Hythe’s poor away form continued as they went down 2-1 at high flying Horsham on Saturday afternoon.
The early exchanges saw the majority of pressure coming from Horsham who pressed strongly but the Hythe defence stayed firm. Lee Harding was first to threaten on eleven minutes as he broke through but his shot went just the wrong side of the upright. Hythe were creating some chances on the break and on sixteen minutes Zak Ansah laid the ball off to Ryan Palmer. His shot took a big deflection off defender Harvey Sparks forcing Horsham keeper Josh Pelling to back pedal tipping the ball just over the bar. However, the majority of the chances were coming for Horsham. A Harding corner found Joe Shelley whose glancing header went wide and then a cross from the left by George Hayward was also headed wide by Chris Smith.
It was no surprise when the Hornets took the lead on 22 minutes as Harding weaved his way in through the Hythe defence to fire the ball into the corner of the net to make it 1-0. Palmer did cause some panic in the home defence on 27 minutes as Dylan Merchant skewed his clearance but luckily for Horsham it was saved by Pelling. However, Horsham increased their lead on 33 minutes as Hayward turned and shot past Hythe keeper Tony Coxall. At the other end Charlie Webster passed to Chris Kinnear but he lifted the ball over the bar but it was Horsham who continued to look the more likely but they failed to take some golden opportunities.
A cross from the ever-dangerous Harding nearly found Rob O’Toole but he could not get a foot on the ball to divert it into the net and then two opportunities in injury time at the end of the half saw a neat ball from Smith find O’Toole who took his shot too early and Coxall saved easily and then Harding weaved his way in again but his final effort went over.
The first opportunity of the second half fell to Hythe as Sid Sollis launched a shot over the bar and then a Tom Carlton cross was met by Kinnear but that also went over. However, Horsham continued to press as Harding sent in a curling cross from the left but Shelley could not convert at the far post and then a shot from O’Toole went straight into the arms of Coxall. This was followed by a Smith cross that was side footed by O’Toole again directly at Coxall
Hythe were looking a little more promising as the half progressed and they narrowed the gap on 72 minutes as a Nigel Neita cross found Sollis who headed down into the bottom corner of the net to make it 2-1. Two excellent saves followed by Hythe’s man of the match Coxall as he firstly saved well following a neat one-two between Kieran Lavery and Jack Brivo and then he saved with his legs from Hayward after a cross from O’Toole. The hosts continued to look more dangerous as Dan Pearse ran in and drove the ball over the bar. A late opportunity for the visitors saw Ollie Rowe up in attack being denied by a block by the Horsham defence but there was no way back in the game for the Cannons who now look back to Guernsey at the start of December for their last win on the road.
Hythe must again look to get the season back on track as the possibility of a play-off place looks more unlikely as they slipped to eighth place in the table. Whyteleafe visit Reachfields next Saturday (9th March) in Hythe’s next game.
Team: Tony Coxall, Salvyn Kisitu (Elliot Capel 90 mins), Charlie Webster, Chris Kinnear, Ollie Rowe, Mitchell Dickenson, Ryan Palmer (Jack Sammoutis 55 mins), Tom Carlton, Zak Ansah, Sid Sollis, Kieron Campbell (Nigel Neita 65 mins).
Scorers: Horsham – Lee Harding 22 mins, George Hayward 33 mins. Hythe Town – Sid Sollis 72 mins.
Attendance 192