The Hornets had a pre-season campaign disrupted by injuries, unavailability and even a couple of postponements. But there was no sign of them being under-cooked when the league programme kicked off – they won 3-1 at Canvey Island on the opening day then thumped Corinthian Casuals 5-0 on Tuesday night in front of a home crowd of 700-plus. Daniel Ajakaiye got two and Jack Mazzone the other at Canvey while Mazzone netted a hat-trick, supported by goals from Lee Harding and Shamir Fenelon against the Casuals.
Delighted Di Paola admitted he’d not have predicted such a strong start after an up-and-down pre-season and said: “It’s pleasing that what’s happened in pre-season hasn’t spilled over into the season. At Canvey we weren’t brilliant. It was unbelievably hot but we scored goals just at the right time, including two just before half-time. On Tuesday we weren’t great in the first half but in the second we looked fit and firing and the goals flowed.”
The boss is delighted to have Mazzone and Ajakaiye supporting Fenelon in the hunt for goals. “Sham was doing a lot of it on his own last season but you need more than one regular goalscorer,” he said. "We’re delighted with the start but it’s very early. We host Carshalton on Saturday and – no disrespect to the sides we’ve played – that’ll be our first big challenge.”
See pictures by John Lines on this page and the ones linked from the Corinthian-Casuals game - and see John's pictures from the win at Canvey here.
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Action and celebrations from Horsham's 5-0 win at home to Corinthian-Casuals in the Isthmian premier division | Pictures: John Lines
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Action and celebrations from Horsham's 5-0 win at home to Corinthian-Casuals in the Isthmian premier division | Pictures: John Lines
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Action and celebrations from Horsham's 5-0 win at home to Corinthian-Casuals in the Isthmian premier division | Pictures: John Lines
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Action and celebrations from Horsham's 5-0 win at home to Corinthian-Casuals in the Isthmian premier division | Pictures: John Lines