An Urchins Review

Overall, September was a highly positive month for the Urchins as they remain unbeaten in league and cup- and reaching the league summit (for now) in the process.

Hornchurch’s footballing journey this month began on a sunny afternoon at Bridge Avenue. They played hosts to Eastern Counties League Premier Division club Fakenham Town in the FA Cup 1st qualifying round. Hornchurch started brightly, and throughout the first half Fakenham found themselves under a high amount of pressure to defend their half, thanks to Hornchurch’s good attacking performance. In one particular chance Hornchurch’s Toby Byron found the ball with his head, and narrowly missed the goal with the ball hitting the woodwork. Despite their bright start, Hornchurch were unable to find the net in the first half. However, this would change significantly in the second forty-five with Ade Yusuff opening the scoring in the 56th minute from close range. On the hour, Sam Higgins was substituted on and instantly created an impact, doubling Hornchurch’s lead just 11 minutes later. Shortly after, Sean Scannell increased the Urchins’ lead to three, and Higgins captured his brace just two minutes later. Hornchurch continued their attacking dominance despite Fakenham’s defence’s best efforts and finished off the game with a late second goal from Yusuff.

This emphatic win sent Hornchurch spiralling into the next Qualifying round, where they would face Witham Town away. Although before that, they faced a tricky fixture at the Maurice Rebak Stadium, home of Wingate + Finchley. Despite the early pressure coming from the home team, there was another challenge posed at Hornchurch, this being the sweltering conditions of the match. Fortunately, Steve Morison’s side were able to weather this pressure, going ahead after 15 minutes through Sam Higgins, and doubling their lead in the 18th minute Ryan Scott header. Finchley were attacking well, with Ben Frempah attempting a spectacular acrobatic shot but were unable to find the net in the remainder of the first half. Hornchurch had to defend harder in the second 45, with increasing chances coming from the home team. However, they were given some more room to relax with 77th and 85th minute goals from the other 2 scorers from the Fakenham match – Ade Yusuff and Sean Scannell. Hornchurch would have been confident of a clean sheet going into the final 5 minutes; however, this was not to be the case as Elliot Long scored for Wingate- albeit a consolation- in the 87th minute.

The following Saturday, there was expectation for the Urchins to maintain their excellent recent attacking performances in league and cup. Hornchurch did just that, cruising into the next round with a dominant 5-1 win against Witham Town of the Isthmian North. Going into this game, Steve Morison made clear his squad rotation policy, evident with only Three of the previous starting XI taking the field today. Lewwis Spence took the armband and produced a fine performance, being the first to score in only the seventh minute. Still, the home side were not dispelled and had several attempts to level the game, but Hornchurch turned up the tempo- Ade Yusuff being the man to make it 2-0. Just before the break, Witham made things worse for themselves with Rowan Dowling receiving a red card for a pull on George Saunders. Saunders’ chance creation continued, and he finally found the net in the second half. Witham were able to pull a goal back shortly after, but this was of little impact, Yusuff finding the net for a second time shortly after, reinstating the Urchins’ three-goal lead. In the death of the game, Yusuff crashed the ball into the net, winning him the match ball and sending all the Hornchurch fans home with smiles on faces.

On the 21st of September, the club announced its second signing from manager Steve Morison’s previous club; EFL Championship side Cardiff City. This time, the player was 21 year-old Lennon Peake, who used to be a member of West Ham Under 21s. He is an exciting midfielder and winger and looks to be a fine addition to the squad.

The Urchins persevered into their third consecutive away game, this time back in league action against Haringey Borough. Contrary to the last three games, Hornchurch had a very slow start not managing a single shot on goal in the first 45. Haringey, taking advantage of the poor performance, dominated the half creating some very promising chances- luckily for the away team none managed to find the net. Still struggling, Morison made two impactful changes, bringing on Sam Higgins and Joe Christou. This shifted the balance of the game, with Hornchurch managing to produce some good attacking plays, but ultimately Haringey got a deserving goal in the 74th minute. From this point, the away side began to play with much more fluency and threat but were unfortunate to not manage to find an equalizer. That is until – with seconds left on the clock – a corner played towards the far post and a Ryan Scott header managing to beat the keeper. It seemed the final score would be a draw, Hornchurch relieved while the home side rather disappointed. Then, to all of the 429 watching on, a great shock came. Hornchurch free kick - played from the far post - headed back across the goal- and resulting in Ade Yusuff scoring a heroic bicycle kick to stun the crowd.

Finally, Hornchurch faced Dulwich Hamlet at The Bridge, rescheduled after FA Cup action. Although new signings were present, there was a debutant as Hornchurch introduced a new re-useable cup scheme. This action emphasises the club’s initiative to reduce plastic waste and was embraced by all supporters. Moving on to the game, and the Urchins started incredibly, thanks to an incredible solo performance from their number 10, Liam Nash , who scored a brace in the first 10 minutes. Dulwich found themselves under pressure to fight back, and the remainder of the first half saw both teams play some very good football. This continued into the second half, with it becoming more and more evident that Dulwich were eyeing a comeback. Hornchurch began to lose some momentum, mainly due to the injury of key player Sean Scannell, and ultimately ended up conceding but still winning the match 2-1. The late Dulwich goal did nothing to ruin the mood of the Urchins’ fans, as chants celebrating the club’s new ‘top of the league’ status echoed around the stadium.

To end a fantastic month, Steve Morison was deservedly awarded the Vita Risk Solutions Isthmian League Premier Division Manager of the Month for September 2023. Congratulations to Steve for an excellent month.

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