FA Cup heroes Horsham matched League Two Carlisle United, says boss Di Paola

FA Cup heroes Horsham matched League Two Carlisle United in Saturday's valiant 2-0 defeat in the first round proper, according to manager Dominic Di Paola.
FA Cup heroes Horsham matched Carlisle United in Saturday's valiant 2-0 defeat in the first round proper, according to manager Dominic Di Paola. Picture by Stu Forster/Getty ImagesFA Cup heroes Horsham matched Carlisle United in Saturday's valiant 2-0 defeat in the first round proper, according to manager Dominic Di Paola. Picture by Stu Forster/Getty Images
FA Cup heroes Horsham matched Carlisle United in Saturday's valiant 2-0 defeat in the first round proper, according to manager Dominic Di Paola. Picture by Stu Forster/Getty Images

Two divisions and more than 60 places in the English football pyramid separated Isthmian League Horsham from their established Football League opponents.

But a plucky Hornets performance, full of spirit and valour, saw the game goalless at half-time.

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Two goals in the final 20 minutes from Brad Young and Zach Clough eventually saw the Blues through to the second round, but Di Paola's charges could hold their heads high.

The Horsham boss said: "If we’d have gone another five or so minutes after their subs, I think we may have got the replay but once they scored the goal we had to commit a lot of numbers and had to gamble, and that’s when they got the second.

"But I thought the boys were brilliant. In lots of ways they matched them.

"I thought we played some nice football at times and we created some half-decent half chances.

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"I feel that we were a bit unlucky not to get a penalty in the second half just after they scored their first one for a shirt pull, but it’s just the way it goes.

"We’ve had some luck along the way, so we just have to accept it and we had a good weekend."

There were heroic performances throughout the Horsham team at Carlisle on Saturday.

And Di Paola was quick to laud his squad for their Herculean efforts against the League Two outfit.

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He added: "I thought Sam [Howes] was excellent, I thought Charlie Hester-Cook had a good game, I thought Lee Harding had a good game. I thought everyone was decent.

"I think you all have to be decent to compete against teams at higher levels. I thought everyone played well.

"You’ve just got to give credit to the whole group. I think the boys that came on did well too.

"I thought Tom Richards came in and looked decent, I thought Sham [Fenelon] was effective. I can’t fault the boys really."

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The Hornets were backed by a hardy band of 280 travelling supporters at Brunton Park on Saturday.

Some had set off from Horsham at 5.30am on Saturday morning, while others had stayed overnight in nearby Penrith.

Di Paola was quick to praise the Horsham faithful, and said their vociferous support added to a 'really good occasion'.

He said: "I think it’s great. Hopefully some of those will keep coming to all our games and they’ve now got a taste for it.

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"I think it was a brilliant experience for them. I think everyone had a brilliant day out.

"The supporters were so proud and I think the players were really grateful for that. It just added to a really good occasion."