Harborough Town 0 – 1 Stamford AFC
By Cristian Bratu
Harborough Town’s first outing in Step 3 ended in narrow defeat as Jack Duffy’s second half goal earned Stamford all three points in a match that saw both sides finish with 10-men. Both teams started the match brightly, but it was Stamford that created the clearer opportunities through Rob Morgan and William Glennon, both of which were saved comfortably by Elliott Taylor in the Harborough goal. The home side then had a strike of their own as Kai Tonge was played through by Ben Stephen’s defence-splitting pass, only for the forward to be denied by Thomas Jackson who parried the ball over the bar as the score stayed level going into half time.
The Bees came out stronger in the second half and looked to gain the advantage, with Freddie Robinson just missing the target with a header before the Stamford defence put their bodies on the line to block Josh Walsh’s effort from the edge of the box. It was while Harborough were in the ascendancy that Stamford took the lead as Tendai Chitiza slipped Duffy in behind the defence for the striker to then poke the ball past Taylor and into the back of the net. A reply was almost made immediately by the hosts as Jackson spread himself well to save Stephen’s low effort before Robinson was a matter of inches away from connecting with a free header moments later. The Bees continued to push for the equaliser late in the game, with chances from Luis Rose, Tonge and an Alex Morris effort that was cleared off the line by Glennon, but in the final moments, a coming together between Harborough’s Paul Malone and Stamford’s Joe Burgess saw both players given their marching orders by referee Richard Morris as the match ended with the away side taking home all three points.
Despite the result, there were plenty of positives for Mitch Austin to take away, as the Harborough boss stated: “I’m pleased with our start at step 3, particularly with the second half as we took the game to Stamford and created a number of good chances.”
MOTM: Kai Tonge (HTFC)
Match Rating: 3*
