Horsham were 'worthy of a point' at Kingstonian

Horsham manager Dominic Di Paola. Picture by Derek Martin | jpimediaresell

Horsham thoroughly deserved a point at Kingstonian in the BetVictor Premier Division on Wednesday evening according to Dominic Di Paola.

After a goalless first half, Dan Hector struck ten minutes into the second half to put the K's in front.

With time ticking away, the game looked to be getting away from the Hornets.

That was until the introduction of club legend Gary Charman with five minutes of the game remaining.

The substitute needed just five minutes to make his mark on the game.

Charman got in the end of fellow substitute Greg Cundle's cross to poke home in the area and earn Horsham a 1-1 draw in second half stoppage time.

Di Paola said: "We got all the stats back this morning. We had 52 per cent possession, we had more shots off target, more shots on target.

"They hit the outside of the post, we hit the inside of the post.

"Chris Smith missed a great chance to put us ahead and they had one cleared off the line.

"In general it was a pretty even game so I think we were worthy of a point, without a doubt.

"We would've come away gutted if we hadn't got something out of it.

"What it shows is that we can go up against these teams and go toe-to-toe with them and be better than them in spells.

"We were strong in the second half and their goal came against the run of play.

"But I thought it was brilliant we took our chance and stayed calm."

Horsham were forced into four changes on Wednesday following Saturday's loss at Cray Wanderers.

Injuries, and a lack of good fortune, saw the Hornets travel to the K's with a much-changed matchday squad.

But Di Paola was effervescent in his praise for his side's performance at Kingstonian.

The Hornets manager lauded his squad, saying the supporters and denizens of Horsham should be really happy with the players that represent the town.

Di Paola added: "Gary Charman was struggling with his quad, Greg Cundle was struggling with his hamstring. Steve Metcalf had a dead leg from Saturday.

"Joe Shelley, Rob O'Toole and Charlie Harris were missing. Taurean Roberts was due to start the game but he was train was massively delayed so we had to bring (Kieran) Lavery in.

"I've just got to give credit to the boys. We only had a bare eleven fit but they never let us down.

"As a club, as a town, and as supporters, we should be really, really pleased with the players that represent us."