REFEREE

P Forrester

HARROW

1 Andray Baptiste 2 Dean Fenton   Gary Meakin 72 3 Ryan Watts 4 Wayne Walters 5 Danny Leech 6 Tobi Jinadu 7 Kwasi Frempong 8 Daniel McGonigle 9 Dewayne Clarke   Charles Ball 85 10 Rocky Baptiste 11 Kenta Nakashima   Jonathan Constant 72 12 Peter Lyall 14 Charles Ball 15 Gary Meakin 16 Jonathan Constant 17 Keita Karamoko

WALTHAM ABBEY

1 Joe Taylor 2 George Chanda 3 Lee White 4 Dave Ayres 5 Jordan Bostock 6 Andy Keepence   Barrington Brotherto (28) 7 Tom Bailey   Ricky Edwards (72) 8 James Elmes 9 Billy Holland 10 Harry Elmes   Aaron Gayle (73) 11 Xanial Doku 12 Aaron Gayle 14 Barrington Brotherto 15 Matt Attard 16 Ricky Edwards

HARROW 5 Tobi Jinadu 12 Ryan Watts 52 Tobi Jinadu 60 Kenta Nakashima 66 Dewayne Clarke 84 Waltham Abbey 3 James Elmes 39 Harry Elmes 47 Billy Holland 57

by Simon Grigor at Earlsmead

The goals flew in on Saturday at Earlsmead in a richly entertaining afternoon that saw Harrow move up to a mid-table position as they embark on a tough-looking December that will see them play six of their seven league games away from home. As well as some super attacking football, the afternoon will be remembered by everyone present, and no doubt everyone who will see it on ‘You Tube’, for what was perhaps the most incredible miss ever seen.

Dewayne Clarke regained a starting berth, with Daniel McGonigle dropping back into midfield for the injured James Fraser. Harrow were at the throats of their visitors from the start, Clarke crossing for Kenta Nakashima to head across goal, Rocky Baptiste blocked as he shaped to shoot. Dean Fenton then stepped over a Clarke cross but McGonigle, coming in behind him, missed the ball altogether. Nakashima’s run across the area then ended with a shot wide. At the other end, Ayres seized on a Ryan Watts clearing header but drove widely over.

Borough took the lead in the 12th minute. Breaking from midfield, the ball was played right to Rocky Baptiste. He took it on and hit a beautiful cross that curled onto the head of Tobi Jinadu, who had remained forward from an earlier corner and headed powerfully in.

Taylor in the Abbotts goal made a great one-handed save to push away Fenton’s first time shot, the dreadlocked winger having been found by a super pass by McGonigle. Chanda then made a great interception of a Fenton cross, and Ayres did well to clear a dangerous Clarke delivery.

With 38 minutes gone, Clarke was put through with just Taylor to beat, but seemed to get the ball caught under his feet. The ball was cleared to Watts, whose driven cross was a whisker away from the sliding Baptiste.

At Capershotts on August Bank Holiday Monday, Harrow had dominated the game until Abbey equalised out of the blue. It was similar today, because when Danny Leech made a reckless challenge on the edge of the box in the 39th minute, James Elmes extracted a punishment with a curling free-kick past Andray Baptiste’s left hand.

White made a great tackle when Clarke burst through the middle, McGonigle curled a 20-yarder wide, and half-time arrived with the scores even.

Two minutes into the second half, Harrow found themselves 2-1 down. Walters missed his header on a long ball downfield with Leech failing to cover, and Harry Elmes went through and walloped the ball past Baptiste. Harrow equalised in the 52nd minute. Chanda fouled Fenton, and Watts’s placed a 20-yard free-kick through the wall and past Taylor’s right hand.

Wayne Walters made an important tackle on White’s shot, before the Abbotts regained the lead after 57 minutes. Harrow were caught upfield when McGonigle missed his tackle. Abbey broke quickly on the left and the ball was delivered into the middle for Holland to poke home.

It took three minutes for Harrow to equalise again. Watts swung in a corner from the right, Leech rose at the near post to flick it on, and Jinadu arrived at the far post to convert his second goal.

Four goals in 13 minutes, the attacks continued to dominate. A scramble in the home goal saw the ball hacked to safety, Clarke broke clear but lost the ball, Baptiste’s shot from Clarke’s lay-off was blocked, and then Clarke got round the right-hand side of the visiting defence but Baptiste put his cross just wide of the post.

Harrow went 4-3 in front in the 66th minute, Clarke strode forward in the inside right position. His shot across the goal was finished at the far post by a sliding Nakashima.

James Elmes tried to repeat his free-kick goal for the visitors, but this time the Harrow defence blocked the effort. McGonigle found Baptiste with a superb crossfield pass and the forward’s ball inside to Kwasi Frempong was blocked. Some Harrow pressure finished with Gary Meakin shooting over from the edge of the box. His fellow substitute Jonathan Constant then cut in from the left and shot past the near post. Abbey might have equalised but Edwards flicked the ball over from close range under pressure from McGonigle.

Harrow doubled their lead in the 84th minute. A poor Abbotts clearance was picked up by Clarke, and he drove a curling shot past Taylor from 20 yards. The striker struggling with a knee injury at the interval further damaged his knee in the process with Charles Ball coming on. He might have opened his Harrow account immediately when he chested down Baptiste’s cross but shot wide.

Abbey were still a threat. Watts cleared off the line when the ball was taken wide of Baptiste and stroked goalwards. James Elmes then curled a free-kick over.

Into stoppage time and the moment that will linger the longest. Baptiste intercepted an Abbey pass, took the ball forward and waltzed past Taylor. He then walked the ball towards the goal-line. No more than one yard out, in the centre of the goal, he decided to finish with a flourish, by powering the ball into the net, but it all went horribly wrong as he drove it fiercely past the post, and in fact it went out for a throw-in. Not to distract from the excellent game he had otherwise, but cue acute embarrassment for the veteran striker, and hilarity from everyone else. With the game videoed, this clip could turn out to be a very valuable publicity source for the club.

Finally a word for an excellent referee. After Tuesday’s game with Boreham Wood, where almost every foul was punished by a booking, and a game without a serious foul saw nine yellow cards, today Mr Forrester exuded a mature authority, and didn’t see the need to pull a card out once. The fantastic game was as much a credit to him, and his assistants, as the two sides.