Report by Stuart Irvine
Bo Barker scored twice as Horsham Women secured their first point of the season in a 3-3 draw against Hassocks Ladies at the Fusion Aviation Community Stadium.
Horsham started brightly, moving the ball around quickly and repeatedly opening up the Hassocks’ defence with through balls to striker Barker, who was finding plenty of space and causing a lot of problems whenever she received the ball in the final third.
It took only until the 5th minute for the home side to take the lead, as one of those through balls found Barker one-on-one with the Hassocks keeper and she calmly put the chance away to make it 1-0.
Hassocks responded well and began to exert some pressure. Indeed, they could have levelled the game moments later, if it wasn’t for Horsham’s keeper Tamara Clayton making a great save to tip a shot from the left onto the crossbar.
However, as the half progressed, Horsham’s energy levels started to drop and mistakes began to appear at the back. In the 25th minute, Hassocks levelled the game at 1-1 when Mandy Morgan shot from outside the box, lifting the ball over Clayton and into the bottom left-hand corner.
Horsham tried to regain control of the game late in the half, but it was Hassocks who continued to put on the pressure, leading to more defensive errors, which was remaining a problem for the home side. Hassocks finished the half the stronger, but the sides went into the break level.
Half-time: Horsham Women 1-1 Hassocks Ladies
Horsham again started the half brightly and scored twice in quick succession, largely thanks to Barker again, first as goal scorer then as provider. Her goal came after showing some good footwork which allowed her to find space just outside the box, and she chipped the goalkeeper to restore the home side’s lead.
A few minutes later, she turned provider as her strong hold-up play allowed her to put in a cross from the right, with Kyrsty White bundling the ball over the line to make it 3-1 and apparently put Horsham in complete control.
However, Hassocks responded well again and increased the pressure on Horsham’s back line, pulling a goal back through Amy Wright’s superb 20-yarder that looped over Clayton. Their confidence boosted by the goal, Hassocks looked particularly dangerous on the counterattack. Their pressure led to overplaying and hesitation by Horsham when in possession, and that indecision proved costly when Clayton’s goal kick went straight into the path of Morgan, who slotted home into an empty net to level the game at 3-3.
Both sides looked for a winner late on, but had to content themselves with picking up their first point of the season. However, it was the visitors who left the happier, having fought back from 3-1 down.
Final score: Horsham Women 3-3 Hassocks Ladies