retired_destiny1124

15.1.05
St.Albans (0) Harrow Hill (2)
Once more we came to play in a road match and wound up edging St.Albans 2-0 at Clarence Park. The first half featured uneven play from both sides and the scoreless draw well represented the inconsistent play of both sides. Early in the second half Steven Fraser and Adam Parker played a neat 1-2 and defender Corey Campbell upended Fraser in the area. Kieron Gradwell showed he is maturing quickly as he slammed home the penalty kick for his 1st ever senior goal. We kept up the tempo of play as we continued pressuring the home side. They had a couple good chances, but we had much the better of play. We finally clinched the match when MOM Mark Berry made a superb through ball that found Danny Singh beyond his marker. Singh made a quick move and then took the ball around James Robinson when he dove- which allowed him to easily shove the ball into the open net to help round out an important win.

***

15.1.05
After the afternoon match, the press was surprised when I announced that we had completed a transfer on free from AFC Wimbledon that would bring 21 yr old AMC Gavin Bolger to Harrow Hill. It cost a larger contract than I wanted, but Bolger is one of the best looking midfielders we had found scouting that was willing to come and play for us. Once he has had some practice time, he should be a regular contributor in our lineup.

retired_destiny1124

19.1.05
Things are coming to a head in the dressing room. Peter Griffiths missed practice for the 2nd time this season- after being publicly admonished about it and gracefully submitting he was wrong. With him doing it again- well if a player isn't going to work hard, they aren't going to be here. Griffiths is an amazing dribbler, but he is going on the transfer list. Also on the transfer list today- at his request- is Wes Hammond. Wes has a bright future, but he has seen Mark Berry earn the lion's share of play at right back- and has observed that Mark has been one of the bright spots this season.

***

22.1.05
Harrow Hill (1) Bishop's Stortford (1)
This was a closely played match as our visitor's grabbed the early lead when Victor Boyle-Renner made a deft pass that found Alistair Heselton alone in front of Daniel Austen and he was able to snap a shot by him. Trailing in the opening moments to a club who seems to play well against you is not a recipe for success, but after pressuring them closely we managed to equalize just before half when Carl Laurie dumped a pass into the area for Matthew McGowan. McGowan blasted away and the shot hit Daniel Foot. The misdirection was enough to send the ball past John Ruddy to make it 1-1. Ruddy was called on for two fantastic saves in the second half and had good support from timely tackling by their backline as we fought to a 1-1 draw that both sides deserved.

retired_destiny1124

23.1.05
Gravesend made an offer for Peter Griffiths and I promptly accepted it. 1K isn't much, but it is better for both the club and him that we part ways at this point.

***

24.1.05
As the transfer deadline approached we added three more signings on free. I am sure the Board wasn't too happy that we kept signing players- but the only way to improve the club was to take some chances and have a few of the players work out. We added 17 yr old AMC Matty Hendra, 21 yr old DC Callum Fox and 18 yr old SC Kyle Allcock. Hendra, who had never played professionally was very well rounded for his young age and my thoughts were if he developed at all- he would really be a solid midfielder. Fox was definately unpolished with his defensive skills, but seemed to be a natural team leader- and those were hard to find. Allcock had the reputation as a gunner in the Bristol City system and it was worth finding out if he could help us up front. I had soured on Nathaniel Griffiths- who had played well to start, but then completely quit contributing and was proving a royal pain in the behind in the dressing room and I hoped Allcock might be able to step up and take his place.

***

27.1.05
One more free signing to note. 20 yr old D/MC Matt Hill was released by Sheffield Wednesday and both of my scouts were admonishing me to sign him if I could. Given their vehemence, I did make an offer and he accepted and will become part of our backline contingent.

retired_destiny1124

29.1.05
Harrow Hill (0) Maidenhead (1)
An immensely frustrating match for both myself and the players. We played a very good match and limited them to two shots on goal. Unfortunately, one was a 25 yard free kick by Mark Boyce with only moments left in first half injury time and it turned out to be the one that added another loss in our column. We had excellent passing and good chances, but Danny Singh, Steven Fraser and later Arron Davies just couldn't finish off the plays. We had two loose balls hacked off their line at the last moment by desperate defenders and saw their keeper Nick Hart earn MOM honours for the excellent saves he made to keep their clean sheet. It was discouraging to see us play so well and only wind up with another close loss.

retired_destiny1124

1.2.05
Suttons United (1) Harrow Hill (1)
We continue to demonstrate Jekyll and Hyde-like qualities as a club. Suttons United is in first place and hadn't lost in their last 7 matches, but came very close to losing to us. Tony Quinton outleaped Paul Moss to deflect a cross from Joss Vansittart past surprise starter Michael Jago to give them the lead. Jago quickly settled down and made a pair of sensational one-on-one saves after our backline was caught moving forward. It looked like our last match all over again though as we generated good scoring chances- only to see Phil Wilson ruin Kyle Allcock's debut by tipping his close in shot just over the bar. A brilliant through ball by Paul Moss sprung Adam Parker down the pitch and, unlike his first good chance that went into the side netting, this slipped inside the left post for Parker's 5th goal of the season. We started playing with much more confidence and were doing an excellent job of both defending and moving back to get chances. Wilson made a good stop on Ryan Ashington, just back from injury for the match, but he was matched by Jago coming up with another great one-on-one save against Quinton to preserve the 1-1 score in the waning moments of the match. I would have loved to have beaten them, but was happy with our hard-earned draw.

retired_destiny1124

5.2.05
Harrow Hill (0) Grays (2)
I can't explain why we have so much trouble at home, but poor finishing was again our bane as we fell to 5th place Grays 2-0. We controlled more of the play, had the same quality chances as them- but they finished off their chances and we came up short- again. Their first goal had to be attributed to Michael Jago. Jago botched the handling of an easy shot and it rolled right to Danny Hayzelden who had an easy time depositing it in the net. That was a huge letdown for us as well fell behind again despite having some good chances and hitting the post squarely behind Carl Emberson. Emberson would go on to earn MOM honours as he stopped a nice chance by Arron Davies and also parried away a good hard shot from Adam Parker. They pretty much clinched the match with their 2nd goal as our backline failed to cover and Vill Powell made no mistakes from the six yard box.

***

7.2.05
We completed the transfer sale of unhappy Paul Bonar to Cierencester Town for the princely sum of 2K. Upon the announcement of his signing, I heard the fans of Cierencester were slightly unhappy because they thought Paul might wreck the harmony of the club. Having seen his unhappiness, I tended to agree with the fan's assessment of the addition. For our club, this was addition by subtraction.

retired_destiny1124

11.2.05
A player we could ill afford to lose was Carl Laurie, but a training injury claimed him for the next three weeks. At the advice of Paul Caton, I decided he needed to go for rehabilitation to try and prevent a recurrance of the injury this season.

We head into an important road match at 20th place Welling tomorrow. We are currently in a pack of clubs, but holding 13th place due to our small goal differential (-4). They trail us by 7 points in the last relegation slot and dearly need a win- while we just as dearly need to beat them to keep out of the back end mire in ECS. Our lineup going into this important match will be:

GK- Daniel Austen
DL- Lea Jones
DR- Mark Berry
DC- Franklin Simek
DC- Paul Moss
DMC- Jordan Fowler
MC- Jamie McGowan
MC- Adam Parker
MC- Gavin Bolger
SC- Danny Singh
SC- Kyle Allcock

retired_jgirl87

Enjoyable as ever, Faramir.

It's a pity your home form is so scratchy or you would be much higher than 13th at the moment.

retired_destiny1124

Spav- Yes, too true in that regard. Injuries haven't helped either...

Thanks for the comments

***

12.2.05
Welling (1) Harrow Hill (2)
It was with a sense of relief that I celebrated the final whistle and an important win. We were our own worst enemies in the match and we could easily have won the match by a 5-0 score if not for our own failings. We struck early to take the lead as Jordan Fowler picked a great time to score his 1st goal for us. Martin Brennan made a brilliant reaction save on Adam Parker following a corner, but Fowler drilled the rebound into the net to give us the lead in the 2nd minute. We played a great first half and had two more good chances to score, but Danny Singh missed over the net when in alone twice. Just before halftime we gave the lead back when Lea Jones headed a Welling corner past Daniel Austen for an own goal. It was extremely frustrating to see us play so well, but only go to half even at 1-1. Welling gained momentum with that goal and came out playing much stronger in the second half. Austen had to be sharp to deny Tom Phillips as he pushed his shot past the post after he was able to walk in alone. We missed two more good chances to retake the lead- again missing high as both Parker and Singh had the shots. Shortly after Singh's last miss, I brought on Jason Hallett for him. That turned out to be a well timed choice as Ryan Ashington (on for a tiring Gavin Bolger) zinged a sizzling through ball that put Hallett away. Hallett took the ball around the diving Brennan and tapped it into the net for our 2-1 lead. We still had to survive our continuing mistake riddled play and I was screaming at Mark Berry when he decided a 60 yard back pass to Austen- which he sent well wide to give them a corner in the last five minutes- was a good idea. We managed to scramble and survived with the 2-1 win.

retired_destiny1124

14.2.05
The win at Welling left us in 13th place and I was proud that it was our 10th win of the season. We now had 10 points between us and 20th place Welling, and just because of that it was our most important match of the season.

***

19.2.05
Harrow Hill (2) Cambridge City (0)
We finally left our Larksfield Road faithful feeling pleased, as we put together a strong second half to see off visiting Cambridge City 2-0. The first half saw Cambridge controlling much of the play, with us only able to stage an occasional counter attack. The fans were buzzing as it seemed we were just hanging on until halftime. We did manage to rejuvanate our attack in the second half. Jason Hallett sent what seemed like an errant pass over everyone's heads from the left side. Duncan Roberts was going to grab it when he suddenly realized that Matthew McGowan had snuck in from the right wing and as Roberts tried to steady himself to stop the shot- McGowan smashed a hard-angle shot that hit the inside of the left post and trickled in. With the lead, we started to play a more conservative tactic. It worked well at first, but a spate of early yellow cards came back to haunt us as Ryan Ashington received his 2nd yellow at 57 minutes. We really tried to clamp down in our end and send Hallett out on occasional tears. Hallett took advantage of one to stop and launch a centering pass for Gavin Bolger. Instead of reaching Bolger, the ball looped over Roberts and into the net for the crucial 2nd goal of the match. We were content to close out the 2-0 win and send our fans home happy for a change. The win stretches our margin over the relegation kaboodle to 12 points as we remain in 13th place in the ECS.