Another Harrowing Misadventure (Ages Challenge)

retired_destiny1124 · 02-15-2006, 03:57 AM

Quote:

10.9.05
Hill Harms Havant & W
The improbable start to Harrow Hill's campaign continued as they rallied after rewarding the home side with an own-goal in the early going to roar back for a 4-1 win. It was an inauspicious start for Hill as Pat Lynott slotted a backpass that Craig Farr never saw- until too late- and it slipped inside the left post to give Havant & W a lead in the opening moments of the first half. Hill played with verve, but the home side backline was covering nicely and it appeared they had Hill stymied heading into halftime. The opportunistic play of Hill showed up well into first half injury time as Robert Dickinson roared in to pick up a mishit backpass from Neil Champion. Dickinson then slipped his shot past Colin Matthews for a dramatic equalizer that sent Hill into the dressing room with an improved attitude. Hill picked up the pace in the second half and their pressure was telling as the Havant & W defense began cracking. It took until late in the half before Hill could gather the fruits as Robert Burns scored a bit of a fluke goal when his awkward cross went over Matthews and into the net for his 1st goal at Hill. Ash Carew took over the match from that point with a superbly timed header that he flicked past Matthews. Carew made it a brace when Sean Coburn laid the ball off nicely for him and he blistered it in to make the final scoreline 4-1.

"This is scary Jim," observed Pearson shaking his head as they looked at the statistics from the match.

"Enjoy it while you can Bob, it won't always be this way," stated a pleased Heartwood.

"I did feel bad for Craig Farr though- the first goal he gives up all season is an own-goal."

"A bit ironic that is. Still you noticed Craig didn't get flustered at all after the goal."

retired_destiny1124 · 02-16-2006, 12:38 AM

Quote:

17.9.05
Hill Crushes Carshalton
A few more believers may show up on Harrow Hill's tally sheets after they played a determined match in thumping visiting Carshalton 3-0. The quickness of Hill was obviously a factor in the flustered first half play of the visitors as they had many problems with hurried passing. Hill was unable to capitalize in the early going as they experienced the same problems. Hill struck for the lead late in the first half when a counterattack yielded a blistering shot from Billy Nott. Stuart Searle was able to parry Nott's blast, but Robert Dickinson was lurking in the right spot to knock the rebound into the net. Hill continued their pressure on the visitors to open the second half and Robert Burns added his 2nd 'excuse me' goal in as many matches as another cross slipped in to catch the inside of the right post. Hill reverted to a more conservative approach with the two goal lead and Carshalton couldn't solve the clingy defense. Nott then put the match away for Hill when he converted a penalty kick past Searle after Aaron Barnett was whistled for a handball in the area in the waning moments of the match.

"Can we bottle some of this- to save for later in the season?" asked Pearson with a chuckle.

"I think we have caught lightning in a bottle up to this point," observed Heartwood. "I've no idea if we can keep it there, but right now it seems to be working a charm."

retired_destiny1124 · 02-21-2006, 01:48 AM

Quote:

24.9.05
Kings Lynn Smites Harrow Hill
It was clear from the opening whistle that the veteran Kings Lynn side meant to make Harrow Hill pay for their mistakes- and mistakes the Hill backline made. In the opening minute of play Sam McMahon ghosted into the six yard box unmarked and deflected a cross from Ryan Ashington past Paul Catley. Matt O'Halloran scored a similar goal midway through the first half. It was clear to Hill manager James Heartwood that Catley was not fully recovered from his injury and Heartwood brought on Alex Hards to replace the struggling youngster. Hill showed flashes of their offense in this match, despite playing with no regular first line players in this match, but they didn't execute well enough to unduly trouble Aaron Osbourne. Kings Lynn opened the second half with Dale Watkins driving in a rebound after Ashington crashed a shot off the crossbar. Hill never found a way to stretch the twine in the net and Kings Lynn will move on in FA Cup competition as they win this 2nd round qualifying match.

"Well, we have some work to do on the backline- and the goal," stated Heartwood.

"They steadied down in the second half, but it surely wasn't a very good defensive effort," replied Pearson.

"There were still some good things to take away from the match. I thought we did an Ok job of moving the football up the pitch."

"True, but our execution anywhere around their goal was somewhat awful for the most part."

retired_destiny1124 · 02-22-2006, 04:21 AM

Quote:

27.9.05
Hill Mars Maidenhead
Harrow Hill continued their fine play in Conference South by rebounding from their disappointing FA Cup effort with a 2-0 road win over Maidenhead. Both sides were missing closely in the opening stages of the match with Marc Whiteman missing a sitter for the home side and Darren Gwyther missing an easy chance for Hill. The flowing play as the two sides took turns attacking was spectacular, though neither seemed able to capitalize in close. Hill struck for the lead in first half injury time as Robert Burns sent in a beautiful cross from the left sideline and Robert Dickinson made a superb flick-on past Nick Hart for his 5th goal of the season. Hill turned up the pressure to open the second half and were rewarded when Billy Nott slipped a pass to Dickinson. Dickinson burst past two converging defenders and snapped his shot past Hart to make it a brace. Hill backed off and played very defensively after taking the two goal lead and Maidenhead came close to making them pay for that stance, but Stephen Hughes and Robert Traynor both missed just over the net on wonderful chances. Craig Farr nailed down another clean sheet with a pretty save against Whiteman in the closing moments of the match to keep the final score 2-0.

"Another great effort for us. Dickinson was on fire today," commented Bob Pearson.

"Dickinson has turned out to be a much better sniper around the net than I thought when we originally scouted and signed him," stated James Heartwood.

"His finishing and our defensive effort look like a good combination."

retired_destiny1124 · 02-23-2006, 12:52 AM

Quote:

1.10.05
Hill Harrows Histon
The surprise of Conference South- Harrow Hill- continued to defy the pundits as they used the lightning attacks of Robert Dickinson to help roll over struggling Histon 3-0 at Larksfield Road. Dickinson's elusiveness found him splitting the defense and running onto a through ball from Billy Nott before decisively finishing the chance off with a rocket shot past Lance Key. Dickinson then made it two goals in the space of six minutes as Robert Burns put a pretty pass on his foot and he took it around Key to score. It was a hat-trick by midpoint in the first half as Hill skipper Sean Coburn hooked a curling pass beyond the Histon backline and Dickinson ran it down before firing a sharp angled shot past Key. That was all the fireworks needed by Hill as they clamped down on their visitors and only yielded 3 more shots the entire match. Dickinson could well have had 5 goals in the first half, but for a pair of good saves by Key. Both sides saw redcards in the second half as Mark Burrows was sent off for the visitors, while Scott Wallis earned a redcard for a two-footed tackle from behind. Craig Farr earned another clean sheet in the 3-0 win.

"He is such a good finisher around the net," admired Pearson as he and Heartwood watched the replays of the goals.

"Also has enough pace to bust backlines at this level of play."

"He told me he was having the time of his life this year- after not playing senior ball at all before this."

retired_destiny1124 · 02-24-2006, 04:38 AM

8.10.05

"Well, we needed the depth Bob. Besides Sean Coburn, we didn't really have another player that is suited to rightwing on the squad," said Heartwood.

"I am not denying he is a good addition to the club. It's just he has somewhat of a less than steller reputation elswhere."

"He is going to help us- I am sure of that. He also adds depth at forward since he can play there too. I have some other good news too."

"What's that?"

"I signed Robert Dickinson to a new 4-year contract."

"That's great! On the not as good news side- Wallis was given a two-match suspension."

Quote:

Hill Signs Samuel
Harrow Hill today announced that they had signed 18 year old forward Aaron Samuel to a contract. Reportedly Samuel agreed to a three year deal at wages that were very moderate. Samuel had come through the Arsenal youth program, but was released from there this summer.

retired_destiny1124 · 02-25-2006, 03:59 AM

Quote:

15.10.05
Hill Battles to Draw
In a match that was filled with many chances for both sides, Harrow Hill and Yeading battled to a scoreless draw at The Warren. The first half was much more controlled in play than a wide open second half. Hill was left rueing the penalty kick by captain Sean Coburn as Gavin Kelly saved it midway through the second half. Kelly was deserving of the MOM honours he received as he made several other good saves in the match. Yeading was left wondering what would have been as Craig Farr stopped Chris Chase when Chase was all alone on the doorstep late in the match. The result was a fair one for both sides. Hill was dealt a blow when Robert Dickinson had to leave the match at halftime with a minor injury.

"Anything major wrong with Robert Dickinson?"

Pearson shook his head, "Trainers think he can be ready for training on Monday."

"That's good news. I have to admit our crop of forwards- the ones we initially signed- is a bit underwhelming- other than Robert."

"That sums it up nicely. Are you looking for help there?"

"Yes, but nothing concrete yet."

retired_destiny1124 · 02-27-2006, 03:48 AM

Quote:

22.10.05
Hill 'Carews' Past Welling
In a match they dominated from start to finish, it still took late heroics by Harrow Hill to edge a stubborn Welling at Larksfield Road. The match winning goal came at 85 minutes when Pat Lynott, on for slightly injured Billy Nott, stepped up and intercepted a clearing pass. Lynott's short pass picked out Mark Russell in the area. Russell, instead of wheeling and shooting, sent a short cross for just arriving Ash Carew. Carew, who had slipped into the six yard box unmarked, had an easy time deflecting the ball inside the near left post. Carew was active the entire match and his verve in the midfield was a key reason that the Welling attack was bottled up most of the match and also why Carew earned MOM honours. Hill outshot their visitors 17-1 for the match, but failed on several other chances to boost the score.

"Whew. I thought we were going to have all that work and only a scoreless draw to show for it," muttered Heartwood.

"A lot of things went right today. We may not have scored a lot, but we gave them no space at all on any part of the pitch."

"I did like Aaron Samuel's debut. It is good to have cover behind Coburn for now.

retired_destiny1124 · 02-28-2006, 03:10 AM

23.10.05

Heartwood called into Pearson, "Three more youngsters will be arriving tomorrow. All were free signings."

Pearson nodded, "Tell me about them."

"Tom Byrne is a 19 year old striker who was released from the Southend youth program. He is left footed."

"That's good- nice to have at least one left footed forward."

"The other two are nominally backline players."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, David Jackson is a very versatile 19 year old. He can play virtually any spot on the left side of the pitch and should be one of our gameday subs. Signing with us was his first professional contract. Also joining us is very promising 17 year old rightback Marcus Dydyna. He was released from Prestwich early this season."

"Might want to watch the signings now. We don't need any more backline players."

"Good point."

retired_destiny1124 · 03-01-2006, 03:51 AM

Quote:

29.10.05
Hill Bumps Basingstoke
In a wild free-for-all football match, anything can- and will- happen. That was the case today as Harrow Hill came back from twice being a goal down to score a dramatic win on an unusual goal. Basingstoke struck first in the first half when Ian Lawson outleapt Lewis Tozer and flicked a header past Alex Hards- who was making his first start in net for Hill. It took Hill awhile to answer it, but when Robert Dickinson scored the equalizer it was to a thunderous ovation from the Larksfield fans. Many spectators and press were heard to say it was one of the finest goals they had seen this year. On the play, Dickinson had picked up a throw-in on the left side. He immediately wheeled and moved out and around the outer corner of the six-yard box and then blasted a shot off the inside of the left post past Rob Bullivant. The match stayed at 1-1 until early in the second half when Adam Chambers slipped the marking of Jamie Chandler and put a strong header past Hards on a long cross from Neville Stamp. Hill hit back quickly to even the match as Sean Coburn struck a swerving 25 yard free kick past Bullivant into the right corner of the net. The match winner came midway through the second half. Bullivant was trying to send a pass up the center to defender James Taylor. The pass was much too hard and Taylor couldn't control it. Dickinson never hesitated as he just blasted away a pretty 45 yarder into the net over the retreating Bullivant. The goal seemed to diminish the spirit Basingstoke had shown and Hill was able to finish out a hard earned 3-2 win.

"I don't know that I have ever seen a player finish with a brace of more dramatic- or unusual goals," said Pearson admiringly.

Heartwood chuckled, "Me either, but I have to say I was glad that last one got in."

"The backline didn't seem as organized as when Craig Farr is back in goal."

"I noticed that too. Of course Alex is younger and doesn't yet have the communication skills he should. I think more training in that regard will help."

"I will talk to Simon (Smith) about it."

Another Harrowing Misadventure (Ages Challenge)

Discuss Football Manager 2008 for PC, MAC and PSP versions of FM 2008. Click here to view our FM resources.

Another Harrowing Misadventure (Ages Challenge)