Mead Horsham YMCA stunned the runaway league leaders, all star Saltdean, by holding them to a richly entertaining draw after scoring early and late in the game.

Enduring nine consecutive league defeats, YM supporters have had little to cheer about, but their spirits were boosted by a determined, committed performance after new Manager Dean Carden had been busy signing new players during football lockdown. YM got off to the best possible start when Jack Ryder broke through casual Saltdean defending to score 25 seconds from the kick off. Saltdean, though, gradually came more into the game, moving forward with increased possession, but McCreadie failed to maximise a heading opportunity and Pamment blasted well wide.

Will Read headed just off target for YM in between two Saltdean corners, averted by brave home defending. The visitors kept pressing and were not to be denied – after corkscrewing into the top netting from a free kick just outside the area, they drew level on the half hour mark when Pamment hooked in from the left. A YM corner and forays resulting from ineffective Saltdean clearances came and went, until YM escaped when keeper Aaron Jeal pushed a shot onto the post and away. Then YM cleared off the line, before an impressive diving header by Harry Shooman gave Saltdean the lead, the score remaining 2-1 in their favour at the break following another Saltdean corner.

Resuming, YM had to be at their best to prevent the visitors from going further ahead, with Charlie Cooke thwarting a threatening attack and Jeal saving with his feet from close range. But, in the 57th minute, Ryan Warwick scrambled the ball home to give Saltdean a two goal advantage. However, to their great credit YM kept challenging and were rewarded when a free kick was parried out to the unmarked Ryder, who made no mistake.

Saltdean had come expecting to win and when a header grazed the YM upright to no effect, the ref had to quell overheating in the away dugout. YM were reduced to 10 men through sub Archie Cooke’s too robust tackle, but they still pushed for the equaliser, with the dying minutes resembling a hectic cup tie. And, YM got their just desserts three minutes into extra time when a header was palmed off for a corner, following which the ball landed at the feet of Callum Jeal, who celebrated his come back into a YM shirt by coolly banging in a dream long range strike to share the points.

A very late Saltdean corner rattled YM’s nerves amid two excellent saves by Aaron Jeal, but the 3-3 draw was a fair result, Manager Dean Carden telling the County Times: “I said that Saltdean would have more of the possession, but I emphasised that I expected us to compete – and that’s what we did! We matched them and took our chances. Callum Jeal was brought in to mix it up in mid field, without anticipating a goal from him, so that really was the icing on the cake. I’m delighted with that performance – we fully deserved the point.”

Two more YM home games beckon – on Saturday they welcome Lingfield, then on Tuesday (15th) they have a stiff challenge when they host Haywards Heath in the second round of the Sussex Senior Cup.

Billingshurst 2 Oakwood 2

The game was a tight affair as both teams looked to strike early on. Jahobi Maher tried to put Billingshurst ahead with a free kick in the 7th minute, but his effort went wide of the goal.

Oakwood were quick to respond and after a solid spell of possession managed to get the first goal in the 24th minute. A low cross into the box from Zubair Zulfiqar found its way to Chris Neatherway who slotted the ball into the bottom corner past James Stallon. As the first half continued, Oakwood asserted their dominance and in the 41st minute were awarded a penalty. Tom Routley stepped up to the spot, and he calmly struck the ball into the bottom right-hand corner, sending Stallon the wrong way.

After a quiet few minutes, Billingshurst were able to nick a goal back just before halftime with a Ben Hands strike who carried the ball down the right flank cutting inside and smashed the ball past goalkeeper Andrew Greaves into the top left corner. HT 2-1

The 2nd half saw Billingshurst make a tactical change with Ricardo Fernandes on for Maher. A few minutes into the half, Fernandes’ impact was shown as he won a free kick in Oakwood’s half. The game began to open up and in the 65th minute Billingshurst scored the equaliser. A through ball from Fernandes reached Dan Evans on the wing, who crossed the ball straight on to the head of Tom Scott past Greaves and into the bottom left corner.

The later stages of the 2nd half saw both teams get chances. Oakwood came close in the 73rd minute, with a long strike from Paul Johnston bouncing off the crossbar. Billingshurst looked to finish the job in the 86th minute. Robbie Tambling found himself at the far post with an open goal but narrowly missed hitting the ball wide.

Billingshurst manager Lee Spickett commented: “We were punished for a sloppy first half, never got going and didn’t match Oakwood’s levels of commitment. We did well to come back from two goals down, but we can’t perform like that all the time and expect to get results.”

Shoreham 6 Storrington 1

Storrington manager Bob Paine is looking for a positive response from his players after a 6-1 midweek defeat at Shoreham.

The Swans host Seaford on Saturday with the SCFL programme back in full swing after a month off. And Paine will be looking for a sharper display than he saw against the Mussels.

Paine told the County Times: “It was a disappointing result for us at Shoreham. We were 2-0 down at half-time after a fairly even first half where we hit the bar and had a ball cleared off the line.

“We got back into the match with an Austin Okolo goal just three minutes into the second half. From a James Henton corner he headed in. But then some basic errors and poor play resulted in Shoreham easily winning the game 6-1.

“The game finished on an unsavoury note when young Joe Gilbey was sent off in the last minute after what looked like a strong but fair challenge where he appeared to win the ball.

“The Shoreham players’ reaction clearly influence the referee and Gilbey was very unfortunate to see red.

“We were beaten fair and square so I’ve no complaints about the result – what I’m not happy about is the way the Shoreham players reacted, particularly their manager.

“It was a hard but in my view a fair challenge. He’s a young player who now has to miss three games.

“We now look forward to playing Seaford at home on Saturday which is an opportunity to put last nights game behind us and hopefully pick up some much needed points.”