Defeat To Horsham At Hartsdown Park

By Riley Finch

Sam Blackman sees red, Vinnie Bowman scoring with practically his first touch, refereeing controversy, it all happened in Margate’s narrow 3-1 defeat to Horsham FC at Hartsdown Park.

Bowman, who has been on trial with Millwall’s academy recently, was a late addition to the bench. In fact the only reason he was able to attend the game today was because Millwall’s Under 18’s match was called off. That didn’t stop him from coming on in the 73rd minute and scoring in less than sixty-seconds of his substitution.

At just sixteen-years-old, Bowman produced a goal of quality, years beyond his age, as he collected Steve Cawley’s flick on, cut inside and coolly fired past Lewis Carey into the bottom corner.

With the score at 2-1 a comeback was brewing, but 81 minutes in, substitute Sam Blackman saw red, after following through on a Hornets player from an attempt to play a pass.

It was goals from Shamir Fenelon, Charlie Hester-Cook and Daniel Ajakaiye which would be enough to give the Hornets a 3-1 victory in the end.

It took just five-minutes for Fenelon to unleash an absolute bullet into the far corner of Harry Seaden’s goal after the ball came out to him 25 yards out. The opening goal wasn’t without its controversy however with Margate adamant that a defender had been fouled just moments before, but the referee remained unfazed amid the determined protests.

Margate reacted well to the goal coming close to an equaliser on a number of occasions. After a neat set-piece routine, Lewis Knight collected Harry Hudson’s header across goal, but his first-time shot was aimed straight at Carey to deny an equaliser. Ben Greenhalgh would also come close, firing a shot just over the bar after the ball was fizzed at him with pace.

It was Mohamed Kamara who would claim the best chance for a deserved equaliser. The midfielder’s shot was saved by the keeper, and agonisingly blocked off the line by a Hornets defender, after some nice build-up play.

Despite a number of chances, Margate found themselves two down 66 minutes in after Hester-Cook planted a terrific strike into the top corner from outside the box. Bowman had pulled one back for us but just minutes after Blackman’s sending off, Ajakaiye slotted home after Toby Stevenson’s attempted interception played him through on goal to put the Hornets out of sight.

The defeat will be hard to take for Mark Stimson and his side, but the performance is certainly something they can be proud of, especially against a team of such quality.

The performance will certainly give the side some more confidence ahead of our next match, a clash with Hashtag United next Saturday in Essex.

Margate: 1. Harry Seaden, 2. Rio Davidson-Phipps, 3. Toby Stevenson, 4. Yaser Kasim (Sam Blackman 60'), 6. Harry Hudson, 9. Steve Cawley, 10. Kadell Daniel (Vinnie Bowman 73'), 11. Ben Greenhalgh, 15. Mo Kamara, 17. Lewis Knight, 20. Teddy Perkins.

Unused subs: 12. Fyn Rutherford, 13. Reece Hobbs.

Attendance: 368

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