Terrors' Bogey Team Horsham Strike Again

Tooting's magnificent winning and unbeaten run finally came to an end this afternoon as they went down to Horsham, frequently seen as a "bogey team" for the Terrors over recent years.

In looking to explain the defeat this afternoon, some will no doubt point to the undulating nature of the playing surface, very much in keeping with Horsham's location between the North and the South Downs, while others will cite the strong swirling wind that plagued Gorings Mead this afternoon, particularly in the opening 45 minutes. In truth however it was a poor game of football in which very few particularly shone and in which both teams, not helped by the wind, struggled for the most part to string more than two passes together as both sides regularly gave up possession with over hit or under played passes. Credit must go to the Horsham midfield though who worked hard, particularly in the first half, to close down Tooting's central midfield pair of Jordan Wilson and Chace O'Neill who were given precious little time on the ball.

Whilst there were no clear cut chances in the first half, Tooting probably just about edged it in terms of possession although there was one scare for them midway through the period when Kyle Merson had to make a strong tackle with his feet on the edge of his penalty area to prevent a possible goal; and hurt himself in the process.

With the wind dropping slightly in the second half there were then a few opportunities created. It was the home side that struck though on 56 minutes after Tooting failed to clear from a corner. The ball fell to Charlie Farmer just outside the 6 yard box and he hit the ball back across the face of goal and into the far corner of the net. That setback then triggered Tooting's brightest spell of the game with Dan Clements starting to look dangerous down the right hand side and Chace O'Neill doing likewise through the centre. And it was Clements who came closest to scoring for Tooting, midway through the half, with a run into the right hand side of the penalty area before beating his defender and unleashing a shot that beat Josh Pelling in the Horsham goal before striking the inside of the post and bouncing away to safety. Tooting continued to press but the game was finally sealed for the home side 3 minutes from time. A goal line clearance with his head, from a fierce shot on goal, by Sol Patterson-Bohner ,saw Horsham awarded a corner out on their right. The ball was cleared by the Terrors' defence but only as far as the edge of the penalty area where it fell to the waiting Tony Nwachkwu who struck a magnificent shot past Kyle Merson to give Horsham a two goal lead.

Photo credit: Sam Conquest

#TootingAndMitcham #Horsham