Faramir

30.11.07
In an effort to add more youthful depth, we signed 16 year old D/DMRL Darren Morgan to a contract. Morgan was rated as an excellent signing by both Campkin and Yeates, so it seemed worth our while to add him to the club.

***

8.12.07
Alfreton (2) Harrow Hill (1)
I always hesitate to lay blame on the officiating, but it certainly played a big part in our loss to last placed Alfreton. By the time the match was 12 minutes old, every one of our backline players had a yellow card. In all despite warning my club to use greater discretion in tackling after the initial flurry of yellows- we wound up with 17 fouls, 7 yellows and a redcard to their 4 fouls and a single yellow card. Ross Flitney missed a chance to stop their first goal when he tried to smother a loose ball and it escaped him. Chris Pickering pushed the ball into the net. The second goal came when Franklin Simek had to make a choice about trying a tackle and didn't and Pickering scored his 2nd goal past Flitney. We tried to rally in the second half and got a goal back early when Paul Moss deflected a corner past Chris Tardif. Our rally was short-circuited when Moss earned his 2nd yellow card on a disputed challenge. We still managed one more good chance, but luck wasn't with us as Richard Langley's lob over Tardif hit the crossbar and bounced back leaving us with a disappointing 2-1 loss.

Amaroq

Its good to see Eastbourne Boro, whose troubles started the Harrow Hill adventure, out of receivership to the point that they can splash 60k on a player.

Love your writing, as always - KUTGW!

Faramir

Thanks for the kind words Amaroq. I thought that was kind of ironic myself (sale of Ibhere to Eastbourne...

***

15.12.07
Harrow Hill (1) Hereford (1)
After seeing Mark Smyth and Billy Sharp called offsides for very close calls numerous times in the first half, I was furious that Steve Lewis wasn't called offsides on the equalizing goal. Lewis was clearly beyond all of our backline before the pass was made and I was incensed that they couldn't make that call. We had struggled the whole match, but had taken the lead early when Billy Sharp fired in a rising shot after a good pass from James Corbett gave him room. We lost a lot of momentum when Neil McCafferty had to leave the match early in the second half with a leg injury. A worse blow was when the physio told me after the match that Franklin Simek will be out a week- losing him and Buxton at the same problem is a real problem for us as Paul Moss is also out with a training injury. It means I will have to pair inexperienced Daniel Thomas and Carl Laurie in the middle for next match.

Faramir

18.12.07
Scarborough (4) Harrow Hill (1)
The bad part about this match is that despite the score, we could easily have won the match. Darren Duncan was phenomenal in their net- he stopped Richard Langley three times in one-on-ones and also stopped Victor Anichebe twice after he came on for Langley. He also had good saves on Dean Morgan and Ryan Ashington. On the other end, Ross Flitney played his worst match of his time at Harrow Hill. The first goal was his own-goal and then he had little help from our backline as we looked completely lost without our anchors of Buxton and Simek. It was a terrible match defensively and all the more disappointing since we really did play well offensively, but couldn't finish things. I have seen enough of Anichebe. He is already unhappy and just bought himself a ticket on the reserves and transfer list with another wasted performance.

Faramir

22.12.07
Harrow Hill (2) Halifax (0)
It wasn't easy, but we got back on the winning path with a 2-0 win over struggling Halifax at Larksfield Road. Darren Pratley capitalized on an excellent pass from Richard Langley to score in the 2nd minute of play, which gave our club an immediate boost. We peppered Ian Dunbavin with good scoring chances, but he came up with the big saves to keep his club in the match. We finally clinched the match when Pratley made a short cross that Dean Morgan was able to deflect past Dunbavin to clinch the 2-0 win. We needed the win badly and it was a welcome final whistle for us.

***

23.12.07
We agreed to a mutual termination with Nuno Gourgel. He knew his time here wouldn't feature any senior side time and he was willing to end his contract so he could search for a club that would allow him more playing time.

Faramir

26.12.07
Harrow Hill (0) Kettering (1)
It is abundantly clear after this match that our 2nd line just isn't carrying the ball offensively. Without Morgan, Langley and Pratley we just are not managing to create enough offensively. I have been trying to get them some needed rest in these midweek matches, but our 1-0 loss just illustrates our 2nd line doesn't have enough quality offensively. We were done in on a terrible play defensively. Shaun Clohessy, Daniel Thomas both missed tackles on Darren Lynch and then David Green mishandled the ball when he had a chance to smother it- all of which resulted in the only goal of the match. I may have to consider taking a look at some of the youngsters on the reserve side as Danny Williamson and Adam Smith both were completely ineffective on the wings of this match.

***

Conference National Midseason Table
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1- Mansfield 49 points (+19)2- Bath 40 points (+11)3- Harrow Hill 39 points (+15)4- Morecambe 35 points (+10)5- Scunthorpe 34 points (+15)6- Hereford 34 points (+4)7- Exeter 34 points (+2)</pre>

Faramir

29.12.07
Harrow Hill (0) Morecambe (1)
The story of our matches of late repeated itself. We outplayed Morecambe on both ends of the pitch, but lost thanks to their keeper- Adam Sollitt- having a fantastical match. They managed to score on their one good chance on an early corner when Phil Barker banked a shot in off an unsuspecting Franklin Simek. We had excellent chances galore, but the goals just aren't there for the offensive execution we have been showing- something very frustrating to both myself and the club. We seem to need a dose of luck that we haven't had lately- two more crossbars today are testament to that.

***

30.12.07
I had been rumored to be taking over Port Vale, so I wound up issuing a statement in the press that I wasn't interested in the job. That didn't seem to matter to their Chairman, as Bill Bratt approached me anyway and offered me the position. I complimented him on his fine club (currently 19th in League 1), but turned the offer down.

Many other rumblings about us in the press too. Franklin Simek and Dean Morgan both drew significant offers, but I turned both offers down- they are the heart and soul of our club and if we want to have any chance of making the playoffs, we need both of them on our side.

Faramir

30.12.07
Carshalton responded to our offer of Jason Hallett and outbid two other clubs for the right to sign him. We netted only 4K on the sale, but it was the best thing for both Jason and the club.

***

1.1.08
Harrow Hill (2) Stafford Rangers (0)
It wasn't exactly pretty, but it was a much needed win as we dumped visiting Stafford at Larksfield Road. Our execution was sloppy until Carl Laurie sent a terrific long cross that Mark Smyth (who came on for injured Dean Morgan) was able to flick into the right side of the net to give us the lead. We added to the lead when Darren Pratley was tripped just inside the area. Adrian Nevins converted the penalty kick and we maintained that 2-0 clean sheet.

Faramir

5.1.08
Southend (2) Harrow Hill (4)
Triggered by a superb match from Richard Langley we capitalized on our chances much better than home side Southend as we beat them 4-2. Langley got clear to take a nice pass from Darren Pratley and then fired a shot inside the left post past Russell Howarth. Southend equalized when poor defending on a free kick allowed them to slot the ball inside to Lee Francis and he smashed it past Ross Flitney. We answered quickly when a through ball from Franklin Simek put Langley into space and he rifled a shot off the inside of the right post for his 2nd goal of the match. Howarth stopped a couple of other good chances on our part, but Langley helped establish a two-goal margin with a deft pass to Mark Smyth. Smyth, starting in place of the rested Dean Morgan, made a nice move with the ball and took it around a diving Howarth before firing it into the net. We boosted the lead to 4-1 when Carl Laurie slid the ball across the area following a corner and Ryan Ashington snapped a well placed shot for his first goal since early in the season. Southend managed to gain a late consolation goal when Jamie Campbell outleapt Flitney and flicked a corner past him to make the final 4-2.

Faramir

8.1.08
Sutton Utd (0) Harrow Hill (2)
We sputtered in the early going, wasting several chances and generally showing abominable passing, but then we righted ourselves and edged Sutton United 2-0 at Borough Sports Ground. After misfiring through the midway point of the first half, we suddenly started getting back in sync and Darren Pratley made a perfect layoff pass that Dean Morgan blasted past Conrad Logan from just inside the edge of the area. Less than four minutes later Pratley struck an inswinging corner that Richard Langley showed exquisite timing on as he stepped out and snapped the header past Logan. It was a more conservative approach from that point on, but we still had a couple other good chances that Logan saved to keep his club in the match. We didn't allow them much room in the midfield and that stunted their rally chances. David Green had to earn his clean sheet with a superb reaction save on a header in the late going of the second half.