Harpenden II: 2
Mill Hill II: 1
10 January 04 (Friendly)

Harps' second string began the year as they mean to go on with a reasonably comfortable victory against Mill Hill IIs. However, for a team that hasn't had the results it would have liked before christmas, the blues can castigate themselves for a rather sloppy second half display that threatened to snatch a draw from the jaws of victory.

Harps started the game strongly and had the lion's share of the possession, and it was inevitable that they would take the lead. The goal was an object lesson in simplicity; Neil Liles' tremendous ball out of defence was taken neatly by Rich Stock, and his lay off put fellow front man Fraser Tant racing through one on one with the keeper. The skipper made no mistake, crashing the ball home from the edge of the D. Stock was the blues' man of the match, and his pace and clever running seem to be the perfect foil for his strike partner's hold-up play. Hopefully this bodes well for the second half of the league season.

When Pete Kneale finished off a well worked short corner for the blues ten minutes before the break, Harps knew the points (had there been any on offer, of course) were safe. The blues hadn't really been threatened, and keeper Ben Brind had nothing to do in the first half other than mentally draft a 15 minute monologue to deliver during the halftime break. This may have proved counterproductive for Harpenden, who seemed to focus all their energies on thinking about next weeks's league fixture with Cellar Dwellers Shefford and Sandy, at the expense of the game they were currently involved in. Mill Hill got back in to the game, scoring a neat goal after clever approach work on the right wing, and when the final whistle went, it was the blues who were the more glad to hear it. The result was soured by an injury to veteran Irish midfield maestro Niall McAlister, who looks to be out for a good few weeks after a nasty groin pull.

"Yeah, it's a shame to lose the Ulsterman" commented Stock. "He's been pulling the strings for us this season and we'll miss him. It's rather taken the gloss off a good work out, we'll have to wait and see how the gaffer reshuffles his pack for next week."

Vice-Captain Neil Liles: Great through ball sets up first goal