retired_destiny1124

29.4.06
Carshalton (1) Harrow Hill (3)
It was a good thing Kevin Braniff had gotten back to enough fitness to play today as we had to return Jamie Slabber. The Braniff- Billy Sharp pairing worked very well in the early going as the two traded passes up and down the pitch, but Stuart Searle was making life very tough on us with some excellent work in their net. We finally broke through with a nice touch pass from Billy Sharp to Braniff. Braniff made a move and then went past Searle to slot it home and we had the lead. Early in the second half we added to the lead when Sharp made another nice pass to pick out Gavin Bolger with room in the area and Bolger's rocket shot sailed past Searle. They made it interesting again when Lee Bernard got up to deflect a long pass from John Hamsher past Daniel Austen. We clinched the match when Austen made a terrific goal kick to send Braniff away and he potted his 2nd goal of the match and we finished out a 3-1 win. It wasn't quite enough though, as Exeter scored a late match winner to beat Redditch 1-0 and win the ECS title. We will have to try our luck through the playoffs now. We face Kingstonian in our Semifinal while Bath and Hornchurch face off on the other side.

retired_manpk1

Best of luck for the playoffs.

Come on Harrow

retired_destiny1124

Thanks binny- did I mention I hate playoffs

***

4.5.06
Kingstonian (1) Harrow Hill (2) ECS Playoff Semifinal Leg 1
We spotted them an early goal when Simon Downer lost coverage on Greg Ball and he scored his 15th goal of the season at 7 minutes to give them (and their fans) an early boost. As has been our nature on this string of good results, we fought our way back. We were playing without Gavin Bolger- he wasn't quite back to match fitness after his injury- but Adam Parker gave us a good performance. His pass allowed Kevin Braniff room in the area and he capitalized by driving a low shot past Stephen Flowers for the equalizer. Both sides struggled to get good chances as there was a lot of work being done defensively. We had a couple excellent chances to open the second half, only to see Billy Sharp's close in shot saved and Braniff missed just wide of the post. Our match winner came late in the second half when Steven O'Donnell and Braniff took the ball down the pitch with a wonderful in-and-out passing sequence. O'Donnell picked out Parker at the edge of the six-yard box and he drilled a shot inside the right post to give us a difficult 2-1 road win in the 1st leg. In the other semifinal, Bath and Hornchurch battled to a 1-1 draw.

retired_destiny1124

7.5.06
Harrow Hill (1) Kingstonian (0) ECS Playoff Semifinal Leg 2 (Harrow Hill advances on 3-1 aggregate)
We only needed a strong defensive effort and that is what we came to play in hosting Kingstonian. They managed a few close-in chances early in the match, but Daniel Austen was equal to the challenge. Though we weren't playing much offense in the second half, Gavin Bolger made a nice pass to put Chris Williams away free. Williams, who had come on for slightly injured Billy Sharp, hit a hard shot and Stephen Flowers tried to gather it up. When Flowers mishandled the ball, Williams was right there to poke it into the net and clinch our advancement to the Final in Wembley. We will face Bath in the Finals, as they upset Hornchurch on penalties.

retired_confal2

It was a tough game against Bath last time around. Hope you make it through :thup:

retired_destiny1124

Dave- alas...

***

13.5.06
Bath (4) Harrow Hill (3) ECS Playoff Final Extra-Time

Devastated.

That is the only word I can come up with to describe it. We had a 3-1 lead and blew it. Our key players choked in the match and down the most important portion of the game. To be honest, we didn't play particularly well in the match. We allowed them an easy goal in the first five minutes of the game and had to battle back. We knew how to do that and drew even when Kevin Braniff scored. Shortly afterwards we took the lead when Paul Evans misplayed a cross into his own net. A bizarre goal gave us a 3-1 halftime lead when Evans had a free kick up the pitch, but hit Sharp with the kick and it bounced crazily into the net for a 40 yard goal for Sharp. The wheels started coming off midway through the second half. We had played very well defensively, but they swung a nice cross and Andy Williams drove his shot past Daniel Austen and Bath was right back in the match. I brought on Carl Laurie to help defensively and that seemed to do the trick- we had them shut down. Then, disaster- Paul O'Brien hit a 30 yard kick and Austen had gone walkabout and didn't react as the ball went into the net for the dramatic equalizer. We were stunned and shell shocked at that point. We took the match into Extra-Time and the final blow was when Roy O'Brien escaped coverage and drilled a low shot past Austen. We tried desperately to get back to even, but Evans made a huge save on Chris Williams in the waning moments of the second portion of Extra-Time and that was all she wrote as they will move up and we face another season in ECS. The disappointing part of the match was how poorly our key players played- Braniff had a goal, but really was a non-factor in the match and didn't give us anything close to his typical play. Austen- he just plain failed when the match was on the line and I have to admit I will now look at Lewis Anderson as number 1 keeper. Gavin Bolger was also a non-entity in the match and we played much better when James Tevendale subbed on for him.

Where does this leave us in the summer? Well, we welcome new addition Rowan Vine up front. I had thought about one more bid to try and keep Braniff, but I think it is best to part ways at this point. We were so close this season- beaten out by Exeter on the last day, and now falling to Bath in Extra-Time. They say failing builds strength and I have to hope that is true for next season.

retired_destiny1124

15.5.06
Heading into the summer transfer season this is what I felt our 'core' club was- and I was very comfortable and pleased with it for the most part:
GK- Lewis Anderson, Daniel Austen, Ian Hutchinson
DR- Mark Berry, Dave King
DL- Adrian Nevins, Lea Jones
DC- Franklin Simek, Nick Mountford
DC- Simon Downer, Matt Morell
ML- Steven O'Donnell, Jamie McGowan, Ryan Hutchinson
MR- Ryan Ashington, James Tevendale
MC- Patrick Cregg, Jordan Fowler
MC- Gavin Bolger, Chris Clark
SC- Rowan Vine, Danny Singh
SC- Billy Sharp, Chris Williams
Util- Carl Laurie

Looking at the club that way indicates we have a lot of dead weight on the roster and I hope to be rid of some of it during the summer.

***

2.6.06
Another job offer, this time at Wycombe. I had already told the press I wasn't interested- that I wanted to build up the program at Harrow Hill, but they offered anyways and I wound up turning them down.

I was surprised that the Board still allowed 120K in transfer funds. Since there were a couple transfer listed players that could really help us, I made offers. I know the Board isn't happy with our wage structure- we are way over their expected weekly amount- but I am still going to accept that, because adding a few more good players will make the difference. In the meantime, we will have to wait a year to get many contracts I originally signed off the books, because nobody wants them.

retired_destiny1124

5.6.06
The opening of the transfer season brought us welcome additions. We landed some players that I was sure would help us next season- no more loans if I could help it. Coming aboard were:
Rowan Vine- 23 yr old SC purchased from Luton for 28K. Vine spent the last three months recovering from surgery on his knee, but is now fully recovered and welcomed the chance to come to us to prove his ability- something he hadn't been able to do at Luton the last couple seasons.
Jason Norville- 22 yr old FRC purchased from Watford for 12K. Norville is a young Trinidad and Tobago forward that also has English citizenship. He should help us up front next season with his pace.
Lewis Buxton- 22 yr old DC purchased from Portsmouth for 9K. I had to agree to a min fee release in his contract, but it was worth it to add him to our central defense. We will likely use a 3-man rotation of Simek, Downer and Buxton in the central defense next season.
Dean Morgan- 22 yr old FC purchased from Peterborough for 20K. He also demanded a min fee release, which was Ok by me to add him. Morgan can play either forward or midfield and could be our offensive midfielder.

The problems with getting players of this caliber is the huge drain on our weekly wages. We currently stand 360,000 in the black, so we are still fine at least for this season, but I hope hope to be successful in selling off a few players on the way.

***

8.6.06
Finally some success in transfer sales. Adam Parker went to Chesham for 14K and Matt McGowan went to Chelmsford for 14K. Parker had been a key to survival in our first season, but it was obvious that he wanted more playing time than he got last season and he was ready to move on to a new club. McGowan lost his starting place also and it was time to cash in while we could with him.

retired_destiny1124

9.6.06
We also managed to attract one free signing. 18 yr old MRC Tommy Miller had been released by Darlington and was willing to sign on with us. I had scouted him extensively earlier last season and was another midfielder I welcomed to the mix. He won't be stepping in to the starting lineup, but he should help our depth.

***

15.6.06
One more sent to another club as Hornchurch paid us 14K to purchase Wayne Barber. Barber never saw any senior time last season and I didn't mind parting with him. It is good to finally be able to sell off a few players that won't have any impact on our future.

***

20.6.06
Steven O'Donnell was selected as Harrow Hill Player of the Year by our supporters. He was a good choice, though Braniff would have been the obvious choice if he was a player of 'ours'. It is ironic that last season's Player of the Year Jamie McGowan was supplanted by this season's- and they both filled the left wing role on our club.

***

20.6.06
The way I look at in the development is that we are in phase 2. The first phase, given that we had no one- no staff or players- was just to get whatever we could to survive. Now we are actually at the point where we have weeded out the few players from that first batch that will be still contributing as the second wave of players develops.

retired_jgirl87

Oh no, I can't believe Harrow Hill failed in the playoffs - what a disaster!! Tough luck to get so close Faramir, then fall at the last hurdle.

I'll be sticking with the lads during your new season - 2006/07 will surely be Harrow Hill's year.