Hornets view Community Shield clash with Borough as '˜competitive' friendly

Horsham are hoping their Sussex Community Shield clash with Eastbourne Borough will provide a ‘competitive’ step-up in pre-season this week.

As Southern Combination League champions, the Hornets will face Sussex Senior Cup winners Borough at Culver Road for the traditional Sussex FA trophy on Tuesday night.

Their Conference South opponents will prove a tough test in what has been a disjointed pre-season schedule for Dominic Di Paola’s side.

While he is still viewing it as a friendly match, the Horsham boss is hoping a more competitive mood will feature in his players.

He said: “It will be nice to play in, but it is just another pre-season game as are the rest in the build up to the first game of the season.

“As to how many we will have available and who will play, I do not really know.

“You are allowed five subs, so we will just treat it as another pre-season game against a good side.

“I have played in it before against Peacehaven a couple of years ago and we did a similar thing. It was a good sharpener and we took it to extra-time and lost on penalties.

“It was a good game and that’s all you want. Hopefully, because there is something on it, it’ll be a bit more competitive than a normal pre-season game.”

Kick-off at the FA headquarters in Lancing is 7.15pm.

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