Poor defending is holding us back, says Hornets boss

Horsham celebrate during their rout of Brightlingsea - but they came back down to earth with a defeat at East Thurrock / Picture: John Lines

In another week of extremes, the Hornets hammered Brightlingsea Regent 4-0 at home on Saturday but lost 3-2 at East Thurrock on Tuesday.

It’s win-lose-win-lose for Horsham at the moment and Di Paola says it’s down to the basic goals they’re conceding – often when dominating a game. He says if they’re to be better than a mid-table side, it’s a tendency they must overcome.

Di Paola believes the Hornets will be more solid when he can finally field a settled back four and holding midfield – as he did last season when they notched a total of 18 shutouts.

The boss told the County Times: “It’s a rollercoaster of performances at the moment. There’s no consistency. We’ve dropped some silly points.

“We were never in control of the game at East Thurrock and we are leaking too many goals.

“We’re scoring two a game and it’s still not enough.

“The boys have got to learn from their mistakes but we’re ten games in and they’ve not learned yet.”

The loss, in which Charlie Harris scored another two goals, was in contrast to Saturday’s 4-0 triumph over Brightlingsea, in which Tom Day, Will Miles, Chris Smith and Rob O’Toole were on target.

Di Paola said: “That game showed what we can do if we get the defending right. We’re a good side and if we go ahead, we’re okay; if we don’t, we’re not.”

He stressed that the defensive troubles were down to the whole team, but they ought to be lessened when summer signing David Ray returns. But the Hornets still do not know when he and another key recruit, midfielder Doug Tuck, will be over injury. Striker Eddie D’Sane is another who’s been missed and now skipper Jack Brivio has suffered a recurrence of a hamstring injury.

“The schedule is relentless and it’s a good job we have a squad the size we have,” Di Paola said.

Horsham had to Hornchurch on Saturday then a week later they host step four side Welwyn Garden City in the third qualifying round of the FA Trophy.

The Hornets will visit Isthmian south east side East Grinstead Town in round two of the Sussex Senior Cup, either next Tuesday or the following midweek.