Horsham FC boss reads the riot act after ‘pretty pathetic performance’ at Dulwich

The Hornets were beaten 5-2 at Champion Hill in front of an extraordinary Isthmian Premier crowd of 2,919.

Horsham trailed 3-0 at half-time before conceding another two in the second half. Ola Ogunwamide and Dan Ajakaiye netted in the second period for the Hornets.

Di Paola said: “We were defensively poor all game. In the first half they were miles better than us. They looked like they were 10 leagues above us the way they played. The second half was quite even, but the damage had been done.

“We didn’t deserve anything on the day. We were really poor. It’s not often we get beaten by five but we just didn’t turn up.

“It’s hard to put my finger on why. We had a week’s break so I don’t know if that did us more harm than good but, for whatever reason, we weren’t at the races and they were.

“The better team won. You just have to take it sometimes and accept it and move on.

“We didn’t run hard, there was no intensity about us in the first half, we didn’t get near people, we didn’t defend well, we ball watched - all of the things that, most of the time, my teams are good at.

“We made three changes [at half-time] but we could have made 11. Everyone was really poor in the first half, but you have to take the emotion out of it.

“We could have made five subs but if you do that and get an early injury you go down to 10 and you’re making your life even harder. No one deserved to come out for the second half.

“We improved in the second half. The three who came on Ola, Dicko [Chris Dickson], and [Charlie] Hester-Cook did what I expect my teams to do. They got into them, caused them problems, closed them down, worked hard, but, again, we didn’t defend well.

“The two goals we conceded [in the second half] were shambolic as well.

“The five subs were the only people to come out of it with any credit. Everyone else was no good really.

“It was one of those rare games where the team decided not to turn up. Maybe we got it wrong during the week at training, but it was abject. It was a pretty pathetic performance.”

Horsham take a break from league matters when they visit division-below Margate in the third qualifying round of the FA Cup this Saturday. They then host Folkestone Invicta in the league on Tuesday.

And Di Paola revealed he planned to make ‘two or three changes’ to the Hornets starting XI for their Cup trip to Thanet.

He said: “We’ve got a lot of games coming up now. We’ll play Saturday, Tuesday for the next three weeks.

“We’ve got a tough away day at Leiston in the [third qualifying round of the] FA Trophy [on October 5], we’ve got a tough draw in the Sussex Senior Cup at Chichester, we’ve got Folkestone and then Chatham in the league - two of my tips to finish in the top five - and then a really tough game in the FA Cup down at Margate.

“Margate are in really good form. They beat Ramsgate on Tuesday, so it’s going to be a tough five or six games.

“We’re going to need all the boys to contribute, and people who don’t deliver aren’t going to play. We can’t have performances like that again.

“I hate losing, and it is part-and-parcel of football, but when you don’t put up any fight then it’s no good.

“There will be two or three changes on Saturday for a number of reasons. Hester-Cook was unlucky to be suspended [against Dorking in the FA Cup] but he came on and showed why he’s one of our best players.

“Ola has been on the bench for the last couple and he came on and scored. He was involved with all the good things we did, so the players who have got a burning desire to be in the team will be in the team.

“I showed faith in the team that won us the FA Cup game and left Lee Harding and Harvey Sparks out of the squad. Sparks has never let me down on a pitch like that.”

FA Cup opponents Margate, who were relegated from the Isthmian Premier last season, sit seventh in the Isthmian South East.

The Gate have yet to be beaten in the league this season, picking up two wins and three draws from their opening five games.

Di Paola said: “It’s a tough place to go, and they’re a team that looks better than when they were in the Isthmian Prem last year.

“They’ve got good young players and good forward players in the team, so it’s going to be an Isthmian Prem game in all but name.

“They’ll want to do good things in the Cup without a doubt, but we’ll go there with everything prepared in the right way.

“The boys trained really hard on Tuesday night, will train hard on Thursday, and then go into a tough set of games.”

Meanwhile, Horsham Women advanced to the third qualifying round of the Women’s FA Cup after a penalty shootout win over Haywards Heath Town on Sunday.

Georgia Bowen fired the Hornets in front on 61 minutes but Heath equalised eight minutes later. Yazmin Williams scored what most thought was Horsham’s winner on 80 minutes but Heath levelled again in second half stoppage time.

The Hornets converted all five penalties in the shootout, but Heath’s final spot-kick went over the bar. Horsham will visit Chatham Town in the next round on Sunday, October 13.