|
A
hat trick from skipper-on-the-night Pat Gavin was the deciding factor
in Tuesday's twice postponed F A Trophy 1st Round win away to Witney
Town.
The
'Blanketmen' had taken the lead, then forced a late equaliser, before
Gavin 'wrapped up' the result with his third of the night. This
not only earned Boro' a home tie with another Dr Martens League
team, Dorchester Town, at the beginning of December, but wiped the
smiles off the faces of the watching contingent from Wycombe.
With
the F A Cup tie between Harrow and Wycombe only four days away,
the Bucks team were clearly delighted at the prospect of Witney
forcing a draw, as they believed the replay would have had to have
been this Thursday! Does this suggest a level of uncertainty amongst
the Nationwide team's ranks? We shall see, writes Tony Booth. The
night began mysteriously as we explored the dark wilds of the Oxfordshire
countryside in search of the new Witney ground - to which we were
paying our first visit. Fortunately, one of the better examples
of communication from afar had seen the hosts supply a good written
description of the route, because you wouldn't find the ground by
mistake!
With
suspension and ineligibility hampering team selection, further changes
to the Boro' line up will not have given many clues to the side
that will face Wycombe. However, on this night, bitterly cold and
with a sodden pitch to master, Harrow were pleased when Gavin passed
a late test on an injury.A late, unpunished challenge on Lyons led
to some trepidation and concern in the visitors' ranks, which were
then compounded by Witney taking a 5 minute lead. Caffel cleverly
created space for MURPHY to net. Despite the low level of lighting
available, Harrow were able to see their way to creating several
chances to level. Walker had a cross shot eflected wide, Gavin had
a shot and header held.
On
their part, the home team sniffed the chance of a shock result against
the status-superior visitors, and it took good handling by Hook
to deny two Knight shots. Indiscipline began to cause Witney a problem
- Cook was cautioned for loudly expressing his opinion to the referee.
( Late in the game, with the scores level, a Witney forward delivered
a disgraceful torrent of abuse at one of the assistant referees,
yet was allowed to get away with it, despite half the crowd hearing
his limited vocabulary, no doubt on the grounds that he'd seen a
prima donna do so on Sky, " so that's all right then " ??? )
Anyway,
back to the real reason we were there - and when the football was
allowed to occur, Harrow were able to establish a lead before the
interval. In the 36th minute, a stunning run on the wing by Roberts
took him past two defenders ( better treble up here, Wycombe ) and
GAVIN steered his header past the 'keeper. Four minutes later, Lund
and Roberts were at it again, GAVIN forcing home another header.
Witney ran out of balls at the start of the second half, in the
nicest possible way. Remembering they were losing, they quickly
found some, only to find Boro' continuing where they had left off.
Lewis shot over, Gavin and Lund shot wide, Walker saw his shot held.
The
third goal would not come, leaving the margin too close for complacency.
Just after the hour, a goalmouth scramble saw Hook make a fine save
with his legs, the rebound was shot onto the 'bar, then Caffel had
a shot deflected wide. Two further good saves by Hook looked to
have closed the game up, only for Witney to level with eight minutes
left on the clock. In a desperate breakaway from which Harrow couldn't
clear the ball, BOURNE crashed a shot out of Hook's reach.
Thoughts
turned to when the replay would actually have occurred ( the following
Tuesday ) but in the only minute of stoppage time, up stepped skipper
Gavin. Another Roberts cross was met by the hero of the night and
he netted a falling volley which flew across goal into the far side
of the net. Well done Reds. You deserved it. More of the same at
Adams Park, please.
Harrow:
Hook; Rose, Nwaokolo; Lewis, Walsh, Lyons; Roberts, Lund, Gavin
(c), Xavier ( 14 Oktay 69 ), M. Walker ( 16 Duru 74 ); subs 12 Newby,
15 Protain 17 Small-King
Witney:
King; Morrissey, Willetts; Cook, Murray, Tavinor; Knight, Caffel,
Keveren, Murphy ( 12 Bourne 77 ), Neville;subs Radcliffe, Swann,
Maskell, no 5th sub.
Ref:
A Sainsbury ( Devizes ), A/R Firth, Whitcock.
Cautions:
Cook 27, Tavinor 46, Lyons 65.
|
