Horsham FC boss: Huge credit to the players for a four-point week
Dominic Di Paola lavished praise on his Horsham FC players after a four-point week in the National League South.
The Hornets recorded their first home win of 2026 with a fine 2-0 success over Hemel Hempstead Town on Saturday.
Two penalties from James Hammond, both won by man of the match Leone Gravata, secured a morale-boosting victory for the injury-hit Hornets.
Di Paola said: “I’ve been feeling sorry for the boys because we’ve been falling down on the wrong side of results, so it was nice for once to fall down on the right side.
“I think we were worthy of it. You have to give the boys huge credit because we had two senior subs, which is crazy.
“The work they put in on Saturday was huge, and then to back it up as we did on Tuesday night is mad. A huge amount of credit needs to go to all the boys with what they’ve put in this week.”
Horsham followed that up with a battling 1-1 home draw with play-off chasing Ebbsfleet United in midweek.
Rhys Murphy fired the hosts ahead inside five minutes before Dominic Samuel struck back in the second half.
But Horsham’s injury woes continued as both Gravata and Jake Elliott were taken off with knocks.
Di Paola added: “You can’t always be a graceful, elegant football team, and the only way we could do it on Tuesday night was to huff and puff and battle.
“Lew [Carey] didn’t have a huge amount to do, which was pleasing. They were dominant, but in the second half we had some good counter attacks.
“Did we deserve to win the game? Of course not – but we’ll take the point all day long.
“Ebbsfleet were bringing on subs and I was just laughing. Kwesi Appiah was one of Boreham Wood’s top goalscorers last season, and that’s what we were dealing with. We were just scrabbling around making subs. It’s almost like a different league you’re playing in.
“If you keep working hard you get your rewards, which I think the boys did against Ebbsfleet. They’ve been brilliant all season, but they were particularly brilliant on Tuesday.”
New midfielder Jack Bates, signed on Saturday morning from league rivals Enfield Town, made his debut off the bench with a minute to go against Hemel Hempstead.
The former Derby County and Worthing man was introduced as a sub once again in midweek, coming on in the first half for the stricken Gravata, and Di Paola was pleased with what he saw from the new recruit.
He said: “He did really well. We had no plans to bring him on that early and he did okay.
“I don’t think he’s really been in a tactical training session with us, so everything about it is a bit all over the place, but he came in and did a really good job for the team.
“A lot of players ended up getting shunted all over the place on Tuesday, and they all delivered.
“I’m really pleased with the boys. They were top, top drawer on Tuesday night. Hats off to them.”
Horsham entertain National League outfit Southend United in the FA Trophy quarter-finals on Saturday – and you can read Di Paola’s thoughts ahead of the tie online tomorrow at sussexworld.co.uk/sport.