Harrow Borough 2 – 1 Wealdstone
Harrow Borough
2 - 1
WealdstoneTwo words summed up the difference between the two sides today and they weren’t ‘Boro Won’ they were Dean Marney.
He was outstanding at the heart of the home defence – not because he stopped everything that Wealdstone threw at him, but because he prevented the Stones front line from actually making much of an impact on the game at all, and when not in position himself he had marshalled his defensive colleagues to do exactly the same.
The game started fairly even with Wealdstone slowly pushing on and forcing the home side to play on the break, and it was Wealdstone who thought they had taken the lead when Beckford scored after a good run by O’Leary, but he dallied long enough on his pass forward to allow Jolly to creep offside and the goal was disallowed.
Stones also could have lead minutes later when Michnowicz broke late into the box, but his shot was over the bar from a tight angle. As it was, Boro were to take the lead from a goal kick. McKeown hesitated around the half way line when perhaps he should have cleared to safety, but the ball ran kindly for Boro – not least the final cross into the Wealdstone box which seemed to bounce around before finally falling to Valenti who played across the sic yard box for Clarke to slot home.
Five minutes later and it was 2-0. Boro were awarded a free kick, a clearance was driven into the back of another Stones defender and the ball fell to Marney this time outside the Stones penalty area and his hard and low shot arrowed into the corner of the net.
Boro had their best spell of the match up until half time, and Carter was brought into the action to make a couple of quick saves as Stones held on for a half time score of 2-0.
The second half saw Wealdstone push on with greater regularity and the introduction of Alexander as a third forward just before the hour gave them greater impetus, however the home defence held firm.
With time running out, Stones piled on the pressure and a series of good reaction saves from Karamoko seemed to have sealed the home victory and a clean sheet until on 88 minutes, the ball fell to McKeown on the edge of the box and he lobbed over a crowded penalty area to score for Wealdstone.
The last few minutes became yet more frantic as Stones searched for an equaliser they probably deserved on the day but it wasn’t to be a Boro ran out winners for the second time this season.
Harrow Times – Simon Grigor
BRAGGING rites go to Harrow, who completed the double over arch-rivals Wealdstone with a hard-fought win at Earlsmead on Saturday.
Neither side was at full-strength: Wealdstone missing Martin Carter, Robin Tucker and the suspended Gary Burrell; Harrow without Japanese pair, Naoki Mouri (unwell) and Takuro Hosaka (shin injury), plus Howard Newton who failed a fitness test.
Brian Haule headed an early effort wide, while Keita Karamoko fielded Perry Norman’s back-header under pressure from Richard Jolly.
Paul Coyne fired wide from 20 yards for Stones, and Clemente Lopez latched onto debutant Daniel Clarke’s pass, hitting the side netting.
On 20 minutes, skipper Dean Marney dispossessed Jolly in the Borough box, ran the length of the field before shooting weakly at Andy Carter. Lee O’Leary responded by shooting past the post for the visitors.
The game’s key moments came in a ten-minute spell from the 26th minute.
Lopez lost the ball on the half-way line, allowing Wealdstone to spring forward. O’Leary found Jolly whose shot was superbly parried by Karamoko, only for Jermaine Beckford to net the loose ball. However, Jolly was flagged offside and Wealdstone’s jubilation was sharply curtailed.
Carter held Dave Ryan’s spooned clearance before Harrow opened the scoring in the 32nd minute.
Lopez’s throw found Fabio Valenti on the left, who crossed for Haule to head on. Abdulai Yoki squared for Clarke and the newcomer endeared himself to the Earlsmead faithful by netting from close range.
Four minutes later, Borough doubled the lead. Clinton Lamb’s free-kick dropped to Marney who shielded the ball, turned away from a defender and shot past Carter from 15 yards.Marney’s celebrations showed how much the goal meant.
Borough almost grabbed a third on 42 minutes, when Yoki charged down Chris Cahill’s clearance and Haule tried to beat Carter with a clever flick just wide of the post.
Early in the second half, another Wealdstone clearance was charged down, this time by Haule, the ball going wide of the goal.
In September’s clash, the introduction of Ben Alexander led to a brief blue revival, and this was the case again.
Coming on in the 59th minute, he sparked a 15-minute spell of pressure from the visitors.
A free-kick was half-cleared to Beckford who forced Karamoko to turn away his shot.
Alexander then played in Jolly who was only stopped by Lamb’s fine tackle. Despite Wealdstone’s pressure, goal-scoring opportunities were at a premium, with Marney and Perry Norman holding firm at the back, helped by the midfield grafting of Wayne Walters and Steve Dogbe.
Harrow survived and began to threaten again. Valenti was stopped by a good tackle, and Haule twisted past Carl Martin but was denied by a good Carter tip-over.
Late on, Karamoko made an excellent save from Alexander’s shot before Wealdstone scored a consolation three minutes into added time.
Karamoko punched a corner to the edge of the box and McKeown lifted it over the crowd of players into the net.
The game threatened to boil over at times but referee Chris Williams stayed on top, booking seven players.
At 688, the crowd was far in excess of the two clubs’ average gates added together, and shows the local interest in this fixture. The visiting fans, whose support was positive and good-natured, contributed in large measure to the atmosphere At half-time, Wealdstone’s under-18s beat Harrow 4-3 in a penalty shot-out.
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