| STEVENAGE
V: 1
HARPENDEN IV: 4
30.09.06
Harpenden 4ths continued their strong
start to the season with a controlled display away to a Stevenage
side that left them top of the table after the first two games.
Given that this Stevenage side had finished above the 4’s
last season, this first away fixture gave a real indication of
how far the side has progressed in the last year, having been
beaten 4-3 in the corresponding tie last year. No disappointment
this time though, as Harps started well from the off, playing
for the second consecutive week in the “lucky orange shirts”,
putting early pressure on the Stevenage goal.
Indeed it was to only take ten minutes for Harps to get on the
scoreboard, a change of tack on the third short corner pushing
near to Mike Edmond, who manoeuvred some space excellently to
slide an inch perfect pass to Ryan Ely, who had time to make a
cup of tea before slotting the ball in at the back post.
Harpenden squeezed the pressure straight back on from the restart,
and soon won another penalty corner, this time Niall Blackwell
who played excellently in midfield all afternoon, pushed out to
the top of the ‘D’, where captain Dan Carter buried
his strike to double the lead.
Although Stevenage attempted to work their way back into the
game, the midfield of Ely, Neil Berry, Blackwell and Graham Dean
hassled, harried, tackled and teamed well with the defence, made
up initially of Adam Cole, Jon Pagan and Brian Smith, with Ian
Beggs sweeping behind.
In fact the hardest obstacle we had to deal with was the substitutions,
as with a squad of 16, 4 first half rotations were made, with
Rich Harle coming in for Ely, Dave Wain coming on for Carter for
a typically energetic first performance of the season, Stuart
Berry for Smith and debutant Ben Williams showing maturity beyond
his years giving Blackwell a hard earned rest.
Stevenage were only allowed one chance on goal in the first half,
where Ben Wain pulled off a stunning reaction save to deny what
seemed a certain goal, and took a stick to the shoulder for his
troubles, ensuring a 2-0 lead at half time.
With the tardy Simon Bates coming on for Beggs after the break,
and a number of other reshuffles taking place, it was no surprise
that the re-organisation was more akin to dis-organisation, and
the slight confusion allowed the home side the chance to flash
home their first goal of the season, halving the deficit. This
only served to make Harps more resolute, however, and the two
goal advantage was soon restored when Neil Berry’s diagonal
ball was glanced by Blackwell onto Dean’s stick at the back
post, where the newly appointed Vice-captain was only too grateful
to register his first of the season.
The result was put out of doubt a few minutes before the end,
when a miscued shot from Carter at the top of the ‘D’
found Edmond, again at the back post, to knock in his first, returning
the favour from the previous week.
With the three other sides who won last week all losing, the
4’s have opened up a three point lead at the top of the
table, but as the cliché says, it’s a marathon not
a sprint, and the early good work could easily be undone if we
are complacent in the slightest. So now to the Brache at 5pm next
week, where we will entertain Winchmore Hill, keen for revenge
for the reverse at the end of last season, the circumstances of
which are still raw in the memory for some…
Special thanks also to Rob Cole, whose role as spectator was
upgraded to substitutions manager for the afternoon!
|
Scorers
1. Ryan Ely
2. Daniel Carter
3. Graham Dean
4. Mike Edmond
|
