Action from the FA Trophy quarter-final matches
HORNCHURCH’S remarkable FA Trophy run continues. They upset the odds again, this time beating Darlington in the FA Trophy quarter-finals, meaning for the fifth time this season Mark Stimson’s battlers saw off a side from above them in the pyramid.
Sam Higgins’s second-half penalty earned the win for the Isthmian League Premier side after Liam Nash had put the Urchins ahead to keep their remarkable season alive.
They are now one game from Wembley and, in Mark Stimson, have a manager who has won the competition four times previously.
He said: “We said this was an achievement, to get through to the quarter-finals, so to get through to the semis is way beyond what we were thinking.
“In the end I think we deserved it because we defended with our heart.
“I’ve had some fantastic experiences in the Trophy, but I’ve told the boys to make your own memories.
“We were missing a couple of players, but the boy Higgins has somehow made it after a hamstring injury, I’m amazed he did, but he played his part.”
While there was so much at stake at Blackwell Meadows, neither side exercised caution with some meaty challenges going in from Darlington and Hornchurch piling forward from an early stage, both Higgins and Ellis Brown firing off-target.
On-loan Darlington debutant Sol Brynn was called on to make his first save, diving low to his left to keep out a drive by Nash.
But there a huge opportunity was wasted by Darlington when Hornchurch defender Remi Sutton trod on the ball on the edge of the penalty area, and Dan Maguire tried a chip but got it horribly wrong.
Sutton atoned, playing a huge role when Hornchurch got the goal they had been threatening. It came after 26 minutes, captialising on Erico Sousa’s pass going to Sutton, and he burst forward, exchanging passes before breaking into the penalty area and teeing up Nash to side-foot home.
Quakers started poorly but grew into the contest and after a bright spell equalised in added time, Sousa firing across goalkeeper Joe Wright after an Adam Campbell pass.
But eight minutes into the second half Hornhurch regained their lead, and again Darlington gave them a hand.
After Michael Liddle gave the ball away, goalkeeper Brynn, who joined from Middlesbrough on Friday, fouled Nash and was unable to keep out Higgins’ spotkick.
Campbell’s shot appeared to be blocked in the 18yard box by Sutton’s hand, but referee Martin Woods played on as Darlington’s hopes slowly seeped away without seriously troubling Wright.
Their misery was compounded when Will Hatfield was dismissed late on after colliding with Rickie Hayles.
Deflated Darlington manager Alun Amstrong admitted: “It’s a missed opportunity and I’m absolutely gutted. If you don’t take your chances you’re never going to win, and we created enough.”
STAR MAN: Sam Higgins (Hornchurch)
ENTERTAINMENT: ★★★★★
REFEREE: Martin Woods