Horsham 2 Dover Athletic 3
Ryman League Division One
Tuesday 23rd August 2005

Report by Kevin Harris

Whites won a see-saw game with a strong second half performance, and maintained their 100% record to move up to third in the league. Tommy Tyne scored an early goal again but once Horsham had taken the lead, it was left to Humphrey and Wilkins to score second half goals to gain a valuable win.

The squad was almost identical to Saturday's opener, with the only change coming on the bench. Laurence Ball was left out, with Nick Bagley taking his place.

Just like on Saturday, it was only two minutes before Whites took the lead. Tony Browne crossed deep to Braithwaite, who headed back into the area for Tyne to sweep the ball home via the base of the post.

But Whites were not allowed to enjoy their lead for long. After only four minutes, the ball was played across from the right, and Eddie French was left free in the centre to fire past Hyde.

And the home side were ahead with only nine minutes played. Good play by Jamie Taylor saw him get to the by-line, and he then cut back for Dominik Hudak to shoot home at the near post.

It was an exasperating start to the match, and could have swung back in our favour when Tyne went close with a header, that was well saved, though the referee would have disallowed the effort for a push by Wilkins anyway.

Although Wilkins headed a Braithwaite cross over the bar, it was the home side that were dominating proceedings, and the lead was almost doubled after half an hour. Humphrey and Hyde left the ball for each other, leaving Hudak to steal in, but thankfully he poked the ball wide.

Mark Hawthorne also went close for the home side, but Whites could have been awarded a penalty soon before the interval, when Browne failed to connect with a Braithwaite cross after being pushed at the back post, but the referee failed to spot it and the scores remained the same.

Clive Walker clearly identified the problems that the side was enduring during the first half, and made changes at the interval. The formation was changed from 3-5-2 to 4-4-2, with Hamshare and Rogers replacing Readings and Hogg.

And it had the desired effect, as the side looked a lot stronger in the second period, and almost immediately drew level. A deep corner by Spiller was headed back into the danger zone, and Humphrey headed the ball over the line.

Within minutes the Whites could have re-taken the lead, as a superb run by Rogers fed Hamshare, but keeper Rob Frankland made a great save at his feet to deny him.

However, it wasn't long before Whites did re-take the lead. Tyne capitalised on a mistake by veteran John Farley down the right, and his expert cross found Wilkins free in the centre who fired an awesome header past the helpless keeper.

Whites were playing some fantastic football, and could easily have increased their lead. Wilkins' curling shot from 20-yards seemed destined for the back of the net, but it sailed into the side netting, and then Rogers forced a superb save out of the keeper with a shot from 25-yards out.

Hamshare had another chance when put through on goal just after the hour, but the ball bobbled out of his reach just as he was about to pull the trigger, to the dismay of the large band of travelling Whites.

Nigel Brake went close for the home side as the game came to a close, and although it was nerve-wracking that we only had a one-goal lead, the home side were not able to create any clear-cut chances.

In fact, Whites could have increased the lead when Tyne intercepted a ball across the Horsham defence, but he shot wide, and then Spiller's in-swinging corner almost sailed straight in, but it was scrambled away.

The game ended was a series of bookings but Whites held on for an important win. The side looked really strong in the second period, and had we converted the many chances that came our way, this could have been a comfortable victory.

However, if Horsham had converted their dominance into goals in the first half, they would have been out of sight by half-time. The home side looked a good side in the first period, and so the second half performance will be a huge morale boost for the Whites for the FA Cup tie on Saturday.

Horsham: Rob Frankland, Andy Walker, Ian Payne, Eddie French, John Farley, Mark Hawthorne, Lee Carney, John Westcott, Jamie Taylor, Dominik Hudak (Marc Whiteman, 72mins), Nigel Brake.

Subs (Not Used): Tom Graves, Matt Geard, Mark Pulling, Gary Elliott.

Bookings: Mark Hawthorne (81mins), Andy Walker (89mins).

Dover Athletic: Paul Hyde 7, Tony Browne 7, Daniel Braithwaite 9, Dean Readings 6 (Shane Hamshare 8, 46mins), Craig Cloke 7, Nick Humphrey 7, Danny Chapman 7, Lee Spiller 7, Craig Wilkins 9, Tommy Tyne 8, Anthony Hogg 6 (James Rogers 8, 46mins).

Subs (Not Used): Dale Skelton, Nick Bagley, Darren Smith.

Bookings: James Rogers (79mins), Nick Humphrey (90mins).

Referee: Ashley Slaughter

Attendance: 366