Ryman League Division One South
Merstham 2 Horsham 1
Merstham were taken all the way by a desperate Horsham team fighting for survival, in a game which manager Hayden Bird admitted "could've gone either way".
Merstham were struggling with injuries meaning top scorer, Tommy Hutchings, captained the side which was absent of usual first team names, Kalvin Morath-Gibbs, Simon Cooper and regular captain Fabio Saraiva. In a tense affair Merstham would eventually come out on top after an injury time strike from Omar Folkes ensured Bird's men would snatch the three point's right at the death.
In front of their home crowd, Merstham were looking to improve upon their goalless draw from the weekend against Herne Bay, with a big victory against strugglers Horsham.
Merstham wide man, Taurean Roberts, tormented the Horsham defence early on however clear cut chances were few and far between, a reoccurring theme throughout the match.
Pacy Horsham winger, Ehis Izokun, was looking the likely threat for the visitors and even more so when left back, Antone Douglas, went off with a hamstring injury in the 32nd minute. Tom Howard came on with Dean Gunner moving from right back to left back and Tutu Henriques filling the new void on the right hand side of defence.
Home supporters had to wait until the 41st minute for the opening goal of the game and it came in the form of captain Hutchings. A lovely swivel turn and shimmy took him away from the Horsham defence and a beautiful strike from outside the box beat both the defence and Horsham goalkeeper, Gareth Williams, to find the net.
Merstham went into the break looking the more comfortable of the two sides but their lead was short lived. In a quest for more urgency and penetration Horsham took off striker Trevor McCreadie and brought on Bilo Camara in the 56th minute. It was to be Camara who would eventually compromise the Merstham defence with a thunderous header from a pin-point cross delivered by the ever threating Izokun.
In response to the equaliser, Bird then proceeded to take off goal scorer and captain, Hutchings, to bring on powerful midfielder Junior Kaffo to add more structure to Merstham's play. After the goal Horsham appeared content with the point and sat back inviting Merstham to launch countless attacks to no avail.
As the announcer reported five minutes of added time, much to Horsham manager Anthony Storey's irritation, the Merstham support pleaded with their team to go for the win. It was in fact Horsham who would take it to the home side as Richie Welch curled a sublime shot into the bottom left hand side of the goal only to be saved by Merstham keeper Brannon Daly, Tony Nwachukwu then fired the ball wide off Daly's save.
The action wasn't over yet though as Daly moved the ball wide up the left from the resulting goal-kick and the ball eventually found its way to Merstham front man Folkes, who picked the ball up just outside the box and had the composure to take it forward into the penalty area and get his match-winning strike away in the 94th minute.
Merstham held on to take all three points on a night which saw them close the gap to one point on second placed Faversham Town, other results however went against Horsham who now find themselves bottom of the Ryman League Division One South.
Next up for Merstham is a home clash against league leaders Burgess Hill Town, Bird's men will be looking for a more reassuring display if they are to end the Hillians' undefeated run. It is only £5 per person for all those who wish to attend the clash at Moatside on Saturday afternoon.
Merstham FC: B. Daly, D. Gunner, A. Douglas (Howard, 32), O. Obamwonyi, M. Okoye, T. Henriques, T. Roberts, P. Adeniyi, T. Hutchings (Kaffo, 69), O. Folkes, A. Rhule (Quiassaca, 75).
Subs: T. Howard, M. Quiassaca, J. Kaffu, P. Ofori, Y. Makiese.
