ROYSTON: 5
HARPENDEN II: 2
12.2.05

Harpenden approached Saturday’s relegation dogfight with Royston with plenty of confidence, on the back of two wins against fellow strugglers Bedford and West Herts, albeit followed by a hammering by newly-crowned champions Stevenage.

But, optimism was soon to turn to despair once a succession of defensive clangers saw the blues slip to 3-0 deficit within 20 minutes. Harpenden have shown themselves to be slow off the mark this season, but their shabbiness straight from the push-back was something to behold. To be fair, the blues defensive unit had been decimated by the absence of regulars Ben Brind, Dave Munton and Dave Waters, and perhaps the blues struggled as new or repositioned players found their feet. But, Harpenden will feel they succumbed far too easily, and were out of the game before they were even in it. A fourth goal just before the break ensured that the points would stay in the windy Cambridgeshire wilderness and meant that the blues were playing for pride in the second half.

After a major bollocking at half time, Harpenden came out fighting and the second half saw a marked improvement in their performance. An early goal hinted at an unlikely comeback when Niall Blackwell tucked the ball away after the ball came lose from a 50:50 between the keeper and Fraser Tant, put through by Niall McAlister. However, Royston restored their unassailable 4 goal advantage just minutes later before any wobbles could set in. Returning veteran Ben Thompson gave everything he had, while Rob Arnsby was tireless in midfield, worked his socks off and thoroughly deserved a goal from a short corner to reduce the deficit to 5-2, which is how it remained until the final whistle.

So, as we reach the business end of the season, Harpenden are still very much facing a battle to stay in this league. However, with fixtures remaining against Southgate Adelaide, Shefford & Shandy, Winchmore Hill & Enfield and others, they’ll believe they have more than enough in their locker to remain in Div 3 for 2005/6.

Rob Arnsby: Bagged his first goal for the 2s