HORLEY TN 0, BADSHOT LEA 3 (Combined Counties Premier League)

BADSHOT Lea, with a near full-strength side at last, showed their true capability with a resounding win at fifth-placed Horley.

The Baggies, crippled by injuries and suspension, conceded nine goals in midweek, hammered 6-0 by struggling Redhill on Tuesday and, two days later, with a largely youth side, beaten 3-0 by Fleet Town in the Aldershot Senior Cup quarter-final.

But most of their main men were back for Saturday and manager Ben Dillon also had a trump card up his sleeve, Aldershot Town academy player Gabby Adelowo, who has joined the club on loan for the rest of the season.

The 19-year-old centre-back, 6ft 2in and heavy with it, looked a class act, strong both on the deck and in the air and with the ability to read the game.

“Definitely our man of the match – you could see he’s played at a high level,” said Dillon. “He must be one for the future at Aldershot.”

Apart from Adelowo, who as a 16-year-old had trials at Stoke, Crystal Palace and Brentford, Badshot Lea had another hero in Mason Saunders who provided assists for all three goals.

“We had a game plan for Horley – attack early and get at them, and we scored twice in the first half-hour,” said Dillon.

It took the Baggies only four minutes to break down Horley’s defence. Saunders’ inch-perfect corner delivered a goal on a plate for Zach Hawker who hardly had to move before placing his header inside the far post.

With 32 minutes gone, Saunders switched the play from left to right with a clever ball behind the home defence and Darren Blake finished clinically in a one-on-one.

Horley switched to three up front after half-time and bombarded Lea with long balls. A not very subtle battle ensued until the visitors got the ball on the floor again and better possession took the sting out of Horley’s game.

As the game approached 90 minutes, the Baggies wrapped it up with a second set-piece goal. Saunders took another corner and Jon Palmer, playing a lone striker role, made a clever diagonal run across the box and crashed home an unstoppable header.

Badshot Lea: Kinsella, Sumbler, Muir (Pound), Maylen, Adebowola; Hawker (Jones), Ford, Frisby; Saunders (Watts), Blake, Palmer.