Josh Wright wasn’t exaggerating in recent weeks when he said he was looking forward to getting some of his big-game players back in the fold. Fresh from coming off the bench to score on his comeback on Saturday, Charlie Seaman did the same again to salvage a point and preserve the Fleet’s unbeaten record.

Having toiled for much of the second-half to reel in Horsham after the visitors’ first-half opener, Fleet almost let the game out of their grasp despite Lennon Peake’s 78th-minute equaliser, only for Seaman’s strike to earn a point in a dramatic finale.

Wright named an unchanged side and few would have argued against that off the back of Saturday’s 6-1 demolition of Weston-super-Mare. Unlike that game, however, it was the visitors who began on the front foot as Horsham had clearly decided that the best form of defence was attack.

They forced multiple corners in the opening 10 minutes and Reece Meekums was unfortunate to see his effort nudged towards the side netting when it equally might have fallen the other way. Will Buse saved from Greg Luer as Horsham found some joy down the right-flank where Lee Harding and Niall McManus kept the home defence on their toes.

Gradually, Fleet began to advance though, when they did, they found Horsham defending in two solid banks and difficult to dislodge. There were chances, however, most notably when Toby Edser’s goalbound effort from Ben Chapman’s pass was thwarted in the box.

Lennon Peake’s curling shot was blocked by a Horsham head as the home side gradually reduced the corner count arrears but the momentum took a blow when Kwesi Appiah limped off just before the half-hour point.

Just as the Fleet began to look as if they might click into gear, they were rocked back on their heels by a Horsham goal. That arrived on 28 minutes via a very well-worked sweeping move through the middle. In one fluid sequence, McManus threaded a ball through to Ronan Silva who took it in his stride and fired across Buse for 1-0.

The goalscorer was more than proving his worth for the Hornets in a man-marking job on James Vennings and the Fleet midfield master was finding it hard to root out room to dictate the play.

Edser had another chance with a weighty shot that Sam Howes got hands to but Horsham saw out the remainder of the half with enough to spare to suggest a rethink in the Fleet approach.

And the visitors should really have ruined the Fleet’s night straight from the restart when Luer sped away down the right wing and aimed for the bottom corner. He might have found it but for Buse’s timely stop, the ball escaping to the right where Horsham lacked another body to follow up.

Try as they might against a determined opposition, Fleet just couldn’t pick the lock despite enjoying the lion’s share of possession and territory. Seaman and Finlay Barnes were introduced, followed by Olly Box and Will Tizzard as Ronny Nelson pulled up with cramp.

Chapman and Oteh both guided promising shots off target, before Chapman tried his luck again, this time crashing a 25-yard screamer off the corner of the bar that would have been a goal of the season contender had it dipped by a few inches.

For all their lack of forward play, Horsham didn’t seem to be fazed at the back and it took something out of the ordinary for that rearguard to collapse. On 78 minutes, a corner was initially played short to Vennings before being picked up by Peake who launched a cross towards the far post that drifted under Howes’s bar and the keeper’s attempts to keep it out only helped it in.

A Seaman free-kick moments later gave Fleet fans thoughts of a winner but instead it was Horsham who thought they’d wrapped up the points as they bounced back with only their second attack of the half. It came down the right where substitute Jamie Yila accelerated into space and with Buse caught in no-man’s land, the winger was able to finish well for 2-1.

There didn’t seem enough time left to suggest a fourth goal of the night was likely and Fleet’s final chance appeared to have gone when Howes’ struggled to take Chapman’s shot down. But then, on 90 minutes, Vennings’ long ball out to the right found Seaman, he moved into space and hit a left-foot shot that bounced in front of Howes on its way into the net.

The six minutes of added time still produced enough time for a potential winner at both ends as Horsham pressed with another set-piece and Chapman sent a teasing delivery towards Rem Oteh at the far post with the final kick of the game.

EUFC: Buse, Passley, Gbadebo, Nelson (Tizzard 69), Vennings, Kennedy (Box 69), Edser (Barnes 52), Chapman, Peake, Ogunleye (Seaman 52), Appiah (Oteh 27). Subs not used: Vokins, Walker
HFC: Howes, Cox (Sparks 54), Elliott, Bartley, Harding (Brivio 89), Silva (Yila 72), Hester-Cook, Barker, Meekums, McManus (Nadesan 61), Luer (Wild 81). Subs not used: Haigh, Taylor
Attendance: 1,134
Images courtesy of EUFC, Dave Plumb / Tom Harris