Horsham 1-0 Corinthian-Casuals
FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round
Saturday 30th August 2014
Attendance 224
By Darren Pasley
Pictures: Steve Wigg
Corinthian-Casuals recent poor record in the FA cup continued as they went out to a highly contested last minute penalty at Horsham.
It was a decision with rightly left manager Matt Howard raging after the match and denied Casuals a more than deserved replay on the balance of play.
With both left sided regular starters Jordan Vidal and Dave Hodges unavailable there was a first call up for reserve team left back Mason Welch-Turner whilst Juevean Spencer made a return after missing Mondays crushing victory over Walton Casuals.
Right from the start the home side with a fine FA pedigree made a bright opening with Harry Smith in particular down the left causing Nial Wright problems. It was his trickery, which created the opening chance of the match, but Jamie Ampleford swept a near post effort into the side netting
The game had a lovely tempo and in the 5th minute following a Hornets attack which saw Cade just failing to connect with Millers cushioned knockdown the visitors broke and Byatt beat keeper Williams to the ball but was forced wide with his cross cleared to safety.
Max Miller on the opposite wing to Smith was also offering an attacking threat and after teasing Welch-Turner his cross was kept out by Bracken, with the ball not fully cleared Smith was allowed an effort from the edge of the area which curled just wide.
The chances continued at both ends with wingers on both sides having joy down the flanks and this time Juevan Spencer cut inside Hills but his low cross saw Byatt failing to connect.
Home keeper Gareth Williams was called into action for the first time on the afternoon when Byatt worked his was past two defenders before sending in a low cross which Carl Wilson-Denis saw his sliding effort brilliantly saved. Unknown to the keeper the offside flag had been raised.
His opposite number Danny Bracken excelled himself on 21 minutes when after yet more good work from Smith the ball broke to skipper Jamie Cadey but his effort was deflected clear by the outstretched leg of the Casuals number one.
After such a lively start it was no surprise the game settled down but there was still a golden chance for the home side 7 minutes before the break, Welch-Turner’s backpass from the halfway line lacked the pace to reach Bracken and Ampleford capitalising rounded the keeper and showed good composure on the byiine to cut the ball back. It seemed as if Cade had arrived on time to open the scoring but his effort was blocked on the line and cleared at the second time of asking by Danny Dudley.
The second half saw Casuals step up a gear and take the game to their opponents.
Lee Hall was first to test Williams 8 minutes into the second half when he hit a stinging first time effort from the edge of the box, which was superbly palmed away.
The chances continued and a couple of minutes later Welch-Turner saw a long ball from the full back position send in Jamie Byatt between the two defenders however with Kaffo in full chase the striker failed to get his shot away until it was too late and Williams was relived to see the effort fired wide. It was all Casuals and Fahm was next to have an effort from the edge of the box, which the ever-increasing desperate defence superbly blocked this time.
Perhaps the best chance arrive half way through the second period when after defending a corner Casuals broke and Bettache did well to find Spencer who in-turn played the ball into the path of Byatt. However not for the first time in the afternoon Williams was on hand to block expertly and keep the scores intact.
Carl Wilson-Denis, ever improving in a Casuals shirt was keeping the Hornets back-line on their toes with his intelligent positioning and in the 74th minute was inches away from connecting with sub Michael Salako’s low right wing cross. Williams and Byatt continued their dual with the keeper again making a brilliant one handed stop from Casuals number 9 with 5 minutes remaining.
The home side threw on player manager Gary Charman for the final 5 minutes and it was a substitution that was to have a dramatic impact. With 3 minutes remaining the seasoned striker headed just over from a corner and it was a warning Casuals failed to heed.
As the game entered injury time Charman showed a neat piece of skill to lift the ball over his marker and drive into the box before being tackled by the one of the trio of covering visiting defenders. As the game continued the far side assistant raised his flag and after consulting with the referee a penalty was awarded. It was a staggering decision considering that any alleged tug of the shirt would have taken place yards outside the box. To compound matters Danny Dudley the offender was dismissed. Skipper Jamie Cade stepped up to smash the kick past the outstretched Danny Bracken into the left hand corner.
The ten men threw everything forward in the 5 minutes of injury time that were played but found Williams who was justly awarded the man of the match commanding his box and combined with solid defending Horsham booked their place at home to Kingstonian in the second qualifying round.
An understandably frustrated Matt Howard spoke after the game
“"I’m gutted if I’m honest, absolutely gutted. We can’t blame the referee for not taking our chances when we created them but the penalty decision was absolutely appalling.
He hasn’t stopped us winning the game but he certainly affected us losing it.
"We had a lot of chances, we should have scored when we were on top but we didn’t and as I said, we can’t blame the referee for that. But I’m gutted and I feel cheated. I have to choose my words very carefully and I’m not calling the referee a cheat, but I do feel cheated.
"We’ve got to bounce back. We had one or two missing today. If I’m honest, we’re never going to win the FA Cup but to go out like this, I feel for the lads because they didn’t deserve that. A draw perhaps… take them back to our place for the replay, then maybe."
Steve Wiggs photos can be viewed by clicking here
Match highlights from a Horsham fan can be viewed here
FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round
Saturday 30th August 2014
Attendance 224
By Darren Pasley
Pictures: Steve Wigg
Corinthian-Casuals recent poor record in the FA cup continued as they went out to a highly contested last minute penalty at Horsham.
It was a decision with rightly left manager Matt Howard raging after the match and denied Casuals a more than deserved replay on the balance of play.
With both left sided regular starters Jordan Vidal and Dave Hodges unavailable there was a first call up for reserve team left back Mason Welch-Turner whilst Juevean Spencer made a return after missing Mondays crushing victory over Walton Casuals.
Right from the start the home side with a fine FA pedigree made a bright opening with Harry Smith in particular down the left causing Nial Wright problems. It was his trickery, which created the opening chance of the match, but Jamie Ampleford swept a near post effort into the side netting
The game had a lovely tempo and in the 5th minute following a Hornets attack which saw Cade just failing to connect with Millers cushioned knockdown the visitors broke and Byatt beat keeper Williams to the ball but was forced wide with his cross cleared to safety.
Max Miller on the opposite wing to Smith was also offering an attacking threat and after teasing Welch-Turner his cross was kept out by Bracken, with the ball not fully cleared Smith was allowed an effort from the edge of the area which curled just wide.
The chances continued at both ends with wingers on both sides having joy down the flanks and this time Juevan Spencer cut inside Hills but his low cross saw Byatt failing to connect.
Home keeper Gareth Williams was called into action for the first time on the afternoon when Byatt worked his was past two defenders before sending in a low cross which Carl Wilson-Denis saw his sliding effort brilliantly saved. Unknown to the keeper the offside flag had been raised.
His opposite number Danny Bracken excelled himself on 21 minutes when after yet more good work from Smith the ball broke to skipper Jamie Cadey but his effort was deflected clear by the outstretched leg of the Casuals number one.
After such a lively start it was no surprise the game settled down but there was still a golden chance for the home side 7 minutes before the break, Welch-Turner’s backpass from the halfway line lacked the pace to reach Bracken and Ampleford capitalising rounded the keeper and showed good composure on the byiine to cut the ball back. It seemed as if Cade had arrived on time to open the scoring but his effort was blocked on the line and cleared at the second time of asking by Danny Dudley.
The second half saw Casuals step up a gear and take the game to their opponents.
Lee Hall was first to test Williams 8 minutes into the second half when he hit a stinging first time effort from the edge of the box, which was superbly palmed away.
The chances continued and a couple of minutes later Welch-Turner saw a long ball from the full back position send in Jamie Byatt between the two defenders however with Kaffo in full chase the striker failed to get his shot away until it was too late and Williams was relived to see the effort fired wide. It was all Casuals and Fahm was next to have an effort from the edge of the box, which the ever-increasing desperate defence superbly blocked this time.
Perhaps the best chance arrive half way through the second period when after defending a corner Casuals broke and Bettache did well to find Spencer who in-turn played the ball into the path of Byatt. However not for the first time in the afternoon Williams was on hand to block expertly and keep the scores intact.
Carl Wilson-Denis, ever improving in a Casuals shirt was keeping the Hornets back-line on their toes with his intelligent positioning and in the 74th minute was inches away from connecting with sub Michael Salako’s low right wing cross. Williams and Byatt continued their dual with the keeper again making a brilliant one handed stop from Casuals number 9 with 5 minutes remaining.
The home side threw on player manager Gary Charman for the final 5 minutes and it was a substitution that was to have a dramatic impact. With 3 minutes remaining the seasoned striker headed just over from a corner and it was a warning Casuals failed to heed.
As the game entered injury time Charman showed a neat piece of skill to lift the ball over his marker and drive into the box before being tackled by the one of the trio of covering visiting defenders. As the game continued the far side assistant raised his flag and after consulting with the referee a penalty was awarded. It was a staggering decision considering that any alleged tug of the shirt would have taken place yards outside the box. To compound matters Danny Dudley the offender was dismissed. Skipper Jamie Cade stepped up to smash the kick past the outstretched Danny Bracken into the left hand corner.
The ten men threw everything forward in the 5 minutes of injury time that were played but found Williams who was justly awarded the man of the match commanding his box and combined with solid defending Horsham booked their place at home to Kingstonian in the second qualifying round.
An understandably frustrated Matt Howard spoke after the game
“"I’m gutted if I’m honest, absolutely gutted. We can’t blame the referee for not taking our chances when we created them but the penalty decision was absolutely appalling.
He hasn’t stopped us winning the game but he certainly affected us losing it.
"We had a lot of chances, we should have scored when we were on top but we didn’t and as I said, we can’t blame the referee for that. But I’m gutted and I feel cheated. I have to choose my words very carefully and I’m not calling the referee a cheat, but I do feel cheated.
"We’ve got to bounce back. We had one or two missing today. If I’m honest, we’re never going to win the FA Cup but to go out like this, I feel for the lads because they didn’t deserve that. A draw perhaps… take them back to our place for the replay, then maybe."
Steve Wiggs photos can be viewed by clicking here
Match highlights from a Horsham fan can be viewed here
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