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Tue 11th Aug 2009
League
Harefield United 3-2 TAFC First team
TAFC goals: Darren Franklin, Graham Hall |
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A goal 3 minutes from time meant we came away empty handed, but it would have been so different had we taken our chances when we had Harefield on the rack. Two goals in 4 minutes from Darren Franklin and Graham Hall during a purple patch in the first half saw us in command and we created enough scoring opportunities to have put the game beyond our hosts. But we failed to capitalise on our chances and then we lost our way a bit when key defender Chris Salmon sustained a nasty head wound.
The home side started off at a blistering pace and for 10 minutes we couldn’t get hold of the ball. We were forced to defend as Harefield pinged the ball around confidently. The nearest they came to a goal was when Murray Williamson saw his shot deflected onto the top of the bar and over. But suddenly we woke up and started to find holes in the home defence. Our first meaningful attack came when Mark Burfoot found Ashley Addison with a good crossfield pass. Ash got round Ray Curtis and volleyed just over the bar. That seemed to spur us on and Darren Franklin played Tony Fields into the area with a neat pass and his cross cum shot was pushed around the post by home keeper Simon Dean.
In the 13th minute Dean missed a corner and Chris Salmon headed in but the referee blew for a foul, although it seemed overly protective of the keeper. But a minute later we got the beak through when Rob Duncan made a great run into the area and slipped the ball to Darren Franklin who finished nicely for his 3rd goal in 3 games to put us 1-0 ahead. Almost immediately Dean kicked the ball straight to Mark Burfoot in the area and was somewhat fortunate that we were unable to punish his error. In the 18th minute Graham Hall turned away from a challenge and hit a 30 yard shot that was too powerful and accurate for Dean as it flew into the roof of the net for wonderful goal.
With a 2 goal lead the home defence looked shakey and started to give the ball away. From one piece of slack play we were able to break down the right where Tony Fields found the head of Mark Burfoot in the box. You would have put your money on Burf heading in goal number 3 but his effort went over the bar. Harefield were dangerous on the break and our defence had to be on their toes. But just before the half mark Mark Burfott flicked the ball onto Darren Franklin and his shot looked destined for the bottom corner until Dean produced a superb save and then quickly recovered to grab the loose ball before any of our players could pounce.
We were in the ascendancy but then came the turning point of the game when Chris Salmon got an elbow in the head. With Trevor Langley trying to stem the flow of blood there was confusion over whether Chris would be able to go back on or a sub should be brought on. We were down to 10 men when a foul was conceded in the 35th minute down by our right corner flag, an area that Chris would have been patrolling. The free kick was whipped in and under pressure Dave Clark pushed the ball away only to Bradley Thomas who headed in Harefield’s first goal. Earlier a foul was awarded when Dean came for a corner and missed it but our keeper was not afforded the same protection.
The goal was a life line for Harefield and Michael Woolner put a header over from a long diagonal cross. Dave Foskett came on for Chris Salmon, moving to left back whilst Rob Duncan went across to the right. With 5 minutes to go before half time we had a great chance to go in with a 3-1 lead. Darren Franklin broke down the right and pulled the ball back to Mark Burfoot who shot over with the goal at his mercy. So despite creating some clear scoring chances all we had to show for it was a slim 2-1 lead.
HT: HU 1 TA 2
We started the second half quite well with Dean weakly punching a cross from Darren Franklin to the edge of the area where Neil Roberts was just unable to take advantage. But just 7 minutes after the restart Harefield came right back in it when Danny Buckle outsmarted our offside trap to run through and make the score 2-2. The complexion of the game now changed and we started to play the ball long rather than through midfield and we struggled to create the moves and danger we did in the first half.
We had a lucky escape when Steve Smith headed a shot off the line following a corner and the home side were quick to knock balls through to try and set free their forwards. We were forced into a defensive mode relying too much on offside trap that was eventually to prove to be our downfall. There were some isolated attacks, Ashley Addison and Graham forced Dean into action and Mark Burfoot had a half chance but generally we were less incisive. With just 3 minutes to go we looked to have secured a creditable draw when our offside trap went wrong again and Denver Morris ran through to snatch a late and dramatic winner for Harefield.
FT: HT 3 TA 2
The second half was disappointing but we should still have got a point and we need to get our offside tactics right in the future. But we let Harefield off the hook in the first half and need to be more clinical in future especially against the better sides. Still there was a lot to be pleased about and even without a number of key players we gave one of the teams that is highly fancied a tough match. Finally it was great to see Danny Gray come on as a late sub for his first appearance since fracturing his collar bone back in early April.
Teams:
HU: Simon Dean, Luke Eldridge, Bradley Thomas, Tom Kirk, Michael Woolner (Jamie Houliston 87), Warren Gladdy (Capt), Ray Curtis (Ben Cowen 88), Craig Totton, Danny Buckle, Chris Drake (Denver Morris 69), Murray Williamson. Subs not used: Tom Inch, Raymond Agyeman
TA: Dave Clark, Chris Salmon, Rob Duncan, Graham Hall (Capt), Steve Smith, Henry Thomas, Darren Franklin, Neil Roberts, Mark Burfoot, Ashley Addison, Tony Fields. Sub not used: Gareth Lee
Goals:
HU: Bradley Thomas (35), Danny Buckle (52), Denver Morris (87)
TA: Darren Franklin (14), Graham Hall (18)
Crowd: 76
HU Website: www.harefieldunited.co.uk |
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(No photos on file)
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