HARPENDEN IV : 2
ROYSTON IV: 0
27.01.07

The “lucky orange shirts” were put to one side in favour of the new Harpenden white tops on Saturday. It was time to show it was skill and hard work but not luck which has gained them the top of the league status.

Captain “The Provider” had opted for Ben Wain in goal and a starting back four of “The Rock”, “The Beast”, “Homes” and “Straw” to try to keep things tight. This was the case as “The Beast” put his last two performances out of his head and kept the opposition’s striker in his pocket, checking every now and then if he was ok and not cramped in there. With “The Rock” back in the side, everyone seamed to be playing with a lot more confidence.

Midfield general “Elder” marshalled his team mates, “Roadrunner”, “Silver fox”, and “Rocket” as the whites started to dominate the middle area of the field. There job, as always, assisted by some great support play from “The Provider” himself and “Goals”.

Some sloppy passing at times meant the Royston team were never completely kept at bay but the defence stood strong and so chances were very few. The strong Royston visitors counter attacked well after every short corner and showed some good stick skills when doing so, but it was Harpenden that made the breakthrough with a great finish from “Roadrunner”. A forward movement from the boys in white finished with a neat cross from Goals which Roadrunner timed his run perfectly to deflect in over the prostrate keeper.

Several moves by either team never really got up to much steam due to both sides strong defensive line ups, helped out by some poor passing in the final thirds. During the half time talk Harpenden were urged to shift into a higher gear which Captain Carter knew we had. More passing had to be on the menu in the second half to make sure we finish off with our first win of ’07.

Some changes in personnel after the break did not change the strength of the whites, this is due to the size and skill shown amongst the entire fourth team squad this year. The introduction of Dan “Goodyear” Michalik, “Rambler” and “Devil” helped Harpenden push on and play the passing game which the skipper had asked for and which has been missing from our last couple of games, this was rewarded with a neat run from “Goals” with his seventh of the season. He turned his marker and ran on to slide the ball past the keeper into the bottom corner.

From this moment on Harpenden grew in confidence and apart from a 5 minute spell at the end of play, never looked like conceding. This was due to every member of the side showing their fitness and helping each other out.

The final whistle blew with Harpenden back to winning ways. Is this a one off for this year or is this just the start of a winning run to finish the season off? A question which can only be answered as we enter the final round of games.