Di Paola bemoans same old story as Horsham's finishing eludes them at Chips

The Hornets suffered a second reverse in five games as they conceded in both halves in torrential conditions in Surrey.

Tony Nwachukwu pulled a goal back with 20 minutes remaining, but it wasn’t enough for Dominic Di Paola’s side to build on last week’s impressive win over league leaders Tooting & Mitcham.

The Horsham manager felt his side deserved more from the game but highlighted the fact they are missing a talisman this season.

He said: “I think in all honest, coming away from the game afterwards I was pretty frustrated. They had two shots and scored both.

“The fact they still had the issue of relegation hanging over them, to be fair, they were a little bit hungrier.

“Were they better than us? I think we were the better team, we dominated possession and controlled the game, but it has been the same for huge chunks of the season, we could not finish.

“I see the same goalscorers every week in this league for their sides; names like Tom Tolfrey and others. It’s what you need, if we had a goalscorer on Saturday, we would have won 4-2.

“It’s a bit disappointing as it means we are losing to average teams and I don’t mean any disrespect by that, as they were more up for it than us. They did to us exactly what we did to Tooting the previous week.”

In poor conditions Ollie Twum chipped Horsham goalkeeper Josh Pelling as early as the sixth minute to put his side in front.

Alfie Rogers put his header from a free kick over the bar on the 15-minute mark, while Nwachukwu’s low ball before half-time was cleared.

Horsham came the closest in added time when Lewis Hyde’s corner flew past everyone in what was a frustrating first period.

Chipstead added a second goal early after the restart as Dan Cumber headed home after some poor marking.

Tom Lawley spurned an excellent opportunity on 70 minutes after James Thurgar beat three players on his own before passing to Steve Metcalf. Metcalf knocked the ball on to Lawley who fired wide.

Just a minute later, Nwachukwu capitalised on a defensive mix-up, as he dispatched a loose ball into the empty net, getting the Hornets back in the game.

Horsham felt they should have had a penalty in the final minute as Nwachukwu was clattered into by goalkeeper Luke Colquhoun, who tipped the ball out for a corner.

The referee incorrectly pointed to for a goal kick, causing some confusion that he had given a penalty. Chips subs Matt Warren was then also sent off late on for kicking the ball away.

Horsham: Pelling, Duncan, Hyde, Jones, Metcalf, Famer, Lawley, Kirkwood, Clark, Rogers, Nwachukwu. Subs: Boswell, Harris, Wright, Paul-Robinson, Thurgar.