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Davis
Haule - double scorer |
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| Borough returned
from a foggy Ship Lane pointless
on Saturday, reflecting on a
late twist of luck that didn’t
go their way, otherwise the
result might have been different.
Lee twisted to send an early
shot past the post for the hosts,
but Harrow were soon in their
stride. A clever short corner
routine saw Dean Marney set
up Kevin McKenna for a 15-yard
shot that flashed just wide.
Richard Goddard then forced
a full-length diving save from
O’Reilly. Another nice
interchange ended with another
McKenna shot, just past the
other post.
Keita Karamoko, playing his
last game before a two-week
trip home, turned a shot from
Kandol round the post, and excellent
defending from Wayne Walters
stopped a dangerous home attack.
But Harrow were on top, and
went in front after 37 minutes.
A long passing move ended with
another McKenna shot. This time
the Borough skipper’s
effort was on target. O’Reilly
dived and tipped his effort
onto the post, but the ball
came back for Davis Haule to
roll into the net.
Fabio Valenti’s attempted
chip was then held by O’Reilly
before Purfleet levelled after
41 minutes. A collision between
Karamoko and Pat Gavin led to
a corner, which was half-cleared,
but Keeling, on the edge of
the penalty, cleverly floated
the ball back over Karamoko
but under the crossbar.
Worse followed on the stroke
of half-time when Purfleet went
ahead. A ball from the left
hit Perry Norman, and referee
Pryor adjudged that it was handball.
The Borough defender was adamant
that it had been against his
chest, showing the official
the mark the ball had made on
his shirt, but the referee didn’t
change his mind and Chandler
stabbed the penalty past Karamoko.
Harrow were unlucky to go in
at the break behind, but serious
damage was done to their hopes
of getting back into the game
two minutes into the second
half, when Kandol outpaced Marney
to fire the ball over Karamoko
to make it 3-1.
The officials were at the centre
of more controversy in the 55th
minute, when Keeling punched
McKenna in annoyance at a tackle
by the Borough midfielder. Amazingly,
after a conference between referee
and linesman, the home player
received just a caution, as
did McKenna for the tackle.
Karamoko then made a fine save
to turn a Lee header over the
bar.
Harrow pulled a goal back in
the 67th minute. Phil Gridelet
was fouled just outside the
penalty area. Valenti’s
free-kick was nodded down by
Goddard for Haule to divert
the ball under O’Reilly.
An equaliser looked on the
cards, and Goddard headed a
corner just past the post. Two
Harrow substitutes then nearly
combined successfully, Robert
Charles just failing to connect
with Eseyas Yhdego’s left-wing
cross.
The key 30 seconds in the match
occurred in the 85th minute.
McKenna’s clever flick
from Yhdego’s pass looped
over O’Reilly but struck
the bar. Purfleet gathered the
loose ball and broke to the
other end, where Daniel Dyer
floored a home attacker. This
time there was no doubt about
the penalty award, and Chandler
scored off the post. Yhdego
was close with a late lob past
the post, but a two-goal margin
was too much to recover that
late in the game.
The result leaves Harrow with
an even record after 24 matches:
8 wins, 8 draws and 8 defeats.
The faithful Earlsmead following
would have undoubtedly settled
for this before the season started.
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