HORNCHURCH 3 HARLOW TOWN 1
In bright sunny conditions, Urchins were welcomed by a near 400 crowd, which included 16 from Harlow, all of whom were waving rattles. Hornchurch kicked towards the windmill end in the first half, and in the overpowering heat it took both teams a long time to settle down. Harlow wasted an early corner when Michael Spencer quickly cleared Fowler’s short corner kick, and Hornchurch’s first move upfield ended when keeper Hasell held Mervin Abraham’s header from Ross Wall’s left wing cross. A good pass along the right by Donny Barnard almost put Dean Green clear and Bardle had to concede a corner, but Mark Janney’s kick into a packed area came to nothing when the whistle went for an infringement. The closest Hornchurch came was when Dean Green gave Ross Wall an opening on the edge of the area, but Ross could not get his shot in, and Stevenson cleared. A John Purdie free kick was touched on by Abraham to Wall, but the resulting cross went across goal, with no one getting on to the ball. A good ball from Mark Goodfellow found Abraham, who won a corner, but Janney’s kick was caught by Hasell.

Harlow took the lead with their first real threat of the match when ex-Urchin Jamie Richards won a corner when Spencer tackled. Gliddon floated the ball over, Elliot Styles headed away and TOM BRUNO, from well outside the area, promptly hammered the ball straight back again and into the net, to send the 16 rattle waving Harlow supporters, and their mass of immaculately suited directors, wild with delight.
The Harlow siren shrieked out, and the match continued to be played out very much in midfield, until a Donny Barnard throw was played out to Styles, who touched on to Wall. Ross headed onwards to MERVIN ABRAHAM, who ran on and neatly lobbed the keeper, and then the handful of away supporters found out how a goal should really be celebrated as the East Side went mental. And it could have been two when Abraham sent Wall away and Stevenson’s tackle saw Wall crashing to the ground, the referee ruling that there was nothing wrong – the East Side did not agree.

A long ball upfield by Barnard was deflected out by Bardle for a corner, but Hasell capably dealt with Janney’s kick. Harlow briefly threatened, when Grace sent Richards through and Darren Behcet saved well, and almost on half time Richards broke clear but hit his shot well wide of the goal.

Main talking point at half time was why was Mervin Abraham wearing the Accused kit of two seasons ago, whilst Max gave away the £70 jackpot to a Harlow supporter, and Sharon won the meat raffle.

With the sun scorching down, to the delight of Lawrence’s brothers who were over here from Melbourne in Australia, Urchins came out more confidently for the second half, and took the lead thanks to Ross Wall to ran on to a move started by Frank Curley. Ross weaved his way in from the right, and avoided three tackles, before calmly slotting the ball back to DEAN GREEN who equally calmly slotted the ball into the net. It could have been three when Curley sent Janney away and Mark was pulled down, but play was allowed to continue. Andy Tomlinson came on for Mervin Abraham and then Simon Parker replaced the limping Mark Janney. Harlow ht the foot of the post with a shot from the left, and then a Tomlinson free kick almost put Parker clear, only for Byrne to tackle on the edge of the area. When Tomlinson was fouled by Bruno, Andy took the free kick himself, but there was no one out on the right wing to take advantage as the ball drifted across. Harlow, looking far better than their relegation position, came forward, and Ricci Grace shot narrowly wide of the post when given a half chance thanks to a defensive mix up. A free kick by Sam Berry brought the save of the match from Darren Behcet, who flung himself sideways and tipped the ball over the bar, and then Curley cleared the corner. Richards broke clear when he ran on to Fowler’s pass and he played the ball on to Fowler who was thwarted by Barnard’s well timed tackle.

Billy Coyne came on for Dean Green and took up a midfield position and was quickly called on to break up a run by Richards, before Billy then moved up to take a long throw which almost saw Ross Wall breaking through, only for Ross to be chopped down. Barnard did well to concede a corner from Richards, and Fowler’s kick was palmed away by Behcet. A vicious shot from Berry was touched out for a corner and again Behcet punched away Fowler’s inswinging kick, and Ricky Byrne hit a long range shot inches over the bar as Harlow pressed forward. The crowd gasped in disbelief at the announcement of five minutes stoppage time, but this only caused Urchins to step up a gear. Andy Tomlinson started the move and it culminated with ROSS WALL neatly slipping the ball into the net for the third and decisive goal. Harlow never looked like pulling back the two goal deficit and now face a struggle to avoid relegation.