Tadley Calleva roar back to form in Horley demolition

Tadley Calleva bounced back to winning ways in incredible fashion against Horley.

Calleva entered Saturday’s game on a five game losing streak, having slipped away from the play-off spots in recent weeks.

Andrew Charsley, Dan Williamson and Kieran Rodgers returned to the starting line-up as Joe Lawler looked to snap his side’s losing streak.

It took just eight minutes for Tadley to get on top, as Jordan Goater stuck a deep free-kick into the box.

Connor Thorne was there to meet it, stabbing the ball home into the bottom corner for an early 1-0 lead.

Horley equalised through a deflected shot ten minutes later, while captain Goater was booked for a high challenge.

With five minutes left of the half, winger Alex Miller was brought down in the box for a penalty.

Rodgers made no mistake, as Calleva went in 2-1 up.

The second-half began on a damp and deteriorating pitch, but this didn’t stop Miller who played a nice through ball to Ashley Neal for 3-1 on the hour-mark.

Just a few minutes later it was four, as a Miller corner found Neal for an easy finish.

Miller was again the orchestrator for the fifth, breaking down the right and squaring it to Rodgers for an easy finish.

Brad Neal made it 6-1 with an easy header at the far post, as Calleva celebrated a dominant display.

“It was a really good result,” said manager Joe Lawler.

“Going away anywhere in this league is tough.

“I’m really pleased with the way the boys took on instructions throughout the week.”

Tadley worked hard in the week on both mental and practical aspects, to try and turn their form around.

“I think it was a bit of both,” he said.

“It was re-finding our identity.

“When you go through a rough patch, it’s easy to get away from what you’re good at.

“We looked at how to bring that identity through, and it showed straight away.

“When we got pegged back, the boys took the game by the scruff of the neck.

“It would’ve been easy to let our heads drop.”

Tadley’s dressing room is one with plenty of leaders, who prove invaluable in such situations.

“The leaders in our team continue to grow,” he said.

“Although a lot of them are still quite young, they’ve played a number of years under us.

“Accountability is really key.

“We had a meeting after the last result, and they all held each other accountable.

“That came out on the pitch on Saturday.”