Bognor fell to their 24th loss of the season against Horsham at Nyewood Lane despite a strong start from the Rocks with Lennie Smith taking an early lead.

Lennie Smith got an early cross in from the right but Lewis Carey gathered that well in the Horsham goal.

Tommy-Lee Higgs fouled Reece Myles-Meekums about 25 yards out.  James Hammond curled it in but Calvin Davies headed it out again on ten minutes.

Chad Field put the ball through the middle for Higgs to chase.  He had only Carey to beat but his shot was diverted away by the goalkeeper.

Smith was looking for the run of Higgs but he was running back from an offside position on 15 minutes as it was a fairly cagey opening moments.

Then Dion Jarvis controlled the ball from outside the box and fired it on the bounce well wide.

Bognor got the opening goal when a nice move from Jasper Mather saw him run down Doug Tuck’s long pass, to turn inside and then left-footed, he played the cross into the heart of the box and up popped Smith to nod in his first goal for the Rocks from close range on 18 minutes.

Ola Ogunwamide went around Davies and went to ground in the area but no penalty was awarded to Horsham on 21 minutes.

On 27 minutes it was Bognor on the attack again as Tuck pushed the ball onto Preston Woolston who chipped it over to the right for Smith to hook in a neat cross that found Jarvis in the air but he headed it wide of the left post.

Lucas Rodrigues beat Ryan Hall to the ball and the goalkeeper caught him and the referee pointed straight to the spot. Hammond stepped up in the 30th minute and he hit it low toward the bottom right corner.  But it was well saved by Hall, who pushed it away down to his left.

Preston Woolston was caught napping and it was Myles-Meekums who got the low cross in but Davies shepherded it out for a corner.  The Bognor captain headed out the resulting corner again.  Hammond’s second corner kick swirled staight off the pitch on 42 minutes.

Jarvis committed a foul just before half time.  Harvey Sparks hit the curling ball deep into the area but Jack Strange glanced his headed wide.

HT 1 – 0

Almost straight after the second half kick off, Smith had made it to the edge of the box to shoot but a defender bravely blocked it and diverted it away.

Bognor conceded the equaliser as an unfortunate moment saw Harvey Whyte divert into his own net following a low ball into the area by Myles-Meekums.  The ball rolled beyond a diving Hall in the 48th minute.

Rodrigues was in acres of space as his lobbed Hall and it just flew narrowly over the Bognor crossbar soon after.

Hammond hit a 52nd minute corner towards the back post that saw Strange meet it in the air but his header bounced wide.

Charlie Hester-Cook appeared fo fall on his left arm and had to be stretchered off the pitch eventually on 56 minutes.  Jack Brivio replaced him off the bench.

Mather did well to dig out a cross from the left to find Higgs at the back post on 60 minutes.  His header saw Carey have to tip it around his goal in a good chance for Bognor.

Davies went into the book after he tripped up his man after Higgs went down in a previous challenge.  Hammond was over the ball for the freekick.  He chipped his set piece over the defence and harmlessly out for a goal kick.

Smith ran down a lost cause to win a corner on 74 minutes and Higgs congratulated him with a high five.  Davies’s corner found the head of Field and but he was blocked off.

Mather went into the book for dissent on 75 minutes in the build up to a Bognor throw in.  Mather then hooked a cross into the area but Carey gathered it.

Bognor had to defend it again as another corner was swung in with Field heading it away and then Jarvis powered it away before winning a freekick for offside.

On 81 minutes it was Danny Barker who got the last touch from Sparks’ right sided corner.  The ball fell to his feet kindly in the crowded penalty area and he tapped in.

Then Lee Harding met the high hanging corner from Sparks but this time he headed it wide on 85 minutes.

Another corner saw the ball fly high into the box and it was substitute Shamir Fenelon who bundled it in on 87 minutes.  The referee awarded the goal after there was claims for a handball as the ball landed in the area.

Jarvis was bundled over but got the ball first to Higgs as the referee waved play on but his strike flew straight at Carey.

Six minutes were added on at the end as the sun arrived at Nyewood Lane.

Myles-Meekums did well to control the ball before running inside and shooting high and wide for the visitors inside the 4th minute of stoppage time.

Then Davies swung in a left sided corner almost into the net soon after as time ticked by.  The goalkeeper got something on it, meaning another corner. But that came to nothing as Bognor lost this match, but played with real spirit and the manager’s will be proud of the effort they put in against Horsham.  Bognor play their final game of the season next Saturday 26th April when they travel to another relegated side in Hendon, hoping to end their season on a high with kick off at 3pm.

FT 1 – 3

Rocks: Hall, Davies (c), Kingswell, Whyte, Jarvis, Field, Smith, Mather, Higgs, Tuck, Woolston

Subs: Chester, Horstead, Murphy, Rogers, Gifford

Pictured is man of the match Calvin Davies getting the bubbly from match sponsor Gary Yates from GP Products UK.