| HARPENDEN
IV: 1
ROYSTON III: 2
17.11.2007
When captain Dean
realised we were playing top of the league Royston 3’s,
just one week after being walked over by bottom of the league
Welwyn 4’s, he realised there was only one thing to do.
He recalled his regulars and was rewarded with a great team performance.
Harpenden spent the opening ten minutes
camped out in the opposition half as Malcolm Jones and Mike Edmund
made a big nuisance of themselves against a strong Royston side.
They were supported well by the usual general of midfield Neil
Berry with his pin point passing and endless running.
It was only in the 25th minute when the home pitch bobbled a ball
over the stick of the returning Simon Bates that Harpenden lost
momentum. The Royston striker took the ball and rounded keeper
Neil Smyth to put them ahead against the run of play.
This was the only lapse from the ever strong partnership of Bates
and Beggs and Ian was the usual Rock from which every attack was
built.
The team reunited this week showed their faith in what they could
do and battled hard against the opposition and finally justice
was done when a short corner found its way to the teams top scorer,
and midfielder Neil Berry. Some great defending and goal line
clearances from Simon Bates and Ali Barrett meant the Harpenden
side were always in this game and belief in the side grew throughout
the game.
With Graham Dean, Alex Beggs and Dan Michalik all working hard
to create spaces and move the ball quickly the men in white were
matching the league leaders with every minute passing on the clock.
Nick Crane, placed at right back for this game gave strength behind
Michalik whilst youngster Ali Barrett pushed on and joined the
free flowing passing down the left with Dean and Ely when he was
introduced to the game.
Andrew Salmon linked up well with Mike Edmund and Malcolm Jones
to provide a very strong looking attack which kept the Royston
defence on their toes, which in turn meant their break aways were
few.
There was one incident in the game, which I have to mention, from
the second half. We have all been asked to keep quiet so I will
not be mentioning the short corner in the second half where the
ball fell to captain Graham Dean. Roadrunner Dean stopped the
ball well and looked up to see where he could slot his shot home,
however Dean proceeded to what can only be described as swat at
the ball and miss. Many would say it was a swipe or a swing, but
whatever word you choose it was funny for all to see, before finally
a second swing at the ball saw it bobble to the keeper.
Please do not reveal where you read the above paragraph but feel
free to mention it whenever you bump into the 4s captain as he
enjoys reliving it so much. It was only in the last couple of
minutes when a Royston midfielder broke into the edge of the D
and chipped the ball over four or five players, including the
keeper that the Harpenden boys new it was just not meant to be
for this week.
The captain was quoted in the changing room as “being
very happy with the performance” and “only
a little bit of tweaking would mean we are back to our best”.
I think many people would agree that following a 5-0 loss the
previous week to only lose to a last minute winner against top
of the league is a vast improvement.
The players are hoping to step up yet another gear next week.
Man of the match – Neil Berry
Team – Neil Smyth, Ali Barrett, Ian Beggs,
Simon Bates, Neil Berry, Graham Dean (c), Alex Beggs, Nick Crane,
Ryan Ely, Dan Michalik, Mike Edmund, Malcolm Jones, Andrew Salmon
Match Report by Simon Bates
|
Scorers
1) Neil Berry
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