Ahead of this first-ever meeting between the two sides in West Sussex, manager Scott Rogers made four changes to his starting line-up as loanees George Birch, Charlie Cummins and Scott Wilson were named from kick-off, as well as Callum Wood.

Horsham started the game the brighter of the two sides, and their first effort saw Lee Harding fire just wide of the target from range.

Leone Gravata then did well down the left and got to the line before pulling the ball back for Ricky Aguiar, but he fired over when well placed.

Jason Pope received a yellow card for a foul on the edge of the area, from the set-piece Max Harris pushed James Hammond’s effort around the post.

Eventually, The Seagulls grew into the game and Cummins drove from halfway before shooting just wide, and Wilson was agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock when he received a pass from George Birch on the edge of the area, before twisting and turning and sending his shot against the foot of the post.

Horsham had probably shaded the first-half and took the lead when a ball in from the left was headed goalwards by Charlie Hester-Cook at point-blank range. Harris made an excellent save but Hester-Cook was on hand to slam home the rebound.

HALF-TIME: Horsham 1-0 Weston-super-Mare AFC

Wilson had been just inches away from breaking the deadlock in the opening half, but he played his part in Weston’s deserved equaliser after a promising opening to the second 45 minutes.

James Dodd’s perfect pass found Wilson and his wonderful ball across the area found Britton, and he had the simple task of finishing from close-range as he scored his eleventh National League South goal of the season.

It was nearly two for the former Bristol City man, but elation turned to frustration when a linesman signalled that he was offside. Emlyn Lewis’ ferocious long-tange effort was fumbled by goalkeeper Lewis Carey and Britton turned the ball home but the flag went up.

Unfortunately the game was marred when Dodd needed to be stretchered off with a serious-looking injury, a huge blow for Weston.

The game was evenly poised but it appeared to tip in Horsham’s favour when Pope received a second yellow card for holding back a Hornets’ attacker, and he was sent off for an early bath.

Expectedly, Horsham piled on the pressure with their one man advantage. Harris made some good stops from long-range efforts and he handled superbly from crosses into the box as, in truth, Horsham struggled to break Weston down. Moreover, The Seagulls defenders in front of Harris defended their area superbly.

During the eleven minutes of injury-time Weston were able to break occasionally after weathering The Hornets’ storm, and Liam Sercombe had a good effort from around 25 yards safely held by Carey.

On paper, it’s a good result for The Seagulls against in-form opponents on the road,  particularly given the difficult circumstances that occurred during the game, as the team now prepare for next week’s FA Cup Second Round tie at Chelmsford City.

FULL-TIME: Horsham 1-1 Weston-super-Mare AFC (Hester-Cook 35′; Britton 50′)

Weston: Harris, Pope, Wood (Avery 86′), Lewis, Bernard, Cummins, Dodd (Hicks 68′) Sercombe, Birch (Coulson 78′), Wilson, Britton (Dawes 86′)

Unused substitutes: Glover, Smith, King

Attendance: 1,424

Man of the Match: Scott Wilson. Unlucky not to have scored in the first-half, he provided a sublime assist for Weston’s equaliser. Was at the heart of Weston’s best attacks, and mucked in with plenty of defending in a hard-working performance.