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Richard
Goddard heads home the
opening goal |
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| An
attractive clash at home to
Conference leaders Hereford
United on October 25th is Borough's
reward for finally seeing off
the challenge of Dr Martens
League Eastern Division outfit
Newport in this FA Cup third
qualifying round replay on Tuesday
night.
Had it not
been for complacency, coupled
with injury problems, they would
surely have completed the task
in Saturday's game on the Isle
of Wight. But it isn't in Harrow's
nature to do things the easy
way, or to spare the accompanying
agony for their supporters.
And they were similarly inclined
on Tuesday. With skipper Kevin
McKenna already ruled out with
persistent headaches after being
concussed at Thurrock last week,
Borough suffered a further blow
before the kick off when Clemente
Lopez sustained a groin injury
in the warm up. Dean Marney
filled in for McKenna, while
Danny Moore, originally relegated
to the bench, was reinstated
to replace Lopez. Up
front Robert Charles was preferred
to David Ocquaye. As they had
done at St George's Park, Borough
dominated the opening period,
and really should have had it
sewn up by the break. But their
finishing left a lot to be desired.
Charles
had a good early strike turned
away for a corner by keeper
Simon Arthur. But Fabio Valenti
shot woefully across the face
of goal when well placed, then
scuffed another good chance
wide, while Charles was badly
off target with a free far-post
header from Valenti's pinpoint
cross. Just when it seemed that
Borough ascendancy was set to
go unrewarded, they finally
went in front a minute into
first half stoppage time. Ross
Fitzsimon played a short corner
to Danny Murphy and from the
return he crossed an accurate
ball to the far post was where
impressive captain for the day
Richard Goddard headed down
into the net to put Harrow ahead.
A two-goal
lead hadn't been enough on Saturday,
so one certainly wasn't and,
with Borough visibly labouring
after the break, some feared
there might be a repeat performance.
That anxiety was certainly not
dispelled when the Port's skipper
Stephen Richardson was only
narrowly over the crossbar with
a header from a Lee Chudy cross
after 65 minutes - Newport's
first real chance of the game.
But Ocquaye's arrival as a replacement
for Charles with 20 minutes
to go gave Harrow a much-needed
lift, and he should have scored
within a minute of coming on.
Valenti worried Newport defender
Simon Pilcher into losing possession
and Ocquaye went clear. But
his first shot was blocked by
Arthur, and his follow-up effort
from an angle was wastefully
fired wide of an open goal.
However
Ocquaye made amends on 75 minutes,
ironically after desperate defending
had prevented a Newport equaliser
in an almighty scramble in the
home area. Borough broke quickly
out of defence, Marney threaded
a great ball into the path of
Ocquaye on the right and the
striker blasted a fierce angled
shot past the helpless Arthur
into the far corner of the net.
That effectively ended Newport's
resistance and in the closing
stages Harrow came close to
adding to their lead with Arthur
scrambling to save another firm
header from Goddard, while Stuart
Elliott only just cleared the
bar with an audacious 40-yard
effort.
Victory
put a £5,000 FA bonus
into the Borough coffers, to
go with the £3,750 they
earned from the second qualifying
round win over Flackwell Heath.
There's another £10,000
up for grabs when they meet
Hereford, but The Bulls will
offer a decidedly sterner test,
and Borough will need to cut
out the profligacy displayed
against Newport if they are
to get their hands on more cash
- along with a place in the
first round proper.
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