On Tuesday August 18th Hampton & Richmond Borough will travel to Horsham for our first midweek matchup of the season.
It was another disappointing afternoon last Saturday away to Weston-super-Mare as despite a Reece Greg-Cox header against the post and a penalty shout in the first half, the Seagulls ran out 3-0 winners after two set piece goals in the second half.
It keeps the Beavers at the foot of the National League South table for now but in the first few weeks of the season anything can happen and Dowse and his players are well aware that of that. A result to carry into the first home game of the season would do a world of good for fans and players alike.
Horsham are unbeaten in their opening two fixtures, having recorded an impressive 1-1 draw away to Torquay on the first day of the season and followed it up with a scoreless result at home to Salisbury.
New addition Jamie Yila was a bright spark in both of the Hornets’ fixtures creating Greg Luer’s opener in the first match and hitting the bar as well as causing problems all first half against Salisbury.
The 25-year-old winger joins the club after an injury-hampered season with Maidstone United in 25/26, but he excelled in two years at Chatham Town, scoring 28 goals for the Step 3 side.
At the other end of the pitch Horsham strengthened with the addition of Ryan Bartley, who spent last season at Maidenhead alongside our captain Will De Havilland, making 33 appearances in the league and starting their playoff match against Dorking.
There are a few former Beavers in the Horsham squad, notably Archy Taylor who registered nine goal contributions in the 24/25 season from right back in 42 league games, and forward Ronan Silva, who spent last season at Beveree.
Silva came off the bench against Salisbury for his Horsham debut and will be remembered fondly by Beavers fans for his six goals and three assists across 37 appearances in all competitions last season.
We went unbeaten against the Hornets in 25/26, playing out a 0-0 draw in the away tie before welcoming them to Beveree in March as loanee Daniel Nkrumah scored a brace on his debut to secure a 2-0 victory.
As those are the only two matches against the Hornets in our history, we will be looking to extend our unbeaten streak to three matches tomorrow evening.
Be sure to join us for our return to Beveree Stadium as we face Slough Town August 22nd, Tickets are available HERE!
Up the Beavers!
By Jack Lonergan