WEST HERTS II : 0
HARPENDEN: 3
10.02.2007

Harpenden took on lowly West Herts last Saturday in a game the form book said they should win comfortably. As it turned out, the hosts weren’t quite the rollover Harps had expected.

The game started well for the away side, with Harpenden enjoying prolonged spells of possession and the team looking comfortable on the ball. There were early chances for the whites but as in previous weeks, chances were not taken upfront, with messers Burgess, Mabanga and Wise all missing good opportunities in the early sorties on the Watford goal.

Paul Wise finally broke the deadlock just before half time, with a well taken goal. Wise, returning from a lengthy spell on the sidelines showed good poise in front of the West Herts goal to open the Harpenden account. Once the first goal was scored, it wasn’t long before the next. After some good work by Spencer Mabanga and Russell Timms put through Paul Wise on goal and finished well to double his personal tally and put Harpenden 2-up at the break.

In a largely forgettable second half, both sides made errors. An early scare on the Harpenden goal after possession was given away in defence was avoided by a sequence of excellent saves by ‘keeper Alan Clark, and then a goal line clearance by veteran midfielder, David Thomas. Any attempt by the Harpenden team to regain some momentum in the second half was pegged back by the West Herts midfield who far too often resorted to breaking down the play with strong challenges high up the pitch, which largely went unpunished by the umpires. As in the first half, there were a number of chances which fell to the Harpenden forwards, but they were unable to make their mark.

Harpenden continued to work well to develop opportunities to increase their lead, but chances weren’t taken. Wise missed a chance to secure his hat-trick and Spencer Mabanga pushed 2 just past the post and the short corner routine for once were firing blanks. Timms was unable to direct a cross from the right wing, missing the top left corner by inches.

Harpenden’s persistence eventually paid off very late on in the game. After some good work down the right by Paul Davison and Todd Baines, Daniel Burgess was put through and unselfishly squared the ball past the out coming West Herts keeper to Russell Timms which he duly took to finished the game.

Whilst Harps will be disappointed with not winning by a greater margin, they will take comfort in there is plenty more in the tank. This will hopefully bode well for them in future weeks as the fixtures become tougher towards the business end of the season.

Match report by Michael Emes

Long awaited return by Paul
Wise seals it with 2 goals

Scorers
1) Paul Wise
2) Paul Wise
3) Russell Timms

Mens 1st - League Goal Scorers