Harlow Town v Romford

Our longest drive of the tour this week as we were off to see Harlow Town. Originally omitted from the list due to an oversight by me, but reinstated after a tip from Tony at Thurrock. Googlemaps stated about an hours drive so we set off in pursuit of our goal with plenty of time in hand. Googlemaps however seems to cater for those who like to drive along as if they have a caravan attached to the rear of their car, as we found ourselves pulling up way in advance of kick-off. So a needlessly early depature time this week, made all the more annoying by the fact that the game was to start at 1pm to avoid clashing with the Wales v England European Qualifying match at 3pm.  I'm just grouchy because I was hungover (again).

Harlow's ground is relatively new, the team having only relocated to Barrows Farm in 2006. Sure, it looked nice, it looked modern, but then it lacked character and a sense of a close-knit semi-professional team. The ground was dominated by one large stand with comfortable seating, and it must have been expensive to build as they were charging £2.50 for a matchday programme! I suppose they've got to make their money back somehow.

Before kick-off and with 45 minutes still to go we took a slower than usual walk around the ground. For those of you that haven't visited a Non-League ground before, they are all rather similar, and generally do not need three quarters of an hour put aside to spend on navigating them. So before long we'd come full circle and sat shivering at the back of the stand awaiting the arrival of the players. One humourous observation of note was that Harlow appear to have gone for a less conventional 'conservatory' style for their dugouts, meaning if you are one of the substitutes that day, unless you get there early and take prime position in the middle of the bench, then you'll more than likely end up having to peer through a window to see the match.

Eventually the players appeared. We knew they were coming as an old lady was summoned to gently pull out the tunnel from which they would emerge. It seemed cruel to make this woman do this job, but all was well about 20minutes later as it became clear that she was actually being paid for her occupation in the form of a cone of chips that were brought over for her to enjoy.

Accompanying the two sides onto the pitch was a man over the tannoy who had quite possibly the most deflated tone I'd ever heard. From previous experience it's usually this guys job to whip up a bit of a frenzy, and make what will quite possibly be a dull encounter, sound like the greatest spectacle to hit the area in years. If only for a few minutes, this man has the most important job in football, as his tones can help influence the crowd that are there, meaning it's important to keep the energy levels up, especially when the majority of your attendance are aged 65+ anyway and prone to dozing off even during more exciteable occasions in life. Alas, no. Because of this man as the game commenced, I was now feeling bored as well as cold.

The game being underway didn't really change things at first as it was a very stop/start affair from the outset. A crude challenge in the opening minutes resulted in a booking and a lengthy stoppage, and minutes later Romford's striker was inadvertently caught in the head by the home 'keepers left knee as he rose to claim an overhit throughball. These incidents would prove key later on though as neither player could fully recover resulting in Romford being forced into making 2 changes after only 12 minutes.

And it was moments after these changes that Harlow opened the scoring. Strikers Lee Roache and Bertie Brayley looked a class partnership all afternoon as they grabbed a brace each, and it was Roache that got the first with a free header from barely 6 yeards. This goal finally helped bring some atmosphere to the ground as the small contingent of hardcore fans (well, the annoying loud ones anyway), went crazy and began chorus after chorus of typical terraced chants.

The tone was set for the rest of the game, it was 2-0 just before half time as Harlow this time flexed their muscles from a corner kick. Aside from the two goals the first half followed a familiar pattern, Harlow would play some neat and tidy football, they'd get the ball out wide to their number 7, and he'd endeavour to put in the worst ball possible to prevent the scoreline from becoming embarrasing. He did improve ever so slightly in the second half by assisting Harlow's third, only to then be hauled off to take his place in the Home Team's conservatory.

Harlows last though was a goal of real quality, Brailey picking the ball up in the centre of the opponents half, and ignoring options both left and right of him, unleashing an unstoppable drive into the roof of the net from 25 yards out. Cue, more raptures from the crowd as they started singing 'Whats that coming over the hill, is it promotion?'

Romford did grab a consolation though on 72 minutes, but it was nothing more than that. Up until that point Harlow had looked solid at the back, as they were commanded by former Southend United centre-back Leo Roget. At 33 he didn't get about the pitch as much, in fact he hardly moved all game, but his mere presence was enough to deter the oppositions rare forays at goal. Sitting a row in front of us was Leo's wife and kids, a point noticed by us as the little girl asked 'why is Daddy being taken off?' when Roget was given a breather with 10 minutes to go.