Jersey met Horley for the first time this season after two contentious postponements on November 4th at Horley and March 16th at Springfield. South Park approached Horley to ensure this one went ahead, as further rain was forecast on an already damp pitch, so the fixture was switched to South Park’s artificial surface at Reigate.
Horley finished 17th last season and are 14th this with a record of 10-7-14 61-63. They were higher but lost 7 in a row after Christmas but since then away wins at Sandhurst Town, Cobham and Epsom & Ewell plus a point at Tadley Calleva have kept them clear of the relegation area. In the cups they were eliminated by league compatriots in each one – A.F.C. Croydon Athletic in the F.A. Cup, Abbey Rangers in the F.A. Vase and Farnham Town in the League Cup.

Jersey made four changes, Kamen Nafkha replaced the unavailable Ben Le Rougetel and three other places were rotated. Fergus Boyle, Adam Trotter and Fraser Barlow coming in for Jay Giles, Luke Watson and Miguel Carvalho respectively, the latter were all on the bench.

On a very wet evening (9C) with a strong south-westerly wind Jersey won the tossand elected to face the wind and the rain, so Horley kicked off attacking the Northend. Jersey got off to the start they needed when Jonny Le Quesne astutely played in Lorne Bickley right of centre with a diagonal pass with the outside of his boot. In space Bickley made no mistake as he drilled in a well hit cross shot into the bottom left corner from twelve yards. Bickley almost scored again five minutes later when he latched on to a deflected cross shot but his header was clawed away by George Hyde. Barlow was just beaten to the loose ball by a defender who unfortunately came off worse as Barlow charged in and Barlow went into the referee’s notebook.

Much of the rest of the half was midfield “head tennis” with long range shots from Le Quesne and Trotter both easily saved by Hyde. For Horley Lewis Pearch put in a couple of dangerous crosses that needed a touch but both sailed past everybody. As the interval approached Hyde needed two attempts to stop another Bickley shot and Barlow fizzed a fierce left footer just over from twenty-five yards.

Horley who had lost central defender Lewis Taylor before half time made two more changes at the break with Matt Rapson taking over the armband and early in the second half they lost their other central defender, Ben Drake, too. At the hour mark Horley briefly applied some pressure but nothing came of it and Jersey relieved the threat of an equaliser by scoring a second. A move from the left of the box involving Bickley, Barlow, Trotter, Watson and finally Le Quesne saw the last named on the right hit a low shot home from ten yards. Trotter made the third, robbing Josh Rapson near the half way line and as he fell he set Bickley free and in oceans of room the striker dummied the advancing Hyde and stroked the ball home from near the penalty spot to seal the win. Now definitely beaten there was a bit of tetchiness late in the game and when substitute Josh Alder “took out” Carvalho as he broke down the left flank Alder joined Barlow in the referee’s notebook on a night when the rain did not stop from first to last.

Horley Town 0, Jersey Bulls 3 (Lorne Bickley 9 & 85, Jonny Le Quesne 70)
(played at South Park, Reigate)

Attendance – 79

Programme – xx pages, £x

Horley Town – George Hyde, Matt Rapson (vc), Owen Ansell, Louis Chin (c), Ben Drake, Lewis Taylor, Lewis Pearch, Mohssine Sabek, Sam Harper Jake Roberts, Will May
Subs – 12. Scott Walker (for Drake 50), 14. Josh Rapson (for Chin 46), 15. Josh Alder (for Sabek 78), 16. Dan Stone (for Taylor 34), 17. Warren Colman (for May 46)

Colours – Claret(Light Blue shoulders)/Claret/Light Blue; GK – Orange/Black/Orange

Martin Rapson and Tyler Chambers (Joint Managers), Lydia Passera-Hughes (Physio.)

Jersey Bulls – Pierce Roche, James Queree (c), Fergus Boyle, Harry Curtis, Luke Campbell, Kamen Nafkha, Jonny Le Quesne, Adam Trotter, Lorne Bickley, Ruben Mendes, Fraser Barlow
Subs – 14, Miguel Carvalho (for Le Quesne 76), 15. Jay Giles (for Boyle 71), 16. Luke Watson (for Mendes 64), only three substitutes

Colours – White/Light Blue/White; GK All Green

Manager – Gary Freeman (Manager), Dan Seviour (Coach), Richard Hebert (GK Coach & Physio.)

Formations
Horley Town – (4-3-3 R to L) 1; 2-5-6-3; 8-4-10; 7-9-11

Jersey Bulls – (4-1-4-1 R to L) 1; 2-4-5-3; 6; 7-8-10-11; 9

Referee – Alex McKay (Sutton) Refereed the Tooting match at Springfield in August.

Assistants – Daniel Killick (Epsom) on the dug outs side, his first Jersey match. Roger Wells (Coulsdon) on the grandstand side. On the line at Springfield last month when Sandhurst visited as well as our visit to Balham in August. He was also on the line for both matches against Horley last season.

Cautions – Fraser Barlow (JB) 15, Josh Alder (HT) 88

Corners – Horley Town (2) 6, Jersey Bulls (3) 4

Player of the Match – Lorne Bickley

Added Time – 3.05 & 4.35 (7.40)