|
Kevin
McKenna - acrobatic clearance |
|
| Borough turned
round at half-time at Church
Road somewhat unfortunate to
be one-down, but they followed
that with 45 minutes of poor
passing, midfield surrender
and appalling defensive disorganisation,
backed by some goalkeeping howlers,
to finish the game on the end
of their heaviest defeat of
the season.
Harrow manager Edwin Stein
made a number of changes to
the side that had performed
so disappointingly against Purfleet
on Saturday, with Clemente Lopez,
Perry Norman, Wayne Walters
and Fabio Valenti returning
in place of Dwain Clarke, Marvyn
Watson, Ross Fitzsimon and Pat
Gavin.
Borough started brightly enough
and after 10 minutes, Robert
Charles’s clever flick
from Richard Clarke’s
near-post cross flashed past
the post. Kevin McKenna’s
30-yard free-kick then flew
wide of the target. At the other
end, McKenna had to make an
acrobatic clearance from inside
the six-yard box, and Kevin
Warner’s clever free-kick
routine saw his shot charged
down.
James Osborn had a shot blocked,
and McKenna an effort saved
by Bossu, who then needed two
grabs to dive on a shot from
Osborn. The hosts went in front
after 29 minutes when one of
their forwards was tripped as
he ran into the Harrow area.
Ferguson was very unlucky not
to get Cochrane’s spot-kick,
which squeezed under his dive.
Harrow were close to an equaliser
with a 42nd minute goalmouth
scramble which saw the ball
hacked off Adam Everitt’s
toe, but on the stroke of the
interval Hayes nearly doubled
their lead when Currie’s
header crashed off the bar.
The half-time break saw a change
of referee, Mr Mackrell being
unfit to reappear. It also saw
a change in the mental state
of the Harrow side. Competitive
throughout the opening period,
the white flag was raised throughout
a dreadful second half, and
the chapter of disaster opened
in the 54th minute when Matthew
Ferguson got both hands to the
ball at the feet of Currie but
then contrived to sweep the
ball up into the air. Currie
squared to Holsgrove who tapped
it home.
Ferguson’s woe continued
in the 61st and 66th minutes
when he seemed to stand rooted
to the spot as first Molesey,
lucky still to be on the pitch
after a first half assault on
McKenna, and then Holsgrove
fired shots from distance past
him.
The whole defence was at fault
for the fifth after 72 minutes.
Holsgrove now fancied his chances
from distance against Ferguson,
who oddly had chosen not to
wear a cap despite the strong
sunlight facing him -
a factor in his nightmare half
perhaps? - and hit a free-kick
from 30 yards. Ferguson could
only touch it onto the bar,
and with no Borough defenders
quick to react, Julienne fired
in the loose ball.
Julienne was off-target with
another effort, and Austin shot
over when presented with the
ball with a poor kick by Ferguson.
Harrow had a brief spell of
pressure which saw Eseyas Yhdego’s
shot deflected over the bar
after a fine pass by Charles.
But confirmation that Harrow
were to get nothing at all from
the game came when both replacement
referee Mr Lymer and his assistant,
found from within the crowd
at half-time, missed an appalling
challenge by Holsgrove on Perry
Norman that probably deserved
a red card. As it was, Norman
was left hobbling and was unable
to get out of the way when a
cross from a Hayes short corner
routine five minutes into stoppage
time deflected off him past
Ferguson.
Technically, Harrow still need
a point for mathematical safety,
as Boreham Wood and Chesham
can still reach their current
54 point total, though it would
now take a strange sequence
of results for them to be under
threat. But this second-half
performance suggested that the
players have decided the close
season has arrived, or perhaps
no-one has told them that this
season the league campaign increased
from 42 to 46 games. Perhaps
they could issue a statement
before Saturday’s game
at Hitchin, for most supporters
will decide that they would
have better things to do than
to watch another performance
like this.
|
