Di Paola praises players but wants more from Horsham after festive successes and slips

Hakeem Adelakun celebrates Horsham's second goal against Lewes on New Year's Day. Picture by John Lines

Two wins and two defeats from their festive fixtures was the return for the Hornets, which was capped with a wonderful 2-1 success over Bostik League South Division leaders Lewes on Monday.

Di Paola felt they deserved more from their defeat against Thamesmead and Carshalton Athletic which were either side of an impressive 3-1 win away to Guernsey on Boxing Day.

That controversial trip with a depleted side and the fine win over Lewes has backed up the manager’s constant claims that they are a match for anyone on their day.

He is again calling for more consistency while admitting he would like to one-day be competing for the honours Lewes are.

He said: “The thing for me is I want to win more games. I have been going on about it for a long time, we are more competitive, but we need to find a way to turn more draws into wins and kick on.

“If you look how tight the table is, it is telling that the top few teams are where they are as they are bit more consistent.

“We are a match for teams most of the time. Carshalton beat us twice last year - 5-0 and 3-1 - but this year we matched them and their manager was very complimentary.

“But I’d like to do more. I look at Lewes and that is where I want to be, looking down from the top.”

And because of that Di Paola admits he has been left slightly frustrated at their point tally from the festive period after two narrow reverses in their other matches.

But despite that, the manager was keen to praise his players that have given up their time over Christmas, particularly to fly to Guernsey on Boxing Day.

He added: “Against Thamesmead (4-3 loss) if you take the first eight minutes out of it, I thought we were the better team and against Carshalton (2-1 defeat) we deserved a point.

“So I cannot be too happy, we should have probably got a couple more points. Guernsey though was a real bonus, the Wednesday before the game we had nine players and there was shambolic talk of me having to sign on, so to go there and win felt good.

“Some players over Christmas have given more than they should have in my opinion. The guys that played in the Guernsey game and all four have gone above and beyond.”