Dom Hutchinson’s coolly-dispatched penalty separated the two sides at the break, before a moment of madness from Charlie Hester-Cook was punished with two yellow cards equally a red card within a matter of seconds
The Rebels took full advantage of the numerical imbalance as Ricky Aguiar netted an unstoppable swerving strike from distance before captain Joel Colbran headed in a third from a corner to conclude an unbeaten pre-season programme.
Adam Hinshelwood named an unchanged starting eleven from the side that performed brightly and produced an encouraging 2-1 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion U21s at Woodside on Tuesday night.
Loanees Cory Adjetey-Brew, Ramell Carter and Jayden Moore retained their spot, with the other half of the squad playing 90 minutes in an earlier friendly away to Steyning Town.
In the the opening exchanges, the hosts assumed control of the tussle, with Horsham struggling to deal with the fluidity and pace in the Worthing frontline. Following a prolific pre-season, the electric Hutchinson appeared full of confidence, evidenced from his swift movement to bypass a defender before unleashing a powerful drive that marginally sailed over Sam Howes’ net in the seventh minute.
Operating just behind Carter, Teddy Jenks was revelling in the time and space the opposition was affording him and the Englishman almost capitalised but Howes was equal to his effort following a powerful run.
Dom Di Paola’s team grew into the occasion and responded to the early onslaught with a positive spell. Former Worthing forward Greg Luer tossed multiple threatening long throws into the box, although goalkeeper Harrison Foulkes commanded his area with assurance.
Minutes after sending a volley high and wide of the target, teenage sensation Carter’s guile and deception won a penalty for this team. Jamie Yila was the guilty party as he clumsily tripped the forward as the 18-year-old started to retreat out wide.
After netting in three successive pre-season matches, Hutchinson stepped up to take the kick from 12-yards. A clever stutter deceived Howes, with the penalty-taker calmly slotting the ball into the bottom right corner to notch his team in front of the half hour mark.
Hutchinson then had a penalty appeal waved away shortly after scoring, before Moore was required to clear on the goal-line. Looking to make amends for the concession of a penalty, Yila was picked out by Luer inside the box and shook off the attention of Colbran. His stabbed finish looked goalbound, but Moore scampered back to lash the ball clear in the final action of the first half.
The visitors were determined to restore parity upon the restart and Adjetey-Brew was the next Worthing player required to clear in the six-yard box following another dangerous Horsham set-piece. However, the Hornets’ dominance was short-lived and came to an abrupt end following a lapse of judgement from Hester-Cook.
A studs-up challenge on Adjetey-Brew was met with a caution from the referee, who had already opted for a lenient approach towards the midfielder when he unceremoniously tripped Jenks moments before.
Unhappy with the decision, Hester-Cook made his opinions known to the match official in an unsavoury manner and was duly sent off for two bookable offences.
Naturally, Worthing then dominated possession for the remaining 35 minutes with the match virtually turning into a training drill of attack versus defence – aside from a few darting Ashley Nadesan runs.
Horsham’s misery was compounded midway through the second period, as former midfielder Aguiar produced a magical strike from 25 yards out. Following a mesmerising passage of passing, the ball broke to the technician, who took aim from distance. With plenty of dip and swerve, visiting netminder Howes could only watch as the ball sailed into the top stanchion.
The Reds weren’t satisfied there and pressed for a third. Nadesan’s miscued clearance presented substitute Ollie Godziemski with a header from close-range which was parried by Howes.
That chance was a pre-cursor for what was to come in the 74th minute. After etching his name onto the scoresheet, Aguiar turned provider and curled a searching corner into a flurry of bodies. Captain Colbran beat Howes to the delivery and planted a header into the back of net.
Home and dry, Worthing were able to award youngster Freddie Kokot with more valuable minutes and the youngster’s quick footwork and agility provoked the home support to get up off their seat.
Godziemski skied over a volley over in the closing stages with Carter and Hutchinson also having shots deflected behind for corners.
All in all, it was another positive run-out for the National League South champions, with three goals and a clean sheet to boot. They head into next weekend’s 2026/27 season opener away to Carlisle United away off the back of an undefeated streak of friendlies.
Originally published by Worthing FC ↗