Horsham FC boss relishing Isthmian Premier play-off battle after win at Canvey Island

The Hornets moved up to third in the table with a 2-1 win at the Gulls. First half goals from Lee Harding and Dan Ajakaiye put the visitors in the driving seat, before Jamie Salmon reduced the arrears in the second half.

Di Paola said: “In the first half I thought we were brilliant. I thought we were as dynamic as we’ve been in a long time going forward. We should have probably come in [at half-time] three or four [goals up].

“In the second half we conceded just after half-time which was a sucker blow. They didn’t have to do a lot to score, so we’ve got to really improve in that area.

“From then it was just a scrappy, horrible, nothing game. They put it on us, understandably. Lucas [Rodrigues] had a good chance near the end but the keeper made a good save.

“There were some real positives. We got Brivs [Jack Brivio] out there and he played some minutes, Harvey [Sparks] got a few more minutes in his legs, and Lucas and Dan were good for large spells in the game.

“It’s another game down. We don’t have to think about going to Essex again this season, so it’s another county knocked off.

“This is what everyone would have wanted in the league. There are a load of teams out there that haven’t got anything to play for at this stage of the season. I moan about everything, but you wouldn’t want a ‘nothing’ end to the season.”

The victory at Canvey followed a disappointing 2-1 defeat at play-off rivals Enfield Town on Saturday.

Ajakaiye fired the Hornets ahead on 19 minutes but the Towners hit back through Marcus Wyllie and Sam Youngs to take the three points.

Di Paola said: “We just conceded a couple at poor times. I watched it back and we were so comfortable in the first half-an-hour. It looked like we could go on and score again and punish them.

“But we just switched off. We can give them a bit of credit for the first one. It was a well-delivered ball and a good finish, but for the second one we just switched off at the back post from a dead ball.

“It was one of those games where there was no football played. The pitch was awful and they found a way to win the game.

“We had a couple of other moments where, on another day, if we take them, we come away with a well-earned away point.

“It was similar to the Carshalton game - they capitalised on mistakes and we haven’t capitalised up the other end.

“It was a tough day at the office. It was frustrating. I didn’t feel there was much between the two teams, I just felt that they found a way to win on their pitch.”

This Saturday sees Horsham host eight-placed Hastings United - who inflicted a first league loss since December on runaway leaders Hornchurch on Tuesday evening - before visiting fierce rivals Lewes on Tuesday [March 26].

Di Paola admitted he is bracing himself for a ‘tough’ run-in - starting this week with a pair of hotly-contested Sussex derbies.

He said: “We knew this was coming. Our run-in is as tough as anyone’s in the league, I think.

“My father-in-law is quite into his football and he showed me the run-ins of everyone and it was quite interesting. I don’t normally look at stuff like that, but I think we’ve got quite a tough run-in. We’re playing some good sides over the next couple of weeks.

“There’s still just under a quarter of a season to go, which is crazy really because it’s going to be shoehorned into a six week period.

“We’ve got a lot of games where we need to keep the boys on point and try and keep as much freshness in the group as we can, which is our biggest challenge.”

Meanwhile, Horsham have confirmed Tom Kavanagh has departed the club - albeit briefly.

The experienced midfielder has joined Isthmian Premier rivals Folkestone Invicta on a one-month loan. The former Sutton United and Kingstonian player made his Invicta debut off the bench during Saturday’s 1-0 home win over Canvey.

Di Paola said: “He needs to play some games. Hopefully it will help us.

“He’s a great player Tom. He’s been a bit unlucky because he had some injuries and then the flu at a bad time, and he’s not been able to get back into the side.

“But hopefully if he goes and plays a few games down at Folkestone he can then come back and give us what we need in the run-in.

“We need everyone. Someone is going to step up to the mark in every game, and it could be someone that’s not played much recently that does it.”