Horsham manager relieved to find goalscoing touch by adding attacking options

Horsham manager Dominic Di Paola is relieved to have some fresh new attacking options at his disposal which has helped them rediscover their goalscoring touch.
Former Three Bridges and Burgess Hill midfielder Hakeem Adelakun. Pic Steve Robards SR1609208 SUS-160329-133609001Former Three Bridges and Burgess Hill midfielder Hakeem Adelakun. Pic Steve Robards SR1609208 SUS-160329-133609001
Former Three Bridges and Burgess Hill midfielder Hakeem Adelakun. Pic Steve Robards SR1609208 SUS-160329-133609001

The Hornets have netted 12 in their past three games through eight different scorers.

That compares to hitting the back of the net just once in their previous five games.

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It seems with back-to-back wins – a 6-3 success over Newhaven in the Sussex Senior Cup and 3-1 triumph against Molesey in the league – a corner has been turned.

Three new recruits – goalkeeper Joe Taylor, striker Dean Bown and midfielder Hakeem Adelakun (who is set to re-join Burgess Hill after a month) – have helped relieve some injuries woes.

And while Di Paola is wary not to get ahead of himself, he feels they are in a much better position now. He said: “It’s always nice to score goals and we have got some attacking options again, which helps. The squad has a few goalscorers in it now and while I am not content, we are scoring again.

“Having Liam MacDevitt, Dean Bown and Toby House all available is like having three brand-new strikers.

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“A settled back four makes a difference as well – Jack Hartley can play further forwards and is a good threat there, while James Thurgar is no longer stuck at left-back.

“Now we have a few back at last, we can be competitive as long as the boys are on it.

“In this league if you start patting yourself on the back you will soon come unstuck.

“If I look at the squad I am happier with the back four; happier we have a few goals.

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“Not having a defence and playing people out of position, you are not going to get away with it. In the County League if players have a bit of quality then they can really play anywhere – not here.”

Joe Keehan is still a couple of weeks away from training after his knee injury, Chris Breach (calf) won’t be back until after Christmas, while a time-span for Asa Nicholson and Charlie Oatway’s returns is unknown.

Di Paola added: “We are always only a couple of injuries away from a drama and we have four loan players, so if we can get people in to improve the squad and group, we would be silly not to.”

Horsham host South Park in the league on Saturday then travel to Walton Casuals in the Velocity Trophy on Tuesday.