Tonbridge Angels 3 (Bingham 26, Byatt 64, Powers 71) Horsham 3 (Semark 49, 87, Hawley 85)
TONBRIDGE ANGELS WON 4-1 ON PENALTIES
Lineup: C. Furber, Jesney, Rea, Grantham-Hill, Brasier, Brooks, Sullivan, Dickinson, Papacharalambous, Semark, Essam. Subs: L. Furber, Burrows, Newnham, Hawley, Ades, Irving, Simmonds
Having progressed to the second round of the FA Youth Cup by way of a penalty shootout, the Hornets exited the competition in the same way after a topsy-turvy 3-3 draw at Tonbridge Angels.
Having fallen behind to a sensational strike by home captain Bingham, Horsham drew level early in the second half through Semark and looked the likelier side at that stage. However, the Angels hit back with two goals in seven minutes, only for the Hornets to score twice in the closing stages to take the tie to penalties.
The Angels proved deadly from the spot, scoring all four of their kicks, while two of the Hornets’ efforts struck the frame of the goal. Such are the fine margins.
Manager Rob Semark was forced into making a number of changes to his starting lineup, with captain York suspended and several others injured. Grantham-Hill took the skipper’s place at centre-back, and there were starts for Dickinson in midfield and Papacharalambous on the right wing.
After a period of probing by both sides, the first clear chance fell to Horsham left-back Rea, who was presented the ball by an under-hit back pass. Almost with too much time to make up his mind what to do, he placed his shot too close to goalkeeper McGuire, who was able to make a decent save.
A threatening run down the left flank for Tonbridge by Powers bore no fruit but marked the winger out as a potential source of danger to the Hornets’ back line, although generally it was the visitors who were showing more poise in possession.
However, the tide began to turn and an outstanding cross from the right by Denton required Furber to punch clear at full stretch and Powers then tried his luck from a long way out as the Angels increased their share of the ball.
The feeling that the hosts were working their way into the game was confirmed when they took the lead in the 26th minute with a quite magnificent goal. A lofted cross by Byatt was headed away to the edge of the penalty area by Grantham-Hill, where Bingham met the ball on the half-volley and smashed it unstoppably into the corner of Furber’s net with a strike that combined huge power and impeccable technique.
Without in any way wishing to burst the young man’s bubble, he has probably already scored the best goal he ever will!
With their tails up (do Angels have tails?), Tonbridge turned the screw for the next ten minutes or so, but Horsham hauled their way back up the field and Essam was desperately unlucky to see his fine header bounce back off the crossbar at the end of a period of concerted Hornets pressure.
Papacharalambous was the next to threaten, but his shot only found McGuire’s gloves, before Horsham worked another opening that ended with Powers bringing down Dickinson on the edge of the penalty area and earning himself a yellow card that must have been perilously close to being red.
A previous free kick by Semark had gone wide of McGuire’s right-hand post, and this one went wide of the other, albeit by not very much.
Despite being a goal behind, the Hornets continued to play controlled football and might easily have equalised in first-half stoppage time when Brasier challenged for Rea’s corner and the ball squirmed into McGuire’s hands.
Half-time: Tonbridge Angels 1 Horsham 0
The half-time message from the Hornets’ management would have been to start on the front foot, and that is just what they did, with Semark equalising four minutes after the restart, capitalising on hesitation in the home defence and cleverly looping a header over the exposed McGuire.
There should have been a second goal within two minutes, when Semark again stole possession and set up Papacharalambous, but he fired over the bar from the penalty spot with the goal at his mercy. Seconds later, Semark shot narrowly wide as the Hornets looked to be taking the game by the scruff of the neck.
Tonbridge responded to that initial flurry with a shot by Elms that drew a routine save from Furber, and then responded in the only way that really matters by scoring again, when Powers’ corner from the left flank in the 64th minute cleared everyone at the near post and was turned in from close range by Byatt.
Things might have got worse almost immediately, but Furber saved with his legs from Massey, and Horsham narrowly survived the resulting corner.
All of a sudden, the Hornets found themselves defending at full stretch, and eventually the dam burst as Powers volleyed home from a long right-wing cross to put the hosts 3-1 ahead with just under 20 minutes to play.
When the two sides met in the league six weeks earlier, that was the exact scoreline at that stage of the match, but it ended 4-4. Could lightning strike twice?
It very nearly did, but in a different way, as Powers volleyed an almost identical chance wide of the post just moments after the first.
A goal by substitute Hawley with five minutes of normal time remaining evoked thoughts of another memorable comeback, and 90 seconds later the unthinkable happened as Horsham were awarded a penalty for a foul on Semark, and he himself buried the penalty.
The final few minutes saw both sides going hammer and tongs for a winner. Semark was at the heart of the action for the Hornets, setting up substitute Burrows for an inviting chance that he put over the bar, having a strong shout for a penalty turned down, and then seeing his own close-range effort saved by McGuire’s legs. At the other end, Furber was forced into a crucial save from Denton that took the tie to penalties… and subsequent heartbreak.
After the match, Rob Semark was left to rue the concession of soft goals, as well as being on the wrong end of key decisions.
“There were two huge moments in the game, and we all feel slightly let down with the decisions. For the first one, Dickinson’s clean through and in his next stride he’s taking a shot, and the bloke’s brought him down from behind. That’s a clear sending off by the letter of the law. We suffered that exact same circumstance in the last round against Met Police with our captain being sent off.
“Then there’s the penalty claim towards the end of the game. I don’t know whether the official feels he can’t give us a second one because he’s just awarded us one five minutes earlier. The chappy doesn’t play the ball and he clips Harry, it’s a penalty.
“That said, I never like to blame officials for outcomes of games. We have to take responsibility for our own destiny and ultimately the game’s gone to penalties and it’s a situation we should never have got ourselves into. We were really bright at the start and well on top, created a couple of good opportunities, and then we’ve just got sucker-punched and gone in at half-time a goal down when we should at least have been level, if not ahead.
“One thing’s for certain. The squad’s got great character and they got themselves back on level terms. At that moment we were well in control again and looking good to kick on, but we sort of drifted and a slightly soft mentality crept in. We conceded a corner that we never should have done and then haven’t dealt with that situation. We haven’t defended our box well enough for the second one, and we’re suddenly totally chasing the game again.
“We made a few adjustments, dropping Sullivan and Dickinson into the back line, who both did absolutely incredibly back there and gave us the opportunity to go forward. Both Hawley and Irving had great impact as subs. It was a nice slick move and a great little ball through from Irving to Hawley to finish that goal. Again, the momentum was with us and we go and win a penalty and we’re level again.
“We were totally going out to win the game and we should have done. We totally should have won that game in 90 minutes. We should have avoided the penalties. Ultimately, we’ve been to Tonbridge twice this season already, scored seven goals and not won either game, and we’ve paid the price.”