Horsham must 'work as a unit' in top-two battle

Dominic Di Paola called for his Horsham side to ‘work as a unit’ when they take on Folkestone Invicta in a top-of-the-table clash in the BetVictor Isthmian Premier Division this Saturday.
Horsham manager Dominic Di Paola. Picture by Steve RobardsHorsham manager Dominic Di Paola. Picture by Steve Robards
Horsham manager Dominic Di Paola. Picture by Steve Robards

Invicta leapfrogged the Hornets into top spot, earning a point against Kingstonian on Tuesday night, to drop Di Paola’s side down into second ahead of this weekend’s crunch league fixture.

It kick-starts a tough run of fixtures with Horsham facing three fellow promotion-hopefuls – East Thurrock United, Worthing and Hornchurch – in three of their next four league games.

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Emerging through the run relatively unscathed could well define the rest of the season for Di Paola’s charges, but the Horsham boss isn’t setting his side a points tally to aim for.

He said: “You can pick up points against better sides and you can drop points against weaker sides. It hasn’t mattered so far, where we pick up our points, and it’s not going to matter for the next 24 games in the league.

“All we’ve got to do is focus on the game on Saturday. If you look at five games and go ‘oh we could pick up points here or drop points there’, you’re kidding yourself, I don’t think it’s that predictable.

"I’ve not really looked past the next couple now. We’re aware of East Thurrock after this week but we’ve not gone past that yet.

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"We’ll jusst try to focus on Folkestone and do what we need to do to get a result against them.

"At 5pm on Saturday we’ll start thinking about the next one."

Di Paola admitted his side have created their own pressure following a home defeat to Margate last weekend and a narrow win against three-divisions-lower Littlehampton Town in the Sussex Senior Cup on Tuesday night.

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“All we’ve got to do on Saturday is be together, be a unit, work really hard for each other and see what comes from it. That’s what’s made us a good team.”

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Horsham have also boosted their ranks with the acquisition of former Crystal Palace forward Taurean Roberts from Southern League Premier Division South side Walton Casuals.

The 28-year-old, who has also played for the likes of Hampton & Richmond Borough, Kingstonian and Salisbury, made his full Hornets debut in Tuesday night's Senior Cup third round tie at Littlehampton Town.

Starting on the left wing, he was replaced by Jack Brivio on 75 minutes as Horsham won 4-2 on penalties after the game finished 1-1.

Roberts netted seven goals in 25 league games for Casuals last season.

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