LETCHWORTH II: 1
HARPENDEN II: 1
26.02,05

Harpenden IIs could have saved themselves a few relegation-induced sleepless nights had they played throughout the season as they did against second-placed Letchworth on Saturday.

The blues were demonstrably the better side, with consistently slick passing, excellent movement and confident ball retention fully deserving all three points.

As it was, Harpenden had to settle for the draw, with Paul Clements’ last equaliser levelling up a Letchworth opener against the run of play early on. “Yeah, it was an important goal for the team, and great for me to score my first goal for the 2s. But frankly, it’s not about who scores, it’s about the team performance, and to a man we were tremendous.”

The blues had to reshuffle their pack before the match, with Niall McAlister moving up front to replace youngster Toby Pickard, who has begun a round-the-world adventure, Dave Waters returning and Clements replacing Neil Lunn at left midfield. Clements’ selection in what has been a troublesome position for the blues throughout the season came about more through luck than judgement but it proved a masterstroke, stifling any Letchworth progress down the right while providing support for the blues going forward. The blues began at a ferocious pace belying their position in the league, although the hosts too had their moments early on. When Arnsby was dispossessed after a string of heinous, unpunished stick tackles, Letchworth stole in around the back and took a lead against the run of play. Harpenden’s collective head could well have dropped, and it’s great credit to them that they survived a couple of nervous moments shortly afterwards – stopper John Allen making two key saves, ably supported by Andy Lunn, Steve Peircy and Neil Liles – before regrouping and reasserting themselves on the game.

At the interval, the talk was all positive despite the 0-1 scoreline. More of the same and we’ll get something out of the game was the message from skipper Fraser Tant, playing his penultimate game with the armband after three years at the helm.

And so it proved to be. Wave after wave of Harpenden attack was thwarted throughout the second half, but the blues kept persisting and, after a full-stretch Arnsby had been inches away from a left wing cross, Clements got the equaliser when put through by a slick team move, approaching the D and flicking an early shot just inside the far post as the keeper advanced.

So, with draws from their last two games, Harpenden are slowly approaching safety. With cellar-dwellars Bedford and West Herts facing each other this weekend, a Harpenden victory against Shefford & Sandy could see the blues all but guaranteed a place in Div 3 next season.

Paul Clements: His first second team goal claimed a point for the blues