Horndean’s prolific striker Connor Duffin on verge of setting new club Wessex League goals record

The striker took his seasonal Wessex League Premier Division tally to 31 with a double strike in Tuesday’s 2-0 victory at Fareham.

That equalled Graham Lindsay’s seasonal Wessex League record for the club set in 2007/08.

Duffin still has a possible 11 games left this season to set a new record - starting with this weekend’s trip to Blackfield & Langley.

Remarkably, a second Horndean player - Zack Willett - could also break Lindsay’s record this term.

In a spectacular first season at step 5 level, the jet-heeled former Paulsgrove player has struck 28 Premier Division goals.

Including cup goals, Duffin has netted 32 times this season while Willett has 31. They are two of the top three scorers in the Wessex Premier, with Portchester’s Lee Wort also on 31 following his midweek double at Alresford.

In terms of just league goals, Duffin and Willett are numbers one and two in the race for the Wessex League golden boot.

Both players will be confident of overhauling Lindsay’s haul of 35 league and cup goals in 2007/08 - the highest number by a Horndean player in a single Wessex League campaign.

This weekend’s trip to Blackfield is the third tough away game for Michael Birmingham’s table-toppers in eight days.

A 3-1 win on Stoneham’s artificial turf was followed by the midweek success at Fareham. The latter win, coupled with Hamworthy’s shock draw at rock bottom Amesbury, saw Horndean open up a two-point lead - though the Hammers still have two games in hand.

It is one of football’s cliches that teams raise their game when playing their division’s table-toppers, but Birmingham isn’t buying it.

‘I don’t believe in all that,’ he remarked. ‘Every game is hard - it’s how you approach it.

‘You shouldn’t need any extra motivation just because you’re playing a team at the top.

‘You should have the self-motivation whether you’re playing a team at the top, middle or bottom.’

Birmingham also says he is not concerned about how the other teams challenging for the title and one play-off spot are faring.

‘I don’t look at other results,’ he said. ‘I just worry about my own side. I am sure Tim Sills at Hamworthy is doing the same.’

The tough games keep on coming for Horndean, who after travelling to Blackfield host Baffins Milton Rovers on February 12.

Winger Harry Jackson will miss the Baffins game after being dismissed for two yellow cards in the win at Fareham.

The second caution was a needless challenge near the halfway line with the game already won, but Birmingham was more annoyed with the first yellow he was shown by referee Jacob Wright.

‘The second one was a yellow 100 per cent,’ he stated. ‘I can understand why he made the tackle, I can’t understand why he did it having already been booked.

‘I couldn’t believe Harry got booked for the first challenge. It was embarrassing, pathetic. I was going to send my physios on because I thought he (Wright) must have dislocated his shoulder getting the card out so quickly.

‘That was after the referee had spent so long in the game talking to Gary Austin he must have known his entire life story.’