WINCHMORE HILL & ENFIELD: 1
HARPENDEN IV: 1
25.11.06

Stalemate on the Hill as mighty oranges maintain unbeaten start to season.

Saturday’s game marked the mid-point in a series of potential banana-skin away fixtures for your tangerine-clad heroes, following the hard-fought victory at the distant Royston barracks and the goal-less affair in Adelaide. With Winchmore sides a veritable enigma in recent fixtures, the uneducated bystander could be forgiven for wondering why Harps lined up with a slightly defensive 4-5-1 formation at the off. With three members of the experienced spine (Rock, Priest and Horse) missing, ElderBerry nursing a sore calf and dropping back to sweeper, and recent defensive stars Beast and Homes also absent, the reshuffle was, however, mild tactical genius, as the 4ths bossed the early midfield encounters, James “Vocals” Stenson putting himself about with a massive display of commitment in his first start of the season, and Graham Dean, with his usual energy, creating space and width down the right.

It was one of these breaks that was to lead to the opening goal, with hard work winning a short corner about 15 minutes in. ElderBerry slid the ball sweetly onto The Provider’s stick, and his perfectly angled shot was kicked off the line by Winchmore’s antipodean left back, having left the keeper grasping at thin air.

Umpire Nick Crane has no doubts in pointing at the spot, and the Captain duly stepped up and fizzed the flick into the left side netting to record his fifth of the campaign.

There followed a concerted period of pressure from a defiant Winchmore side, intent on showing why they have achieved second place in the league, and they fully tested the stoic back line of StrawBerry, Nat King Cole and the Taza-manian Devil, even forcing HayWain into smart saves. Malcolm “Silver Fox” Jones was awesome at defensive short corners, charging down every single one with passion and commitment, and giving breakaway chances on most occasions.

“The Hill” came back at “Las Naranjas” hard in the second half, and only some last gasp heroics prevented an equalising goal, until the barricades were finally breached with about 10 minutes to go, and the home side levelled, putting away a loose ball in the area. The second half was mostly inconspicuous, apart from a fine performance from the Rambler, who came on just before half time and made some mazy runs on the left.

With a slightly weakened side, an away draw is not a bad result, especially when you have to play two teams at the same time, we remain top of the league and, with more home games than away fixtures left, we’re starting to look strong favourites so begin to forge back up the divisions!

Scorers
1. Dan Carter