'Patient' Horsham earn deserved victory over Potters Bar Town

Horsham were on top from the get-go but couldn’t find the breakthrough until the 72nd minute when Joe Shelley powered a header into the corner of the net.

The Hornets made certain of the three points when Greg Cundle capitalised on a mix-up between a defender and the goalkeeper inside the final minute of normal time.

Di Paola’s side remain five points behind the play-offs with two games in hand over one-place-higher Carshalton Athletic.

Horsham came close to opening the scoring in the first half but Di Paola wasn’t disappointed they couldn’t find the lead before the break.

He said: “I thought Potters Bar defended quite well but I don’t think we had that many chances.

"We had one from Elliott (Buchanan) and a couple of balls flashed across the box but there wasn’t a huge amount.

“We dominated the ball quite well. We just had to be patient to break them down and we got there in the end.”

He continued: “I was really impressed. We never felt under too much pressure.

“If we had scored ten or 15 minutes earlier it would have been a bit more comfortable.”

The home side started well with Buchanan glancing a header wide from Lea Dawson’s teasing cross.

Cundle then struck the side-netting with a shot before Buchanan had a debut goal disallowed for offside.

The hosts ramped up their offensive action after the break but had Will Miles to thank when he made a superbly-timed challenge to deny Nana Kyei from getting in an effort for the visitors.

But Horsham eventually opened the scoring when Shelley peeled away from his marker at the backpost to power in a Charlie Harris corner.

Di Paola’s side deservedly doubled their lead with a minute remaining when Cundle pounced on an awful defensive error, tapping into an empty net after Kieron Cathline headed past his own keeper.

Horsham: Bentley, Mills, Sparks, Kelly, Shelley, Miles, Cundle (Metcalf 90’), Dawson, Buchanan, Harris, Clark (Smith 74’). Unused: Charman, Merchant, Harding