Horndean aim to transfer impressive Wessex League form into the FA Vase

The Deans, third in the Wessex Premier, host a Bexhill side currently eighth in the Southern Combination League in the first round on Saturday.

Horndean have rattled off six successive Wessex wins, conceding only two goals. Indeed, they possess one of the best defensive records in the whole of non-league football with only three goals conceded in nine league matches.

But boss Michael Birmingham is taking nothing for granted, having had the Sussex club watched since the draw was made.

‘They’re a good footballing side. Their results have been a bit inconsistent but we’ll give them the utmost respect,’ he said.

‘We’ve had them watched and I’ve picked the brains of some of my Sussex contacts.

‘These games are what cup competitions are all about, a bit of the unknown. I’m glad it’s not Wessex League v Wessex League.’

Bexhill’s nine-goal top scorer this season is winger Jack Shonk, once of the Brighton & Hove Albion academy. He was also top scorer in 2021/22, with 33 goals in 43 league and cup fixtures

Much-travelled striker Evan Archibald is another threat, the former Worthing and Dorking forward having scored five times this season - after bagging 29 in all competitions last season when Bexhill finished fourth in the Southern Combination.

Horndean have never progressed beyond the third round of the Vase. In 2012/13 Dave Carter’s side were thumped 5-0 by Wessex rivals Bemerton and in 2017/18 - Birmingham’s second season at Five Heads Park - they lost 2-1 at another Wessex side, Hamble, in the last 64.

Birmingham admits all PO postcode clubs should take inspiration from US Portsmouth’s fairytale run to the semi-finals of the Vase two seasons ago.

‘There was a fantastic buzz around the city,’ he recalled. ‘A step 6 club were seven minutes away from Wembley.

‘They beat some big clubs who were paying bundles of money.

‘A lot of teams probably under-estimated them, and I think lockdown had a massive impact too.

‘It seemed every week there was a big game so they had momentum. If it had been a normal league season, you’d have had league games in between the rounds and that could have affected the momentum.

‘But what they did was an unbelievable achievement.’

Horndean remain without injured striker Connor Duffin as they bid to reach the second round for the first time since 2018/19, when they lost 2-0 to eventual winners Chertsey Town.

The Deans have a huge Wessex Premier fixture next Tuesday, at home to table-topping AFC Portchester.

But Birmingham insists Saturday’s team selection won’t be made with that league encounter in mind.