retired_destiny1124

16.2.08
Harrow Hill (3) Harrogate (1)
It was with relief that the final whistle sounded on our 3-1 win over Harrogate at Larksfield Road. We finally put away some scoring chances and survived both the Referee's decisions and indifferent backline play for the win. It looked like we had the lead right away in the match, but Lewis Harman's goal was waved off when he was ruled offside- despite my vigorous protests. We still managed to grab the lead quickly as a good pass from Matthew Blake allowed Jonathan Walters to score past Gary Connaughton. They answered by pegging us back immediately when Stephen Donnellan scored. Donnellan appeared much more offside than Harman on the other end, but my fuming was ignored by the Ref. We did retake the lead just before halftime as a good pass by Carl Laurie set up Harman to finally end his scoreless draught with his 5th goal of the season. Moments into the second half, Walters laid the ball off beautifully for Sam Doherty and he fired a shot inside the right post to make it 3-1. We had to survive the rally attempts and the apparent disappearance of any offside calls, but held on for the win.

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23.2.08
Stafford (0) Harrow Hill (3)
A terrific second half effort allowed us to defeat a stubborn Stafford side 3-0 at Marston Road. We outplayed Stafford in the first half, but had nothing to show for it as they did a nice job keeping our players marked and Danny Alcock made the saves they needed him too. The second half started the same, but a nice passing sequence for us was capped by a cross from Prince Toku that MOM Jonathan Walters deflected past Alcock. Walters made it a brace when he deflected a looping cross from Peter Adeniyi past Alcock nine minutes later. Our last score came when Sean Hessey tripped Karl Noon in the area. Karl Johnson calmly converted the penalty kick for his 1st goal for us. We helped Craig Farr close out the clean sheet in the solid road win.

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1.3.08
Harrow Hill (0) Stalybridge (0)
We survived a second half redcard to battle to a scoreless draw with Stalybridge at Larksfield Road. Neither side played particularly well in the match and there were few scoring highlights. Our best chances were when we sprung Michael Yates free- once in each half. Both times it Gary Cassin coming up with the big save on Michael. At 66 minutes we were forced to play with only 10 men after Chris Gaghan was sent off for a late challenge. We managed to survive their efforts to take all three points and finished out the scoreless draw with Craig Farr earning the clean sheet. Their defender Brendon Moloney was selected as MOM.

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4.3.08
Harrow Hill (5) Vauxhall (1)
A 5-goal first half allowed Harrow Hill to cruise to an easy 5-1 win over Vauxhall at Larksfield Road. The keys to the offensive explosion for us was our forward tandem of MOM Jonathan Walters and Prince Toku. Both Walters and Toku had a brace in the first half and each of them created havoc among the Vauxhall backline. Walters got on the board first when he took a good pass from Philip Quinlan and knifed past two defenders before firing a low shot past Sean Lake. Toku quickly added his 1st goal when he fired a well placed shot past Lake after a good pass from Stephen Place. Toku made it to two goals first when he pounced on a rebound of header by Karl Johnson. Walters made it a brace when he took a through ball from Quinlan and snapped a shot home. The last of our goals was an own-goal by Craig Curran as he tried to clear a ball over the goal under intense pressure and instead put it in. James Evans lost his clean sheet when Mark Smyth made a good move to slip past David Hall and then slipped a shot unders Evans as he tried to smother the ball.

retired_destiny1124

7.3.08
We signed 18 year old Scot leftwinger Robbie Weir to a contract today. Weir had been on free transfer since his contract with St.Mirren had expired and looks like a very solid leftwinger. I don't really expect to play him much until next season, as I prefer Dan Taylor and Peter Adeniyi's knowledge of our system as we play down the stretch.

***

8.3.08
Gateshead (1) Harrow Hill (0)
It was a disappointing loss to Gateshead for us- more so because the Referee influenced the loss in a great way. The home side took the lead midway through the first half when Steven Istead deflected a corner from Jamie Hand past Craig Farr. We managed to not give up any more in the first half thanks to good work from MOM Farr. We appeared much more confident in the second half, though that confidence didn't extend to Michael Yates. We set Michael up four different times on excellent chances, only to see Wayne Hennessy save three of them and the fourth skimmed the bar- all of which extended his goalless slump. The Referee basically handed the match to Gateshead when he redcarded Sam Doherty for a push. A card was warranted, but not a redcard for the action. We weren't able to threaten again in losing 1-0.

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15.3.08
Hucknall (1) Harrow Hill (1)
If we could have finished effectively, we would have won this match easily. Unfortunately, except for Prince Toku's 2nd minute goal, we missed our chances and that doomed us to a 1-1 draw at Watnall Road. Toku scored when he deflected a sharp cross from Scott Huckerby past Steven Parker. Hucknall scored the equalizer about ten minutes later when a terrible play by Peter Adeniyi led to a counter-attack that saw Paul Dempsey cross to Tom Planck. Planck deflected the ball past Craig Farr. We had four excellent chances in the second half to regain the lead, but failed to put any of them on goal in a wasteful effort. The match featured the debut of 17 year old Dave Greene, who played a solid match. Greene is getting the chance to start because Doherty wound up with a 3-match suspension and Steven Abbott is injured.

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22.3.08
Harrow Hill (2) Lancaster (0)
In an important match for us, we came up trumps as we beat 3rd place Lancaster 2-0 at Larksfield Road. This match was a tribute to perseverence as we kept working and the hard work paid off. We had the pressure on them early, but had nothing to show for it until Cathal Feeney surprised Mike Kinsella by letting fly from just beyond the edge of the area and he scored his 1st goal of the season. We weren't able to build on our lead, but Lancaster's shooting woes helped the lead remain at halftime as Matty Barlow missed close twice over the goal on good chances. I felt a bit better, and so did Michael Yates, as he broke his scoring slump early in the second half. MOM Chris Gaghan sent a curling pass that found Yates free on the right. Yates made a good move and then drilled a shot past Kinsella. After that goal the match was unremarkable- other than both sides missing the goal with their shots. Craig Farr put up the clean sheet for us.

Conference North- 36 matches played 6 remaining
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1- Worksop 75 pts (+30) 2- Workington 61 pts (+15)3- Stalybridge 60 pts (+25)4- Lancaster 60 pts (+8)5- Harrow Hill 59 pts (+15)6- Worcester 55 pts (+19)7- Kettering 55 pts (+15)</pre>

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24.3.08
Worksop (2) Harrow Hill (1)
We gave 1st place Worksop all they could handle today, but in the end it was our defensive mistakes that doomed us to a close 2-1 loss at Babbage Way. MOM Scott Hobbs put the sword to our backline as he scored both of their goals. The first came when Karl Johnson tried to mark him on a throw-in, but was out maneuvered and Hobbs blasted a shot past James Evans. We equalized late in the first half when Stephen Place caught Kyle Leatheran leaning the wrong way when he fired a 25 yard shot past him. Johnson got caught up the pitch on a counter-attack and the attack ended with a nice cross to unmarked Hobbs and an easy put away for him right in front of Evans. We came close to equalizing several times, but failed to find it and the final whistle sounded the win for Worksop.

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29.3.08
Harrow Hill (2) Scarborough (0)
All the elements of our play came together today as we defeated Scarborough 2-0 at Larksfield Road in an entertaining match. The pace of play was frantic in the early going as both sides were attacking quickly up and down the pitch. Jordan Hamilton, on for injured Prince Toku, keyed our first goal with a superb cross that MOM Jonathan Walters put away past Cameron Belford at 32 minutes. Scarborough came close to evening things, but Craig Farr had a solid match and kept us up 1-0 at halftime. Early in the second half a good pass from Stephen Place found Walters. Walters made a dazzling move past Sean McGehee before driving a shot past Belford for a brace. We were content to help Farr close out the clean sheet with the two goal lead and he did it with aplomb.

***

2.4.08
I did my best to see if Jonathan Walters would join us on a permanent basis- even though that would send us well past our weekly wage budget. Chester was agreeable to selling him and after listening politely to our offer- Walters said he really didn't want to play in the lowest league, so 'Thanks, but no thanks.' It was disappointing as he has really blossomed playing for us this season.

barefootboo

Sorry on Walters, that is one thing I've noticed in 07 signing players you have on loan is butt hard, in 06 I did it a couple of times, but in 07 never :/

now that it is REALLY close to promotion, would you mind adding something like "this sees Harrow Hill slip out of play off" or "this sees them in the promotion spot"? when that kind of stuff happens? makes it easier to follow imho

KUTGW