Horley Town 1 Swans 1

Tuesday 29th March 2022.   Cherry Red Combined Counties League Premier Division South.

Horley Town 1    Walton & Hersham 1.

Swans’ run of ten wins on the spin came to an end as they dropped two vital points after a frustrating match at the New Defence. A hard, uneven surface posed enough of a challenge, but they also faced the problem of a home side that used every method open to them to break up play, including time-wasting that started in the first-half. Although the referee played eight minutes of stoppage-time the disruption to the flow of the game had been done. There was even a touch of farce late in the game when the home bench resorted to hiding the spare match balls, including kicking them behind the dugout, yet it was Swans’ Assistant Manager Billy Rowley who was shown a yellow card for protesting at the tactic.

There was just one change to the starting line-up against Knaphill, with Jordan Adeyemi coming in for Ollie Twum.

Joe Pratley-Jones soon had an opportunity on the right to utilise his long throw, and his delivery into the box was headed clear by Jack Poplett.

The home side had the first chance however when some slack play at the back by Swans gave Adam Grant an opening in the right of the box, but he shot wide of the near-post. Following another long throw from the right by Pratley-Jones, Grant was able to bring the ball clear, and this led to Alex Kelly fouling Ethon Archer just outside the right edge of the box, giving Horley a free-kick in a promising position. Chad Goulter drove the ball in, but Kelly got his head to it and it went out for a corner on the left.

Swans settled after an uncertain start, and Harry Mills made a strong run down the right before driving the ball low across, but there was no-one in the box to capitalise. A fine move on the left led to Louis Collins driving forward to cross into the box, where Eddie Simon got in a header that was goal-bound until a deflection took the ball behind for a corner. Just before the half-hour Adeyemi was fouled 35 yards out from goal, giving Swans a free-kick, but Mills drove the ball low wide of the left-post. Another free-kick was soon being awarded for handball out on the right, but the ball was cleared when Kelly delivered it into the box.

Horley’s Matt Rapson then picked up the first yellow card of the evening for a poor tackle that stopped Dean Rule’s run on the left.

Swans continued to dominate the play and Mills drove the ball low across the 6 yard-box from the right, but again there was no teammate there to get on the end of the cross. With just over five minutes left of the half Taurean Roberts set up Simon on the edge of the box, and he got in a strong shot that home goalkeeper George Hyde went down to save on his line. Roberts was soon doing well 40 yards out before laying the ball off to Mills, but he drove it well over.

Horley had shown little going forward since the opening minutes, but Grant got into space down the right to get a cross into the box that Max Hustwick was able to clear.

In the final minute of the half Adeyemi won a corner on the right, and from Collins’ kick Hustwick had a shot blocked, and when Simon followed up close-in by the right post his shot was also blocked on the line. Pratley-Jones was soon sending in another long throw from the right, but the ball went straight into the gloves of keeper Hyde.

Soon after the resumption Swans were almost caught out when Horley took a quick throw-in on the right and Liam Allen was tested for the first time when Grant got in a shot from the edge of the box, but the keeper saved comfortably on his line.

Another long throw by Pratley-Jones from the right soon led to Swans going close, Roberts having a shot from the edge of the box blocked, and then following-up to drive over the goal. A good build-up around the box then resulted in two shots in succession being blocked, the second being deflected over for a corner. Adeyemi made a good run into the right of the box before driving the ball across the goal-face, with both Rule and Mills somehow failing to get a touch. Swans had continued in the second-half as they had finished the first, seeking the opening goal, but the home side began to put together some attacks.

Kevin Moreno-Gomez forced a corner off Pratley-Jones on the left, and then Hustwick was shown a yellow card for a foul on the same player, leading indirectly to Horley taking the lead just past the hour. James McElligott’s free-kick from the left was delivered to the far-post, where the ball went off Joe Hicks and behind for another corner. Moreno-Gomez swung in the kick from the left to the near-post, where Allen was unable to hold on. The Swans’ keeper had barely seen any action, but he was beaten as the ball ran to Mario Quiassaca, who drove it in.

Ollie Twum came on for Rule, and Swans were soon building-up a move on the right that forced a corner. Mills’ kick led to the ball being headed behind for another corner. Swans deservedly equalised with a quarter of the match left, a Pratley-Jones’ long throw finally paying-off. He launched the ball into the box from the right, and when it ran to Simon ten yards out he drove it into the top of the net. Hyde just managed to punch the ball away at his far-post when the Swans’ right-back sent in another long throw from the right, and when Simon and Mills combined on the right Mills crossed into the box, where Simon had got in at the near-post, but he couldn’t control the ball and it ran behind. With just over five minutes of normal-time remaining Mills was fouled by Archer on the right, and Hyde just managed to clear Mills’ free-kick at the far-post. The Horley keeper then punched the ball off Hustwick’s head as Mills delivered the corner from the left, and it was just scrambled clear when Pratley-Jones took another long throw, this time from the left. The match had just entered stoppage-time when Mills got Adeyemi to the byline on the right, but there was no-one in the middle to get on the end of his cross. Roberts then sent Adeyemi down the left, and his low ball in found Simon, but after opening up the chance his shot was blocked by Andy Hall on the ground, with claims it had been stopped with the Horley defender’s arm. There was one last opportunity for Swans to get the winner a full five minutes into added-on time, and inevitably it came from a Pratley-Jones’ long throw. He launched the ball from the left, and it ran to Roberts at the far-post, but he put it agonisingly wide.

Swans’ Team: Liam Allen, Joe Pratley-Jones, Louis Collins, Alex Kelly, Max Hustwick, Joe Hicks, Harry Mills, Taurean Roberts, Eddie Simon, Jordan Adeyemi, Dean Rule (Ollie Twum 65’). Subs. not used: Darryl Siaw, Maliq Morris, Will Kouadio, Harry Pointing. Scorer: Simon (68’). Caution: Hustwick, foul (59’). Sin-binned: Simon (90+8’).

Horley Team: Hyde, M. Rapson, Hall, Bogle, Poplett, Archer, McElligott, Goulter, Quiassaca, Grant (J. Rapson 89’), Ford (Moreno-Gomez 29’). Subs. not used: Freitas, Roberts, MacAuley. Scorer: Quiassaca (61’). Cautions: M. Rapson (33’), Quiassaca (42’), Goulter (90’).