Bowler late show breaks Hornchurch hearts



Josh Bowler strikes in extra time to send Blackpool through to Round 2

 

In their first appearance in the first round proper in 18 years, Hornchurch suffered late heartache with a dramatic 2-1 defeat, after extra time, at home to League One outfit Blackpool.

Henry Hearn gave the Essex side the lead on 30 minutes as a low cross from Angelo Balanta presented him with a simple tap-in, but The Seasiders levelled thanks to a stunning strike from Jordan Brown ten minutes after the restart.

Hornchurch’s Henry Sandat saw red in extra time for pulling back Josh Bowler as the last man, before Bowler side-footed a winner past Arthur Nasta after 118 minutes.

 

The opening exchanges were scrappy and even, with both sides being restricted to few chances until Hearn’s opener.

The Hornchurch striker, who netted the opener in The Urchins’ fourth qualifying round victory at Uxbridge, was introduced in place of the injured Ryan Loft early on. The 22-year-old broke the deadlock on the half-hour mark as the impressive Walker slid a ball into veteran forward Balanta, who played a perfect low ball across the six-yard box, on a plate for Hearn to tap home past Northern Ireland international goalkeeper Peacock-Farrell.

Former FA Cup winners Blackpool came into the match without a win in nine, but they dominated after half-time and got their reward on 55 minutes. A corner was half-cleared, with the ball falling to Brown on the edge of the box who let fly with a powerful strike that left Urchins goalkeeper Arthur Nasta rooted to the spot.

The Seasiders, in their navy away kit, had several good chances to take the lead shortly after, notably when the lively Bowler, introduced in pace of Jordan Williams at half-time, cut in from the right-hand side, but his shot was denied well by Nasta.

The National League side had chances of their own in the second half, however, and substitute Dom Poleon was denied well by Peacock-Farrell before Alfie Massey hit a powerful low drive just wide, and with nothing to separate the sides, extra time loomed.

The extra 30 minutes saw little happen until Bowler was played in behind the Hornchurch defence and Sandat, in an act of desperation, pulled back the winger. Referee Harrison Blair deemed the Urchins’ number 11 to be the last man, and produced a straight red card. The resulting free-kick was thundered off the crossbar by substitute Finley Munroe.

But Bowler had the last say in the tie, side-footing home from Tom Bloxham’s pass with two minutes of extra time remaining to break The Urchins’ hearts, as they sought a club-record-equalling FA Cup run to no avail.

“I think we competed really well, I’m proud of the players and staff,” Hornchurch boss Daryl McMahon reflected. “We played an established Football League team, former Cup winners, and we put in a sterling performance.

“There were plenty of positives from today to take into our league campaign. We want to establish ourselves in the National League, and we’ve shown our potential today.”

 

Hornchurch 1 (Hearn 30) Blackpool 2 (Brown 55, Bowler 118)


Match ratings:


Hornchurch (3-5-2): Nasta 6; Dallison 7 (Edwards 6), Taylor 7, Adelusi 6; Weston 6 (Lowe 6), Wraight 6, Massey 6, Walker 7 (Bracking 6), Pegrum 6 (Sandat 4); Balanta 6 (Poleon 7), Loft 5 (Hearn 7). Subs not used: Byrne, Powell, Ferguson.


Blackpool (3-5-2): Peacock-Farrell 6; Williams 5 (Bowler 8), Casey 6, Ashworth 6; Lyons 6 (Munroe 6), Brown 7, Morgan 6 (Clarkson 5), Anderson 6, Niskanen 6; Yates 5 (Bloxham 6), Charles 5 (Taylor 6). Subs not used: Southwood, Coulson, Nwankwo, Hunter.


Referee: Harrison Blair

Star man: Josh Bowler (Blackpool)

Attendance: 2,124 (320 away)

Entertainment Rating: 4/5


Shots on target: 4 / 4

Shots off target: 4 / 9

Corners: 2 / 8

Offsides: 2 / 2

Fouls conceded: 10 / 16

Yellow cards: 3 / 0

Red cards: 1 / 0

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
Essex Senior League 2026/27: My Preview and Predictions   Here we go again. A new season is upon us in the Essex Senior League: new teams, old friends (or enemies), new grounds, but the same levels of entertainment. It’s time for my annual pre-season predictions, which I got very wrong last year (with apologies to fans of Ilford, Little Oakley and Benfleet, among many others). Disclaimer before we start: these are solely my opinions, don’t take my word as gospel. If you don’t agree with any, let’s have a healthy debate instead of telling me that I’m wrong, and we’ll see who’s right in May! Now that all the talking’s done, let’s get into this…   20 th : Hackney Wick Last season: 12 th Manager: Amran El-Kaouny Stadium: Spa Road, Witham   Well, someone has to come bottom. I decide the league table team-by-team and place them among previously-selected teams to decide where I think they will finish, and unfortunately, Hackney Wick came bottom. N...
Read more
Image
  OPINION: Essex Senior League: 2025/26 Preview & Predictions     The Essex Senior League is among the most competitive and high-profile Step 5 leagues in the country. As well as being impossible to predict (who would’ve tipped both Stanway Rovers and Takeley for promotion last year?), the division, consisting of 20 sides from across Essex and East London, is full of quality that is often slept on, given that this is the 9 th tier of English football – every year a handful of players earn moves to clubs in much higher divisions. Who will be the breakout stars of the season? That remains to be seen, but in the meantime, let me put my neck on the line and attempt the impossible task of predicting the Essex Senior League table for the 2025/26 season.   20 th – Ilford   This Essex Senior League campaign will be arguably the most competitive in the competition’s history, with plenty of teams who have enough on paper to challenge for promotion....
Read more
Image
Nunes late winner defeats resolute Villa   Mateus Nunes scores a late winner for City.   Mateus Nunes’ first Premier League goal for Manchester City gave Pep Guardiola’s side a priceless victory in the race for a Champions League finish, defeating Aston Villa 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday evening. Bernardo Silva put City ahead from 12 yards after seven minutes following good work from Omar Marmoush, before Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford, who put in a dynamic display, coolly scored from the penalty spot shortly after, following good work from Jacob Ramsey to draw a foul from Ruben Dias. Villa frustrated City throughout the match, not letting them break through their solid defence, right until stoppage time when they were beaten by Nunes, who appeared at the back post getting on the end of Jeremy Doku’s low cross and sending the home fans into raptures. Both teams rotated their starting teams from the previous match, with one eye on their respective upcoming FA ...
Read more