Borough boss David Howell rested some first team regulars for this Middlesex County Cup tie against Combined Counties side Southall. But even while the team started without Ross Fitzsimon, Wayne Walters, Abdulai Yoki and Richard Goddard, Harrow will be disappointed that they did not progress in the competition.

Territorially, Harrow dominated the first half-hour, but there was little punch at the end of their possession. A good Dean Marney run and cross saw Naoki Mouri and Allan Crosby have headers blocked, while Clemente Lopez, returning after injury, won possession and curled a 20-yard shot that Samba saved. Marney’s right-wing raids were as threatening as anything Borough were producing, and his cross saw Mouri head over from close-range. Steve Dogbe then poked a Robert Charles cross past the post.

Late in the half, Borough were hampered when skipper Kevin McKenna limped off, and Southall hinted that their confidence was growing. Robinson hooked a shot wide for the visitors, Keita Karamoko saved at the feet of Moses, and Mascoll belted a 20-yard thunderbolt over the bar.

The visitors continued to look bright at the start of the second half. Karamoko made hard work of saving from Elliott, and White’s pacy run led to a shot past the post, before the goal they were threatening arrived after 55 minutes. A foul by Crosby led to a free-kick from the right, headed in powerfully by the diminutive Robinson.

Borough woke from their slumbers and applied some pressure. Crosby had an effort blocked, and Robbie Rix’s 25-yarder was saved by Samba. Samba then pulled off a fine double save, but the ball broke to Dogbe just seven yards out, only for the Borough midfielder to blast the ball wildly over the bar. Crosby and Osman Hasan then had shots blocked, and Lopez’s 30-yarder was pushed round the post by Samba.

Borough continued to attack, but there was no great impetus to the pressure on the visitors’ goal, and little use of the width of the pitch to stretch the defence. Rix skipped past a defender on the left and set up Charles for a shot that the young forward steered past the post, and Hasan’s pass found Simon Underwood, who did well to chest down the ball only to poke it wide from 10 yards.

Samba was performing well in the Southall goal, and made a fine low catch of a Rix cross under pressure from Harrow forwards. Hasan then made a dreadful mis-kick of a shooting chance from 10 yards. But at the other end Karamoko had to react to make a good save from White, as the visitors showed their threat was not finished. Harrow’s final effort was perhaps their closest to scoring, Marney heading on Rix’s corner for substitute Tunji Bamgbola to head goalwards, only to be denied by a fine tip-over by Samba.

  1 - Keita Karamoko
  2 - Dean Marney
  3 - Clemente Lopez
   (sub Tunji Bamgbola 78)
  4 - Steve Dogbe
  5 - Perry Norman
  6 - Richard Weale
  7 - Robert Charles
  8 - Kevin McKenna (c)
   (sub Osman Hasan 42)
  9 - Allan Crosby
10 - Robbie Rix
11 - Naoki Mouri
   (sub Simon Underwood 45)

  1 - Ali Koro Samba
  2 - Alan Johnson
  3 - Eddie Tucker
  4 - Chris Barrett (c)
  5 - Ryan DeCosta
  6 - Danny Mascoll
17 - Leon White
  8 - Marvin Elliott
  9 - Jerry Moses
10 - Andre Robinson
11 - Leon Kenton
   (sub John Edwards 84)

12 - Fabio Valenti
14 - Tunji Bamgbola
15 - Osman Hasan
16 - Craig Nicholson
17 - Simon Underwood

Yellow Cards: Ryan DeCosta (67), Leon Kenton (77)