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After all the speculation,
confirmation came through before the game that Michael Antonio
had departed for Reading with no loan deal, so all was
now clear - time to move on. Despite the defeat against
Dartford the Terrors started the match 18 points and 18 places
above bottom of the table Harrow, who had a goal difference of
-20. But the bubble that was
leaking slightly, burst apart with another poor performance.
Manager Bill Smith made one change to the starting line up by
bolstering the midfield with the fit again Alan McLeod,
replacing Stanley Muguo. This certainly added a little
more bite and urgency, if not any greater fluidity, in the
passing game that the 191 hardy souls who braved a bitterly
cold evening hoped to see.
Harrow posted an early
warning when Whitley shot wide from a Constant free kick after
just 3 minutes. The Terrors responded immediately when Paul
Vines won the first of a series of nod on’s to put
Henry-Haden clear through the middle. Leech lived up to his
name with his efforts to hold JHH back that earned him a
rightful booking.
Both sides played with a 4-4-2 formation throughout and
Tooting initially focused on getting Pitterson away down the
right. But it was
Harrow that had the first good shout on 15mins when they broke
quickly with a ball over the top for Clarke to run on to. He
first locked arms with Joe Vines and then went crashing to the
ground as heels appeared clipped to prevent a certain shot.
The Tooting faithful waited
fearfully for Mr. Collins (a referee apparently under
assessment – always dangerous) to make his decision.
Penalty and red card seemed most likely from the
stands. Play
on!!!! The huge
sigh of relief must have reached the pitch as a welcome blast
of warm air.
Harrow captain Walters was
having to wrestle with more than his conscience to contain
Paul Vines and he and JHH linked up twice more in quick
succession, the chance on 23 minutes requiring a last gasp
tackle on the edge of the box.
The McLeod efforts to fire
things up produced a bout of ‘handbags’ with Constant in
the middle and Goode was then booked for pulling back striking
partner Clarke.
Most of the Tooting play
continued down the right with Pitterson much more involved in
ball winning than on Saturday and then breaking wide, and it
was in the right hand corner that Paul Vines got booked on
34mins after a sly clip at the legs of Walters following more
GBH. Walters then somehow escaped a booking after
clashing with Hamlin.
The entertainment the crowd
yearned for finally materialized when coach Danny Carroll
provided Hamlin with a ball to replace one that had gone over
the fence only to watch Hamlin dispatch the replacement to the
same spot. You
don’t get that at Gorky Bridge!
Right on the stroke
of half time it looked as if Tooting would finally score when
a Vines nod and a JHH lob saw McLeod running free into the
box. Even the faintest contact between the ball and the
tiniest part of his anatomy would surely have resulted in a
goal... But it was not to be.
However just seconds later
the goal finally arrived as a free kick found Paul Vines in
the penalty box and, after a header and some pinball, Joe
Vines forced the ball home.
Surely we would go on from here.
Surely??
Half Time
1 -
0
The 2nd half started in
encouraging fashion when JHH took the ball round keeper Ross,
but shot wide. Then a McLeod corner passed right across the
front of the goal with everybody frozen. A bout of
end-to-end football followed (most of it in the air) before
King decided on a foray to tackle a striker on the sidelines.
Disaster threatened, but Howell managed to clear the resulting
cross. Harrow had further attempts as Constant grazed
the Terrors crossbar with a curled free kick and Lawrence put
a header just wide.
Tooting replaced
Henry-Hayden with Abbey, but the desire to push on added
bite in the wrong way with bookings for Howell (abuse of the
linesman - 65 mins) and, never one to miss out, Hamlin
(sliding in - 75 mins). Mr. Collins was getting a little
tetchy but correctly booked Shroot for a shabby dive that
fooled nobody but incensed quite a few.
Abbey had a shot from
distance and Byatt then ran on to a long Joe Vines ball, lost
it, regained it again but also shot wide.
Then on 80mins Harrow got
an equalizer. A challenge was missed in midfield and the ball
was lobbed over for Shroot to run on to. Did King have time to
come and clatter man & ball skyward?
No - Shroot ran on and slotted home.
Deep, deep, very cold misery.
Directly from the restart
Walters committed yet another foul on Paul Vines, but somehow
yet again escaped a booking.
Very inconsistent Mr Collins!
No further action was
worthy of noting with my frozen hands.
We pressed more than on
Saturday but far too much of the ball forward took the aerial
route. It was another disappointing
result against a team below us, but the Terrors are still 4th
with a long way to go.
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