STEVENAGE III: 0
HARPENDEN III: 1
09.02.2008

The unusually hot February weather aligned to an excellent away victory were a cause for celebration drinks last Saturday, as is the fact that for once a report on the progress of Pete Evans’ side can focus on a human /hockey interest story rather than slighted convoluted literary or musical allusions.

The man responsible for this change in tack is Nigel Timms. More usually renowned as a quality striker in divisions somewhat remote from South West 5, Timms answered an emergency call to stand between the posts against Stevenage, and showed he is nearly as adept at preventing goals as he is at converting chances.

The threes were keen to get back to winning ways after their heavy home defeat against Letchworth the previous weekend, and started the match brightly. The returning Adam Cole had his best game since the Christmas break, and was at the heart of most of Harpenden’s attacking play, initiating some excellent moves down the right hand flank.

Harpenden won a series of short corners during the opening 30 minutes. After a number of near misses with different routines, skipper Evans took it upon himself to find a way through the deadlock. Receiving another excellent injection from John Pagan, Evans cleverly engineered room for a straight strike at goal. His shot was well saved, but fell invitingly to Tom Preest, who had enough time to finish and put the threes in front.

A strange lull followed the opening goal, where Harpenden sat back and let their skilful opponents back into the game. This laxity was very dangerous particularly on such a quick pitch, the lead being retained courtesy of some excellent defensive work, notably by Neil Liles and Martin Pugh as well as some useful footwork by Timms.

Evans’ half time team talk made it clear that more effort was required and his side responded from the off. Andy Lunn could scarcely have been more energetic in midfield and his excellent through ball found Preest in the D, who then manufactured a shooting chance for Pagan, which went narrowly wide. The 3rd XI’s passing was impressive through out the game, ball of the day coming from Pugh, who picked Cole out with an inch perfect cross field hit, which travelled all of 40 yards to it’s intended recipient, although sadly the move then came to nothing as the young midfielder was let down by the timing of a run from a more senior striking partner………….

The final 15 minutes was a tense affair, as the home side tried to secure the point, which on balance their overall performance may have merited. Three times in quick succession they came close, but were repelled on each occasion by wonderful saves from Timms, whose heroics ensured that the visitors retained their lead until the final whistle.

This excellent game played in a good spirit between two well-matched sides showed that Harpenden 3s have now fully established themselves in this division and that they can more than compete against all but the very best sides in it.

Report by Tom Preest.

Team: Nigel Timms, Martin Pugh, Neil Liles, Geoff Gould, David Munton, Pete Evans, Adam Cole, Jon Pagan, Andy Lunn, Andy Barradell, Tom Preest, Ryan Ely, Stuart Berry.

Scorers
1) Tom Preest