retired_destiny1124

timpino- sorry, I try to give updates- and there is one with this post

***

5.4.08
Farsley (1) Harrow Hill (2)
A strong effort allowed us to survive an accidental second half goal as we beat Farsley 2-1 at Throstle Nest. We showed a lot of determination in the first half, but it took us until late in the half before we finally got the break we needed. Stephen Place made a terrific pass as he picked out Jonathan Walters in a crowd. Walters slipped past two defenders and then neatly put away his shot past Declan Weir. Our second goal came in the opening moments of the second half. We piled on the pressure and it paid off when Chris Gaghan was in the right spot to drive home a rebound after Weir had parried a close-in shot from Walters. It was Gaghan's 1st goal for us and it turned out to be a big one when Ross McWilliam's mishit free kick slightly deflected off the wall and past Craig Farr to ruin his clean sheet midway through the second half. We survived their attempts at the equalizer to escape with a close 2-1 win.

Conference North- 39 matches played 3 remaining
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1- Worksop C 82 pts (+33)2- Harrow Hill 65 pts (+17)3- Lancaster 64 pts (+8)4- Stalybridge 62 pts (+24)5- Workington 62 pts (+12)6- Worcester 61 pts (+22)7- Gateshead 60 pts (+18)8- Vauxhall 60 pts (+1)9- Kettering 58 pts (+15)</pre>

barefootboo

That is quite a tight race!

I'm putting the champagne (or shampaggnee as Zapp would have put it) on ice!

Sorry to say this, but I hope for play-off, more thrills to the people!

KUTGW!

retired_destiny1124

Thanks timpino-- too close

***

12.4.08
Harrow Hill (2) Hyde (1)
It was a win we worked hard for, but also proved costly as we defeated Hyde 2-1 at Larksfield Road. We missed a golden chance to take the lead in the opening moments of the match. Laith Bader tripped Sam Doherty in the area and we had an early penalty kick. It didn't turn out well as Carl Ikeme made a nice save on Bill McDonald's penalty try and then saved the rebound as well. We broke through for the lead when Peter Adeniyi made a nice pass that allowed Prince Toku to tuck a shot inside the left post for his 5th goal of the season. It was more comfortable after Karl Johnson made a curling pass that found MOM Jonathan Walters coming free in the area and Walters put away his shot past Ikeme. Hyde managed to ruin Craig Farr's try for a clean sheet when Ryan Harley deflected a John Fletcher cross past Farr in second half injury time, but we then closed out the final moments for the win. The win cost us Stephen Place for the rest of the season- and likely some of the start of next season with a badly broken leg. Peter Adeniyi will also be out for a short while with a calf injury.

retired_destiny1124

19.4.08
Harrow Hill (1) Histon (0)
We celebrated our final regular season home match at Larksfield Road by scoring in the second half to edge Histon 1-0 and ensure a Playoff spot and likely 2nd place in Conference North for ourselves. This was a win that didn't come easy as Histon was on the brink of relegation and desperately needed a decent result from this match to give themselves a chance. They did a nice job hounding our forwards and midfielders and chances were hard to find. Our match winner came when Jonathan Walters slotted a pass up the middle for Prince Toku. Toku ran on to the pass and zipped past an attempted tackle by Erkan Okay before firing a shot past Stuart Robertson. That would be the only goal for either side as Craig Farr kept a clean sheet for the win.

retired_destiny1124

26.4.08
Buscough (1) Harrow Hill (1)
It was disappointing to give up a last minute equalizer to them in a match that it looked like we should have had won, but a draw was all we needed to ensure we would finish in 2nd place in Conference North- so the result was welcome. It took us until the second half to find a way tos score on Gary Thomas. We finally found a goal when Scott Huckerby put away a shot from in close after Michael Yates slipped him a pass. It was an opportune time for Huckerby's 1st goal at Hill. We were working hard and I thought we might have the win until a bad clearance by Karl Johnson went right to David Eaton and he smashed in the equalizer past James Evans.

***

28.4.08
We will face Stalybridge in the Playoff Semifinals and Lancaster and Worcester will play on the other side of the bracket.

retired_destiny1124

1.5.08
Stalybridge (0) Harrow Hill (0) Conference North Semifinal Leg 1
The first leg of the Conference North Playoff Semifinal was at Bower Field and I dearly wanted to get an away goal. The match was an excellent demonstration of two clubs committed to playing defense in their area and there were few chances to be had in the match. Stalybridge had the two best opportunites- one in each half- but Craig Farr earned MOM honours with brilliant saves on Keith Thomas and Matthew Blinkhorn. Stalybridge lost a goal early in the first half when Dean Moxey was clearly offside, but the sell-out crowd completely disagreed with the Referee's ruling. Our best chance came in the second half when a pass put Prince Toku in free, but David Hennessy made a nice save to keep us off the board. The matter will now be decided in our 2nd leg at Larksfield Road.

retired_destiny1124

4.5.08
Harrow Hill (1) Stalybridge (0) Conference North Semifinal Leg 2
We are into the Playoff Finals! It took a 71st minute goal by Prince Toku and strong defensive play to get there, but we earned our place facing Worcester with a determined effort. The chances were there for us in the first half to take the lead, but MOM David Hennessy had a fine half and stopped Jonathan Walters and Robbie Weir when they both looked like they might have goals. The match winner came on a superb pass from leftback Matthew Blake that found fleet Toku in full stride down the left. With time and space to pick his moment, Toku let rip a shot back across the goal that Hennessy just couldn't change direction quickly enough to stop. We played tough defense in support of Craig Farr to help him to the clean sheet that will take us into the Finals against Worcester- a club we have lost to twice this season.

retired_destiny1124

10.5.08
Harrow Hill (1) Worcester (0) Conference North Playoff Final- Extra Time
Jonathan Walters was the reason why we both made it to our 2nd place finish this season. The loanee from Chester has played his heart out for us. He also is the reason we gained promotion as his free kick in the 118th minute was the decisive match winner for us. This match was a wringer for both Managers and all the players involved. It had drama, it had missed chances, it had every player too tired to do anything but drop to the pitch when the final whistle sounded on our improbable win. Craig Farr deserves a lot of the credit for the win too- as he made several dazzling saves in the match and his clean sheet was well earned. MOM honours went to Cathal Feeney, even Worcester Manager Mick Tuohy talked about Feeney's play after the match. Feeney marshalled our backline and made several saving tackles. We had good chances to win the match in regular time, but David Wall had brilliant saves on Walters and Bill McDonald in the second half to keep us moving into Extra Time. In the second portion of Extra Time, Chris Smith pushed Walters in the air just beyond the edge of the area. Walters stepped up and slammed a shot that was slightly deflected by the wall and that was enough for it to elude David Wall. We kept them from getting another scoring chance and then celebrated our promotion to Conference National!

retired_sachin_g006

Congrats on the promotion faramir,

retired_destiny1124

mark- thanks It was a big relief when Walters scored and then the final whistle finally came

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3.6.08
I made a last ditch attempt to sign Jonathan Walters, but with interest from bigger clubs swirling around- he politely turned me down. I really felt we needed a proven forward and my searching brought me to Vauxhall's Neil Peake. Peake had demonstrated to us in person that he was dangerous around the goal and my scouts thought he would be a worthwhile signing- though they didn't think we could get him to ink a contract. I tried anyways and was rewarded when he signed a contract to play for us- at a moderate wage compared to the top money bid I made for Walters. Peake should be a starter for us next season. Keane will join us on July 1.

6.6.08
We landed another young striker to help us next season when we completed the 2K transfer purchase of 19 year old Welsh forward Josh Klein-Davis from Bristol City. Klein-Davis has the kind of pace I have been seeking up front and his contract request was reasonable, as he wanted to come play for the oddball Welsh side of Holyhead Hotspur.

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10.6.08
The summer also brings the rebalancing of the club- the culling of players. We managed to sell Cathal Feeney to Luton for 70K, Michael Yates to Dartford for 10K, Dan Taylor to Three Bridges for 8K and Karl Johnson to Rushall for 5K. I didn't particularly like selling Feeney, but the offer was too good to refuse- especially as he had already approched me and indicated he wanted a very large raise to re-sign a new contract (his old one runs out at the end of the season). Yates was an easier choice as he has a pretty big weekly wage and it made sense to sell him. Taylor was about to drop down on the depth chart and selling him was an easy choice. Karl Johnson played pretty well for us, but his large weekly wage was a good reason to offer him and sell him.