Horsham suffered their fourth successive league defeat when they were beaten 2-0 by Staines Town in a typical end-of-season encounter at Queen Street.

The Hornets started the match in a lively fashion by creating three openings in the first 12 minutes, the best of which saw Steffan Ball crash the ball into the side netting from Carlo Castrechino's pass.

However, Staines took the lead on the quarter hour completely against the run of play.

Richard Taylor's ball over the back line put Mark Mercer clear on goal and as goalkeeper Ian Chatfield charged out to challenge, the striker lifted the ball into the empty net.

Horsham went close three minutes later when Castrechino again set up Ball but his lob rebounded off the left post to safety.

A dour midfield battle was occasionally enlivened in the second half by some excellent play from Hornets' midfielder Lee Carney whose appetite for the battle did not appear to be matched by his team-mates.

Staines sealed the win with only their second effort on target. Chatfield spilled a long shot from Max Barron and Mercer put the ball into the net at the second attempt.

The Hornets terrible run-in has seen them drop to sixth, 12 points off promotion having put up a strong challenge for most to the season.