Horsham FC ‘a credit to the town’ after heartbreaking play-off semi-final defeat at Chatham

At the end of a fiercely contested match, Hornets captain Jack Brivio’s effort was the decisive miss as Jamie Yila slotted home the tenth penalty to give the Chats a 4-3 victory after it had ended 1-1 at the end of 120 minutes.

After a goalless 90 minutes, Kareem Isiaka fired Chatham in front on 106 minutes – but Horsham struck back six minutes later through James Hammond.

The Hornets missed two of their five penalties, while the Chats were almost perfect from the spot.

Di Paola said: “It was one of those where we were the better team on the night. We created the better chances but we couldn’t quite get a goal - and you know what happens in football if you don’t score.

“We’ve missed a couple of penalties in the shootout. We’re gutted, but I’m okay about it. We can’t ask for any more of the boys. They were brilliant on the night.

“We played some great football. We created some good chances, we hit the post, but we couldn’t get the ball over the goal line.

“It was the story of our season, which is what I said to the boys after the game. We’ve dominated lots of games this season.

“Sham [Fenelon] had the flu, Lee Harding was suspended, and one or two were playing a bit injured so maybe that was a problem as well. We didn’t quite have the subs we needed to bring on. We had subs but we needed a Sham Fenelon to come on late in the game, and we just didn’t have that player.

“I was really disappointed. You know it was an opportunity missed. It was high pressure, but the boys dealt with it really well.

“We went to a ground where they’ve only lost four games all season, and they were unbeaten at home last season. I thought we were the dominant side but sometimes you don’t get what you deserve in football, and that was the case on Wednesday night.”

Jack Mazzone and Brivio were the unlucky men to miss for Horsham in the shootout, while Hammond, Danny Barker and goalkeeper Lewis Carey successfully converted their penalties.

Di Paola admitted he couldn’t fault any of his players in the shootout - and paid tribute to ‘unbelievable’ captain Brivio for stepping up and showing his ‘character’.

He said: “There were players that didn’t show any inclination to take a penalty. Jack [Brivio] didn’t want to take one, and that shows a lot about the character of the person.

“He’s been an unbelievable player for Horsham. You can never fault someone for stepping up and taking one. Someone is going to miss, and unfortunately he was that player who missed it and I feel for him.”

Di Paola revealed he was was effusive in his praise for his players in the dressing room after the game.

He added: “I just said that they’ve been a credit to the football club, a credit to the town, a credit to each other. They’ve reacted and responded brilliantly all season.

“I know we’ve gone on about it, and I don’t want to overegg it, but for them to just keep on playing games at that level - for 61 games - is amazing.

“We were pretty light on the night in terms of personnel. Tom Richards was injured, Tom Kavanagh was injured, Bobby Price had barely played, [Charlie] Hester-Cook wasn’t fit, Sham was ill, Lee Harding was suspended, but our boys stood up to everything Chatham threw at us.

“They’re a great bunch of boys, and the supporters know that as well.”