HARPENDEN II: 3
HERTFORD: 0
30.10.06

Pete Kneale’s Harpenden second string continued their fine start to the season with a convincing win against the first-teamers of Hertford on Saturday.

The visitors to the Brache arrived a man short (as opposed to Harpenden, who had a short man in veteran pocket dynamo Paul Nash). This meant that Hertford began the game sitting deep – as deep as Rob Arnsby in his sofa on a Wednesday training session – content to cede possession and protect what they’d come with. After 10 or so minutes of somewhat fruitless probings, the blues realised that patience was going to be the order of the day, and by sensible use of their extra man, they eventually worked a number of openings. Indeed, it was the arrival of the final Hertford player – perhaps having been waylaid in the Brache Arena’s swanky new coffee bar, ‘Strokers’ – that brought about the blues’ breakthrough. With player parity, Hertford had to come out and play a little, and the extra gaps this created meant Harpenden’s superior man-for-man talent could shine through. After fine work down the right from Wayne McGuire and David Waters that saw the latter upended just outside the D, Harpenden were rightly awarded a short corner, from which Veteran Irish Poacher Niall McAlister crashed home on the switch.

Harpenden remained a goal to the good at the half time interval, but really should have at least doubled their advantage after dominating possession. At the break, Skipper Kneale impressed upon his team that they needed to show more confidence in themselves and their teammates. “We’ve got a cracking squad this year. To a man, we’ve all got more than enough skill to retain possession under pressure – we needed to be more confident in giving it to someone who calls for it regardless of whether they’re marked, as a wall pass in those circumstances will create space for others.”

His men responded heartily, producing some fine hockey in a second half they utterly dominated. Keeper Ben Brind did, admittedly, get his first touch of the game on the hour – albeit when a cross was deflected goalbound by one of his own men. “They say that’s the sign of a good keeper, but I think it was more luck than judgement”, commented the bandana-clad ginge, modestly.

With 15 minutes to go, Harpenden scored the second goal their possession deserved. A quick break by Nigel Timms saw his shot parried wide by the keeper. Fraser Tant pounced to retrieve and pull the ball back, leaving Ali Hutson with the simplest of finishes from a couple of yards out. Five minutes later, the blues made the three points safe. Belisha-Beacon Bonced midfielder Arnsby picked out Tant’s lateral run, his touch fed in Timms and the pacey winger finished a slick move with aplomb.

So, two wins in two see the blues joint top after an excellent team performance that even had permanently dour Nash smiling. “That was a good performance. They parked the bus in front of our goal early doors, but we stuck to our guns and got our just desserts. It’s a marathon not a sprint, mind – it’s too early to start booking open-top buses just yet”.

Next week Kneale takes his men to Welwyn Garden City, hoping for a win and plenty of goals to see the blues overturn the goal difference that sees them lie second in the table to Stevenage.

Brind: Virtual Spectator

Goal scorers:
1. Niall McAlister
2. Ali Hutson
3. Nigel Timms