Horsham FC boss appraises ‘strong’ National League South ahead of Tonbridge and Bath tests

The 14th-placed Hornets host Tonbridge Angels tomorrow before entertaining Bath City on Tuesday evening.

Horsham are looking to complete league doubles over Tonbridge and Bath. The Hornets beat the Angels 2-1 in October before claiming a 2-0 success in Somerset a month later.

Tomorrow’s opponents Tonbridge sit 17th in the National League South. The Angels claimed a late 1-0 home win over promotion-chasing Worthing on Saturday, before going down 2-0 at Kent rivals Dover Athletic in midweek.

Relegation-threatened Bath, meanwhile, endured a week to forget. The Somerset outfit were hammered 7-1 at Chelmsford City on Saturday before being dealt a huge psychological blow by relegation rivals Farnborough.

Boro struck in second half stoppage time to claim a 1-0 win at Twerton Park on Tuesday night – and move five points clear of the fourth-from-bottom Romans.

But, despite their lowly positions in the table, Di Paola expected Tonbridge and Bath to provide stern tests for Horsham, admitting the strength of step two meant the Angels and Romans were unlikely to be pushovers.

He said: “I think this league is so strong. I think you’re talking fractions between the bottom of the league and the top seven.

“I think the top seven have got some real quality that really hurt you – but I think if you could flip the league upside down, no one would have too many questions if [second-from-bottom] Chippenham or [bottom-of-the-table] Eastbourne Borough were eighth or ninth. I think all the teams are very similar.

“Bath are fighting for their lives and Tonbridge are in half-decent form. I don’t know why Bath are struggling. I think they’re a good team.

“Tonbridge are going to be good, Bath are going to be very good, all the teams we play until the end of the season are going to be good. They’ve all got something to play for.

“Tonbridge are probably not quite clear of relegation, but I think they are, Bath are battling for their lives, Hampton probably need another four points to stay up so they’ve got something to play for, Torquay are fighting in the play-offs, Dorking are fighting for the title, Farnborough are battling to stay up, and Maidstone and Weston are in the play-off hunt too.”

Tuesday night’s defeat to Hornchurch extended Horsham’s winless run to three games in the National League South. The Hornets have recorded just two league victories in 2026, the wins coming at Eastbourne Borough on January 6 and at home to Hemel Hempstead Town on February 21.

But despite Horsham’s struggles, Di Paola remained positive. He stressed that the Hornets ‘were absolutely fine’ and needed just ‘three points’ to make sure of their National League South status for next season.

He said: “We’ve got ten games to go and we need three points. We’re absolutely fine. We’ve got a 16, 17 point cushion from relegation.

“It’s been an awful 2026 for me, results-wise, but we were due after the last three years. Equally, it’s about time our luck changed.”

Di Paola also confirmed that Horsham picked up ‘no injuries’ this week against AFC Totton and Hornchurch – and the boss hoped to welcome back ‘two or three’ key players for the visit of Tonbridge.

He added: “We’ve picked up no injuries which is great. That’s a positive because we’ve constantly had injuries.

“Leone [Gravata] managed to come on for 15 minutes against Hornchurch. I’m hoping he has no reaction from that. It means he’d be in contention for Saturday.

“We’re slowly, slowly, touch wood about 7,000 times, getting boys back on the pitch – and if we get our better boys back on the pitch there’s a good team there.

“Against Hornchurch we had to play Harvey [Sparks] at right-back. Brivs [Jack Brivio] was back in the centre of midfield, but I don’t want him there. He’s excellent at the back for us.

“If we can get two or three bodies back on the pitch we’ll be in an alright place. We’ve got Meeky [Reece Myles-Meekums], Lucas Rodrigues, [Charlie] Hester-Cook and Lee Harding [to return], but if we get two of those back we’ll be in such a better place.

“I just want a fair crack at putting our best team out on the pitch to see whether we are what I think we are. When we have everyone available, I don’t think we’re a bad side.

“I just want us to get some of our boys back on the pitch. I want the boys who are coming back to help the boys who have been struggling for weeks and weeks, and I just want us to be us – be the Horsham that we know we can be.”