HARPENDEN: 1
HAVERING: 4
04.11.2007

Harpenden Hockey Club (sponsored by Kingston Smith) went into Saturday’s clash off the back of 2 heavy defeats in the previous 2 weeks. They did not let this get to them however, knowing that Havering were battling at the same end of the table. The opening exchanges favoured the home side with veteran Ali Hutson causing havoc up front. It was against the run of play when the opening goal did arrive in the favour of the away side. This was quickly countered in superb fashion with a short corner strike by captain Mike Emes making the scores level after just 15 minutes.

The match stayed pretty even for the remainder of the half with both sides creating chances. It was Havering that went in at half time in the lead though when they capitalised on a defensive error to go in to the interval with a slender 2-1 advantage. Harpenden at this point were not too perturbed having played well within themselves and knowing that a strong second half performance could still see them come away with all three points. This unfortunately, was not the outcome after a calamitous second half ensued.

Harpenden were undoubtedly the stronger side over the first 20 minutes, with numerous short corners that came to no avail. They were then hit with a sucker punch to go down 3-1 but did not give up the ghost. And it was only when a fourth goal went in and the game looked finished that the Harpenden nightmare really unravelled. Although Todd Baines protest at a decision may have been valid, the manner in which it was conveyed left the umpire only 1 option - red. Meanwhile, keeper Alan Clarke was getting in similar trouble seeing yellow, leaving Harpenden with 9 and no keeper. Havering also ended with 10 but even with their extra men, they could not score another. In fact it was Harpenden that looked most like scoring. This match is certainly one that Harpenden could look back on in with disappointment, on many fronts but this will hopefully inspire them to greater things next week against Cambridge.

Report by Dan Burgess

Scorers
1) Michael Emes