Harrow Borough 1 – 5 Tiverton Town
Despite a battling performance after going down to 9 men, Harrow Borough’s poor run of form continued after a heavy defeat to Tiverton Town made it just 1 win in 10 for the Boro. It was always going to be a tough game against third place Tiverton who went ahead after just 10 minutes with good work down the right from Alex Fletcher who crossed for Joshua Key to head home. Not long after, Tiverton were 2-0 up. Harrow right back Josh Andrews was penalised for blocking a shot with his arm and was sent off with Tiverton captain River Allen converting the resulting penalty. Despite being a man light, Harrow rallied and got a goal back after Tiverton failed to clear a corner, with Shaun Preddie on hand to bundle the ball home.
HT Harrow Borough 1 – 2 Tiverton Town
Harrow started the second half in a similar vein trying to find the equaliser. However, they were soon handed a significant blow as they went down to 9 men when left back Thomas Scott was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Steve Colwell. Harrow were inexplicably denied a penalty at 2-1 after the Tiverton left back Noah Smerdon took down a Harrow player as he charged into the box in what looked a blatant foul. Soon though, Tiverton took the game beyond reach. On 65 minutes Tiverton got their third as the ball fell kindly in the box to the feet of Jordan Bastin who coolly slotted home from 12 yards. Gaps were appearing in the Harrow defence and Tiverton were able to make it four when Josh Key was able to run through and square the ball to Christopher Sheppard to tap home. Despite a series of stunning saves from debutant Luca Ashby-Hammond, Tiverton added a fifth after 90 minutes when River Allen grabbed a second, beating the offside trap and finishing past Ashby-Hammond.
FT Harrow Borough 1 – 5 Tiverton Town
Harrow manager Steve Baker felt after the game that his side had competed well with nine men and was proud of the team’s efforts stating that ‘I felt the lads were brave, they could have easily not wanted the ball and gone hiding but they kept going, which is all we’ll ever ask them to do’. However, he did concede that results have to improve ‘I’ve been doing it long enough to know our current form, no matter how you dress it up, isn’t great so we need points on the board sooner rather than later’. Reflecting the need to arrest the current run of just one win in 10. Baker was also scathing of his criticism of the referee saying, ‘I thought the three decisions from the referee were a joke’. He also believes the referee cost his side the match claiming ‘a lot of football at this level is decided by bad decisions either by players or officials, today it was the officials’. On the dismissals Baker felt neither warranted a red card. On the first Baker declared that ‘I spoke to the right back, he said he didn’t handball it. He showed a big imprint where the ball hit him’, which highlighted how he felt the first decision was harsh. Similarly, he was disappointed with the second dismissal remarking that ‘he’s not gone over the top of the ball, it’s one foot, he’s not off the ground, it’s a yellow card’. Lastly, Baker was particularly frustrated at being denied what he felt as a ‘blatant penalty’ at 2-1 which would have given Harrow a chance to equalise. On this occasion he was critical of both the linesman and the referee stating that ‘linesman’s five yards away, referee’s ten yards away, between them nothing’.
Overall, it will be a difficult defeat to take for the Boro. Having been competitive for much of the game despite being on the end of some questionable decisions from the referee, they will feel that they deserved more from the game. However, despite the unflattering scoreline, there were a number of positives to take forward from the game which could be used to improve their recent poor form, and climb the table.
Harrow Borough: Luca Ashby-Hammond, Josh Andrews (Sent off, 24 minutes), Thomas Scott (Sent off, 52 minutes), George Fenton, Shaun Preddie (Adam Pepera 66 minutes), Jordan Ireland, Manny Williams, Lewis Cole (Leo Donnellan 70 minutes), Marc Charles-Smith, Michael Bryan, George Moore (Excellence Muhemba 66 minutes). Manager: Steve Baker
Tiverton Town: Lewis Williams, Pierce Mitchell (Mike Peck 70 minutes), Noah Smerdon, Steve Colwell, Michael Landricombe, Jordan Dyer, Josh Key (Luke Mortimore 74 minutes), River Allen, Alex Fletcher, Jordan Bastin, Chris Shephard (Tyler Elliot 73 minutes). Managers: Martyn Rogers & Scott Rodgers
Referee: Thomas Holden
Attendance: 150
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