Horsham 4-0 Margate - It's probably the most down I've been in football as a manager and I think today hurt but we've got to pick ourselves up, says Margate boss Jay Saunders

Horsham 4 – 0 Margate
Location	Parkside, Park Lane, Aveley, Essex RM15 4UA
Kickoff	13/04/2022 19:45

HORSHAM  4-0  MARGATE
Velocity Trophy Final
Wednesday 13 April 2022
Stephen McCartney reports from Parkside

MARGATE manager Jay Saunders says he was feeling the most down that he’s ever felt in football management after his side were thrashed in the clubs maiden Isthmian League Cup Final.

Dominic Di Paola’s Horsham claimed the silverware for the first time with a comfortable 4-0 victory, watched by a crowd of 809 fans at Aveley’s Parkside.

Dominant Horsham took the lead through Lee Harding’s 12^th goal of the season before doubling their lead just ten minutes later through number 10, Jack Brivio, who then went on to head in his eighth goal of the season early in the second half.

Poor goalkeeping from Margate goalkeeper Ben Bridle-Card from a set-piece gifted Horsham a fourth, tapped in by Charlie Hester-Cook, for his fifth goal of the season.

Horsham beat Hythe Town (3-1), Corinthian-Casuals (5-0), Haywards Heath Town (2-0) and Folkestone Invicta (5-0) all at home to reach the Velocity Trophy Final for the first time.

The Hornets arrived in Essex sitting in thirteenth-place in the Isthmian League Premier Division table with 48 points from their 39 league games.

Margate, meanwhile, got past Herne Bay (2-1), Tooting & Mitcham United (2-1), Carshalton Athletic (4-1) at home before coming away from Haringey Borough with a 3-2 win in the Semi-Finals but were well-beaten tonight.

Margate were in ninth-place in the Premier Division table, having picked up 56 points from their 39 games and arrived in Essex on a five-match winless run.  Saunders made seven changes from the side that were held to a goal-less draw at Carshalton Athletic at the weekend.

“Disappointed, obviously.  I thought we started the game ok and had a good chance with Vance Bola hitting the post.  I just felt, what disappointed me the most, they scored and heads went down and we never recovered,” said Saunders, who was Maidstone United’s manager when they won this competition in 2014.

“I thought they scored at good times in that first-half.  It was an even first-half but they took their chances well and after that we never recovered was the honest answer.

“I’m gutted, we had a lot of support here and I’m gutted we couldn’t get a result for the club.

“It’s probably the most down I’ve been in football as a manager. I’ve been fortunate to win a lot of things and I think today hurt but we’ve got to pick ourselves up.  We’ve got three games and now that becomes our focus.

“We just said to the players it’s disappointing because you don’t always get a chance to play in League Cup Finals throughout your career and there could be a lot in there who never get that opportunity again so to let it pass you by is disappointing.”

Horsham started the game on the front foot and created their first opening after 196 seconds.

Brivio drove down the left before playing the ball inside to Hester-Cook in the middle and he swept the ball out to right-winger Harding, who cut onto his left-foot and drilled his shot harmlessly over the bar from the right-hand side.

A clearance from Margate centre-half Lewis Knight was charged down by a pressing Brivio, before striker Shamir Fenelon played the ball into Brivio, who hit a first-time 40-yard drive which flashed harmlessly wide.

Margate weathered the early storm before the game turned into a cagey battle before Margate should have scored in the 20^th minute.

Holding midfielder Montel Agyemang was just outside the centre-circle and swept a first-time pass which split open Horsham’s left-back Harvey Sparks to put Vance Bola through down the right.  However, he took a touch and drilled a right-footed shot screaming past a flat-footed goalkeeper, only for the ball to bounce off the top of the near post and bounce behind for a goal-kick.

“Listen, it was a good run from Bola from deep. It was an area we felt we could hurt them down the side and it’s a great strike – but we didn’t create enough chances,” admitted Saunders.

“I thought we created half chances.  One thing I’d say about Horsham, I thought they were better in both boxes and the scoreline tells you that.  Whenever we put crosses into the box they seemed to have bodies in there to defend and when they were putting things in our box we looked stretched. It was a good opportunity but we didn’t take it.”

However, Horsham were clinical in front of goal and opened the scoring with 23 minutes on the clock.

Centre-half Tom Day hit a 30-yard pass along the deck into Hester-Cook, who flicked a lay-off into Harding, who was left in acres of space to unleash a left-footed drive into the bottom right-hand corner from 30-yards.

“We allowed him to come inside, which I wasn’t best please about.  Once he comes inside people need to get out to him and we didn’t do that,” said Saunders.

“I don’t know, Ben at the time could’ve maybe got down a bit quicker? I might be being harsh on Ben so I may have to look at it again.  You could say it was a good finish – but I’m disappointed to let him come in the way he did.”

Horsham went route one when goalkeeper Sam Howes launched a big kick upfield and Brivio played in Fenelon, who easily ran past Joe Anderson and his shot was kept out by the legs of the Margate goalkeeper.

Dominant Horsham kept knocking on the door and a slick passing move involving Harding and Tom Kavanagh inside the final third teed up a chance for holding midfielder Doug Tuck, whose left-footed shot from inside the D was held by Bridle-Card low to his right.

Horsham caught Margate on the counter-attack when Margate central midfielder Sam Blackman’s attempted pass on the deck towards right-back Harrison Hatful was intercepted by Sparks.  The left-back raced from box-to-box before drilling a powerful left-footed drive which stung the fingers of Bridle-Card, using strong hands to push the ball towards safety in the 32^nd minute.

Just 11 seconds later, Brivio’s right-footed drive was also kept out by the former Sevenoaks Town keeper, the Horsham number six trying to find the same left-hand corner as his team-mate.

“I thought when they scored, that’s what I’m saying about our body language and heads went down and we allowed it to affect us too much,” said Saunders.

“I thought they had a five minute spell when they really got on top and peppered us a little bit.  Ben made a couple of good saves during that period but I just felt we let it affect us too much when they scored. We should’ve stayed calm and kept doing the right things but we didn’t.”

There was, however, a hint of controversy in the build-up to Horsham’s second goal with 32 minutes and 48 seconds on the clock.

Richards’ played in their third of seven corners in from the left and the ball was flicked on at the near-post and Saunders is adamant that Bridle-Card had the ball knocked out of his hands and Brivio smashed the ball into the back of the net.

“The boys are moaning saying Ben had his hands on it and it was kicked out of his hands,” claimed Saunders, who hasn’t seen any of the goals back on film before being interviewed.

“All I saw was Ben claim it so I looked the other way to see where we can attack and the next minute the balls in the net.

“Speaking to Ben at half-time was that he had a hand or hands on it and I think someone’s knocked it down and Ben’s claimed it and it was kicked out of his hands.  I’m only going by what the players are saying. Ben’s quite honest but if you see the highlights and I’m wrong, so be it.”

Margate needed a goal before half-time to bring some confidence back into their ranks and they went close to pulling a goal back in the 42^nd minute.

Hatful played the ball into Agyeman, who turned Hester-Cook superbly before drilling a right-footed shot towards the top far corner from 30-yards, only for the ball to arrow over.

Saunders said: “I thought Montel was one of our better players tonight. I thought he had to make things happen, plenty of energy and tried to get on the ball and on another day, it flies in.  That’s what I’m saying, we had quite a lot of half chances. I don’t think we created any real, real quality openings.”

Horsham fully deserved their two-goal advantage at the break.

Saunders said: “I just felt we were still in the game and that we needed to start on the front foot second-half.  The next goal was really important and I felt if we could’ve grabbed it we could’ve gone on and got a foothold in the game.

“I thought the first five minutes or so we actually came out and were on the front foot and we had them in their half and they break away and one cross into our box and scored. We said to really start on the front foot but it didn’t go too well.”

Horsham killed the game off by scoring their third goal, with a well-worked move, with three minutes and 24 seconds on the clock.

Harding released Fenelon down the right and Margate centre-half Ben Swift failed to stop him in his tracks by tackling him.

Fenelon held the ball up within the right-channel and waited for support from Harding, who was played on the overlap and he whipped in a great cross towards the back post for Brivio to bury his header into the top left-hand corner from inside the six-yard box.

“Too easy for me. Whether we countered too early, I don’t know. It’s too easy for me.  I think the goals, I’m not taking anything away from them on the night, they deserved to win the game. I’m honest, you know that.  I just felt their goals were too easy to come by,” admitted Saunders.

Margate played some direct football during the second-half and often too many balls were overhit and went behind for goal-kicks.

However, Horsham goalkeeper Howes made a comfortable save when Anderson hit a long ball down the channel and Feyi cut in past centre-half Kavanagh before stroking a low right-footed drive which was comfortably gathered by the keeper down on his knees.

“I thought Ken worked quite hard today and got into some good areas,” said Saunders.

“Let’s be honest, we didn’t look like really scoring tonight. I don’t think we troubled them enough, so I can’t stand here, the facts are we didn’t do enough to score.”

Richards’ swung in his sixth corner of the night which clipped the top of the near post and went behind for a Margate goal-kick in the seventh minute.

No Margate player picked up Kavanagh, who unleashed a first time 30-yard drive, which was destined to nestle inside the bottom left-hand corner, only for Bridle-Card to make a low save to his right to parry.

Horsham then hit Margate on the counter-attack as they cleared Greenhalgh’s free-kick and substitute Eddie Dsane and Tuck broke away down the left.

Dsane played a low ball in from the left and Fenelon nipped in front of Swift close to the penalty spot and swept his shot straight at Bridle-Card.

However, the 24-year-old goalkeeper was clearly at fault for Horsham’s fourth goal of the night, timed at 17 minutes and 9 seconds on the clock.

Hatful fouled Dsane down the wing and Kavanagh swung in a right-footed free-kick with quality towards the far post.

Bridle-Card appeared to be out of position and he allowed the ball to curl around him and the ball clipped the far post and Hester-Cook had the simple task of tapping the ball over the goal-line from very close range.

“That weren’t good enough. I felt Ben should’ve done better with that one,” insisted Saunders.

“I think Ben’s an honest lad. I don’t know whether he felt it was going to bounce wide and I just felt if he stepped forward and claimed it but he hasn’t.  Maybe on another night it bounces wide and it hit the post and went in.

“It’s disappointing. Look, cup finals, if you go out and lose the game 1-0 or 2-1, it's a close game but we rolled over a little bit in the end tonight and that was disappointing for me.”

Margate huffed and puffed during the final 20 minutes but at this point they were out of the game and their direct approach wasn’t troubling the Horsham back four.

Saunders said: “I just felt we lost our way at that point.  You could see Horsham became comfortable in the game, they’re 4-0 up. They can kind of play at their own tempo and we went too predictable.  I just think at that point we were just huffing and puffing and ran out of what we should’ve tried to do.  At 4-0, the game was dead.”

Agyemang fed the ball to substitute winger Benas Vaivada who clipped a 30-yarder, which was comfortably caught by Howes at head height.

Hatful then played the ball in from the right to Feyi, who curled a shot around the far post from the corner of the right-hand side of the Horsham box.

Hatful then launched a long ball out of defence and Knight (who stayed up for a set-piece) was bravely denied by Howes on the edge of the six-yard box.

“I just felt at that point if we could get a goal for our supporters, that was kind of what I was hoping for,” said Saunders, who revealed he will be in the transfer market to sign a prolific goalscorer for next season.

“I think if we were still playing now, I don’t think we would’ve scored and that’s been a big problem all season. When we’ve had key moments in games we haven’t really had the players’ to take it.

“We haven’t had a 20-goal striker or someone who looks like getting in double figures as a centre-forward and that’s no disrespect to Ken Feyi or whoever has played up there.

“it’s just facts. If you look at it, Ben Greenhalgh is our top scorer (21 goals) and he's a winger or number 10. I think that was our problem and you saw that again tonight.  We huffed and puffed but we didn’t look clinical enough in that final third and it’s definitely something that needs to be addressed next season.”

Margate have scored the fewest number of league goals (54 in 39 games) within the top 11 sides in the division.

A strong but fair challenge by Margate’s substitute central midfielder Fyn Rutherford knocked Rob O’Toole over on the very edge of the Margate penalty area down the right hand side.

Charlie Harris swung in the resulting outswinging corner from the right and Harding’s free header was steered wide from 16-yards.

Anderson whipped in a cross into the Horsham box which was cleared out to Greenhalgh, who took a touch before unleashing a left-footed drive towards goal from 30-yards, which was held by Howes low to his right inside the final five minutes.

“I thought our fans were fantastic. We appreciate the support, we really do.  Their support t has been brilliant and that’s my biggest disappointment.  We wanted to give something back to the supporters. We wanted to get a result for them.

“It hurt, it hurts me. In the end I took time to watch Horsham celebrate and stood there and watched their celebrations and try to take that on. It’s hard.

“A couple of supporters gave me some stick and said ‘we were rubbish’, I’ll take that on the chin. It’s part of it. It wasn’t through the lack of effort. On the night we weren’t good enough and lost to the better team on the night.”

Margate return to Hartsdown Park on Saturday to play sixteenth-placed Bowers & Pitsea (41 points), before their Kent derby at seventh-placed Folkestone Invicta (68, a point adrift of the play-offs), before completing their campaign at home to Kingstonian.

“We’ve got to bounce back. Listen, I’m not making excuses. If you look at our results of late we went through a really tough period of (two games a week) and with a really small squad and I feel it’s caught up with us and you could see that over the last few results,” said Saunders, whose side are a point behind eighth-placed Kingstonian.

“I think we’ve got to try to get three points on Saturday. I want to get that eighth spot and that’s what we’ll be fighting to do.  It’s important to try to bounce back on Saturday.  Our home form has been ok so we’ll try our hardest. It’s difficult because Bowers haven’t got a lot to play for, all we can do is try our best.

“I get on well with Cugs (Folkestone Invicta manager Neil Cugley) and they’ve had a good season. He’s desperate to make the play-offs and he’s in a three-way battle with Cheshunt (69) and Lewes (68).  I’m not a big fan of playing Saturday and then Monday, so we’ll get Saturday out of the way and then we’ll look at the Monday game.”

Saunders revealed that he will be sitting down with chairman Ricky Owen on Thursday to plan for next season.

“I’ve got a meeting with the chairman tomorrow to see where we’re at for next season.  We’re not chasing promotion and we’re not in the play-offs and we’re not in a relegation battle, you’re a few weeks ahead of some of the clubs.

“When I was manager at Maidstone we were always in a promotion or relegation battle and you never had a chance to plan because you never knew what league you were going to be in, so I think now it’s important for the club’s point of view we make plans.  I want to kick on and I think the club do as well so we’ll have a chat tomorrow and we’ll start planning.

“We’ll have a good chat. I get on really well with Ricky and we’ll just have a chat. We’re on the same page.  We know where we need to improve things, on and off the pitch. We’ve got the new changing rooms going in and there’s loads of things we need to talk about and get pre-season in place.

“I’d like to get as much advanced as we can so we can get ahead of the game and then I can go away and have a nice holiday.”

Horsham: Sam Howes, Chris Sessegnon (Steve Metcalf 90), Harvey Sparks, Doug Tuck, Tom Day, Tom Kavanagh, Tom Richards (Eddie Dsane 58), Charlie Hester-Cook (Rob O’Toole 69), Shamir Fenelon (Charlie Harris 77), Jack Brivio, Lee Harding (Lucas Rodriques 87).

Goals: Lee Harding 23, Jack Brivio 33, 49, Charlie Hester-Cook 63

Margate: Ben Bridle-Card, Harrison Hatfull (Crossley Lema 81), Joe Anderson, Montel Agyemang, Lewis Knight, Ben Swift, James Bessey-Saldanha (Benas Vaivada 54), Sam Blackman (Fyn Rutherford 77), Ken Feyi, Vance Bola (Sam Odaudu 88), Ben Greenhalgh.
Sub: Owen Kallmeier

Booked: Ken Feyi 28

Attendance: 809
Referee: Mr Mark Pond
Assistants: Mr Michael Scott & Mr Thomas Wyatt
Fourth Official: Mr Craig Barnett