retired_bangramb

KUTGW :thup:

retired_destiny1124

Thanks Plumble

***

30.12.06
Harrow Hill (3) Weston-super-Mare (1)
We began the second half of the season with a completely impressive 3-1 win over 2nd place Weston-super-Mare at Larksfield Road. Despite losing three midfielders to injury during the match, we played with composure and Michael Yates continued to show fine finishing. Richard McCabe celebrated a fine match with a wicked shot that John Browne could only parry and Yates was there to whisk it into the goal to earn us the early lead. We managed to keep that lead going to halftime and then stormed into the second half as McCabe scored an excellent goal for his 1st one here. A good pass from Carl Laurie, playing on leftwing for the first time due to Peter Adeniyi's injury, allowed Yates to make it a brace and a 3-0 lead. WSM got a goal back when Scott Walker ruined James Evans efforts at a clean sheet with a 30 yard free kick past him, but we held on for the win from there. Karl Johnson received MOM for his efforts heading up our strong rearguard action in support of Evans. The cost was dear in terms of midfielders as Andrew Estel suffered a fractured arm and will miss at least a month, while Adrian Cregg twisted his ankle and might miss three weeks. The news was a bit better for Peter Adeniyi who only had a dead leg and should miss about a week.

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1.1.07
Salisbury (2) Harrow Hill (1)
We would have fared better in our trip to Salisbury if we hadn't handed them the two goals they needed to beat us 2-1. Matt Tubbs scored both goals- one early in each half- and both were on passes directly to him from our players. Lee Wilson's debut didn't turn out well, it reminded me why he is only cover, as his backpass to Tubbs sent him in free and he fired it past Craig Farr. We played a bad first half, in part because our lineup is a jumble because of injuries. We fell behind 2-0 when Stephen Place made a bad backpass and Tubbs skinned David Hall before making his brace. We got close later in the second half when Dan Taylor rifled in a shot past Ryan Clarke, but we couldn't get the equalizer. Compounding our injury problems- Philip Quinlan suffered a badly gashed leg and will miss three weeks- we are running out of healthy midfielders. Also, we are seeing the build up of yellow cards cause problems as Michael Gahan will be forced to miss our next match against Cambridge City.

retired_perilousfaith

Looking good Does this one feel like more of a challenge than the previous HH story/game?

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There is no doubt about Flying_Fin- playing a small side like Harrow Hill is a lot more challenging in FM 2007. It is much harder to find players of the sort I need to make my tactics work well in 2007. A real challenge it is- but still the funnest version of FM

***

6.1.07
Harrow Hill (2) Cambridge City (0)
A solid effort on both sides of the ball helped us right ourselves as we defeated Cambridge City 2-0 at Larksfield Road. The lead was ours late in the first half when MOM Dan Taylor sent a superior cross to Mark Yates and Yates volleyed the ball past Craig Parry. Both sides had generated chances before the goal in a frenetic first half of play and we were fortunate to hold the lead going to the dressing room. Cambridge City tried to rally early in the second half, but were unable to solve Craig Farr. We struck for the clinching goal when Steve Abbott drilled a 25 yard free kick past Parry for his 1st goal at Hill. With the two goal lead, we committed to helping Farr complete the clean sheet and we accomplished that to the delight of our faithful.

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13.1.07
Eastleigh (0) Harrow Hill (1)
It was a hard fought match and I was very pleased with our effort as we turned a good passing play into a first half goal and that would be the lone marker as we beat Eastleigh 1-0 at Silverlake Stadium. Jonathan Mooney made an excellent touch pass in for Michael Gahan. Gahan wheeled past Ross Darcy and put his shot away by keeper John Walsh. We stood up well as they tried to rally in both the first and second halves. Craig Farr was very steady in goal and that helped keep everyone calm as they played sturdy defense in front of him and allowed him to notch the clean sheet. Cathal Feeney earned MOM honours for us with his steady play on our backline. Our midfielder woes reached epic proportions as both Sam Doherty and Steve Abbott were injured in the match and each will miss at least a couple weeks- if not more.

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20.1.07
Harrow Hill (2) Welling (2)
I find it hard to believe, but we let a two-goal lead slip away against 10-man Welling in the second half. My frustration with the center defense is clear, as their play was the reason we let a match that should have been won turn into a draw. The first half saw us playing very well against 3rd place Welling. Stephen Reid celebrated his return from injury by scoring past Gary Lester after Mark Yates headed a ball across the goal for him. Early in the second half a catastrophic error by Lester allowed Yates to take the ball away from him well outside the area and launch it into the open goal from 30 yards out. Welling drew one goal back when a poor clearance by David Hall allowed a quick counter-attack that saw MOM Matt Bodkin fire a shot past Craig Farr. After Akwasi Fobi-Edusi's 2nd yellow card, it looked like a certain win, but Isaiah Smith failed to mark Danny Kedwell and Kedwell made us pay with a nice shot past Farr for the late equalizer. My club is young and this is one of those painful lessons that had to be learned- you have got to play hard from the opening whistle to the final one. The injury bug is now spilling over to our thin backline. Cathal Feeney had to miss this match (hence Isaiah Smith playing) and Karl Johnson was hurt in the match and may miss the next three weeks.

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27.1.07
Dorchester (1) Harrow Hill (1)
It looked like we might steal all three points from this match thanks to Craig Farr, but he turned out to be human after all and we wound up just barely hanging on to earn a 1-1 draw at Avenue Stadium. The first half was entertaining as both sides showed wonderful execution and flowing attacks. Both Farr and Richard Martin kept the scoresheet clean with solid support from their backlines. We took the lead early in the second half as Jason Smith, on for injured Stephen Reid, crossed and Michael Yates deflected it past Martin. We played hard and as we reached the final minutes of the second half I thought we might hold on, but it wasn't to be. James Rowe laid a pass off and Colin Keenan blasted the equalizer past Farr from just inside the edge of the area. Farr earned his MOM honours with two brilliant saves in second half injury time to preserve the draw as he parried a rocket from Guy Lopez and pushed a header from David Town over the bar. Injuries had an impact on our second half struggles as we lost both Reid and then his replacement Smith and were left playing inexperienced Peter Adeniyi up front to finish out the match. We also lost Michael Gahan to a thigh injury and he will miss 3 or 4 weeks, while Smith will be out the same with a damaged foot.

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3.2.07
Harrow Hill (0) Eastbourne Boro (1)
Eastbourne Boro thoroughly outplayed us today, but thanks to James Evans we almost managed a scoreless draw. It didn't happen though as Allen Tait outmuscled Peter Adeniyi in the air and deflected a cross from Neil Jenkins past Evans in the 86th minute for a dramatic match winner. We showed very little offensively today and part of it can be traced to trying to reintegrate injured players back into the lineup as both Andrew Estel and Philip Quinlan returned today. Nothing went very well for us and we really battled- but didn't look good in doing so in the loss.

***

5.2.07
Another injury that hurts us- as leading scorer Michael Yates suffered a concussion in practice today and will miss a couple weeks. We are back down to only a few healthy forwards and it will be a tough stretch until we get a bit healthier as a club.

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10.2.07
Bedford (2) Harrow Hill (1)
I was throroughly disappointed with our performance as we lost to last place Bedford 2-1 at The New Eyrie. We were our own worst enemy in this match and Stephen Place scored the first goal of the match as he deflected a cross past Craig Farr for an own-goal midway through the first half. Place then compounded his poor performance by failing to come out and play a loose ball. Dean Grubb swooped in and then fired a low shot past Farr to send them to halftime leading 2-0. We drew a goal back early in the second half when Steve Abbott knocked home a rebound after Tommy Crowther stopped Stephen Reid's initial shot. That was as close as we would come as they closed us out for the win. Their defender Edward Asafu-Adjaye was named MOM for the match.

***

11.2.07
Injuries have really hurt us. We have 37 players under contract and 12 of them are injured right now, including 7 more or less key members of the Senior side. It is just something to work through, but it is dreadfully difficult for our patchwork club to cope with this many injuries.