‘Worse offside decision in the history of football?’ – Hornchurch left baffled at Horsham

‘Worse offside decision in the history of football?’ – that’s the question with Hornchurch left baffled at Horsham on Saturday afternoon.

1,298 fans were in attendance in a game that saw five goals, two reds cards and a late winner but also a lot of controversy which may have cost the Essex team the title.

This match featured the two top scorers of the Isthmian League Premier Division.

Tom Wraight broke the deadlock after just six minutes before Charlie Hester-Cook restored parity just before the break, report Horsham FC

Liam Nash then lobbed the keeper to bring the away side back into the lead.

Then came the controversy when Lee Harding’s attempt to backpass Seymour failed and it went straight towards Sam Higgins, who was only thirty yards away from the goal. The striker kept his cool to tap in, but was perplexed to see that the goal had been chalked off for offside.

Mazzone converted a Harvey Sparks cross within two minutes to make matters even worse for the visitors.

Then Hornchurch manager Mark Stimson, and assistant Tony Gay, were sent to their dressing rooms to protest.

Mazzone won then made it 3-2 Horsham in the 88th minute, following a great work from Charlie Hester-Cook.

Have you ever seen a worse offside decision in the history of football? pic.twitter.com/1O2D74Rqw9

— Jordan (@fattomdaley) April 1, 2023

And for context, we had two of our management sent off after arguing this

— Jordan (@fattomdaley) April 1, 2023

‘Worse offside decision in the history of football?’ – Fans took to react with Hornchurch left baffled at Horsham…

@LordFingers: I keep watching it and I can’t see how it got cancelled for offside – that’s negligence and could be costly in title race. You could almost say it’s match fixing

@dazcs07: Refereeing gets worse daily at non league, and their attitudes taking an absolute nose dive to go with it

@City11Shun: You don’t even need to be a ref to know this decision. Everyone makes mistakes but three officials between them should have worked that out! Will be a disgrace it it costs you.

@grand_sussex: What officials don’t understand is these mistakes can cost people there jobs. Managers get sacked, players get released. Coaches and managers work very hard to get a team ready for Saturday. Working on a game plan to beat an opponent….then you get a shocking mistake like this.

@Glory9Goodwin: I actually can’t believe how bad this is. How none of the officials can sort this out between the 3 of them is shocking no matter what the level

@ulyssesjoe: There’s mistakes then there is this one.What a mistake to maker mind it’s football. The people’s game and fundamental to it is mistakes.

@JCDC1988: I can understand from the far side of a football pitch, not having a clear view of who played that back. But there is zero excuse for the referee to not consult with the linesman here, and zero excuse for the referee not seeing who played it back. Horrendous officiating.

@TwnDav: He’s onside. Defender played a deliberate pass. Puts the attacking players onside.

@tom14_whufc: Week in week out we’re stuck with absolutely terrible refs at this level that repeatedly rob us of key results, seems the football authorities still treat non league as if it’s a kick about in the park, not a serious competition. Absolute fucking disgrace

@Heathcote123: How are the players just accepting this 😂

@JMK1974: I don’t think I’ve seen one worse than that 🤷🏻‍♀️😳

@coggsie5: Unfortunately the standard is shocking right through the pyramid. If you like to go to lots of meetings and brown nose then you will get promotions through the different steps, no matter how shit you are.

@Stan_the_man_67: A horrendous mistake. Whilst everyone seems happy to call the officials cheats has no-one thought about the opposition bench and players who were quite happy to steal a goal? (knowing the opponents would have done the same) No sportsmanship

@mattcarlin12: That’s 3-1 up, could be game over and top of the league. When are they going to sort out the officials in our league? Fucking disgrace

@Pete_Hamilton84: The refs in a decent position. Even if the far side Lino has got it wrong, there’s no way he couldn’t have seen who played it back. Farcical.

@NikhilSaglani: Not even surprised. Referees in the @IsthmianLeague are shocking and back it up with the most unwarranted arrogance you’re likely to see. Two staff members sent off for arguing against this too 🙈The standard in the PL is poor, just imagine how bad it must be in the 7th tier!

@DeanTheStix: That is SHOCKING. Surely something has to be done about this 🤷🏼‍♂️ There’s no argument, it’s a goal FFS

@johnspicer01: So much to love about this and the aftermath and it is why we love non league. Everyone involved failed in what they had control of and looking to blame someone else for their own inadequacies! #fivewrongsdontmakearight

@RobWood91: Officials at this level are awful. We’ve had some shocking decisions at Hastings but that is next level! 😅 Made even worse by them scoring after this 😳

@DazzMace: If the ref is vitally watching where the ball is (which he should be ) surely he can over rule the linesman as he knows it’s a short back pass that has put the guy in ! Very very poor and can quite understand your manager’s frustration! Lucky you have video for appeal !

@Sons_of_Aveley: Dodgy ref decisions at Horsham? Surely not.

Nope. They went straight up the other end and scored. No wonder our heads went

— Jordan (@fattomdaley) April 1, 2023

Yep, we were 2-1 up. They went down the other end and scored. Then our management got sent off for arguing it. Then lost 3-2

— Jordan (@fattomdaley) April 1, 2023

Just look at #7 Lee Harding’s reaction. Says it all. pic.twitter.com/3yMwL2w62I

— Tony Hom (@TonyHom33) April 2, 2023