Brian of Nazareth

Well - it's a solid start to the season. Defense seems to have tightened up since the start. Sounds like the goals will come with time too. Better luck this year in the promotion push

Faramir

Binny- yes, was surprised that Barnet wound up down here, there club appears to be much better than that...

BoN- Thanks much, hope your summation is spot on

***

1.9.06
The only action for us before the trading deadline was the sale of Liam Eves to Staines on free transfer. Eaves was pleased to move to another club where he would have a chance of playing- something he wasn't going to get here.

***

9.9.06
Redditch (2) Harrow Hill (0)
Nothing went particularly well for us in our trip to Redditch as we lost to them 2-0. We yielded an early goal when our backline got caught challenging up the pitch and Redditch worked a nice passing play that saw Dean Keates fire a shot past Lewis Anderson just inside the far right post for the 1st goal Redditch had scored this season and 1st goal at Redditch for Keates. We wasted far too many chances as Billy Sharp and Dean Morgan took turns missing wide of the net on excellent opportunities. They clinched the match when Simon Downer's ill-advised back pass sailed past Mark Berry and allowed Norman Sylla an easy time in scoring his 1st goal past Daniel Austen (who had come on for injured Anderson). It was a disappointing loss, considering we outplayed them for much of the match, but was another example of our execution not being good enough to win.

Faramir

16.9.06
Harrow Hill (2) Havant & W (0)
Havant & W must have felt sorely put upon after the match- having received 8 yellow cards and 2 red cards. Despite that, the match was in doubt until we finally clinched it with a goal in second half injury time to finish off the 2-0 win. Gareth Howells was brilliant in their net and the reason that we went to half scoreless. Aaron Skelton drew the first redcard at 50 minutes and less than 2 minutes later it was Neil Sharp going off with his 2nd yellow card. We took full advantage of the free kick following Sharp's sending off as Ryan Ashington smashed a shot that got past Howells for a 25 yard free kick goal- the 1st of the season for Ashington. Even down 2 men, there was no quit in the plucky visitors and they came agonizingly close to evening the match when Clark Davies snuck up into the play, but missed just over the net when free on Ross Flitney. Minutes later we clinched the match when Patrick Cregg slipped a deft pass to Gavin Bolger and he rifled his shot past Howells for his 1st goal of the season to finish out the 2-0 win.

Faramir

23.9.06
Harrow Hill (1) Thurrock (1)
Another home match that we left our Larksfield fans disappointed as we had plenty of chances to win the match, but wound up with a 1-1 draw. They scored their goal on a free kick that was perfectly placed in the middle of the pitch due to Lewis Buxton's bodycheck of Tresor Kandol. John Purdie hooked the shot past Daniel Austen inside the right post. We battled back with an equalizer when Steven O'Donnell scored his 1st goal of the season as he drove home a rebound after Shane Higgs stopped Danny Singh in close. Higgs denied us two excellent chances to take the lead late in the first half and early in the second half, both times smothering good shots from Dean Morgan. Thurrock came close to grabbing the win as well as Kandol remained a thorn in our side the entire match. Neither Simon Downer nor Matt Morrell could handle him defensively and Kandol came close- missing just wide and skimming the crossbar to leave them as frustrated as we were about the 1-1 final score.

Faramir

26.9.06
Hendon (2) Harrow Hill (2)
I was screaming at our backline as we gave away a win when they played like chickens with their heads cut off as we were trying to protect a 2-1 lead. We gave them a golden chance and they took it and we were left with another unsatisfying 2-2 draw. They had worked an excellent passing sequence in the first half and Steve Househam had placed his shot inside the right post past Ross Flitney. We fought back in the second half thanks to excellent passing from Billy Sharp. Sharp picked out Jason Norville moving in the area and Norville's crisp header past Adam Bartlett was the equalizer. Sharp then picked out Norville on the run and Jason scored his 2nd goal of the match to give us the lead. I had to pull Billy Sharp off as he was completely knackered and that wound up hurting us badly. I have no clue why our backline fell so completely apart- but they were all trying to chase down players they had no business doing and despite my admonitions- my midfield didn't come back and help. Predictably, they equalized and also came very close to winning the match. Fortunately, Flitney came up with a pair of huge saves and Carl Laurie was able to clear away the rebounds before any damage came of them. Wasting chances to win is a problem of our club so far and I am not sure what the cure is. Chris Williams was extremely disappointing up front- Norville had come on as a sub for him.

binny

It's like a NW London get-together with Harrow, Hendon & Barnet.

KUTGW Faramir - results will go your way (I hope) :thup:

Faramir

Binny- cheers Well, Harrow Hill (as opposed to Harrow) is a bit further out- west of Cheltenham and north of Bristol (that is where Larksfield Road and Mitcheldean are)

So far we haven't shown much consistency and we certainly need to find some soon...

***

30.9.06
Harrow Hill (0) Dunstable (1) FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round
We were roundly booed by our Larksfield fans after the match, and we deserved it. We only managed two shots on goal- both in the second half as we played very poorly in losing to non-league side Dunstable. The only goal of the match came when Lewis Anderson completely misjudged a 40 yard shot and it sailed past him to stun our club. Though I had started mostly our 2nd line players, it was very frustrating to see nothing working as we could not complete a pass to save our lives. The loss left both me and the club disheartened and wondering how we could return to playing well.

Faramir

17.10.06
Maidenhead (1) Harrow Hill (3)
After our disappointing play of late, I was leery about this match as we faced 1st place Maidenhead at York Road. It was a totally different Harrow Hill that came to play today. We were forced to survive a few close calls in the early going as Maidenhead looked much sharper than us, but we managed to grab the lead when Dean Morgan made a superior cross that Billy Sharp was able to deflect past Nick Hart. The referee was very whistle conscious and we were paying the price in yellow cards- including two to Steven O'Donnell in a three minute span. We clung to our lead to finish out the first half as Maidenhead hit the crossbar and forced Ross Flitney to make a great smothering save on Mark Nicholls to keep us ahead at halftime. Despite being a man down and having to ask Billy Sharp to play on the left wing, we came out in the second half and started catching them leaning to much to the attack. That paid off when Sharp made a good pass that found Rowan Vine with space and he didn't miss in firing a low shot past Hart into the far left side of the net. They were growing increasingly anxious and their fans started leaving when we moved ahead 3-0 as Morgan pounced on a rebound and slashed it past Hart. They received a glimmer of hope when Elliott Ward blasted a shot that deflected off of Lewis Buxton past Flitney, but their hopes were finally dashed when Richard Harris earned a redcard for kicking Buxton in the late stages.

binny

Just read in the local paper that Ross Flitney is on his way to Barnet IRL. I recognise that name :eek:

Faramir

Binny- I'll tell you why I grabbed Flitney- because he is playing in EPL in "The Bet"- I figured if he had enough potential to do that, then he was good enough for us

***

21.10.06
Harrow Hill (3) Lewes (0)
Last match it was 1st place Maidenhead, this time 2nd place Lewes and our fans were much happier as we looked very crisp in dumping them 3-0. Our passing up front in the first half was impeccable and Rowan Vine proved his scorer's touch by rifling three shots past Ademola Bankole into the far left hand corner. Unfortunately for Rowan, only two of them counted and he lost his hat-trick when he was ruled offside on the last goal- but those two goals earned him MOM and gave him 5 for the season. Billy Sharp made a nice deflection on a corner from Adam Smith for our 3rd goal in the first half. Ross Flitney dodged a bullet in the opening moments of the second half when his panicky clearing kick went right to Lucas Cornwall. Cornwall slid the ball over to Marc Whiteman, but Flitney managed to block away his shot to preserve the clean sheet. We didn't score in the second half, but it wasn't for lack of chances as Vine missed his hat-trick on three different good late scoring opportunities.