‘We found a way – winners find a way’ - Horsham assistant manager hails Sussex Senior Cup triumph

Horsham took the lead inside six minutes through Reece Myles-Meekums, who drove into the box and slotted the ball expertly past Charlie Grainger in the Hastings net.

Horsham’s lead was doubled through Shamir Fenelon from a close-range header before Dan Ajakaiye made it three in the second half as he ran past the Hastings defence and slid the ball into the back of the net.

It was a memorable night for the Hornets, with assistant manager Meeney saying: “It’s a perfect performance, three goals, clean sheet, win, a trophy.”

Myles-Meekums’ goal gave Horsham a huge boost in the early stages, something that Meeney said was important. He said: “It’s important in any game including a cup final. We want to start fast, especially in a cup final – it calms the nerves, and that gave us motivation to kick on and gave us a foundation to win us the game and I think we used that really well to control parts of the game and get the job done.”

See Jon Meeney’s full press conference in the video player above

Horsham have had a long season, including this cup run and a run to the play-offs, and have played 62 games in all, in a mega effort by all the players.

Meeney was full of praise for them: “This was a collective effort. To play 62 games, part time semi-professional football with other jobs, what these boys contributed for the whole journey this season.

How the match unfolded.

Horsham’s Cup win in pictures by Natalie Mayhew-Butterfly Football.

What Di Paola and Brivio said about the win.

“Everyone had to pull and push in the same direction, and I think that sums us up this year, with people saying we might get fatigued, we might slow down, we found a way, winners find a way.”

After a tough loss last week in the play-offs away to Chatham Town on penalties, Meeney and his coaching staff had a job to do to pick these players up for the final.

He said instructions to them after the Chatham loss were clear: “Spend time with your family, even though it is semi-pro, and it is not professional just have a complete reset, go and enjoy the bank holiday, but we pulled them in last night (Tuesday) and we said all we ask is just 24 hours more of work, just one training session to prep and unleash within our performance and stick to it.”

At half time, when 2-0 up, Meeney said thp players drove the first part of the team talk,adding: “They are all established players, then we supported it.

“The word mentality was spoken about, can we go get a third, can we go get a fourth. They were happy with the shape, so it was about maintaining that but within that what I added was making sure we still have intensity there and keep the game clean.”

This is the first Horsham side to win the Sussex Senior Cup since 1976, and to do it in front of a crowd of 4,869 spectators at the Amex was a special feeling for Meeney and Co.

He said: “You see the connection between the fans, players, staff, volunteers. It's a massive weight off their shoulders, it's a massive celebration, the club deserve this, if you look at Horsham Football Flub it’s a very historic club and it’s nice that we can sign off for the summer with a trophy and hopefully it will help them now grow and move forward. Now we are buzzing for the fans to join in the celebrations.”