Hampton
& Richmond 3 Harrow Borough 3
View
Lineups / Goalscorers
An
incident packed game involving goals, penalties, six bookings
(including both goalkeepers in separate incidents) and two sendings
off - although apart from 10 seconds of mayhem in the second half,
not a dirty game. Harrow, three up and apparently cruising to
their first win of the season, allowed the home side back into
the game over the last 30 minutes and at the end needed some good
fortune and desperate defending to hang on to a point.
The
game turned after an ugly incident in the 50th minute when home
defender Peter Barnsby was red-carded for a dreadful challenge
on Keith Newby and he was joined in the dressing room by Boro
midfielder John Hurlock who over-reacted to Barnsby's tackle.
Injuries made changes to the Boro squad necessary and manager
Ed Stein opted for experience bringing back Otis Roberts and giving
coach Hakan Hayrattan his first outing with the senior team. After
a very untidy start, Boro went ahead in 23rd minute. Home 'keeper
Ben Miles mispunched a Roberts cross to Pat Gavin on the edge
of the box and the striker's instinctive volley sailed in just
under the bar.
Three
minutes later Boro went two up. Hampton's defence were slow coming
out after a corner and Keith Newby's pass found the unmarked Danny
Nwaokolo who was bundled over by Miles. Mark Xavier slotted the
spot kick in. David Hook made an outstanding save from Coates
when he tipped a point blank shot on to the bar. Boro went three
up after 44 minutes when John Hurlock's clever flick set Xavier
free and he held off his marker to tuck the ball away into the
corner, making a difficult chance look easy. Harrow remained in
control for an hour before the sendings off which seemed to disrupt
them more than the hosts. Hampton pulled a goal back after 65
minutes when Mark Cooper appeared to lose his footing allowing
Griffiths to cross which was side-footed in by Carter.
Carter
added a second after 78 minutes when he cleverly beat three Boro
defenders before netting. With Boro's defence looking increasingly
uneasy they conceded their fourth penalty in four games when Danny
Nwaokolo was adjudged to have brought down Craig Maskell who got
up to score with the spot kick. Boro still had chances and Pat
Gavin and Vladimir Gusavac, twice, went close. But Boro needed
help from the cross bar to keep out a header by Flitter and then
Mark Cooper and Nwaokolo kicked shots off the line in rapid succession.
In
the dying seconds a fine build up led to an excellent cross by
Andy Rose and although Gusavac got his head to the ball he diverted
it the wrong side of the post. This was a case of two points being
lost rather than one gained. Boro have conceded 15 goals in five
games which tells it's own story. No doubt manager Stein and his
assistant Dave Howell will be giving this urgent attention.
