Horsham claim welcome point – and Di Paola is upbeat as 2026 dawns
Dominic Di Paola admitted to having mixed feelings after Horsham fought back to claim a 2-2 draw with Farnborough on Tuesday night.
He was pleased with a point after two successive defeats, but was disappointed his side could not go on to find a winner against the Hampshire side, who played the whole second half with ten men.
Two goals from James Hammond clinched a draw that left the Hornets seventh – in the final play-off place – heading into 2026. And their tally of 39 points is at least ten ahead of where they aimed to be at this stage.
On Boxing Day, the Hornets had slipped to a second straight loss, losing 2-0 away to in-form Dorking.
Di Paola said: “It was a good point against Farnborough but a bad point too. We were really bad for 25 minutes and it was a bit of a messy game.
”We huffed and puffed but look a bit toothless at the moment. We’re getting lots of good attacking entries but there’s not much end product.”
Overall, Di Paola is pleased with the year-end points haul, with the season having started with the side aiming for 50 points and survival.
They are well on the way to achieving that and the manager said: “The challenge now is to get back in the higher plain of performances.
"We’ve had a bit of a dip so it’s ‘how do you get yourselves going again?’ ”
January looks testing for the Hornets, with Di Paola pointing out that the greater resources of the division’s full-time teams were beginning to show.
Horsham host Maidenhead – who are on their tails in the table – on Saturday, then go to Eastbourne Borough on Tuesday.
After a trip to Leatherhead in the FA Trophy, they visit new leaders Worthing and host Chelmsford and Bath before the month is out.
Injury-wise, Lee Harding and Charlie Hester-Cook are both two or three weeks away from returning. Di Paola said: “They’re both powerful lads and the type you need in this league.”
Harvey Sparks returned on Tuesday after a bout of flu – only to be forced off after taking a whack on the leg.
Di Paola said: “We need to get our best players on the pitch and we’ll be okay. Even with those couple of defeats we still picked up four points from four games in December, which is all right.”