Chelmsford City 0 - Horsham 0

Report by Charlie Hempstead

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It would be tempting after the event to conclude that a meeting between two sides that had drawn eleven of their sixteen combined matches this season was bound to end all square, but there was much more to the afternoon than that.

Horsham produced a fine all-round display, totally dominating a first half in which Chelmsford were reduced to feeding off scraps, and might easily have led by a couple of goals at the interval.

The second half was a closer affair, with both sides having several clear chances, but the scoreline somehow stayed resolutely blank, leaving the Hornets still unbeaten on the road and the Clarets still unbeaten anywhere, albeit in the bottom half of the table having drawn all but one of their fixtures.

The only change to the Horsham lineup that beat Walton & Hersham in the FA Cup the previous week saw Ronan Silva take the place of Harry Hedges, who dropped to a bench that included Reece Meekums for the first time in three weeks.

In seeking to end his side’s draw hoodoo, home manager Mark Cooper made three changes, albeit two were forced upon him by international call-ups, with Lyle Taylor and Kian Ronan being summoned to represent Montserrat and Gibraltar, respectively. Their places went to George Alexander and Manny Egbo, with the other change seeing debutant Ashley Clarke come in for Jack Barham.

Horsham continued with the experiment of Jamie Yila through the centre and Ashley Nadesan on the right, with Silva slotting in on the left, and it worked very well in a first half almost entirely dominated by the Hornets. Apart from a couple of corners and two unthreatening shots, Chelmsford were forced onto the defensive as Horsham, driven relentlessly forward by Charlie Hester-Cook, created multiple chances, but only managed to test Alfie Marriott in the home goal twice.

The first of those openings fell to Yila in the 13th minute, but his shot was blocked by the goalkeeper at the near post. The second came when Hester-Cook, who had earlier fired fractionally wide of the post, forced a diving save from the Watford loanee. When the ball was recycled, Yila headed wide.

Full-back Lee Harding was also narrowly off-target with a left-footed drive after a surging run, before Hester-Cook smashed a superb volley inches past the post in first-half stoppage time.

Half-time: Chelmsford City 0 Horsham 0

Cooper’s dissatisfaction with his team’s performance could be gauged by the fact that he made two substitutions at the interval, bringing on Denzelle Olopade and Barham for Adam May and Clarke.

Having posed almost no threat in the first half, the Clarets showed considerably more verve right from the whistle, creating two decent chances within the first couple of minutes. First, Barham had an opportunity to announce himself in the grand manner, but his effort lacked the power to trouble Michael Dike in the Horsham goal. Then skipper Cav Miley saw his shot deflected onto the post, whence it plopped harmlessly into Dike’s gloves.

If the Hornets were shaken out of their stride, it was not for long, as a corner from the right led to an almighty scramble from which the hosts only just emerged unscathed. The persevering Hester-Cook then saw another decent effort narrowly miss the mark – this one a curler over the bar – as the Hornets reasserted themselves.

Two chances either side of the hour mark really should have led to them taking a deserved lead, as first Silva, then Ashley Nadesan, were put through one-on-one with Marriott, but the goalkeeper came out on top both times.

That was pretty much that in terms of actual chances, but three times Horsham delivered wicked balls along the six-yard line without a yellow-shirted player being able to apply the finishing touch.

Relieved still to be level, Chelmsford had a chance to steal the points in the last of the five minutes of stoppage time added by the referee when they were awarded a free kick right on the edge of the Hornets’ box. Alexander went for goal, the wall did its job, but the ball fell invitingly for Olopade. Players, management and 1887 spectators held their breath as the substitute struck a clean left-footed shot, and collectively exhaled as the ball whistled past the post.

Horsham’s performance was worthy of all three points, so it would have been cruel in the extreme if they had not even come away with one. For Chelmsford, coming away with one point is becoming a recurring theme.