[ad_1]
Jack Mazzone is expected to be fit to face Haringey Borough on Saturday, a match that could see the Hornets return to the top of the Isthmian Premier Division table.
The striker limped out of Tuesday’s 2-0 victory over Lewes after being caught by a late Bradley Pritchard challenge that earned the Rooks forward a caution but ‘is absolutely fine’ according to manager Dom Di Paola, who will be keen to exorcise the memories of last season’s visit to Coles Park.
The campaign was just a week old when the Hornets made the difficult trip up to North London and returned on the wrong end of a 3-1 defeat, having finished the match with just nine men following the dismissals of Gary Charman and Charlie Harris, although the scoreline was avenged somewhat with a 3-0 victory in the reverse fixture last April.
That defeat is the only one suffered by Horsham in the six league meetings between the two sides, stretching back to the Athenian League days when the Edmonton and Haringey Borough clubs merged to form Edmonton & Haringey, the first competitive fixture as the united side coming at Queen Street on the opening match of the 1972/73 campaign and resulting in a 2-1 defeat thanks to goals in the final five minutes by Horsham legends Tex Wiltshire and Barry Steer.
Our paths failed to cross again until 2019 when, just like the buses that run throughout the Tottenham borough from which they hail, two came along in quick succession. The memory of the first, a 3-0 FA Trophy loss at Coles Park, was all-but erased a week later when Kieran Pamment’s last gasp free-kick earned the Hornets the points in torrential rain while we made it a league double with a 2-0 success at the CWCS the following February.
Borough are still searching for some consistency this season, having won one and drawn three of their opening six league matches although that victory came at the expense of Carshalton Athletic, the only team to have taken three points off Di Paola’s side this term. Without a home league victory since February’s narrow 1-0 win against Merstham, only their second such success this year, Haringey were also dumped out of the Emirates FA Cup at the first hurdle, going down 2-1 at division lower Maldon & Tiptree.
But for that reverse, the Hornets would have been left kicking their heels for a second successive weekend after they, too, suffered 1st qualifying round elimination and so would have been without a fixture this 2nd qualifying round weekend. A quirk of the fixture schedule means that, despite eight sides having joined Horsham and Haringey in being knocked out, just two Premier Division matches are taking place this weekend, with our game at Coles Park preceded tonight by leaders Aveley’s visit to Bishop’s Stortford.
Defeat for the Millers, and a win for the Hornets, would see us leapfrog Danny Scopes’ newly-promoted side to retake the top spot we last enjoyed in the first week of the season.
If you fancy making the trip, then why not join us on the players’ coach? Leaving the Park & Ride at 11:15am, with a return fare of £15, you can book your place by emailing admin@horshamfc.co.uk or by calling 01403 458854.
For those unable to travel, be sure to follow live Twitter updates @HorshamFC
Image: action from Horsham’s 3-0 defeat of Haringey Borough in April
[ad_2]
