‘Wanted decent club and got one’ – Horsham boss pleased to land Chesterfield trip in FA Cup

Reece Meekums was the club’s latest Cup hero on Saturday, firing a superb late winner to knock Gorleston out in the fourth qualfying round and hand Horsham a first round spot for the third time in four years.

That put them in Monday night’s draw live on BBC2 and after Meekums’ goal was shown in a montage of Saturday’s goals before the draw, Di Paola’s side were handed an early November trip to League Two side Chesterfield in round one.

Horsham reach first round of FA Cup – in pictures by John Lines.

Di Paola is happy with the draw, saying it will give fans another great day out – or weekend – when many would have thought a trip to Carlisle in 2021 was a one-off, only for it to be followed by last year’s visits to Barnsley and Sutton and now this.

"My view was I wanted a decent club away or a big one like Birmingham or Wrexham at home, and we’ve got the former,” he said.

"Chesterfield won the National League last year and will be in the mix for the League Two play-offs this year. We will be underdogs but must aim to go up there and give a good account.

John Lines’ pictures from Horsham 5 Whitehawk 0.

"All the cups can be a hindrance to the league campaign but you can never turn down the chance of a run. The fans absolutely love, as you can see from the smiling faces when we win a tie in front of a big crowd at home.”

Di Paola said the win over Gorleston was not straightforward but his side were always in control of the tie.

"They didn’t trouble – they wanted to take it to a replay – but they made us work hard to break them down. They barely had a shot.

"As it went on we did think we might score from further out and that’s what happened – credit to the players for doing what we told them. There was a different pressure this time to the Woking and Dorking games when we got through – this time we were expected to win.”

The Hornets are already behind with their Isthmian premier schedule and will face another call-off because of their FA Cup progress.

But on Tuesday they moved up to tenth by hammering Whitehawk 5-0.

Lee Harding, Meekums, Shamir Fenelon, Ola Ogunwamide and James Hammond were on target.

The Hornets host Lewes on Saturday.