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WELWYN GARDEN CITY I: 1
HARPENDEN II: 2
19.01.2008
After a fine victory against
Stevenage that brought his team right back into title contention,
Pete Kneale took his Harpenden side to Welwyn on Saturday well
aware that a slip-up against an apparently weaker side would be
little short of criminal.
The team was bolstered by the appearances of Russell
Timms and Keri Sharma, jettisoned from the first team as skipper
Mike Emes shuffled his pack looking for a change of fortune for
his relegation-threatened troupe. Sharma and Timms were immediately
at the thick of things for Harpenden, who began the game dominating
possession and creating a host of chances. It came as something
of a shock, therefore, when on 15 minutes, a rare Welwyn attack
was illegally thwarted on the 25 yard line. The resulting free
hit was drilled into the D and deflected past the unsighted Ben
Brind by the Welwyn centre forward. “That was disappointing”
commented Brind. “We know they play route-one, so we
should have been able to prevent that goal. Something to work
on for next week, I feel”.
However, Harpenden were back in the game almost straight
from the pushback. A poor defensive clearance was intercepted
by midfield dynamo Ben Turner, and he instantly fed in Timms,
one-on-one with the keeper. Timms’ emphatic finish hit the
roof of the net, and the sides were level. Fellow front man Fraser
Tant perhaps had the best chance to give his side the lead, picking
up a clever ball out of defence from Dave Waters, beating the
centre back and creating a shot on goal, only to see the keeper
pull off a fine save.
So, at the break, the scores were level,
but Kneale made sure his side were in no mistake that they needed
to up their games if they were to take home all three points.
“We had dominated the half without making the points safe
– I asked the lads to raise their games, and they did. They
mean business, my team. We’re not in this league just to
make up the numbers.”
As the second half commenced, the weather
took a turn for the worse. Harpenden could remember only too well
the dejection they felt after a heavy defeat to Rickmansworth
in similar conditions just prior to Christmas, and this seemed
to galvanise them. Defensive stalwarts Sam Martyn and Graham Smith
maintained their composure and concentration when called upon,
while Paul Nash and Niall Blackwell increasingly created space
and overlaps on the right flank. On one such incursion, a fine
raid down the right released Sharma, who took the ball to the
byline and fed it in to the danger area. Tant was quickest to
react and, amidst a maelstrom of sticks, goalkeeping kickers and
rainwater, did just about enough to prod the ball home. “Yeah,
it wasn’t one for Goal of the Month, that’s for sure!”
said Tant, “but, it’s not how, it’s how
many, and I’ll take any goals that come my way.”
That scrappy but important goal was to be
the last of the afternoon, and sees Harpenden leapfrog Stevenage
into second in the league. The Great Whites will be looking to
maximise their takings from the upcoming games, with a tough run-in
against Luton, Stevenage and Rickmansworth to conclude the season.
Report by Fraser Tant
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Scorers
1) Russell Timms
2) Fraser Tant
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