A last minute goal from on-loan Jamie Taylor earned Horsham a hard fought 2-1 win over Epsom & Ewell in Division One South in poor conditions at Queen Street.

The Hornets had thrown everyone forward in the dying minutes and were rewarded when Lee Carney's deep cross was headed back across goal by Gary Charman for Taylor to sweep the ball home from close range.

The win tightens Horsham's grip on second place, who are now four points clear of third placed Bognor after they lost 1-0 at home to promotion rivals Dulwich Hamlet.

Horsham looked the better team in the first half and took the lead just before the half-hour. Carlo Castrechino won the ball in midfield, cut inside a defender and fired a low cross into the penalty area which flew into the net off Epsom defender James Hall.

Hall got the visitors back on terms on the stroke of half-time. On-loan goalkeeper Scott Kenward made a good save following a Jamie Buckley corner, but the ball fell nicely for Hall who squeezed a shot between the keeper and right post.

Epsom made better use of the worsening conditions in the second half and Kenward saved from Stevens and Huckle before the hosts rallied. Charman should have scored when former Horsham goalkeeper Dave Hyatt spilled David Flemming's cross, but the winger could only fire the rebound at the keeper with the goal at his mercy.

Manager John Maggs threw three men up front for the final ten minutes and was delighted that the move eventually paid off.

He said: "We did reasonably well in the first 45 minutes but we went off the rails a bit in the second half. I think we deserved the win. We had enough opportunities to have won the game well.

"The important thing was to pick up three points, but I'd like to win with a little bit more style."