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Mekel
Hackett - scored from
the spot |
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| Dogged and
at times desperate, Borough
produced a second-half rearguard
action to gain an important
point from their trip to 5th-placed
Hendon on Saturday.
On a terrible surface, a bumpy
mixture of grass, mud and liberal
coatings of sand, and playing
with a strong wind at their
backs, Harrow started well.
Former Harrow player Mark Cooper
was robbed of the ball by Clemente
Lopez after 3 minutes. The Harrow
wing-back cut in on goal but
his weak shot allowed another
former Borough man, David Hook,
to save with his legs. At the
other end, Keita Karamoko saved
Haworth’s header, but
the visitors were on top. Hook
saved Phil Gridelet’s
header from Marvyn Watson’s
cross, Dean Marney’s clever
flick from Lopez’s corner
was cleared from the goal-line,
Richard Goddard’s header
was saved, and Adam Everitt’s
throw led to a scramble which
ended with Wayne Walters’s
effort held by Hook.
Harrow’s dominance deserved
a goal, and it arrived after
28 minutes. Two more former
Earlsmeaders, Steve Butler and
Jon-Barrie Bates, got in a tangle
and Watson won the ball 25 yards
out. He beat a couple of defenders
before Butler, attempting to
recover, tripped him inside
the box. Mekel Hackett stepped
forward to beat Hook with the
spot-kick.
It could have been two after
33 minutes, Cooper saving Hendon
with a desperate tackle on Goddard
after Lopez had taken the ball
round Hook and pulled it across
goal.
Hendon’s best effort
of the half was a fierce drive
by Bates that Perry Norman bravely
put his head in the way of,
to deflect the ball over the
bar.
Hendon must have received an
almighty rollicking at half-time
because, with the wind at their
backs, they began the second
half in a totally different
style to the first and were
soon encamped in the Harrow
half. In the opening minutes
Everitt and Walters made great
saving tackles, and Lopez headed
off the line when Karamoko mis-directed
a punch. Crace then headed Binns’s
cross narrowly wide of goal.
Borough’s Malian goalkeeper
was not having his most inspiring
afternoon, and when Binns cut
in from the left after 63 minutes,
he spilled the resulting shot
at the feet of Haworth who bundled
the ball home for the equalising
goal.
Crace then had a ‘goal’
disallowed for pushing Karamoko
before heading home, and Walters
came to the rescue again with
a block tackle after a poor
punch by the Harrow custodian
led to a prolonged scramble.
On a rare Harrow attack, Watson
was astonishingly booked by
referee Palmer for a tackle
on Butler who was obstructing
him with no intention of playing
the ball. Borough boss Edwin
Stein marched down the touchline
to add his views to those of
the Earlsmead travelling supporters,
and was banished to the stand
for his trouble. It was the
second time this season that
Stein has been sent from the
dug-out.
Lee Endersby came on for Hendon
to make it six former Harrow
players playing against their
old club, and he went close
in the 88th minute with a shot
that deflected wide.
In stoppage time, of which
there were over six minutes,
both sides could have claimed
all three points. First Watson
laid the ball into Hackett’s
path but his shot rose yards
over the crossbar. But it was
Hendon who had the prolonged
pressure. The Borough defence
got bodies in the way of everything
thrown at them, but had a great
let-off when the ball landed
at the feet of the unmarked
Ofori, who allowed it to roll
off his toe into the arms of
the grateful Karamoko.
This was a hard fought-for
point against quality opposition,
and should increase Borough’s
confidence. They now have two
home fixtures in the next week,
the first on Tuesday night against
a Hampton & Richmond Borough
side that look relegation-bound
but who’ve just had their
first league win for over five
months.
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