Di Paola on Horsham’s first defeat: Missed chances cost us
Dominic Di Paola reflected on Horsham’s first defeat of the National South season and said: We could easily have got something from it.
Promoted Farnham became the first team to lower the Hornets’ colours – in their fifth game – with a 2-1 win at the Fusion Aviation Community Stadium.
After Di Paola’s team missed some good chances to take the lead, Owen Dean fired Farnham ahead on 15 minutes. James Hammond levelled 12 minutes left when a corner was cleared to him on the edge of the box, but Dean struck again just before the break.
And 2-1 was the way it stayed despite some Hornets pressure in the second half.
Horsham had no game on Monday – their planned visit to Ebbsfleet was called off amid the host club’s ongoing suspension by the league over financial problems.
But Di Paola and co are now preparing for a run of games against top sides – starting at home to leaders Dagenham on Saturday away to third-placed Folkestone on Tuesday.
He said: “We could have got something from the Farnham game. I don't want to be a manager who's always talking about stats but they were all in our favour on Saturday.
"We could have been two or three up but conceded a couple of poor goals. We got back into it well after their first and overall had probably seven or eight good opportunities.”
Di Paola said he was not too downhearted as it was a first loss in five, but said the next four games would tell him much about the season ahead.
"Squad depth was always going to be our big challenge this season and that’s not changed,” he said. “On Saturday we had Greg Luer with flu and couldn’t start him – and of course we’ve already lost Lucas (Rodrigues) for the season. It’s going to continue to be tough.”