Men’s hockey skipper eyes exciting times after winning start

A fine performance and a barn-storming 7-2 win away at Maidstone I on Saturday followed the narrow opening day Marlow victory, making it two wins from two since promotion.

Horsham started very well and had a number of good goalscoring opportunities before Maidstone scored against the run of play.

Still the visitors continued to attack the opposition defence and carved out further chances, three of which were taken in the first half, two by player coach Dom Male and the other by John Burroughs.

A similar pattern ensued in the second half, with Horsham creating most of the play, but Maidstone refused to lie down and scored a second a few minutes in. Horsham’s superior fitness and ball speed saw them extend their lead with a defence-splitting pass from Freddie Campbell that found Jack Dean in space, whom duly converted past the oncoming keeper.

It was a goal that opened the gates for Horsham, with Mark Humphreys scoring his second in two weeks, Campbell scoring from a penalty corner, and skipper Duncan Howarth getting on the score sheet too.

A delighted Howarth afterwards said: “It’s hugely satisfying and genuinely exciting that we have maintained our league form from last season.

“We have a real belief in our abilities and momentum is building, but we will continue to keep our feet on the ground as two good results doesn’t mean anything unless we follow them up with more in our coming games.

“Our new signings and youngsters are continuing to perform, with Jack Dean and Richard Blakesley in particular standing out in Saturday’s game.

“Hopefully we can carry this performance level into our next game at Woking on Saturday.”