Hornets' thrashing of Casuals has Di Paola beaming

The Hornets won emphatically thanks to goals from Lee Harding (2), Eddie Dsane, Jack Brivio and Will Miles.

The scoreline was unexpected given the two teams are separated by one place in the Isthmian premier.

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Di Paola said he had not expected a one-sided game but added: “I think we played well. As the game went on, we got stronger. The boys were on it, and we played well. I was really pleased with the performance, it was good.

“We were quite clinical first half. We had two or three good chances, took two of them. They had a few chances and didn’t take them. It was really pleasing.”

Under-14s would have been disappointed with that defending.

The victory puts Horsham into the quarter-finals of the competition, something Di Paola wants to make the most of.

“We want to keep the season interesting. Being mid-table, it gives us a chance to keep ticking along in trophies so we’ll do our best.”

Di Paola isn’t fussed who Horsham’s next opponents will be in the trophy. “There’s a lot of good sides still in there so it will be a good test,” he said.

The Hornets will turn their attention back to league action as they take on 19th-placed Cray Wanderers at home on Saturday afternoon.

Horsham lost the reverse fixture 3-1 in December and Di Paola is out for revenge.

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“On paper they’re a really strong side,” he said. “They’ve had a bit of a funny season with their league position because I think they’re a good side. They’ve changed their manager since we played them down there, so I don’t know quite so much about them.

“We’ll 100 per cent be trying to avenge that performance; we were really poor on the night – one of our worst performances of the season – so I’d like to try to put that right if we can.

“We’re just going to try to enjoy the remaining 12 games left and try to play some good football in front of our crowd. We’ve been getting some big crowds at the moment so hopefully we’ll able to put on a performance for the supporters.”

Di Paola has no fresh injury concerns ahead of the game although defender Danny Dudley is out.