Cup glory for Horsham

Lee Carney's second-half double helped send Horsham through to the second round of the FA Cup for the first time in their 126-year history.

Nigel Brake and substitute Lee Farrell complete the victory with Maidenhead replying with a penalty from Dwane Lee.

A crowd of 3,379 roared their heroes on to a famous victory.

Chairman Frank King, who saw his beloved Hornets lose to Swindon the last time the club were in the first round in 1966, stood proudly as fans invaded the pitch to salute their heroes.

They went into the tie as underdogs against Conference south opposition but they showed plenty of style to wrap up the game after a nervy opening half.

Cup fever gripped the Atspeed Stadium as the sun beamed down on cue for Horsham's biggest match in 41 years.

Members of the two previous Hornets teams to play in the first round proper were among the crowd.

Owen Parker and Roy Spriggs, who were in the side which lost to Tommy Lawton's Notts County in 1947, were introduced to the fans.

Captain Wilf Hugill and Mick Streeter, in the team defeated by Don Rogers' Swindon Town in 1966, were also among more than 2,000 spectators.

Manager John Maggs included Gary Charman in his starting line up.

The long serving winger had been sidelined with a groin problem. John Westcott dropped to the bench.

There was a minute's silence before kick off in memory of Dennis Daubney, a 1947 player who recently passed away, and Ricky Butler, the Horsham youngster who died following an incident at a Halloween party last Saturday.

But the crowd soon found their voice although it was more to express nerves than cheering Hornets' glory.

Former Albion defender Stuart Myall who played in the first round for the Seagulls, appealed for his side to keep it cool.

But his outfit looked decidedly edgy and it was panic stations after 11 minutes. Alan Mansfield got in a tangle with Yashwa Romeo and the Maidenhead striker's shot rebounded off the keeper's chest and went just wide.

There was tension in the Hornets display as they gave away two sloppy free kicks with unnecessary fouls, with striker Simon Austin getting booked for one of them.

Horsham found flashes of their passing game but there was no end product, although they had a penalty appeal for handball turned down after a goalmouth scramble on 15 minutes.

Brake was in the thick of the action with a series of crunching tackles and pacey left wing runs.

And he topped off his first-half performance by putting his side ahead seconds before the interval.

He picked up the ball in a central position 20 yards from goal following a right-wing move before hitting a thunderbolt which went flying beyond Louis Wells and into the top corner.

It came as Horsham began to exert some consistent pressure. Charman had a shot charged down on the edge of the penalty area on 42 minutes with Magpies' defender David Clarke appearing to handle the ball.

Hornets doubled their advantage on 62 minutes with an overhead kick from Carney.

Carl Rook made a run down the right and crossed in where Lewis Taylor and Simon Austin had efforts blocked before the ball spun in the air for Carney to put Hornets 2-0 ahead.

But the home side conceded a goal just two minutes later.

Captain Kevin Hemsley was adjudged to have fouled Manny Williams and Dwane Lee despatched the penalty.

Maidenhead had caused jitters amongst the home rearguard early in the second half.

Romeo miskicked a cross from Williams right in front of goal and a few minutes later Williams, the Magpies' leading goalscorer on ten, almost added to his tally with a shot on the turn which was blocked.

Carney hit his second goal seven minutes from time.

He worked a one two with Taylor before firing home from six yards.

Gary Charman was sent off for a second bookable offence following Carney's second after having his name taken in the first half.

Maggs decided a few minutes earlier to put on Lee Farrell to give the Magpies something to think about with his strength and pace up front.

And Farrell wrapped up a memorable afternoon for Horsham with a fourth goal in injury time.

Horsham: Mansfield, Myall, Brake, Graves, Hemsley, Carney, Mingle, Taylor, Austin, Rook, Charman. Subs: French, Westcott, Farrell, Salaam, Seuke.

Maidenhead Utd: Wells, Clarke, Sterling, Lee, Nisbet, Daly, Smith, Brown, Williams, Yashwa, Benjamin. Subs: Makofo, Cooper, Newman, James, Ramos.

Referee: A Halliday (West Yorkshire) Bognor beat Hayes & Yeading 3-0 in Conference south with goals from Chris Breach, Dan Beck and Mark Knee.

What did you make of Horsham's result?