retired_destiny1124

18.12.04
Harrow Hill (1) Hornchurch (2)
Same old story, new refrain. Hornchurch outplayed us by a large margin, but thanks to yeoman work by Michael Jago in net we were able to hang around with hope. Darren Caskey finished that hope with a late match winner as our backline let us down again. We showed little offense and I was very frustrated that we were making both bad decisions and bad passes throughout the match. Our goal came on a Danny Singh header as he deflected a cross from Matthew McGowan past Ashley Bayes. It is back to the drawing board as we need to find a way to generate more offense. We also lost Singh for a week with a wrenched elbow. The loss dropped us to 16th place in the ECS.

***

19.12.04
In the midst of our poor performances of late- it was nice ray of sunshine when we were able to secure Franklin Simek as a player of ours. Arsenal accepted a free transfer offer and though it was costly, I managed to negotiate a contract with him through 2008. He has played very well since arriving and I counted it a coup to be able to get him as our own. The fans welcomed the news as well, since he has quickly become a fan favorite since arriving. On the down side, Paul Bonar asked to be transfer listed and though I don't want to lose him- I felt compelled to grant his request.

retired_destiny1124

21.12.04
Harrow Hill (2) Lewes (0)
We badly needed a win and finally things broke right for us and we got one. It was a grueling, hard tackling match. We took the first half lead when Michael Husbands skimmed a pass across the edge of the area and Jamie McGowan threaded a shot inside the left post for his 1st goal for us. With the match on the line in the second half we caught a break. Jason Hallett had worked free on the left side and was breaking in. Hallett meant to cross for Husbands in front, but mishit the ball and it instead clinked into the net off the inside of the near left post. With the two goal lead we defended more stoutly than we had shown in any match lately and were able to hold on for the clean sheet and 2-0 win. The win was costly though as we lost Ryan Ashington for the next month with a fractured wrist and Kieron Gradwell will be out 3 weeks with a groin strain.

retired_manpk1

Yes

Mid-table here we came :thup:

retired_jgirl87

Good stuff Faramir, I'm still enjoying this.

retired_destiny1124

binny- yes, it was a relief to get the win- we needed something to build on pretty badly

Spav- glad you are still enjoying it, thanks for following along


***

26.12.04
Dorchester (1) Harrow Hill (1)
Despite facing a 10 man side for most of the second half, we couldn't break 1-1 deadlock and had to settle for splitting the points. Dorchester keeper Craig Bradshaw earned his MOM honours with several brilliant saves sprinkled throughout the match, including one on Arron Davies in the closing moments of the match. Daniel Austen had to be just as sharp in our net as he also made a game saving one-on-one stop of Matt Groves in the last minutes of the match. We took the lead in the first half when Steven Fraser was tripped in the area by Justin Wheeler. Fraser calmly converted the penalty kick for a hard-earned lead. Dorchester answered when our backline failed to come back quickly enough after a throw-in and Leon Clarke chipped it over Liam Eves and Robbie Turner walked in alone and beat Austen inside the far right post with his mid-level shot. Alex Browne, who was feuding with the referee all afternoon, said too much in the opening moments of the second half and earned his 2nd yellow card and an early exit. We tried to capitalize, but missed high on a few good chances and saw Bradshaw work his heroics on others.

retired_destiny1124

apologies to everyone looking for an update earlier- I had 3 of 4 stories updated when they took the Board posting ability away to update

***

28.12.04
Harrow Hill (0) Redbridge (2)
Our lack of depth was starkly illustrated as we were forced to play last place Redbridge with a patchwork lineup and we looked terrible. Both goals they scored were goals we should have prevented. The first came midway in the first half when they lobbed in a free kick and Kevin Stephens caught Daniel Austen flatfooted with his 20 yard blast past him. James Tevendale came close to evening things before half, but missed inches wide on a good chance. Paul Moss pretty much handed the clinching goal to them. Franklin Simek had shuffled a pass over to Moss, and instead of moving the ball right away, he tried to dribble in front of the net. Jay Murray made us pay for that mistake when he took the ball off of Moss' foot and drilled a shot past Austen to make it 2-0. We didn't really threaten after that point. The match is a reminder to me that if we manage to stay up- we badly need to add some more quality players, because our 2nd unit has been pretty horrid much of the season. I was pretty unhappy with Moss' performance in this one and he may have to sit awhile until I think he learned his lesson- my center defenders *don't* hang on to the ball in front of their own net.

retired_destiny1124

1.1.05
Harrow Hill (3) Bognor Regis (1)
I thought this match was pretty important for us. Going into the match, Bognor Regis were holding 20th place- the last relegation slot. If they could beat us they would certainly help haul us down closer to the relegation mire. We got off to a quick start, buoyed by the return from injury of Danny Singh. Adam Parker made a nice pass to find Singh with space in the area as he broke the offside trap and he smashed his shot past Matt Dickins. Bognor Regis rallied and took advantage of poor play on a corner as Dave Hanson picked up Carl Laurie's corner and then raced down the pitch and past Franklin Simek before firing a shot past Daniel Austen for a sensational goal. We took advantage of a poor goal kick by Dickins as Mark Berry headed forward to Matthew McGowan. McGowan made a quick move past a defender and then slipped a pass to Singh. Singh drove his shot past Dickins into the upper left corner for his 2nd goal of the match. We pressured them in the second half, but weren't able to clinch the match until injury time when Matthew McGowan made another fine pass- this time that put Arron Davies away. Davies snapped a shot past Dickins for the final marker in the important 3-1 win.

retired_destiny1124

3.1.05
Weymouth (0) Harrow Hill (2)
It seems my 2nd unit took my criticism of their play against Redbridge to heart. We marched into Wessex Stadium to face 2nd place Weymouth and played our best match of the season as we improbably beat them 2-0 with virtually the same patchwork lineup that faced Redbridge. The difference in the match was Steven Fraser- as he scored both of our goals in the first half. Peter Griffiths started the first one with a nice interception. He sent a quick pass ahead for Michael Husbands. Husbands showed his good vision by laying the ball off to Fraser who had space on the left side. Steve Tully couldn't get over to close Fraser down and he smashed a ball inside the near left post past Ben Steward. Steve Clark and James Tevendale played a bump-and-run passing sequence before Tevendale's good pass allowed Fraser to fire a shot inside the far right post for his 2nd of the game and 5th of the season. We played much more defensively in the second half and Weymouth pushed forward, but wasted their best chances missing wide and high.

retired_destiny1124

8.1.05
Harrow Hill (0) Weston-super-Mare (3)
We failed to build on our win at Weymouth as we played a terrible match and fell to last place Weston-super-Mare 3-0. They struck early in the first half with a long cross that found Lewis Hogg alone and he had an easy time pushing it past Michael Jago. We tried to rally, but their backline was playing well and keeper Tony Malessa was sharp. Early in the second half Danny O'Hagen scored a fluke goal off the post and we went down 2-0. We don't have the kind of offense that does well trying to come back and we yielded a 3rd goal late when they caught us pressing forward. It was a poor performance for our backline players and the press second-guessed my decision to rest Franklin Simek in the match.

retired_destiny1124

11.1.05
Hayes (1) Harrow Hill (1)
Jason Hallett scored on a terrific play to give us an early lead, but that was the last time we could solve MOM Nicholas Baker in the Hayes net. We held sway over the early play, but midway through the first half Hayes started rallying and I could sense the changing momentum. We dodged several close calls through the first half and in the early moments of the second half, but they finally got Clement James free and he was able to fire it past Daniel Austen for the equalizer. We seemed to gain a second wind and again pressured them the rest of the match- but for naught as we just couldn't seem to get the goal we needed. The 1-1 draw was a fair result for the closely played match.