TWO Chris Weller penalties helped a rusty Horley Town beat high-flying Badshot Lea on Saturday.
Horley captain Danny Guscott got the other goal for the home side that ended with Badshot Lea losing their discipline.
Horley boss Ali Rennie believes his side, who had not played a competitive game for a month prior to Saturday due to waterlogged pitches, were lagging at the start of the game, but secured the win in a great second half.
"For the first 25 minutes we looked a bit rusty, which probably wasn't surprising when you consider we hadn't played for a month and Badshot Lea played last week," Rennie explained.
"They went a goal ahead and had a lot of possession but we started to improve towards the end of the half. We said to the team at half-time that we knew there was a goal or two in the game for them."
And Rennie was right with two spot-kicks helping the hosts wrap up the points.
"Jack Poplett was pushed for the first penalty, which Chris Weller converted on 47 minutes, but then Badshot Lea scored again on 52," Rennie said. "Striker Ashley Nadesen broke through on 62 minutes but the keeper brought him down for another penalty, which Weller scored.
"Then on 66 minutes, from a Dave Brown free-kick Danny Guscott headed home. It was a good result against one of the top sides in the league but they lost their discipline a little at the end. They had one sent off towards the end of the 90 and then another sent off after the whistle for confronting the referee."
Horley travel to Bedfont Sports on Saturday and Rennie is confident of a good second half of the season.
"With the pitch waterlogged the players have done a lot of running recently so they will be pleased we are going to be playing every Tuesday and Saturday to clear the backlog of fixtures - they prefer games to training," the manager said.
"We are looking quite strong at the moment, having added James Grant and Scott Faber to the squad recently. And we don't have many injuries at the moment."
On Tuesday, Horley travel to Kingston to play League Two club AFC Wimbledon in the Surrey Senior Cup third round and Rennie has been buoyed by some of the recent upsets in the FA Cup.
"I want all my players to get at least 45 minutes this year before the game. AFC Wimbledon played about six or seven first team players in their game in the last round so it will be a test," he said. "We are looking forward to the game, and if Macclesfield can beat Cardiff then who knows?"