Ben Clasper | Chairman's notes | Horsham | 21/09/24

The boom and bust of the annual fixture list is upon us as we flip from four home fixtures in August to today’s hosting of Horsham being our only men’s game at the Hill during September.

Of course, some of that is down to the cup exit and the randomness of cup draws which could also mean we only have one home game next month as well so keep an eye out on the usual platforms for fixture announcements.

After the nature of the disappointment against Leatherhead we were clear that we wanted to see a response and as responses go I can’t think of a better one than the shift the team put in at Canvey Island.

That win leaves us six points better off than we were after the same number of games last year but it was not so much the result that was remarkable but how we secured it.

I would not mind betting it is the first competitive game in which the keeper was the only player to finish in the same position they started with half a dozen injuries requiring not just a shuffling of the pack off the bench but those on the pitch having to swap positions with every substitution.

There were not too many challenges that I felt were nasty or cynical but Canvey were certainly physically present and picked up a handful of cards as a result. So it was pleasing to see that our own team did not get drawn into the conflict and looked intent on winning the game rather than the battle.

A late winner and no bookings was more than I expected to leave with when things were at their toughest. Horsham had the better of the fixtures against us last season on their way to the play offs and will be looking to improve on their semi-final defeat this time around.

They are also on another FA Cup run following their victory against Dorking last week (who they also beat least season on their way to the first round proper where they took Barnsley to a replay).

So we should expect them to be high on confidence and I hope our week off gives us a better chance of fielding more of the players who hobbled out of the Canvey game.