After Tuesday evening’s disappointing 4-0 loss to Margate, the Bay bounced back in impressive fashion to book their place in the Third Round Qualifying stage of the Emirates FA Cup, beating Ashford United 2-0.

Campbell gave Herne Bay the lead shortly after the half time break, firing home in the 53rd minute after Thomas’ initial shot was parried into his path.

Parter extended the hosts’ advantage with just over 20 minutes to play, with his deflected shot beating the visiting shot-stopper to the bottom corner.

Substitutes Mason Saunders-Henry and Marcel Barrington both had opportunities to put the game to bed, with both men narrowly off target with their efforts.

But a two-goal lead proved to be more than enough as the Bay booked their place in the next round of the FA Cup.

The Opposition

The club’s history dates back to 1923 when the team were formed as Upminster Wanderers. They played in the Romford League until 1938 when they stepped up to the Spartan League, at the same time dropping the ‘Wanderers’ from their name as an original Upminster club had folded several years earlier.

Promoted to the Premier Division in 1951, they joined the Delphian League a year later, changing their name to Hornchurch & Upminster as they prepared to move into the new Hornchurch Sports Stadium. They took up residence there in November 1952 and have remained there ever since.

1974/5 saw the club reach the Fifth Round of the very first FA Vase competition where they lost to eventual finalists Epsom & Ewell by one goal. That performance helped the club gain election to the Isthmian League.

They survived several brushes with relegation before losing their Division One place in 1986 and continued to struggle in Division Two North. Inevitably, Urchins found themselves in Division Three when the regionalised divisions were scrapped in 1991.

Things were soon to change dramatically as the club was taken over and restructured. Second place in Division Three in 2002 brought promotion to Division One North as the league was reorganised and another runners-up spot followed in 2003 to take Urchins into the Premier Division for the first time.

They had reached the First Round of the FA Cup before the collapse and the tie at Boston United was fulfilled by six debutants and a collection of youth-team players, who took an early lead and gave a valiant show before going down 5-2.

But the off-pitch affairs could not be resolved, and the club reformed under the name AFC Hornchurch, to be placed by the FA in the Essex Senior League. Former youth manager John Lawrence took charge in May 2005.

Things were still not right off the field and manager Colin McBride took control of the club as chairman midway through the 2009-10 campaign in an effort to sort out the problems caused by the previous regime.

Back in the Ryman League and shaking off the disappointment, Urchins enjoyed a 15-match unbeaten run early in the 2013-14 season and maintained their challenge for promotion to the end.

A poor finish to the season threatened to derail promotion hopes but Urchins scraped into fifth place on the final day and then reached the play-off final with a 1-0 victory at Kingstonian.

The Urchins started life back in the Premier Division quite well but fell away and in November long serving manager Jimmy McFarlane stood down and in his place the club appointed Mark Stimson. A final position of 15th was obtained.

The club reached the final of the Velocity Trophy (League Cup) but were beaten 2-0 by Enfield Town. They also reached the Semi-final of the Essex Senior Cup going down 3-1 to Chelmsford City.

During the season an application was made to the Football Association to revert back to the club’s previous name and so for season 2019-2020 the club will no longer be AFC Hornchurch but Hornchurch FC.

Key Players

Kenny Clark (Defender): Kenny began his career at Dagenham & Redbridge as a youth team player, and following his release in 2006 he joined Thurrock, going on to become the captain in a four-year spell at Ship Lane. He signed for Chelmsford City in 2011.

After two seasons with Chelmsford, he signed for Dartford before making the switch into the National League with Ebbsfleet United in 2014.

He went on to make over 200 appearances for the Fleet. Clark returned to Dagenham in 2018 and finished last season on loan at Southend.

Tom Wraight (Midfielder): Tom played for Tilbury, Witham Town, East Thurrock, and Maidstone, joining Chelmsford City in 2018. Despite missing much of the 2019-20 season with a serious knee injury, he went on to make 79 appearances for City, scoring 17 goals, and becoming their captain in 2021.

Tom has a remarkable scoring record with every club he played for, and he carried on where he left off with a goal on his Hornchurch debut.

He scored four goals in the first half in our five-nil win at Carshalton, but a serious injury in the Play Off semi-final meant that he was unable to play in the all-important final. Tom was included in the Isthmian League Team of the Year for 2021-22

Liam Nash (Forward): Liam previously played for Billericay, Aveley, Hemel Hempstead, Dartford, and Concord Rangers, and made 15 appearances in the Football League at Gillingham. He is better known for his one season at Maldon & Tiptree, where he scored 36 goals in 47 appearances in 16-17.

His transfer to Hornchurch was delayed as international clearance was difficult to obtain after he played in Gibraltar, but he has maintained his scoring record at Hornchurch, including the sensational second goal at Wembley, where he was named Player of the Match.

Last season, in addition to scoring 23 goals, Liam also had 16 assists.

Pre-Match comments

Following Sunday afternoon’s FA Cup win against Ashford United, Herne Bay manager spoke about the threat his side expected to face tonight.

“They are an experienced side that are consistently at the top end of this league,” said Smith.
“We come into this game where we have had good performances but shown naivety.

“The table is very young, but we are in the bottom four at the minute, but we are a much better side than that.

“We are not favourites for the game by any stretch of the imagination, but we are not scared of anyone either.”

You can check out Sunday’s full post-match interview by following the link below.

https://youtu.be/lKVyIgPNetA

Ticket News

Adults: £12
Concession: £7
Junior (12-17): £5
Under 12s: £2

You can still buy your tickets for today’s game by following the link below.

https://hernebayfc.ktckts.com/event/her2223h04/herne-bay-v-hornchurch