Sussex Senior Cup holders Horsham FC book Amex return with Brighton victory - but Bowers & Pitsea win leaves boss unimpressed
Dominic Di Paola was delighted to add ‘another good win’ to Horsham FC’s host of memorable cup moments as the Sussex Senior Cup holders booked their place in the final for the second year running.
Having gone 48 years without winning the Senior Cup, the Hornets are now just a game away from lifting the trophy for the second season in a row, courtesy of a 1-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion under-21s in a tense semi-final at Lancing’s Culver Road on Tuesday night.
Horsham will play division-below Littlehampton Town at the Amex in May on a date to be confirmed.
Di Paola said: “You take the Covid years out, I’ve been there 10 years and there have been so many good things.
“I’m not sure too many clubs have had as many great things in eight years, so we’re very, very lucky.
“It was a hell of a side we were playing on Tuesday night. Some of them have been on loan at League One and League Two clubs, boys with some serious potential there.
“We watched their game against Braintree [in the National League Cup] the other week, and they are very, very good players. If they get the space and time to do what they want to do, they’ll hurt you.
“It was another good win to add to a whole host of them in the last couple of years. The amount of teams we’ve beaten from a higher level over the last two years is incredible really.
“I’m very pleased with the group we’ve got and the management, and how hard we work.
“I don’t really buzz off wins, but I was really pleased on Tuesday night. I was really happy with how we played. I thought it was a really mature, professional, non-league performance.”
A 77th minute goal by Lucas Rodrigues, who was the Hornets’ hero in their quarter-final win over Worthing, settled the semi and put Horsham in the final.
And Di Paola couldn’t hide his delight at his team for conjuring up the ‘perfect night’ for the club and its supporters
He said: “It was one of our better performances this season. The boys were bang on it and played really, really well.
“We got what we deserved. I think we should have been ahead in the first half.
“They are a possession-based team, and we expected them to have a bit of the ball in the second half, but they didn’t really trouble us. It was the perfect night, really.
“It was really pleasing. It was amazing.”
But Di Paola was scathing in his assessment of Horsham’s Isthmian Premier performance at Bowers & Pitsea, branding it ‘average’ and a ‘bad game of football’.
The Hornets returned to winning ways with a 1-0 win against their bottom-of-the-table hosts.
Reece Myles-Meekums’ 36th minute goal was the difference between the two sides as third-placed Horsham picked up their first league victory in March.
But Di Paola, who asked for a reaction from his players after the home defeat to Wingate & Finchley, was less than pleased with the Hornets’ display, admitting he wouldn’t want to waste two hours of his life rewatching the game back.
He said: “I don’t think we did get a reaction. I thought we were average Saturday.
“It’s not a great 3G up there, the wind was a bit swirly, we started poorly but so did they.
“We then got going and did well. We scored our goal, then Sham [Fenelon] had the chance to take it to 2-0, and I think if we took it to 2-0 then we would have gone on and scored a few.
“As it was, we didn’t take our chances. Meeky [Myles-Meekums] had one in the second half but we just couldn’t put it to bed.
“It was such a bad game of football. I just felt we weren’t at our best. You’re driving home and you’re thinking like it’s a loss.
“To reflect back a few days later, we changed our shape, one or two were playing that hadn’t played much recently, one or two were playing out of position, and one or two were carrying knocks
“You just take the win and move on. It wasn’t a spectacle, and I’ve not watched it back.
“There’s only a few games that I don’t watch back, and I couldn’t bring myself to waste what is probably, by the time I stop and start it, two hours of my life.
“It wasn’t vintage Horsham by a long stretch, but the players made up for it on Tuesday. They reacted brilliantly.”
Horsham host relegation-threatened Hendon this Saturday.