Hornchurch boss hopeful of play-offs

Hornchurch manager Jimmy McFarlane is not giving up on the Ryman Premier Division play-offs just yet.

Urchins host Carshalton tomorrow (Saturday), a week on from a frustrating goalless draw at Horsham which left them four points adrift of the top five.

It also finished 0-0 when Hornchurch visited Carshalton in January, but McFarlane says his side can claim the first of five wins he believes they need to keep their promotion dream alive.

He said:”I think we need to win all five games, I really do.

“But we’ve got it in our locker to do it. The ability is there, it’s just a matter of belief and whether we want it enough.

“On our day, we’re a match for anyone, as we proved against Sutton. Going behind in the 89th minute against the leaders, but coming back to get a point showed we’ve got character.

“We should be higher up the league and we’ll keep going until it’s mathematically impossible.”

Hornchurch have just taken six points from a possible 18 in recent weeks, but McFarlane felt they should have won at Horsham.

He added: “The performance was decent. Darren [Behcet] didn’t have a save to make, while Martin Tuohy had a couple of good chances and Brian Haule had a good debut. We’ve always liked Brian and Hendon did us a massive favour letting him go, he’s a good signing and has always scored goals.

“But we felt we should have had three penalties. They were stonewall.”

Tommy Black and Tambeson Eyong are suspended for Carshalton’s visit and in the case of Eyong, McFarlane feels particularly aggrieved.

The midfielder received a red card at the end of the 1-1 draw with Sutton and was handed a four-game ban by the FA.

McFarlane said: “He was punched and then grabbed the guy’s hand. Tam didn’t raise his hands above his waist.”