WELWYN GARDEN CITY II: 0
HARPENDEN III: 1
29.09.07

Harpenden 3s made the short journey to Hatfield to begin their league campaign against Welwyn 2s last Saturday. New captain Peter Evans dealt manfully with the usual early season pit falls facing all sporting sides at this level, not least the fact that many of his side didn't know each other until minutes before push back. It is thus to Evans' credit that the 3s produced a sound and coherent performance, and secured an opening victory.

Finnish death metal band The Children Of Bodom have in right in their
much loved opus "Silent Scream" when stating that
"Guidance, it means nothing In a world of brutal time."

And so it was with the skipper's newly introduced "rotation" policy, whereby subs were rolled on an off every 10 minutes, with no other direction than the replacement being chosen by the on-coming player..............Having said that taking a squad of 13 was perhaps the key for Harpenden, as they certainly finished the stronger of the two teams.

Both sides started brightly, James Bird settled into his new forward role quickly, and was soon making a nuisance of himself to the home defence, before being replaced (after 10 minutes obviously) by the more refined but nonetheless as effective skills of new comer Andy Salmon.

Jon Pagan showed some excellent touches in midfield on his debut league
performance for the 3s and Neil Smyth returning in goal after a prolonged absence made some solid saves.

Openings were few and far between for both sides, and it was no surprise
when the teams went into half time at 0-0. The second half was notable
for some brilliant play by Tom Gosling at left back. Gosling another new comer to the side was more than competent in his defensive duties all afternoon, but also gave the side some attacking impetus with some scintillating forward runs as the match progressed. The consensus in the pub afterwards being that he'd merely got fed up of watching the ineffectual efforts of his team mates in that regard. The Harpenden youth policy continues to pay dividends as Stuart Berry, Geoff Gould and Adam Cole all put in excellent displays.

Harpenden survived a collective "blip" mid way through the second period, where time appeared to be suspended as the ball simply refused to be cleared from the visitors 22, and having come through that both sides appeared content to play out for a draw.

Pagan then turned the ball over in a dangerous position and ran hard at
the tiring Welwyn defence. The debutant rode a few challenges and then
drew the experienced sweeper towards him like a moth to a proverbial
flame, before slipping an inch perfect pass to Tom Preest at the top of
the D. As his team mates all silently pleaded with him to stop the ball and take his time, Preest took it upon himself to have a swing at it first time. Luckily a good contact was made and with the keeper ill prepared for an early shot the ball hit the back board, securing something of a "smash and grab" three points.

Report by - Tom Preest.

Scorers
1) Tom Preest