Late drama fires Horsham FC into the first round proper of the FA Trophy for the first time in four years

Two late goals saw the Hornets come from behind to beat the Millers 4-3 in a thrilling third qualifying round clash.

George Sykes put Aveley two up in the first half but on the stroke of half-time, Bobby Price’s audacious effort from the halfway line somehow found the back of the net after some poor goalkeeping.

An own goal saw Horsham level shortly after the restart, but Harry Gibbs restored the Millers’ lead.

Subs Daniel Ajakaiye equalised with two minutes to go and an unbelievable turnaround was completed in the fourth minute of stoppage time when Doug Tuck rifled home his first Hornets goal.

Di Paola said: “It was one of those games where I felt like we weren’t going to get anything again. There was some poor defending but we popped up with a winner, which was great.

“I was pretty happy with the performance in general and I thought we were the better team. It was another game where I felt we could’ve been a bit hard done by. We just couldn’t get that goal to put us ahead.“

The win over Aveley put Horsham through to the first round proper of the FA Trophy for the first time since 2018. The Hornets will visit league rivals Folkestone Invicta in the next round on Saturday, October 29.

Di Paola added: “We’ve not really done too much in it, so it's nice to get a win. It’s a cup that, historically, the club have done terribly in so we’re happy we got to the next round.

“We’ve got a tough draw away in the next round. Folkestone are a good team but I’m glad we got the win.”

New midfielder Oliver Knight, signed from Met Police last week, was handed his first Horsham start and Di Paola was heartened by the ex-Forest Green Rovers academy player’s debut.

He said: “He’s not really had much time to grips with what we want him to do, but I thought it was a good time to throw him in. He did okay.”

Horsham return to Isthmian Premier matters this Saturday when they host Kingstonian.