‘Pressure is off’ for Horsham in Cheshunt clash

Former Horsham winger Zack Newton, now at Cheshunt, returns to face his old club. Photo by Steve Robards.

The 18th-placed Ambers have struggled recently, winning just once in their past six league games.

However, there appears to be an upturn in form with that sole win being a 6-1 demolition away to Lewes, which was then followed up three days later with a 3-1 away win at league leaders Worthing in the Velocity Trophy.

Di Paola has been keeping track of their improvement.

He said: “They’re a much improved side. I don’t know whether they’ve thrown a few quid at it to make sure they stay up or whether the manager’s been able to get the players in that he wants, but their front three is a top ten front three.”

Top scorer Ryan Moss has notched ten goals this season while the Hertfordshire side also boast the Hornets’ former winger Zack Newton, who left the club earlier this season.

Horsham recorded a narrow 1-0 win in the reverse league fixture back in September thanks to an Ibrahim Diallo own-goal.

Di Paola remarked: “They’ve got Ryan Moss, who’s been a goalscorer at this level for a long time, and Zack was a great lad and a great player.

“They’ve massively improved from when we played them up there but we’re looking forward to playing at the moment. The pressure’s massively off now we’ve got to the points total that we wanted.

“We’re not really in the mix, but we are, and it’s going to be a real push but at least we’ve got something to play for.

“If we can get to the end of this month still with something to play for, then we’ve done amazingly.”