Horsham Preview

Boro’s opponents this week are Ryman Premier League side Horsham FC in the 4th Qualifying Round of the FA Cup. This time last season Boro were getting ready to travel to Salisbury, where they drew the first game before winning the tie after a replay. Boro went out in the next round after a resounding defeat away at Exeter, but tomorrow’s visitors Horsham did one better than Boro, getting into the second round, losing to Swansea after a replay.

Horsham go into the game on the back of 4 straight wins including a 2-1 victory over Paulton Rovers in the last round. They are currently 12th in the Ryman Premier League winning 5, drawing 1 and losing 6 of their 12 games to date. Looking through their squad list they don’t seem to have many “names” that will be known to Boro fans. The obvious one is Jean-Michel Sigere who spent 18 months at Broadhall Way back in 2001/2002. Sigere is currently on loan at Horsham from Eastbourne Borough. Their manager John Maggs is hoping for an upset this weekend and has commented on the game;

“I know the players are capable of getting a result but it’s not going to be easy. They’re one of the top sides in the Conference, but you’re not going to get an easy side at this stage of the competition whoever you play. I do feel that we can go there and get something from the game. We had some tricky ties in last year’s competition, but we showed that we can perform on the day so why not?”

Boro will not take Horsham lightly. Westley had a reasonably good record in the FA Cup last time he was here and won’t want to be embarrassed against lower league opposition tomorrow afternoon. Tommy Black, Andy Drury and Mark Albrighton could all miss the game through injury. It could mean that Scott Laird returns to the team with Eddie Anaclet moving into midfield. I thought Anaclet did reasonably well last weekend considering he is predomantly right footed and hasn’t played a full 90 minutes for some time. If Black misses out I’d expect Mitchell Cole to partner Morison in attack, with Daryl McMahon keeping his place on the left.

Boro should beat Horsham comfortably and progress to Sunday’s 1st Round Proper draw, but we all know what the FA Cup can throw up. In recent years we haven’t really had a problem against lower league opposition apart from last season in the early stages of the FA Trophy when we were beat 1-0 by Dorchester. However, I think we will see a convincing win tomorrow with plenty of goals and then on Sunday we can look forward to the 1st Round draw with possible away trips like Elland Road or the Walkers Stadium up for grabs.

Prediction: Boro 3-0 Horsham