This was Jersey’s second meeting with Horley in a fortnight after they had failed to travel to Springfield exactly a month ago. They had arrived on the ‘plane with considerable excess baggage and had refused to pay the charges levied by Easy Jet for doing so. Horley finished 17th last season and are 14th this with a record of 10-7-17 62-70. They were higher but lost 7 in a row after Christmas and had lost their last four too, including the 0-3 home defeat by Jersey on 2nd April. 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 three changes to the team that had won at Tooting with Kamen Nafkha, Ruben Mendes and Miguel Carvalho replacing Ben Le Rougetel, Luke Watson and Fraser Barlow who were all on the bench along with Fergus Boyle and Francis Lekimamati. On a chilly (12C) evening with a westerly wind Horley kicked off attacking the Robin Hood end in Jersey’s first ever midweek home league fixture.

Jersey took an early lead when a cross from the left evaded Jonny Le Quesne in the centre but Lorne Bickley arriving beyond the far post swept in a half volley before George Hyde in the Horley goal had time to re-adjust his position. In the tenth minute Bickley played in Mendes in the left channel but Hyde just got enough on it to enable Owen Ansell to get back and hook it off the line. However, the second goal was not long in arriving and it was another for the goal of the season short list. Adam Trotter crossed from the right and Bickley at near post ten yards out, with his back to the goal, back heeled it in to the bottom right corner past a bemused Hyde. It was Bickley’s seventh goal in the last four games as his rich vein of form continued.

Jersey continued to dominate possession for the remainder of the half. Le Quesne headed a Carvalho cross wide, Mendes had a free kick gathered by Hyde at the second attempt, Bickley went for his hat trick from 35 yards and skipper James Queree, foraging forward, tested Hyde from twenty-five yards too. Bickley had a couple more half chances before the interval but nothing came of them nor the six corners Jersey had before the break.

On the resumption Jersey soon went three up. Bickley broke down the left channel but, at too narrow an angle to shoot himself, squared the ball to the far post where Le Quesne had made up considerable ground to be in position for a tap in. Soon afterwards there were half hearted penalty appeals when Bickley was brought down and just before the hour Horley had their first serious attempt when a Sam Harpershot was collected by Pierce Roche.

After an hour Jersey began utilising their substitutes. With two minutes left Barlow was bundled over for what nearly everyone in the ground, except the one that mattered, thought was a penalty. In added time Cameron Gyeabour hit the Jersey bar from 20 yards but Roche was able to keep his fifth successive clean sheet.

Jersey Bulls 3 (Lorne Bickley 4 & 13, Jonny Le Quesne 52), Horley Town 0

Attendance – 662

Programme – 32pp, £3.50 (16th March P-P edition re-issued without any update)

Jersey Bulls – Pierce Roche, James Queree (c), Jay Giles, Harry Curtis, Luke Campbell, Kamen Nafkha, Jonny Le Quesne, Adam Trotter, Lorne Bickley, Ruben Mendes, Miguel Carvalho
Substitutes – 12. Ben Le Rougetel (for Mendes 71), 15. Fergus Boyle (for Nafkha 76), 16. Francis Lekimamati (for Carvalho 60), 18. Luke Watson (for Trotter 71), 19. Fraser Barlow (for Bickley 60)

Red/White/Red; GK All Green

Gary Freeman (Manager), Kevan Nelson (Assistant), Dan Seviour (Coach), Richard Hebert (GK Coach), Steve Martin (Physio.)

Horley Town – George Hyde, Joe Carrington, Owen Ansell, Louis Chin (c), Josh Rapson (vc), Warren Colman, Cameron Gyeabour, Scott Walker, Sam Harper, Will May, Cordell Whyte
Subs – 12. Harry Hendy (for Carrington 46), 14. Mohssine Sabek (for Chin 59), 15. Sam Luard (for Colman 72), 16. Lewis Barker-Bateman (for Whyte 67), 17. Josh Alder (for Harper 72)

All Navy Blue; GK – Orange/Black/Orange

Tyler Chambers (Manager), Paul Hammond (Coach), Lydia Passera-Hughes (Physio.)

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

Referee – Ayodele “Dele” Sotimirin (Brixton) refereed Jersey matches at Beckenham Town and at home against Sheerwater in 2021-22 as well as the pre-season friendly against Kettering Town and the league match against Abbey Rangers in 2022-23. A 46-year-old of Nigerian descent who was with the Combined Counties League before progressing to become an assistant referee in the Conference League. Preferring the greater involvement of being in “the middle” he returned to the Combined Counties League six seasons ago.

Assistants – Andrew Barrett (Thame, near Oxford) on the dug outs side, qualified in 2010 and has officiated in the Hellenic and Spartan leagues prior to joining the Combined Counties this season. Laurence “Larry” Smith (Datchet, near Windsor) on the grandstand side. Originally from Walthamstow, a referee for 42 years. Reached Level 3 and was running the lines at Conference level for 7 years. He then took a break from officiating before returning to the Spartan League and is now in his third season with the Combined Counties League. Both on their first Jersey Bulls match.

Caution – Cameron Gyeabour (HT) 50

Corners – Jersey Bulls (6) 7; Horley Town (0) 4

Player of the Match – Lorne Bickley

Added Time – 3.30 & 4.00 (7.30)