Horsham YMCA boss Peter Buckland felt ‘let down’ by his two forwards as Ardley Utd claimed what he labelled a ‘classic smash and grab’ to knock them out of the FA Vase.
John Gardner scored the only goal of the game on 36 minutes to win the second round tie for the visitors, but only after YM had spurned a number of early chances to go ahead.
YM strikers Elliott Romain and Martin Smith both saw efforts saved by Utd stopper Joe White, with Smith especially wasteful in front of goal and Buckland said: “Our two forwards, who were free scoring, scoring for fun, it’s a bit worrying because as long as they go on without scoring the longer they become snatchy and nervy and edgy.
“The two forwards have let us down today, no question. I don’t care, I ain’t going to hide behind it, I’ll tell them to their face, I’ll go to the press with it, our two forwards let us down today because they had more than enough clear cut opportunities to wrap the game up first half.
“We had enough chances in the second half to at least we going back to Oxfordshire tomorrow night.
“We didn’t lose the game in the last half an hour when we were chasing it, we lost it in the first 15 minutes when we had three clear cut chances.”
And he added: “I think it was a classic smash and grab, and I think they know it and they must be very pleased with their afternoon’s work.”
YM will have four players suspended when they host Hailsham in the league on Saturday, including both Romain and Smith, and with centre back Matt Crane limping off, Kevin Burgess is the club’s only recognised centre back.
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