Ladies coach wary of being dragged into trouble after tough St Albans defeat

The hosts dominated for large parts of the match but were punished for not finding the net as a 2-0 win gave the Tangerines all three points.

Ladies coach Paul Johnson said: “It was a close game, 2-0 was not really a just scoreline for how the game went.

“It’s frustrating because it’s probably one of our best performances of the season but we simply didn’t take our chances and you get punished at this level.”

Horsham defended an early penalty corner but from there they dominated the next 20 minutes. Siobhan Aherne mistimed her shot when a clear chance came to her and Heidi Menniss then fired wide when also in the D.

St Albans made them pay when a long free hit was played all the way into the D and an unmarked player tapped in at the back post.

Still Horsham carved out chances, Suzy Clapp denied by the keeper and Jess Dean shooting just wide, both from short corner moves.

Horsham began the second half well but when Lauren Keefe forced another good save from the visiting keeper St Albans broke quickly to seal the match with a second goal.

“The St Albans game was a big one because had we won we would be above them with a nice cushion between us and the bottom teams,” Johnson said. “The table is now very tight after the weekend’s results but there’s no panic.

“We are just starting to have to look over our shoulder. (Bottom side) Bromley on Saturday has to be three points.”