Harrow
Borough 2 Enfield 1
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Lineups / Goalscorers
Capitalising
on a dream start, Borough finally got their first league win of
the season in an exciting game at Earlsmead. The performance was
not a classic one, but qualities of grit and teamwork shone through
and suggest that better fortunes may be on the way. The game was
still in its second minute when debutant Hasan Oktay burst onto
Pat Gavin's pass to beat the visiting offside trap and slide the
ball past John.
Enfield
hit back with Hammatt's header saved and Brown's header off-target,
but at the other end Andy Rose went close with a 20-yarder saved
by John and John Hurlock's shot going just wide. As the first
half progressed Enfield assumed territorial dominance in a search
for an equaliser, but some improved Harrow defending, with Danny
Nwaokolo marshalling the back line well, restricted their opportunities.
Bunn
got onto the end of one cross but was denied by a magnificent
David Hook save, Oliver Lyons clearing the loose ball for a corner.
Hook was lucky when he dropped the resulting corner, Rose being
on hand to clear the resulting shot off the line. At the other
end, a great Fleming tackle ended Marvin Walker's 60-yard run,
John saved Hurlock's deflection of Keith Newby's header, and a
Gavin header from Otis Roberts's cross was scrambled clear. Sean
James was feeling a twinge in his leg and was replaced at half-time
by Francis McCormack, with Walker moving to left back.
The
early opportunities in the second half belonged to Harrow. Gavin
fed Oktay in the 50th minute and his shot was deflected narrowly
wide. In the following minutes, Oktay twice had openings in front
of goal but each time delayed his shot too long. Harrow continued
to have the lion's share of possession. Newby's cross was cleared
by McDonald, and Roberts's free-kick was volleyed over his own
bar by Rattray. Another Borough goal looked to be on the cards,
and it came in the 69th minute when Oktay got his head to a dropping
clearance and found Gavin, who volleyed home sweetly from 18 yards,
before running over to the stand to kiss his girl-friend.
Enfield
had to go more all-out in attack and, after Alleyne had volleyed
across goal, they narrowed the deficit in the 73rd minute. Roberts
failed to contest a 50-50 ball on the right and when the ball
was worked quickly upfield, a far post cross was met by Morris's
volley to make it 2-1. Enfield realised that there might be a
weakness in Borough's defensive reorganisation and began to run
at Walker, who was beginning to tire. However, the Borough defence
looked less wobbly than in recent games and, even when more crosses
began to come in, bodies were there to make blocks and clearances.
At
the other end, an Oktay break led to a Gavin 20-yarder saved by
John. In the 86th minute, Gavin missed a great chance of a third
goal, firing over from the edge of the box after intercepting
a poor Enfield pass. In the dying moments substitute Nicolaj Lund
intercepted another clearance, but John was in place to hold his
30-yard shot.
