Hornchurch boss hopes to complete perfect first week

Hornchurch boss Steve Morison is looking to end the first week of the Isthmian League season with a perfect nine points.

Urchins welcome Carshalton Athletic to Bridge Avenue on Saturday, having beaten Horsham and Margate in their first two outings of the Premier Division campaign.

And Morison admits it would be great for the club – celebrating its centenary season – to make it three wins in a row at the weekend.

“The points speak for themselves,” he said.

“We want to end on a positive note now against Carshalton.

“It would be great to finish perfect after the first week but it will be tough, they’re a good side.

“It’s a decent start, now we want to finish it off at the weekend.”

Urchins took a first-half lead in front of 911 at Horsham when Ryan Scott headed home a free-kick from George Saunders.

And they went 2-0 up when Scott smashed home from a corner with a quarter of an hour left, before the hosts hit back.

“Horsham were excellent, I was really impressed with them, and we were not at our best but we got a couple of goals from set-pieces,” added Morison.

“Was it perfect? No. We had to dig in and fight. We showed resilience and found different ways to win so overall it was positive.”

Hornchurch began well against Margate in midweek and opened the scoring when Nathan Green found Saunders and his cross was turned home by Liam Nash.

Ben Greenhalgh headed the visitors level before the break, but Nash restored the home side’s lead just past the hour mark with a header from a Tom Wraight cross.

Scott then headed home his third goal in two games from a Wraight corner, with Wraight sealing a 4-1 victory late on.

“We took a deserved lead against Margate and looked comfortable but gave away a sloppy goal from their first and only shot on target,” added Morison.

“It was disappointing to go in 1-1 at half-time but we got going again, found our feet and got to where we needed to be, so it was positive.

“We hope to get better as we go on but it’s early days. Lets get the first 10 games out of the way and see how it settles.

“We’ve got a few knocks but nothing major.”