Isuzu FA Trophy preview: Safety first for Dom Di Paola’s Horsham amid cup buzz

By Matthew Nash

Horsham boss Dom Di Paola insists he’s more focused on getting to 50 points and securing National League South safety, rather than making the last four of the Isuzu FA Trophy.

The Hornets have spent the first half of the season in and around the play-off places following their Isthmian Premier Division title success last season, but have gone one step beyond in the Trophy, culminating in a magnificent win at top-flight Scunthorpe in the last 16.

Defeat to lowly Enfield Town in midweek left Di Paola’s side 12th in their maiden Step 2 campaign and they continue to fight their way through a fixture backlog at home to Ebbsfleet on Tuesday night before National League play-off hopefuls Southend visit West Sussex next weekend.

“My plan was not to target the cups,” long-serving Di Paola told The NLP. “We now play Saturday-Tuesday until the end of March and have had to rearrange three league matches because of the Trophy, but it is an exciting competition to be in.

Work to do

“I think we’ve played more ex-Football League sides in these last few years than the club had done in its entire history previously, but we still have a bit of work to do in the league, as we are not in the best of form.

“If we can get to around the 50/52-point mark, we can relax a little bit.

“We have our heads down trying to get as many points as we can. We have no right to be complacent and we have to make sure it doesn’t get too tight come the end of the season.

“I would still take fifth-bottom.

“The Trophy is a nice distraction and it’s nice to have it on the horizon. I will look at Southend after Tuesday. I won’t be thinking about them until we’ve got Ebbsfleet out of the way.”

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Experiences

The former Hastings manager has led Horsham up from county league football and admits the season has taken its toll recently on one of the division’s part-time clubs.

Their average attendance of 1,333 is the eighth-best in the division and Di Paola said: “It’s going better than expected but it has been the hardest season I have known because we have 17 players.

“It’s been decreasing week by week, and the fact we are in the position we are in is down to sheer hard work.

“People think there’s a benefactor or a backer here because of the attendances we get, but it is simply having good players, which has got us up three divisions.”

His mid-table team can have a big say in the promotion race in the league, too, given they play six of the top seven between now and the end of April.

The Hornets host high-flying Ebbsfleet on Tuesday before attention turns to the blockbuster Trophy quarter-final and Di Paola added: “I like to play against good teams – they are really nice experiences.

“Anyone would want to pit their wits against the likes of Southend and sometimes, in the case of these league games coming up, you can pick up points when you don’t expect to.”