A Harrowing Misadventure

[Faramir]

Thanks Champmanv, Spav- I am glad you are enjoying it.

***

6.11.07

Bath (2) Harrow Hill (1)

We played well enough to earn a better result in the match, but instead fell 2-1 to a mixture of excellent tackling by the Bath backline and unlucky shot placement. Richard Langley scored in the first minute of play to give us a quick lead when he whipped home his 5th of the season after a good passing sequence. We gave that one back when Tony Bedeau was left unmarked on the far side of the net and they curled a long cross to him. Bedeau fired it past Ross Flitney to even things. We had a lot of good passing, but every key tackle seemed to belong to them. Langley was the recipient of a good centering pass from Billy Sharp (on for a slightly injured Dean Morgan) but blasted his shot off the post. They scored the late match winner when our defense got caught running around and left Kyle Critchley unmarked for a 20 yard shot from the edge of the area. It was a tough 2-1 loss.

[Faramir]

17.11.07

Harrow Hill (2) Exeter (1)

After falling behind on Colin Miller's penalty following a disputed call of Franklin Simek's holding in the area, we fought back to win a close match 2-1. Carl Laurie made a terrific pass to spring Dean Morgan through a seam in the Exeter backline and he made it pay off with a good shot inside the right post past Mark Fletcher. After coming close to grabbing the lead several times in the second half, only to see Morgan and Richard Langley hesitate and the Exeter backline made saving tackles before they could shoot. The match winner came after Liam Rosenior was whistled for a handball in the area and Adrian Nevins converted the penalty kick. We survived their late rally attempts to hang on for the win.

***

17.11.07

We made another purchase today when we finalized the transfer purchase of James Corbett. Corbett, a 27 year old FRC, will help our midfield depth and though his salary is a bit heavy on our rolls, it was still a chance to get another quality player for the modest cost of 4K transfer price.

[Faramir]

24.11.07

York (1) Harrow Hill (4)

We fell behind again when Lewis Buxton was outleapt by Neil Teggert and he flicked the ball past Ross Flitney. Most of the first half we spent trying to get a good pass through to spring either Dean Morgan or Richard Langley. That finally happened later in the half with a good pass that allowed Morgan to blast away. Terry Steele got his hand solidly on the ball, but was unlucky as it still snuck in inside the right post for Morgan's 10th goal of the season. We took the halftime lead when Darren Pratley made a pretty long pass that picked out an unmarked Langley on the far side of the play. Langley drilled it inside the far right post to put us ahead 2-1. The second half was another demonstration of how well our offense is coming together. The trio of Morgan, Langley and Pratley bedeviled the York backline and Langley and Morgan both added their 2nd goals of the match. Both had chances to finish out the hat-trick, but missed by inches in their chances. The 4-1 win was a great show of how far the club has come and how dangerous the Morgan-Langley tandem has become.

[Faramir]

27.11.07

Harrow Hill (1) Burton (0)

I spent much of this match railing against our passing, which was uncharacterstically bad. We were having a difficult time working our way up the pitch as we continually gave the ball away on either bad decisions or bad passing. Some of that I could lay off to the fact that it was mostly our 2nd line playing in this match, but that really is no excuse. We managed to send the home fans home happy though when James Corbett capped off a fine debut by drilling 25 yard free kick past Mark Howard in the 84th minute to reward us with an unearned 1-0 win. David Green made several excellent saves in the closing moments to preserve the win and earned MOM honours for his efforts.

***

29.11.07

We lost Lewis Buxton to a leg injury for a couple weeks. Hopefully, Paul Moss will do a capable job filling in for him.

[Faramir]

30.11.07

In an effort to add more youthful depth, we signed 16 year old D/DMRL Darren Morgan to a contract. Morgan was rated as an excellent signing by both Campkin and Yeates, so it seemed worth our while to add him to the club.

***

8.12.07

Alfreton (2) Harrow Hill (1)

I always hesitate to lay blame on the officiating, but it certainly played a big part in our loss to last placed Alfreton. By the time the match was 12 minutes old, every one of our backline players had a yellow card. In all despite warning my club to use greater discretion in tackling after the initial flurry of yellows- we wound up with 17 fouls, 7 yellows and a redcard to their 4 fouls and a single yellow card. Ross Flitney missed a chance to stop their first goal when he tried to smother a loose ball and it escaped him. Chris Pickering pushed the ball into the net. The second goal came when Franklin Simek had to make a choice about trying a tackle and didn't and Pickering scored his 2nd goal past Flitney. We tried to rally in the second half and got a goal back early when Paul Moss deflected a corner past Chris Tardif. Our rally was short-circuited when Moss earned his 2nd yellow card on a disputed challenge. We still managed one more good chance, but luck wasn't with us as Richard Langley's lob over Tardif hit the crossbar and bounced back leaving us with a disappointing 2-1 loss.

[Amaroq]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Ibhere is off to Eastbourne Boro </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Its good to see Eastbourne Boro, whose troubles started the Harrow Hill adventure, out of receivership to the point that they can splash 60k on a player.

Love your writing, as always - KUTGW!

[Faramir]

Thanks for the kind words Amaroq. I thought that was kind of ironic myself (sale of Ibhere to Eastbourne...

***

15.12.07

Harrow Hill (1) Hereford (1)

After seeing Mark Smyth and Billy Sharp called offsides for very close calls numerous times in the first half, I was furious that Steve Lewis wasn't called offsides on the equalizing goal. Lewis was clearly beyond all of our backline before the pass was made and I was incensed that they couldn't make that call. We had struggled the whole match, but had taken the lead early when Billy Sharp fired in a rising shot after a good pass from James Corbett gave him room. We lost a lot of momentum when Neil McCafferty had to leave the match early in the second half with a leg injury. A worse blow was when the physio told me after the match that Franklin Simek will be out a week- losing him and Buxton at the same problem is a real problem for us as Paul Moss is also out with a training injury. It means I will have to pair inexperienced Daniel Thomas and Carl Laurie in the middle for next match.

[Faramir]

18.12.07

Scarborough (4) Harrow Hill (1)

The bad part about this match is that despite the score, we could easily have won the match. Darren Duncan was phenomenal in their net- he stopped Richard Langley three times in one-on-ones and also stopped Victor Anichebe twice after he came on for Langley. He also had good saves on Dean Morgan and Ryan Ashington. On the other end, Ross Flitney played his worst match of his time at Harrow Hill. The first goal was his own-goal and then he had little help from our backline as we looked completely lost without our anchors of Buxton and Simek. It was a terrible match defensively and all the more disappointing since we really did play well offensively, but couldn't finish things. I have seen enough of Anichebe. He is already unhappy and just bought himself a ticket on the reserves and transfer list with another wasted performance.

[Faramir]

22.12.07

Harrow Hill (2) Halifax (0)

It wasn't easy, but we got back on the winning path with a 2-0 win over struggling Halifax at Larksfield Road. Darren Pratley capitalized on an excellent pass from Richard Langley to score in the 2nd minute of play, which gave our club an immediate boost. We peppered Ian Dunbavin with good scoring chances, but he came up with the big saves to keep his club in the match. We finally clinched the match when Pratley made a short cross that Dean Morgan was able to deflect past Dunbavin to clinch the 2-0 win. We needed the win badly and it was a welcome final whistle for us.

***

23.12.07

We agreed to a mutual termination with Nuno Gourgel. He knew his time here wouldn't feature any senior side time and he was willing to end his contract so he could search for a club that would allow him more playing time.

[Faramir]

26.12.07

Harrow Hill (0) Kettering (1)

It is abundantly clear after this match that our 2nd line just isn't carrying the ball offensively. Without Morgan, Langley and Pratley we just are not managing to create enough offensively. I have been trying to get them some needed rest in these midweek matches, but our 1-0 loss just illustrates our 2nd line doesn't have enough quality offensively. We were done in on a terrible play defensively. Shaun Clohessy, Daniel Thomas both missed tackles on Darren Lynch and then David Green mishandled the ball when he had a chance to smother it- all of which resulted in the only goal of the match. I may have to consider taking a look at some of the youngsters on the reserve side as Danny Williamson and Adam Smith both were completely ineffective on the wings of this match.

***

Conference National Midseason Table

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

1- Mansfield 49 points (+19)

2- Bath 40 points (+11)

3- Harrow Hill 39 points (+15)

4- Morecambe 35 points (+10)

5- Scunthorpe 34 points (+15)

6- Hereford 34 points (+4)

7- Exeter 34 points (+2)

</pre>

[Faramir]

29.12.07

Harrow Hill (0) Morecambe (1)

The story of our matches of late repeated itself. We outplayed Morecambe on both ends of the pitch, but lost thanks to their keeper- Adam Sollitt- having a fantastical match. They managed to score on their one good chance on an early corner when Phil Barker banked a shot in off an unsuspecting Franklin Simek. We had excellent chances galore, but the goals just aren't there for the offensive execution we have been showing- something very frustrating to both myself and the club. We seem to need a dose of luck that we haven't had lately- two more crossbars today are testament to that.

***

30.12.07

I had been rumored to be taking over Port Vale, so I wound up issuing a statement in the press that I wasn't interested in the job. That didn't seem to matter to their Chairman, as Bill Bratt approached me anyway and offered me the position. I complimented him on his fine club (currently 19th in League 1), but turned the offer down.

Many other rumblings about us in the press too. Franklin Simek and Dean Morgan both drew significant offers, but I turned both offers down- they are the heart and soul of our club and if we want to have any chance of making the playoffs, we need both of them on our side.

[Faramir]

30.12.07

Carshalton responded to our offer of Jason Hallett and outbid two other clubs for the right to sign him. We netted only 4K on the sale, but it was the best thing for both Jason and the club.

***

1.1.08

Harrow Hill (2) Stafford Rangers (0)

It wasn't exactly pretty, but it was a much needed win as we dumped visiting Stafford at Larksfield Road. Our execution was sloppy until Carl Laurie sent a terrific long cross that Mark Smyth (who came on for injured Dean Morgan) was able to flick into the right side of the net to give us the lead. We added to the lead when Darren Pratley was tripped just inside the area. Adrian Nevins converted the penalty kick and we maintained that 2-0 clean sheet.

[Faramir]

5.1.08

Southend (2) Harrow Hill (4)

Triggered by a superb match from Richard Langley we capitalized on our chances much better than home side Southend as we beat them 4-2. Langley got clear to take a nice pass from Darren Pratley and then fired a shot inside the left post past Russell Howarth. Southend equalized when poor defending on a free kick allowed them to slot the ball inside to Lee Francis and he smashed it past Ross Flitney. We answered quickly when a through ball from Franklin Simek put Langley into space and he rifled a shot off the inside of the right post for his 2nd goal of the match. Howarth stopped a couple of other good chances on our part, but Langley helped establish a two-goal margin with a deft pass to Mark Smyth. Smyth, starting in place of the rested Dean Morgan, made a nice move with the ball and took it around a diving Howarth before firing it into the net. We boosted the lead to 4-1 when Carl Laurie slid the ball across the area following a corner and Ryan Ashington snapped a well placed shot for his first goal since early in the season. Southend managed to gain a late consolation goal when Jamie Campbell outleapt Flitney and flicked a corner past him to make the final 4-2.

[Faramir]

8.1.08

Sutton Utd (0) Harrow Hill (2)

We sputtered in the early going, wasting several chances and generally showing abominable passing, but then we righted ourselves and edged Sutton United 2-0 at Borough Sports Ground. After misfiring through the midway point of the first half, we suddenly started getting back in sync and Darren Pratley made a perfect layoff pass that Dean Morgan blasted past Conrad Logan from just inside the edge of the area. Less than four minutes later Pratley struck an inswinging corner that Richard Langley showed exquisite timing on as he stepped out and snapped the header past Logan. It was a more conservative approach from that point on, but we still had a couple other good chances that Logan saved to keep his club in the match. We didn't allow them much room in the midfield and that stunted their rally chances. David Green had to earn his clean sheet with a superb reaction save on a header in the late going of the second half.

[Faramir]

12.1.08

Harrow Hill (0) Scunthorpe (1) FA Trophy 3rd round

I was happy with how our 2nd line played in this match, but Michael Peacock was a bit too much for us as he stopped a half dozen excellent scoring chances as Scunthorpe broomed us out of the FA Trophy tourney 1-0. The lone goal in the match came after Daniel Austen made a sensational save in a one-on-one with Neil Bilham, but Paul Moss and Mark Berry didn't clear away the loose ball and Mark Williams swooped in to push it into the net. We came close to evening the match, but couldn't quite get it done as Peacock's last save on Adam Davies rolled along the line, but was cleared away by Richard Gough.

[Faramir]

16.1.08

Harrow Hill (0) Bradford PA (0)

To say I was disappointed with our play in this match is an understatement- as the players found out after the match. We didn't play anything close to the type of match we planned. Even after their forward David Davis earned his 2nd yellow card early in the first half, we just weren't moving the ball. There was no crisp passing, the players not on the ball were just standing around and it was immensely frustrating. Despite waving them to pick up the tempo, we played dumb with the ball the entire match- players keeping the ball on their foot (and too often losing it on tackles) instead passing up the pitch. No matter my adjustments during the match, we couldn't break out of our disinterested play. When Adam Davies mouthed off to the ref to earn his 2nd yellow (he had come on for injured Richard Langley), we lost whatever momentum we had. It was a bad match in my book, despite the draw we gained as a result.

[Faramir]

19.1.08

We completed our transfer purchase of James Biggins from Nottingham Forest for 4K. Biggins is a 22 year old rightback. Why another rightback? Well, Shaun Clohessy has done well this season, but Mark Berry appears to lack the quality for the step up in competition. Biggins is more talented- overall- than Clohessy and though I am starting to get seriously over my weekly wage budget again- I am going to add any quality player that I can for modest prices. It is just part of becoming a better club and we need to add any quality players we can, since we remain an obscure semi-pro club in the eyes of most players.

***

19.1.08

Canvey Island (1) Harrow Hill (1)

Another match that we appeared to have won- and we gave it away with bad defensive coverage as they scored a dramatic equalizer. Richard Langley had scored in the first half and since we weren't playing particularly well with the ball, I chose to go to a more defensive formation in the second half. It was working a charm, until the late moments when my midfielders chose to go for glory, instead of stay home defensively. They left the backline with an odd man break and Brett Pittman put the ball just past David Green to ruin a fine match on his part as Canvey Island salvaged a 1-1 draw. We have to play better in the late stages, but I also have to remember how young this club is and that they have to learn from matches like this that frustrate me to no end.

[Simply Perfect]

Do I hear play-off places calling?

Excellent story, KUTGW.

[Faramir]

Thanks Simply

***

21.1.08

Another satisfying signing off the free transfer list has joined us, when Craig Kelly agreed to a contract with us over Stalybridge and Gloucester. Kelly is an 18 year old FLC who came up through the Liverpool youth system and was released before the season. I had tried to sign him earlier, but he wasn't interested. This time he was and he finally gives me another leftfooter to alternate with Richard Langley up front.

***

26.1.08

Harrow Hill (4) Margate (1)

It was nice to see us back playing the way I hoped we would as we dismantled Margate 4-1 at Larksfield Road. After missing a couple early chances, Steven O'Donnell netted his 1st goal of the season when he deflected a short cross from Dean Morgan past David Clarke. Darren Pratley put us up 2-0 when he finished off an excellent passing sequence by driving a low scorching shot past Clarke. It was Pratley again for his 2nd of the match and 5th of the season when he boomed a 30 yard shot off Greg Young and past the off balance Clarke. We moved up 4-0 at halftime when O'Donnell was held in the area and Carl Laurie notched his 1st goal of the season as he converted the penalty kick. We spent the second half trying out a new formation and didn't really generate any more good chances. We yielded a consolation goal when Pratley slightly deflected Robert McCormick's shot and it slipped past David Green to ruin his clean sheet. The bad news of the match was a late yellow card to Morgan, which means he will be suspended for our match at Mansfield against the first place club on Tuesday.

[Faramir]

26.1.08

With 14 matches to play, we look very good for the playoffs. Mansfield seems set to clinch the Conference title, unless we can slow them down. We trail 2nd place Bath by 4 points and are 11 points ahead of 6th place Exeter- which makes a playoff appearance a likelihood if we can just play well consistently through the stretch drive.

***

29.1.08

Mansfield (1) Harrow Hill (2)

If anyone was going to put the brakes on the runaway train of Mansfield, it was going to be us and we managed to edge them 2-1 at Field Mill. Our first goal came from Darren Pratley when he showed superb judgement in firing in a 25 yarder past Kevin Pilkington after beating David Mannix on the dribble. Ten minutes later it was Richard Langley taking full advantage of Pilkington's poor goal kick to step in front and race down before rocketing a shot past Pilkington inside the far right post for a dazzling individual effort. Though we had played very well, I switched to a more defensive formation and our coverage fell apart as we allowed Michael Turner to split two defenders and blast a shot past Ross Flitney from just inside the edge of the area midway through the second half. We survived a couple more close calls, but then they had to contend with Langley in the late stages as he never quit working and just missed twice in getting his 2nd of the match. The final whistle found me very relieved we had finished on top of the 2-1 scoreline.

[Faramir]

30.1.08

Ryan Ashington picked an unfortunate time to break his jaw. He will miss the next month of play and a key stretch in our season.

***

6.2.08

Harrow Hill (1) Carlisle (2)

We were all a bit stunned when Kevin Evans banked in a 30 yard free kick off the left post to hand us a bitter 2-1 loss in second half injury time. For 2/3 of the match we had played extremely well- dominating struggling Carlisle. We peppered Lee Ford with 18 shots in the match. We had taken the lead in the first half when Craig Kelly, making his debut, threaded a pass through to Jimmy Corbett and he had fired a shot into the left side of the net. There were numerous chances to increase the lead, but bad luck and good work from Ford left us unable to do so. They came back when Jamie Winter took advantage of inattentive work from Adrian Nevins to gain enough room to rifle a shot past David Green. We had more chances to retake the lead, but wound up an extremely disappointing loss to a club we should have beaten.

[Faramir]

9.2.08

Accrington (0) Harrow Hill (2)

We rebounded nicely with a strong effort against Accrington and Richard Langley's two goals were enough to earn us the win. Langley was a force up front the entire match for us. We took the lead when David Poole got free on the right side and blasted a shot that Jamie Young parried away, but the ball went right to unmarked Langley and he slashed it into the open net. Accrington came close to evening the match early in the second half, but Franklin Simek threw himself in front of a blast from Marvin Robinson and kept it out. It looked like we would clinch the match when Mike Harris was forced to pull Langley down in the area and earned a redcard and a penalty. Unfortunately, Simek was wide with the penalty kick and we still held only a one goal lead. We finally clinched the match when Jordan Fowler made a good pass into space and Langley ran it down and then slotted a shot past Young for his 2nd goal of the match and that made the final score 2-0.

[Faramir]

16.2.08

Harrow Hill (2) Scunthorpe (0)

Our Larksfield fans gave us a rousing standing ovation as we left the pitch after our 2-0 win over Scunthorpe. It was one of our best matches that we had played at home and the score could easily have been much worse- we outshot our visitors 25-5, but only managed to put 6 of our 25 on goal. Richard Langley scored both of our goals in the first half and both were on exceptionally fine passing among our midfield and forwards. Besides his 2 goals (his 1st was his 15th of the season), Langley missed a couple very good chances for the hat-trick. Dean Morgan and Darren Pratley also missed inches wide on scoring opportunities and Michael Peacock made a couple nice saves as well. Scunthorpe really only had two golden chances the entire match and missed both over the net as Ross Flitney put another clean sheet in the book.

[Faramir]

19.2.08

We completed our signing that finally landed us James Simmonds. Simmonds, a 21 year old AML comes to us from the Chelsea youth program and was willing to come to our club because he was feeling frozen out at Stamford Bridge. He will be playing soon and his arrival may mean that I will try to move Adam Smith sometime sooni.

***

23.2.08

Aldershot (1) Harrow Hill (1)

This was a match we should have won. We wasted too many good chances with poor shooting and then had to fight back to earn a 1-1 draw after a bad defensive choice cost us a goal. The first half was mostly ours as played the ball up the pitch a lot. The bad part was that we just didn't make good choices around the area. With Darren Pratley rested today, Neil McCafferty just wasn't as effective in distributing the ball to Dean Morgan and Richard Langley. We had some decent chances, but when we did- most of our shots were wide. They took the lead on a counterattack of our throw-in. Shaun Clohessy made a terrible choice when he didn't challenge Roscoe D'Sane at the edge of the six-yard box and that forced Adrian Nevins to do so. D'Sane crossed and Nick Crittenden outmuscled Patrick Cregg to flick a header past Ross Flitney. We were finally able to break through against Nikki Bull when Jimmy Corbett made a deft pass that allowed Morgan room in the area. Morgan finally made a well placed shot inside the left post to even it at 1-1. We missed a golden chance to win the match when Gavin Bolger (on for McCafferty) found Langley free. Langley missed the net from close-in and we had to settle for the draw. We can't afford to be drawing against clubs like this- clubs we should beat.

[Spav]

It seems that you are near the top - best of luck for the remainder of the season.

[Faramir]

Thanks Spav- more on the table as we near the end of the season, but yes we are close to top of table

***

25.2.08

We signed another very promising 18 year old keeper- Ryan Howell. Howell arrives after being released from the Millwall youth program earlier in the season. Howell and Ian Hutchinson give us a nice pair of young keepers in development behind Ross Flitney and David Green.

***

1.3.08

Harrow Hill (2) Bath (0)

Our showdown match with 3rd place Bath wound up a win in our column thanks to the natural goal scoring ability of Richard Langley. A nice pass up from Dean Morgan was enough to earn Langley space on the counterattack early in the first half, and Langley didn't miss the chance when he fired his shot inside the near right post past John Scott. Langley struck for his 2nd goal of the match in first half injury time when a superbly executed passing sequence found Darren Pratley laying the ball off for him- and Langley snapped it past the surprised Scott. With the 2-0 lead in the second half, Orient became more conservative and played a ball control offense. Paul Morgan missed a great chance to draw a goal back for the visitors, but missed just wide of the post. Billy Sharp was injured after he had subbed on for Dean Morgan and his broken wrist will keep him out of action for 3 weeks.

[Faramir]

8.3.08

Exeter (2) Harrow Hill (4)

I have to give Exeter a lot of credit. We had them down by two goals twice, but they kept fighting back and they made this a very close match with their efforts. We scored early on in the first half when Paul Moss made a wonderful through ball that allowed Darren Pratley in to score Mark Fletcher. Fletcher left the match with an injury minutes later and Richard Langley solved his replacement- Martin Rice- after a good pass from Dean Morgan. They drew a goal back when a good pass found Kevin James lurking behind our backline and he drove a hard shot past David Green. We leaned heavily on Green for the next few minutes as they came very close to evening the match. I felt a bit more comfortable as we restored our 2-goal lead at halftime when James Simmonds scored his 1st goal for us as he volleyed a corner past Rice. They came back again when Richard Ecclestone was able to push a rebound into the open right side of the net after Green had made two good saves, but our backline couldn't clear away. We finally clinched the match when Morgan put home the rebound after Rice stopped Neil McCafferty from in close in the late stages of the second half.

[Guest]

Been following the Delusions of Grandeur story and reading this it's just as good! Keep up the good work, another brilliant story

[Faramir]

Thank you Supa- glad you like them both

***

10.3.08

We completed the transfer sale of Adam Smith today to AFC Wimbledon for 14K. Smith chose AFC out of a half dozen suitors for his services. We also added another young winger with the signing of schoolboy Mike Fowler. Fowler is an 18 year old AMR, who will play on our reserve side for now.

***

15.3.08

Harrow Hill (4) York (0)

York ran into a buzzsaw today as we played one of our best matches of the season in rolling over them by a 4-0 score that could easily have been worse. I knew things were going right when Lewis Buxton inadvertently took a free kick and scored his 1st ever goal at Harrow Hill, when it glanced off the wall and past Terry Steele. Dean Morgan followed that with an excellent header on a cross from Darren Pratley to make it 2-0 at halftime. Pratley added a goal himself in the opening moments of the second half on a cross from Morgan. We capped the scoring, after hitting the crossbar twice, when Ryan Ashington- making his first appearance in months after recovering from injury- snapped a cross into the middle and Franklin Simek deflected it past Steele for his 1st goal of the season. York never really threatened us as Jordan Fowler was everywhere- stuffing their attempts to try and get free of our backrow marking. Ross Flitney chalked up the clean sheet in the 4-0 win.

***

After Mansfield's 2-1 loss at home to Morecambe.

19.3.08

Conference National Table

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

1- Mansfield 73 pts (+30)

2- Harrow Hill 72 pts (+35)

3- Bath 65 pts (+20)

4- Hereford 60 pts (+17)

5- Morecambe 59 pts (+12)

6- Scarborough 52 pts (+12)

</pre>

[Tyrone the Magazine]

Some ups and downs along the way but your first season in the conference national could be a very successful one. Great story

[Faramir]

Thank you Tyrone, your kind words are appreciated

***

22.3.08

Burton (0) Harrow Hill (0)

Despite losing Jordan Fowler to his 2nd yellow card at 17 minutes, we did absolutely everything we could to try and win this match- and we could easily have come away with a win were the pipes and crossbar not so kind to the home side. As it was, we managed a scoreless draw thanks to some fine work in our net by David Green and a couple of excellent saves in their net by Mark Howard. We had the better scoring chances overall as our guys worked themselves into the ground, but all we wound up with was the scoreless draw, while Mansfield managed to eke out a 1-0 win over Stafford Rangers to move a full 3 points ahead of us in the top spot. Both Mansfield and us clinched Playoff spots with our results.

[Faramir]

29.3.08

Harrow Hill (2) Alfreton (0)

Alfreton began the match with the same approach that gave them a good result against Harrow Hill in their last match- they clogged the middle and tried to throw a blanket over the forwards. It worked for a short period, but when David Graham pulled down David Poole in the area it gave us the opening to take control of the match. Jimmy Corbett converted the penalty kick and it was our turn to throttle the opposition with the lead. They could get little going against us and we missed a couple golden chances to further add to the lead when Richard Langley and Darren Pratley shot over the net. We put the match squarely in our control midway through the second half when Ryan Ashington and Craig Kelly (on for Pratley and Langley repsectively) worked a neat 1-2 and Ashington smashed a 20 yard shot home to make it 2-0. Alfreton tried to rally and came close to getting a goal back, but Ross Flitney grabbed off the rising header to keep the clean sheet and preserve the 2-0 win. Mansfield also won, so we remain three points adrift of them for the top spot.

[Faramir]

29.3.08

After the match I was forced to go to the press again- this time to deny a rumor about taking over Division 1 Brentford. The press were most insistent, but I continued to deny any interest in moving from Harrow Hill.

***

5.4.08

Harrow Hill (3) Scarborough (1)

In our last home match of the season (we close with three straight on the road), we overcame a determined Scarborough side to win 3-1 in a match that was closely played. As it was against Alfreton, we drew first blood on a penalty kick. Colin Cryan was whistled for tripping Richard Langley in the area and Jimmy Corbett was perfect on the penalty kick. We took a 2-0 lead when a superb passing sequence found Darren Pratley in a perfect position to get a good pass from Langley and he blasted the ball past Gareth Downey. They drew a goal back midway through the second half when Darren McMahon whipped a cross in and Keith Gilroy was there to deflect it past David Green. Downey and Green then each made match-saving stops on good chances. We put the match on ice when Darren Pratley whipped out a 40 yard pass off a Scarborough corner in our end and picked out Langley. Langley took the ball around Downey and scored his 20th goal of the season to cap the 3-1 win. The win was a costly one though, as Dean Morgan injured his groin and will miss not only the rest of the season, but due to surgery will be out until October. Mansfield dumped struggling Carlisle to retain their three point lead on us, but we pretty much have 2nd place locked up now.

[Faramir]

12.4.08

Halifax (1) Harrow Hill (0)

Referee Des Morrison's penchant for yellow flags hurt us badly when he gave two of them to Jordan Fowler at the 10 minute mark. Despite going with 10 men almost the entire match, we outplayed Halifax and if their keeper Paul Bell hadn't been so sharp (earned MOM), we would have had at least a draw. Instead we were left with a total of 7 yellow cards on us and a loss thanks to nice counter-attack that saw Danny Cadarementi score past Ross Flitney after our backline was forced to overcommit. We had missed a golden chance to improve our lost as Mansfield had also lost, and it was doubly disappointing to see the referee insert himself into the outcome of the match.

[Faramir]

19.4.08

Hereford (1) Harrow Hill (1)

My player's are idiots- unfortunately at times. We could and should have won this match. Dale Binns was redcarded at the end of the first half and we spent the entire second half trying to take advantage of that. Mostly we were either not shooting when we had the ball in great spots, or shooting over the net when we had the ball in great spots. We finally made something special happen- a James Simmonds wicked cross that found Craig Kelly and Kelly swatted the ball in for his 1st goal for us. I warned our boys to play defensively and told everyone get back. What happens? My midfielders watch as they overload our backline and get an open shot for the equalizer. I was so damm mad at the club, we worked so hard to finally get the lead and then we threw it away with a poor play at the worst point of the match. Extra practice for everyone as we go into our final match of the season. Mansfield lost 3-2 to Margate, but still remain 2 points ahead of us. We clinched 2nd place over Bath with the result.

[Faramir]

26.4.08

Kettering (0) Harrow Hill (2)

Both the boys and I were nervous going into our final match, but what it finally came down too was that all we could do was try to win our match and see what happens with Mansfield facing 3rd place Bath. We missed a pair of excellent chances early on as David Poole shot over the net and Darren Pratley shot wide. Richard Langley again proved he has been the key player on our challenge for the top spot and scored a beautiful goal when James Simmonds and Darren Pratley teamed to get him the ball in the clear and he tucked it just inside the far right post past Phil Parker. Kettering was also pressuring us and I about lost my breath when they whipped a shot off the post. Shortly after, Lewis Buxton and Franklin Simek didn't close fast enough, but Simon Underwood missed over the net. We were still clinging to the lead in the second half when I brought on Craig Kelly and Ryan Ashington at 59 minutes for Poole and a slightly injured Pratley. The move turned out to be a 'golden touch' when Simmonds sent a sizzling cross and Kelly headed it past Parker to give us the 2-0 lead. A quick glance at the scoreboard sent a chill through me as Mansfield and Bath had just started their second half and were locked in a scoreless draw. I knew if we won and they drew- we would beat them on goal differential. I urged the boys to be strong and not let down, but we were forced to weather the furious Kettering rally. Flitney stood tall and kept the match scoreless to earn a clean sheet in the 2-0 win.

All we could do was make a hasty exit to the dressing room to catch the end of the Mansfield-Bath match. It was still scoreless when Mansfield's Adam Murray cut down Steve Walters. As the referee ran up, you could almost sense the Mansfield fans' anguish- and the yellow card, which was Murray's 2nd of the match- sending him off, caused a huge groan. Mansfield knew we had won, and knew they had to win to win the Conference- so were gambling on the attack despite only 10 men. Bath took advantage of the space to find Mark Bailey free at the edge of the area. Bailey blasted away and it looked like Kevin Pilkington would parry it- but Mansfield's Michael Turner slightly deflected it and it zipped past Pilkington to stun both Mansfield and their fans. I couldn't have imagined the spontaneous celebration that erupted in our dressing room. The last minutes played out quietly as the shell-shocked Mansfield finished out their 1-0 loss that sends them into the Playoffs-- We were Champions of Conference National!

[binny]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Faramir:

We were Champions of Conference National! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

League football

Another three successive promotions and you'll be in the big time. Shouldn't be a problem

[Faramir]

Hi Binny Thanks for the good words and glad you are still following along.

Apologies to all- I had saved table and stats, but I appear to have misplaced the files on them.

***

Summer 2008

26.4.08

It was an amazing relief to have won Conference National. I didn't relish the thought of having to tangle with Bath again for the right to advance- the last time hadn't turned out well. Instead Bath did us the ultimate favor and beat Mansfield at Mansfield so that we had our chance to advance.

The first thing I did was give the players and staff close to a month off. There was a lot for me personally to do- and they all needed the break. First on my agenda was reworking the contracts of many players- especially the 'core' players of the club. I knew going in that some would be easy- and some wouldn't. Mostly I wanted to get the core players under contract through 2012-13 and the best time to convince them and their agents of this- was right now while the euphoria of the moment hadn't worn off. I was fortunate that Arne Kjaersgaard (Assistant Manager ) and Paul Caton (Physio) had both signed new contracts- so there wouldn't be any staff departures. I did want to add staff, but I was waiting until the Board could consider the request first.

It was going to be unfortunate to lose both Karl Atkinson and Adam Davies- those two young forwards had really impressed me with their play on the reserve side. On a better note, I promoted 17 year old AMRL Jason Peacock to the Senior side- he also had proved his mettle with good play. At present we had only a little transfer money to spend, but I was going to look closely at those available and also planned on paying close attention to players cut from the Premier sides.

[Faramir]

28.4.08

The first round of contract talks went fairly well. I was able to get Steven O'Donnell, Billy Sharp, Carl Laurie and Franklin Simek under new contracts.

28.4.08

I have to say that when Oxford came calling today- I was sorely tempted. It was by far the best offer I have had to take over. They have one match remaining and were 3rd, with a chance at 2nd in League 1. Even if they missed 2nd, they had a Playoff spot locked up. They were willing to allow over 1 Million in transfer fees. It was a great offer, but my heart and loyalty belong to Harrow Hill and I turned them down.

That loyalty has its own rewards and I now had new contracts with Darren Pratley, Adrian Nevins and Patrick Cregg.

29.4.08

Lewis Buxton has a new contract- so now the backline is set. Richard Langley is the one that is turning out to be difficult- but that doesn't surprise me with the fine season he had.

[Spav]

Championship and promotion \o/ \o/

Great work, Faramir. Harrow Hill are taking on a Chelsea-esque aura if I may be so bold.

[Faramir]

Thanks Spav I wouldn't quite rate us that well though, we have little money

***

1.5.08

Watching the Conference National playoffs was a stark reminder why I hate playoffs. Morecambe upset Bath 1-0 at Bath's place and Scunthorpe rolled over Mansfield 3-0 at Scunthorpe.

4.5.08

The signing of Richard Langley brought me great relief. He had really blossomed last season and I believed he would continue to improve. The only player who wouldn't talk contract was Dean Morgan.

With Langley's signing, I can now take a gander at the transfer market.

5.5.08

Scunthorpe and Morecambe both finished off their upsets of Mansfield and Bath with 1-0 wins and will now face each other in the Finals of the Playoffs.

21.5.08

I spent some time trying to move unhappy players and due to offering to other clubs have had some success. Leaving on June 3rd will be Mark Berry and Dave King and leaving on July 1 will be Danny Williamson. Berry was an integral part of our early success and I will be sad to see him leave. Both King and Williamson have talent, but not opportunity on our squad and both were pleased to be moving to new clubs.

[Faramir]

21.5.08

Morecambe defeated Scunthrope on penalties to win advancement after the two sides had battled through regulation and extra-time even at 1-1.

In other world news- Chelsea defated Inter on penalties the win the Euro Champs Cup and complete a historic treble.

22.5.08

It wasn't any real surprise to me that our trio of Richard Langley, Dean Morgan and Darren Pratley were all selected as starters on the Conference National Players Team of the Year. I was selected as Manager of the Year- an honor that I don't feel I really deserved.

3.6.08

We completed the transfer sale of Mark Berry (6K) and Dave King (free)-both to Kingstonian. We also completed the long ago transfer purchase of former Wales Under-21 midfielder Andrew Crofts from Gillingham for 6K. I like Crofts because he can use either foot and has some interesting offensive skills. My thinking is that he could be a very good gameday sub- as a midfielder who comes off the bench to spark us offensively.

5.6.08

We signed Lee Doherty an 18 year old D/DMC who was just released by Tottenham. Central defense is one spot we lacked depth and I hope the Doherty can help us back there.

[Faramir]

19.6.08

We received our TV money and the 350K was very welcome in our coffers. The Board privately told me they will be pleased if we can avoid relegation and that they were willing to allow me 75K in transfer fees if I could find other players to improve the squad. A look at our balance sheet shows us 100K in the black- not a large margin- but we are still owed fees on the upcoming signings of Adam Davies and Karl Atkinson, which will give us another 250K. All in all, we still look we are running a shoestring operation in comparison with the other League 2 clubs.

29.6.08

Lots of International news today as Italy defeated France on penalties to capture the 2008 European Championship. England decided to end Sven-Goran Eriksson's rein and dumped him as manager of the National side after their poor showing in the Championships.

6.7.08

We signed several more youngsters released from Premier youth programs. I didn't promise any of them first team status (all were signed as hot prospects) because I think it will take some time for them to develop. Nevertheless, all three could be significant additions- even as just depth players. The three were Gary Neville an 17 year old SC signed from (no surprise) Manchester United; Mark Webster a 17 year old D/MRL from Liverpool; and Adam Hogg a 17 year old MR from Aston Villa. We also signed 26 year old MC Chris O'Brien after Droylsden released him. I am not sure where he will fit in just yet, but he was too talented a player not to try to sign. The drawback with O'Brien is that he broke his leg badly last November and it will still be a couple months before he is ready to resume training.

[Tyrone the Magazine]

Well done on winning the league

[Faramir]

Thanks Tyrone

***

12.7.08

Our first friendly was an uninspiring 1-0 win over Newport IOW at Larksfield Road. The match was most notable for the injuries to James Biggins and James Simmonds. Fortunately, neither injury was too serious.

***

16.7.08

Our trip to Scotland started off with a 1-0 loss to Raith. We played well enough to win, but made a defensive error on a throw-in that allowed them to score the only goal of the match. Young Ian Jackson strained knee ligaments and will miss the next month.

***

17.7.08

A couple center defenders signed on free with us today. One was 15 year old DC Chris Patterson who won't see Senior side action, but will play on the Under-18 side. Lee Woods, a 21 year old DC originally out of the Preston youth program, will give us another able body in cover for our central defense, but won't see much more than spot duty.

***

20.7.08

Our 2nd friendly in Scotland turned out better as we played a solid match in defeating Kilmarnock 2-1. Richard Langley scored our goal in the first half and Andrew Crofts whisked in a rebound in the second half to overcome a penalty kick caused by Shaun Clohessy late in the first half.

***

23.7.08

Our last friendly in Scotland was against Stenhousemuir and we played well enough to earn a win, but settled for a scoreless draw as their fans were entertained by an acrobatic display by keeper Ian Elliott.

[Faramir]

25.7.08

We made what I consider a key free transfer signing today when we inked 22 year old SC John Turner to a contract. Turner, released by Cambridge after two seasons as a starting forward, will be a key addition in helping bridge the gap until Dean Morgan is ready to play. He is a good all-around forward and should fit in nicely in our front line.

***

27.7.08

Our last friendly was hosting Wrexham at Larksfield Road and we were poor hosts- though our fans enjoyed it- as we beat them 2-0 on goals from Richard Langley in the first half and Billy Sharp in the second half. It was another pleasing defensive effort from the boys and I hoped we were ready for the trials of League 2 play with a trip to Yeovil.

***

29.7.08

League 2 Odds from Oddschecker.com

Sheffield Wednesday 5-4

Rushden 6-4

Yeovil 6-4

Lincoln 6-4

Brentford 7-4

Northampton 7-4

Harrow Hill 16-1

[Faramir]

2.8.08

Yeovil (0) Harrow Hill (0)

It was a solid effort in our first League 2 match and we had the better opportunities to win the match, but their keeper- David Stockdale- earned his MOM honours for a reason and we wound up in a scoreless draw. John Turner had the best chance for us in his debut, but Stockdale parried away his one-on-one chance midway through the second half. Ross Flitney did an excellent job policing our area in support of the backline as he earned his clean sheet. Darren Pratley finished off a disappointing match with a pair of yellow cards and a one-match suspension.

[Faramir]

5.8.08

Harrow Hill (3) Colchester (0)

We quickly got a taste of our depth with this Tuesday match and it was Ryan Ashington, who came on late in the first half for injured Jimmy Corbett, that sparked us to the 3-0 win and earned MOM honours. Our first goal was one of those plays we had worked on, but I had never seen us work for a goal in a match. Craig Kelly ran a ball down in the left corner and crossed all the way across to Neil McCafferty at the far edge of the area. McCafferty wasted no time in sending a pass back that found Ashington unmarked parked in front of Derek Simpson and he gave Simpson no chance as he blasted past him to give us the lead. Ashington's good pass to Kelly then gave Kelly his 2nd great scoring chance of the match and this time he capitalized by tucking a shot inside the far right post. Our last goal, as we were trying to play a more defensive approach, came when Ashington whipped in a long cross and Kelly looped a header over Simpson as he tried to challenge for Kelly's 2nd goal of the match. David Green earned the clean sheet with solid work in our net. The injury to Corbett was costly as he broke his arm and will miss the next month.

[Faramir]

9.8.08

Shrewsbury (1) Harrow Hill (2)

It was a costly defensive error on Franklin Simek's part that allowed Ben Smith to pick up the ball in the six yard box and smash a shot past Ross Flitney that put us behind 1-0 at 8 minutes. It took us awhile to get things working, but a magnificent individual effort by Richard Langley evened the match at 1-1 when he scored off a sensational run just before halftime. We grabbed the lead when James Simmonds made a long cross that found Ryan Ashington breaking in alone and keeper Paul Brush pushed him out of the way to cause a penalty. John Turner converted the penalty for his 1st goal for us. We backed off into defensive mode for the last 15 minutes of play because of how tired our forwards and midfield had gotten while rallying to take the lead. We managed to dodge a couple close calls with saving tackles and held on for the hard earned 2-1 win.

[robterrace]

Just read this from the start. Its got all the hooks of a good book, I spent a lot of time around pages 5 and 6 wondering if you'd ever get promoted. KUTGW, I can't wait for the next installment.