SOUTHGATE ADELAIDE: 1
HARPENDEN II: 7
08.03.2008

Harpenden cruised to a comfortable victory against strugglers Southgate on Saturday, and in doing so kept their noses in front of third-placed Winchmore Hill in the race for the coveted second promotion spot.

Despite having their most fruitful game of the season in front of goal, Pete Kneale’s men weren’t on particularly good form. To say that they considered this fixture a foregone conclusion would be a little strong, but they have been looking to the final three fixtures as those that would determine their destiny, and had perhaps taken one eye off the ball. Indeed, Southgate started the game the stronger, outnumbering the skipper and the returning Ben Turner in the middle of the park and reducing Harpenden to unproductive route-one hockey. Despite this, the whites took the lead when a fine through ball from David Waters released Ceri Sharma in the D and the young wide-man calmly lifted the ball over the advancing keeper. The lead didn’t last long, however, with Adelaide equalising minutes later after some slack defending and for a while the game was evenly poised.

Jolted in to action, Harps raised their game and in a blistering 10 minute spell before the break, secured the points. First, short-corner specialist Sam Martyn registered his forth goal in consecutive games with a misshit effort somehow evaded the keeper and his defender on the line. “They all count!” commented the affable sweeper. Goal-machine Nigel Timms scrambled the third after a goal line melee, and Niall Blackwell came of the bench to cleverly deflect Fraser Tant’s goal-bound effort beyond the keeper’s dive with his very first touch. The same player was on hand again just before the break to put home his side’s fifth goal, and the break couldn’t come soon enough for the hosts.

Kneale wanted to see more urgency, more composure and more ruthlessness in the second half, conscious that the same level of play would not suffice against League leaders Luton in the following game. Timms soon registered his second after a great run by veteran misery-gnome Paul Nash, and the merest of clever deflections from Kneale effort saw Blackwell claim a clinical hatrick, the side’s first trio of the season. Timms had a handful of chances to claim a share of the match ball but it wasn’t to be, and the score finished 7-1 to Harpenden.

“I think it’s my first hatrick for the club” said a proud Blackwell “which is nice, but I don’t care who scores as long as we get the three points. Hopefully we can build on today’s results and get the two wins from three we need to secure promotion.”

Scorers
1) Ceri Sharma
2) Sam Martyn
3) Nigel Timms
4) Niall Blackwell
5) Niall Blackwell
6) Nigel Timms
7) Niall Blackwell