‘Difference of where we are and where we want to be’ - reminder that ambitious Horsham are work in progress

Horsham’s aspirations of challenging at the top of the table are not far away from fruition with things ‘heading in the right direction’.
Phoenix Sports v Horsham. Chris Smith. Picture by John LinesPhoenix Sports v Horsham. Chris Smith. Picture by John Lines
Phoenix Sports v Horsham. Chris Smith. Picture by John Lines

A narrow and unjust 1-0 defeat at Phoenix Sports on Saturday saw the Hornets slip to fourth in the Bostik League South East.

In the grand scheme of things it affects little. They are still well in the play-off race, and nothing has really changed.

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Although, having missed numerous chances and conceded from a mistake, it did remind Dominic Di Paola they are a work in progress.

A good work in progress, but the most telling line from the Horsham manager was ‘the difference of where we are, and where we want to be’.

The players’ faces at full-time told you the clash in London was one they knew they should have won.

Di Paola knew it as well, but he was hesitant to criticise what he has called on numerous occasions a hard-working group.

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The manager said: “We go again, draw a line under it and go again. The boys are working hard, they always do.

“Nothing has changed really. We have swapped places with Ashford, nothing else has changed. I think Cray and Hastings are going to be first and second and we have to hang in those play-off positions.

“It’s a good squad, how can I have a go at them? They played well against Phoenix last weekend.

“That is, though, the difference of where we are and where we want to be. I look at Cray and the number of games they have won 1-0 in the 80th-odd minute and look at Hastings and the number of times they thump teams. Just run over the top of them and I do not think we are there on either side yet.

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“We are going in the right direction and that is what we have to do. If we can keep the group together and keep working on things then I feel a lot of the things are right, there are just a couple of things I’d like to tweak.”

One thing they will be addressing before Saturday’s home clash with Ramsgate is their poor conversation rate in front of goal.

Having found the net just once in their past two games and spurned plenty of chances, Di Paola added: “Hopefully, we can bag a few goals and get the confidence going again.

“We do have a lot of goal threats, Lee Harding could do with a goal, Smudge (Chris Smith) could do with a goal.

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“He is putting himself under pressure, strikers always do, I can never get my head around it.

“The thing I love about Rob (O’Toole) is that he doesn’t think like that for a striker, which is quite unusual. Smudge played well against Phoenix, he just didn’t score and he has got to take that pressure off himself.

“Earlier in the season he got 14 in 14 games, he was flicked them around or flicking them over goalkeepers, he’s just got to get that mindset back and we’ll work on that.”

On the squad, Di Paola added: “Scott (Kirkwood) is back with us and it’s very hard as he could do with some games, but we have such a good squad. Dean Lovegrove has done nothing wrong and didn’t get on against Phoenix, he is probably frustrated thinking ‘why did Lewis (Hyde) get straight back in?’.

“I’ve got to manage that situation, but we are happy with the squad.”