The Bees Incapable of Using FA Cup Win As Springboard For First League Success
With Harborough Town looking to capitalize on their confidence-boosting 1-0 triumph over Wellingborough Whitworth in the FA Cup just a week ago; The Bees travelled to Eynesbury, with the objective of carrying that winning form into the league where they are yet to pick up a single point. Success against Eynesbury would be no easy feat, with a win and a draw under their belts already, Eynesbury are unbeaten in the league to date.
The opening few minutes hinted at a slow, cagey affair, with much of the ball quietly being played around the Harborough defence and midfield. However, the pace and intensity of Mohamed Zakaria Soumah’s pressure on the Eynesbury backline meant both sides quickly had to find their stride. His intensity proved fruitful, winning the ball on the edge of the box where he found Harry May in some space down the right; May’s crisp pass set up Pete Taylor, but his first-time effort was fired into Row Z. Moments later Eynesbury responded, a bright counter-attack saw T’ai Williams galloping down the right into space with the ball glued to his feet, and a smart check inside gave him the space to beautifully bend the ball into the far bottom-left corner with the outstretched arm of 17-year old Tom Cockings unable to reach it.Harborough took the next swing, with a scramble on the edge of the Eynesbury box seeing Jordan Lever leave with the ball, he threaded through Aaron Preston whose snapshot was dragged just wide with the help of a Harry Reynolds fingertip. Minutes later, some nice interplay between Tony Bartlett and Harry May down the right gave Bartlett plenty of space to roam with the ball, snaking past multiple Eynesbury defenders and permitting him to lay the ball off to Soumah on the edge of the box, but his powerful effort was blocked. Soumah’s presence was then felt again by the Eyensbury defence, his strong pressure backed fullback Matt Clifford into the corner, where a stray ball found its way onto his arm, winning a free kick for the Bees in a tempting position. May takes the free kick and finds Callum Milne dashing into the box, Milne picks the ball up, feigns past one and fizzes it low across the face of goal, but again the Eyensbury defence were there to put the danger to bed. A fantastic switch ball by left-back Matt Clifford found T’ai Williams down the right, who sumptuously brought it down, putting Eynesbury back on the front foot. His powerful cross is too deep, but Clifford picks it up on the other side before putting in a superior ball to which Jamal McKenzie rose to, but his header looped over the bar. With 10 minutes to go in the half, Williams broke free down the right after a loose ball found its way out to him; if not for Aaron Preston’s professional foul, getting his name in the book for his troubles, the half could have ended worse than the 1-0 scoreline it did eventually end as. The first half demonstrated Harborough’s ability on the ball, with some moments of fantastic play, but the pace and skill of Eynesbury, particularly down the right with Williams, proved the deciding factor of the first half.
After the break, the game restarted in much the same way it had originally started; with slow and cautious play seeming to set up the second half. Again, it only took one dangerous attack for both teams to transition into a higher gear. A dangerous ball was whipped in from the right-hand side by Eynesbury, and a strong tussle in the box between Jamal McKenzie and Ben Williams ended in the ball rising just over the bar. Much like Eynesbury in the first half, Harborough responded quickly. A training ground free kick routine allowed Callum Milne space to put in a fine ball from the right, and an outstretched Eyensbury leg puts it teasingly wide of the post. Harborough kept their foot on the gas over the next stage of play, bombarding the Eyensbury goal with attempts. The first of which came from Harry May, whose volley from 6 yards out, picked out by an inch-perfect ball from the newly introduced Harry Henbury, was fired over the bar. Following this, Callum Milne dropped a ball over the top of the Eyensbury defence finding Aaron Preston running onto it, but a tame Preston half-volley sees the ball roll wide of the post yet again. Harborough’s attacking force looked more dangerous than ever, playing with power and intent. It all seemed to come together in the 70th minute, when Aaron Preston saw the run of Harry May and dinked a ball into his path, May shrugged off his marker and had time to line up his shot, but, as seemed to be the story of the day, it was fired past the far post.Eyensbury seized on Harborough’s failure to score in what was arguably their best attacking moments of the game. Poor communication between Ben Williams and Tom Cockings saw what should have been a safe header home go out for a corner. The ball was driven in and bounced around like a pinball in the box before finally coming off a Harborough player and finding its way past Tom Cockings – who could do nothing amid the confusion in the box. Some dubious refereeing saw Eynesbury win a throw deep in Harborough’s half, even though the linesman had called it Harborough’s ball. It found its way to Jamal McKenzie, who had space on the edge of the box, he took a gentle touch to get the ball out of his feet before delightfully curling the ball into the top right-hand corner, a strike that any keeper would be proud of reaching. From here the game slowed down, with Harborough knowing there was very little chance of finding a way back into the game with only 10 minutes to go; only a single teasing ball in from Callum Steer to shout about – but again, no end product was available.
The final score of 3-0 flattered the home side, with Harborough playing the more attractive football. But football is not just about attractive play, it’s about putting the ball in the back of the net; something which no Harborough player seemed capable of or comfortable doing. With Harborough yet to put any points on the board, it was vital they came away with something this week. Instead, they managed to pile up the pressure on their first home game of the season against local rivals Desborough Town in 2 weeks’ time to kick-start their campaign. First though, they face Cambridge City in the FA Cup, a competition where, so far at least, luck seems to be on their side a little more often.
-Match report by Edward Clement
