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For the first time in five years, Maidstone United were at home on the opening day of the season but two goals from Lee Farrell ensured that The Stones were beaten for only the second time in the first match of a new campaign since the 1993-1994 season.
This was by no means a terrible performance from The Stones but Horsham demonstrated that if you fail to put away your goal scoring chances and make mistakes at the back in the Ryman Premier League, then you will be punished.
“We have been taught a harsh lesson today” said Lloyd Hume afterwards, “I’m disappointed to lose and the sick feeling is that we probably should have won the game.”
If Errison Ahwan had converted an excellent chance on nine minutes then there may well have been a different outcome to this game but from a superb cross from Nathan Paul the Maidstone midfielder headed over the bar when it seemed almost as if it would have been easier to score.
Five minutes later, Mo Takaloo controlled a long kick from Pat Mullin with his chest and he showed great strength to muscle his way into the box before shooting across the face of goal from an acute angle.
Takaloo was then presented with an even better chance to score in the twenty ninth minute when he received a near post cross from Ray Freeman but he stabbed the ball wide from close range.
Until now, The Stones had been the more dominant side but as the half progressed, Horsham began to assert themselves. On thirty one minutes right back Tom Graves’ drive from the edge of the area whistled past Pat Mullin’s right hand post and then just two minutes before the break, the visitors should have taken the lead. Nigel Blake made good progress down the left and he cut into the box drawing Mullin from his goal before pulling the ball back into the middle to Lewis Taylor who wastefully blasted the ball over the bar.
Then on fifty seven minutes a defensive mistake from Maidstone proved costly as they allowed Horsham to take the lead. A long ball forward should not have troubled Freeman greatly but unfortunately he headed the ball straight to Farrell who sent a delightful lob over the onrushing Mullin.
Seven minutes later, The Stones should have equalised when Mo Takaloo put Craig Wilkins in on goal but the Horsham keeper Alan Mansfield made a good block to deny Wilkins.
On sixty nine minutes, Taylor failed to hit the target once again when well placed as he screwed the ball wide from a Farrell cross but on seventy eight minutes, the visitors finally doubled their lead. There appeared to be no danger when Lee Carney received the ball thirty yards from goal but he managed to thread the ball through a static Stones defence to Farrell who expertly finished past Mullin.
Unsurprisingly, Maidstone immediately applied pressure to the Horsham defence and with the much needed injection of pace from substitutes Nick Hegley and Alex Tiesse, United suddenly looked threatening up front. On eighty minutes, Errison Ahwan managed to retain possession in the Horsham area and found Tiesse whose shot was tipped onto the bar by Mansfield.
Then just sixty seconds later Hegley exchanged passes
with with Tiesse and crossed for Ahwan who hit a curling
shot which only just cleared the bar and unfortunately
this was to be the last time The Stones threatened to
score as Horsham comfortably held on for their first
win of the season.
PHOTOS BY STEVE TERRELL
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