Fuel shortage: Midweek postponements need to be put into perspective says Horsham boss Di Paola

The Hornets were due to visit the Isthmian Premier leaders last night, but the game was called off after the league contacted all clubs on Sunday, giving them the option of postponing the midweek fixtures amid anticipated difficulties in getting players, officials and supporters to games.

In total, 19 midweek fixtures across the Isthmian League were postponed.

Di Paola said: "We haven’t been able to train this week because players can’t get there.

"The key point, to my mind, is that someone’s going to be a winner and someone is going to be a loser.

"Some teams are going to have the hump about it, and some of them are going to be pleased that the game is off.

"From our point of view, it’s fairly obvious that we are going to be pleased that the game is off because we’re away and we’ve got to get players there.

"I’ve seen a lot of criticism of teams calling games off on Twitter but you have to keep in mind that players are travelling from all over the place.

"It’s not Horsham to Kingstonian in a straight line. I’ve got boys that do removals that are down in Devon.

"I’ve got lads who are tradesmen who are bricklaying, plastering, roofing, and they need their fuel for work.

"I think it’s easy for people, on Twitter and places like that, to say, you’re calling the game off, but if I’m being honest, I’ve got a quarter of a tank of fuel at the moment.

"I’ve got work, I need to be in appointments all week, I’m not driving to Kingstonian if I don’t have to when people are queuing for over an hour for fuel.

"It’s taken me four days to get a quarter of a tank because I’ve got a diesel car, and there’s no diesel anywhere near my house at the moment.

Di Paola continued: "You have to put these things into perspective. Yes, in this instance, it’s worked out for Horsham to some extent because we were the away team and we’ve had boys who were really tired from Saturday and we’ve got injuries.

"But I wish people would understand that there’s more to life than football and criticising people online. For every decision that’s made, there’s a criticism.

"We’ve got loads of free weeks over the course of the season. That game will get played.

"I’m far more worried about making sure I make it to my appointments this week.

"And there are boys who need to make sure they’re working, and not doing half a tank of petrol to get to Kingstonian on a Wednesday night."