Horsham FC boss: Torquay FA Trophy tie one to savour but we need to kick on in the league

The Hornets have savoured memorable FA Cup adventures to Carlisle United, Barnsley and Chesterfield in recent years under Di Paola’s tenure - and Horsham’s Trophy jaunt to the Gulls is another great occasion.

Di Paola said the Hornets were enjoying a ‘good spell’ in the cups, branding it good for the club and its supporters, but he admitted he wanted to see Horsham ‘kick on’ in the Isthmian Premier after another mixed week.

He said: “We’ll go down there and it’ll be a good day out for everyone, but it’ll be a tough game. It’s a tough draw for us to go down there. They’ll be pleased to be playing us.

“We’re doing it all in one day so it’s going to be a long old slog, but we’ll give it our best and see how we get on. Hopefully we’ll put in a good performance.

“It’s good for the football club and it’s good for the supporters. We’d gone nearly 15 years without playing a big name.

“Horsham played Swansea [in the FA Cup] back in 2007, and now we’ve played three or four Football League clubs, as well as National League clubs, and we’ve done well.

“It’s a good spell for the club - but I would like us to kick on in the league. We’re having these good individual moments but we need to kick our league campaign off really.”

The past week has seen Horsham rediscover their goalscoring touch before being edged out at one of the Isthmian Premier’s high-flyers.

On Saturday the Hornets thrashed Bowers & Pitsea 5-0 at home. Jack Brivio and Chris Dickson gave the hosts a 2-0 half-time lead, before Dickson added his second on 70 minutes. Shamir Fenelon and Reece Myles-Meekums both netted in the final eight minutes to wrap it up.

Di Paola said: “I thought we played well. I thought we were good from minute one.

“We were really sharp and took them apart. It was a really good performance.

“It was very controlled. I think they maybe had a couple of half-chances but in general we were very dominant.”

On Tuesday they lost 2-1 at third-placed Billericay Town - despite leading at half-time.

Fenelon’s 36th minute goal put the Hornets in front at the break - but quickfire second half goals from Todd Miller and Femi Akinwade turned the game in Ricay's favour.

The defeat leaves Horsham 14th in the Isthmian Premier, although they are just six points off the play-off places.

Di Paola added: “We just had a couple of moments and they capitalised. It’s just the way it’s going at the moment. In the first half, we should have been three up.

“In the second half they came into it, but they didn’t massively trouble us. We switched off on a transition and that’s really frustrating. It’s really frustrating because we’re not getting what we deserve out of games.

“We've had three or four good chances to go two or 3-0 up. We've not taken them and they’ve sucker-punched us.

“I’m gutted for the boys because we came back with nothing. We deserved more than we got out of the game - but that’s football. If you don’t take your chances, you don’t win games - and we’ve been saying that a lot.

“We’re creating lots of good chances. We look like we’ve got a bit more of an attacking threat about us now and we’re not conceding too many goals, so it’s just about putting a run of results together. Two or three wins on the spin makes a world of difference.”

Following their FA Trophy trip to National League South outfit Torquay United, the Hornets host Hastings United in the league on Tuesday evening.