Harlow Town 1 Tonbridge Angels 0

Match 60/18/1653 - Saturday, 17th November 2018 - Bostik Premier

Harlow Town (0) 1 Vaughan 86
Tonbridge Angels (0) 0
Headcount: 277

Admission: £8 Senior
Programme: £2
Mileage: 120/3,978

Three wheels on my wagon, game by game on the plastic tour of the Isthmian League, the wheels have come off culminating with this horror show at Harlow.

The first signs of wheel wobble came at Kingstonian when a late goal was needed to retrieve a point. The second wheel disappeared, somewhat undeservedly, at Dorking and when the third wheel slipped from the axle at Haringey, despite the 4-0 score line, some consolation could be found in the number of chances created. But, as the last wheel buckled under the wagon at bottom of the table Harlow there could be no excuses for such a lame performance.

Let’s get the elephant out of the room, the 3G surface at Harlow is a disgrace, a throw back to the old days at QPR. As the players ran past they sounded like horses galloping past at the Derby. But, as will always be pointed out, it is the same for both sides and it has not exactly suited Harlow this season having not won a single match at the Arena prior to this game.

Tonbridge fielded their two summer signings from Harlow and whilst Jared Small was proffered a warm welcome, the same wasn’t forthcoming for Alex Read, somewhat surprising given the 178 goals he scored for them over five seasons.

The first half was, by some distance, the worst I’ve seen this season. It took 20 minutes for pen to be put to paper and this was only to make sure the biro still worked.

As the sun had dipped below the main stand, the first half served only to remind you that your hands and feet were now getting cold. A comfortable save apiece from both goalkeeper’s barely meriting a mention.

The second period really couldn’t be any worse and when, after 50 minutes, Arthur Lee planted a header against the bar from a Tom Beere corner the prospects for better to come were hopeful.

After being brought down by JJ Da Cruz that earned a booking for the Harlow man, Beere cracked the free kick narrowly wide.

What few chances that arrived were Tonbridge’s as Harlow seemed content to soak up the pressure, especially as this wasn’t amounting to much with the saves asked of Josh Bexon being fairly routine.

A 69th minute booking for Louis Yuill was significant only for a foul committed four minutes later that would definitely have brought a caution had it not been for the previous booking.

Four minutes from time an innocuous situation brought indecision on the edge of the Tonbridge six yard box that allowed substitute Laurence Vauighan to stab the ball home from Harlow’s only shot of the entire half.

Tonbridge were shocked into a desperate attempt to take something from the game and time added saw a shot from Tommy Whitnell saved low by Bexon with the follow-up hacked away from the line. A strong penalty claim for hand ball fell on deaf ears before the Harlow supporters were able to celebrate their first home win of the season.

A long wait in the bar ensued as Steve McKimm locked his side into a dressing room dressing down, the manager looking visibly angry when he emerged from his post-match interview.

Getting those wheels back on track in an Isthmian League Cup tie at Worthing seems a little far-fetched at the moment but Saturday’s return to the green, green grass of home is almost a must win in terms of confidence rebuilding.

Harlow Town 1 Tonbridge 0

Match 81/16/1388 - Saturday, 21st January 2017 - Ryman Premier

Harlow Town (1) 1 Dadson 32
Tonbridge (0) 0
Attendance: 286

Entrance: £8 Senior
Programme: £1
Mileage: 132/5,761
New Ground: 302

A desperately poor performance from Tonbridge did nothing to warm the frozen extremities as the January cold snap continued to bite hard. Fixtures in the south-east tumbled throughout the morning, but the 3G surface at the Harlow Arena ensured that the match would go ahead as planned.

This was my first visit to Harlow Town and found it a well appointed facility with a modern 500-seat main stand and a covered terrace on the opposite side. Of the 3G surfaces I have seen this season, this one had the most unnatural bounce, far too high in my opinion. But that said, it cannot be excused for visitors poor showing.

It took until the 79th minute for Tonbridge to ask the Harlow goalkeeper, David Hughes, to lay a serious glove on the ball. Not that the hosts were that much more of an attacking force, thereby contributing to the lack of entertainment.

The opening 20 minutes set the template for the rest of the match. Harlow attacked but without any great quality whilst their visitors were struggling to string a couple of decent passes together. Mario Noto forced Anthony Di Bernardo into a save at his near post after five minutes and at the other end, a shot from Mitchell Nelson and headers from Tom Parkinson and Nathan Elder all cleared the crossbar.

A long throw from Luke Blewden was headed wide of the post from Elder and Harlow swept upfield to opening the scoring. From the goal kick, the ball was partially returned into the midfield area from where Noto intercepted and suddenly the ball was in between the Tonbridge central defenders for Junior Dadson to run onto and score with a shot that went in off the left hand post.

Tonbridge saw a Nelson header from a Nick Wheeler corner cleared from in front of the goal line after 36 minutes and a identical occurrence brought the same outcome just on the break. Between the two Tonbridge efforts Jared Small brought a save from Di Bernardo low to his left.

At the start of the second period the sun had dipped below the stand and the temperature fell away very quickly. Sadly the game disappeared with it.

Mid-way through the half, Noto, head and shoulders the best player on the pitch, played in Small but Di Bernardo was quick to smother his effort and then, with 11 minutes remaining, substitute Ugo Udoji planted a header from a corner that actually asked Hughes to make a save.

A ridiculous incident in the final minute of regular time just about summed up the frustrating nature of the game. Tom Phipp, on as a 62nd minute substitute for Wheeler, was caught late as he delivered a long punt into the box. As the ball ran loose, the referee opted to bring the play back thus denying the visitors a scoring opportunity. While Jack Parter waited to take the free kick, water was childishly squirted from the Harlow dug-out, this was noticed by the Tonbridge dug-out and a protracted fracas was the result. It took a full five minutes for the referee to decide what action to take, a yellow card for a player from each side. If only the referee had allowed the play to continue, none of the nonsense would have happened and Tonbridge might even have scored.

The games in hand that Tonbridge had on those above are beginning to ebb away and Steve McKimm's side desperately need a run of results or this season of much promise could well just slip away.