Beckenham Town 3-3 Harrow Borough - They know they've been in a good game tonight, says Jason Huntley

BECKENHAM TOWN 3-3 HARROW BOROUGH
(Harrow Borough win 4-2 on penalties)
Wednesday 11^th February 2015
Stephen McCartney reports from Eden Park Avenue

BECKENHAM TOWN manager Jason Huntley hailed the character of his players after they gave Ryman Premier League strugglers Harrow Borough a scare in the London Senior Cup.



BOWLING GREEN: The playing surface at Eden Park Avenue is of a high quality, thanks to the efforts of groundsman Ian Muir.
Photo: www.beckenhamtownfc.co.uk

Sam Baker started with five players who helped Harrow Borough beat Peacehaven & Telscombe 2-0 at home last Saturday, which leaves them languishing in the bottom three after winning their eighth league win in 32 league games.

Beckenham Town, who play two league’s lower and sit in fifth-place in the Southern Counties East Football League, put in an impressive performance on their immaculate pitch at Eden Park Avenue.

Huntley was forced to make three late amendments to his team-sheet as Tamar Balal (pulled thigh muscle during the warm-up), Frankie Warren (concussion after hitting a goal-post in their last game) and Damian Ramsamy (lateness) were replaced by Danny Lawson, Harry Draper and Hassan Jalloh.

This, however, initially unsettled the home side, as Dan Moody took only 86 seconds to score on his Harrow Borough debut, having signed from Ryman League Division One South side Chipstead.

But Jamie Humphries drilled in an equaliser to level things up, before Harrow Borough midfielder Karl McCluskey powered home a free header.

Humphries scored his 34^th goal of the season to equalise early in the second half, before McCluskey stabbed home his second goal of the game to give Harrow Borough their third lead of the night.

But Hassan Jalloh scored Goal of The Season with a smashing volley to deservedly take the game to penalties.

Harrow Borough booked a home tie against Hendon or Corinthian-Casuals in the semi-finals of the London Senior Cup (Sponsored by Coventry Scaffolding) as substitute Michael Bryan, Michael Peacock, Ryan De Batista and Ryan Hope all scored from the spot.

Adam Wadmore and Humphries converted their spot kicks for Beckenham Town, before Lawson and James Marshall missed as Harrow Borough progressed 4-2 on penalties.

“I thought we played very well,” said Huntley after his side’s impressive performance.

“We gifted them a goal early on in the game. We showed a lot of character. We didn’t lose our heads that early in the game.

“We got a cracking goal back, Jamie Humphries got a cracking goal from a good footballing move and then at that time we started bossing the game a little bit.

“We gave away a poor second goal from a defensive error so we’re losing 2-1 at half-time.

“We had a word with the boys at half-time and told them to keep their heads up. It’s just a lapse of concentration at the back.

“We came out of the blocks first second half and got another really well worked goal, another good strike from Humphries and then again they went down the other end a little bit later and I think we conceded another poor goal if I’m being honest.

“We gifted them two goals. The first goal they took well. The second two goals we gifted in my eyes.

“They was a good footballing side as well and I said to the boys they’re not going to give you time on the ball, which they didn’t.  They worked extremely hard and gave no one time on the ball.

“When we went 3-2 down we upped our game again and I think we got a magnificent third goal, which was another good footballing move.  Hassan’s finished it brilliantly in the top corner and from then I thought there was only going to be one winner. I thought we’d go on and nicked another goal but it wasn’t to be.

“It went to penalties. You know, it’s a lottery. That’s how it goes. It’s football for you.”

Huntley also praised the character from his players.

“I told the boys before when that would have happened we’d have lost our heads and gone on to get beat two, three, four, but we never. We were even stronger and we started dominating phases of play and created better chances, certainly second half we had better chances.

“They know they’ve been in a good game tonight and good luck to them in the next round.”

Huntley admitted he was disappointed with his side’s start after Moody got his Harrow Borough career off to a dream start.

A long ball released left-winger Raheem Sterling-Parker, who cut into the penalty area to reach the by-line, before cutting the ball back for Moody to drill a first time left-footed angle drive across Rilwan Anibaba into the bottom far corner from 10-yards.

Huntley criticised Ramsamy for turning up 20 minutes before the start.

He said: “Damo was late being here. He didn’t get here until twenty-past-seven. I’ve just had a good talk in there about their discipline. The discipline lets them down at times.

“I don’t expect people to be walking in at twenty-past-seven, ten-past-seven, five-past-seven. The preparations all wrong then so we had a talk about that.”

When asked about the goal, Huntley replied: “Was that how quick it was? Blimey! That’s a lax of not concentrating and that all stems down for not being here and preparing for the game properly.

“There’s your own answer there. Eighty-six seconds in the game, not switched on, 1-0 down!”

Anibaba kept his side in the game when he tipped over Anthony Massiat’s half-volley over the crossbar after Moody whipped in their first corner from the right.

Hope cut back the resulting corner from the left to Moody, who curled his right-footed shot around the far post from 25-yards.

Beckenham Town’s first chance arrived inside 11 minutes when Hassan Jalloh played a one-two with Humphries before hitting his shot with the outside of his right boot over the bar from 15-yards.

But the Kent side recovered from their early set-back and equalised inside fourteen minutes.

Anibaba threw the ball to Humphries, who released winger Tyrone Guthrie down the right with a fine pass before getting on his bike.  Guthrie fed Humphries who cut into the penalty area before powering his right-footed shot past Ben Goode into the near corner from 10-yards.

“A really, really good goal. Tyrone done well down the right wing first of all and he was quite lively in the first 20 minutes,” said Huntley.

“I think all three of our goals were well-worked footballing goals if I’m being honest, they were all very good goals.”

Huntley revealed Humphries has attracted the attention of Ryman League Division One North side Chatham Town in recent weeks but explained why he’s staying put at Eden Park Avenue.

“Everything he’s hitting at the moment is going in. He’s a top player. We’re lucky to have him here,” admitted Huntley.

“He was going to go to Chatham recently. He’s got a lot of work commitments. Sometimes he can’t play for us because he’s up in Glasgow so it’s difficult for him to commit every week, week in, week out and he struggles to get to training because of his work commitments but you suffer those things when you’re in our predicament and in our position and we’re getting the rewards with it.”

This sparked an impressive spell from Huntley’s men and Marshall played the ball inside to Hassan Jalloh, who took a couple of touches before stroking his right-footed shot towards goal from 22-yards, which Goode gathered at the second attempt.

Another run from Guthrie saw him play the ball inside to Hassan Jalloh, whose right-footed low drive from sixteen-yards was comfortably saved by the visiting keeper.

But Harrow Borough grabbed the lead for the second time in the 36^th minute.

Moody found himself on the left and he whipped in a sublime cross into the penalty area with his left-foot.  McCluskey ghosted in between Gassimu Jalloh and Nathan Paul to plant his downward header past the keeper from ten-yards.

“Gassa just switched off at a vital time,” complained Huntley.

“He’s been struggling with shin splints but they do things over the weekend which they shouldn’t do.  They play on Sunday’s etc and we’ve got no control over that.

“We had another word with him. He’s made himself look like a bad player because he is a top centre half on his day. He’s only played at half pace today because of his shins. Another time he would have got in front of the man and cleared the header.”

Humphries, who proved tonight that he should be playing at a higher level of football, cut into the Harrow Borough penalty area before dragging his shot past the near post.

Wadmore came up from his left-back position to plant his header over after he was found from Chris Hubbard’s out-swinging corner from the right.

Baker’s side created the last chance of the first half when David Taylor drove a deflected shot towards goal from 25-yards, which was gobbled up by Anibaba.

When asked about his thoughts at the interval, Huntley said: “I told them to get their heads up. It (their second goal) was against the run of play. I don’t think we deserved to go in 2-1 down.

“We showed good character. To go 1-0 down after 86 seconds, we kept our heads and once we settled down and popped the ball around lovely and played some decent football.

“It was an error by us that was probably their only other clear cut chance that they took and they had a couple of half-chances but I thought we defended quite well. We broke at pace all night, we’ve got a lot of pace.

“I just said to them listen, be patient. We’ve got 45 minutes, don’t go out gung-ho, be settled and we got a goal at a good time as soon as we came out, which is another good strike. I keep saying it. We kept it tight and I thought we played well and played some decent football.”

Harrow Borough went close to killing the game off when Sterling-Parker played the ball to De Batista, who hit a left-footed shot on the turn, which curled around the far post.

But Beckenham Town equalised for the second time with only 134 seconds on the clock.

A pass from Harrow Borough full-back Joe Oseyemi was intercepted by Humphries, who burst forward and with Goode to beat, drilled his right-footed shot into the near corner from sixteen-yards.

Huntley added: “I thought he took it wide but he then took it and he kept it inside the post, which was a good finish as well.”

Goode made a comfortable save to deny Guthrie scoring with a right-footed curler from 25-yaqrds, before Hassan Jalloh’s driven shot was deflected past the post from inside a crowded penalty area by his brother Gassimu in the 51^st minute.

The game then returned to a tight affair, before Harrow Borough grabbed the lead in the 63^rd minute.

Hope delivered a free-kick from the left and De Batista’s downward header was parried by Anibaba, diving low to his left, but McCluskey reacted the quickest to poke the ball into the net from two-yards.

Huntley added: “Not happy about that! Another thing I pulled up in the changing room.”

The Beckenham boss slammed a player who has only played for two clubs in his entire career, the other being Maidstone United.

“Nathan (Paul) said he got on the other side of him. Nathan’s a top player for me and everyone makes a mistake but then my argument is what about the follow up?  We’re switching off on the follow-up. The keeper has parried it out, they were first to react and we didn’t react to it so that’s 3-2 down. It was another mistake for me.”

Harrow Borough squandered an excellent chance to increase their lead when substitute Seko Kaba floated over a cross from the left towards the near post but McCluskey sliced his volley wide.

A fine pass from Beckenham Town substitute Travis Gregory found Humphries, who cut in towards the edge of the box before seeing his right-footed drive sail over the bar.

But Beckenham Town were thwarted a deserved equaliser when Goode produced a brilliant diving save high to his right to stop Marshall finding the top left-hand corner with a right-footed drive from 30-yards.

Huntley said: “A great strike from Jamie, a top save from their keeper. That could have made a difference as well.”

No one can deny Beckenham Town their equaliser in the final fourteen minutes, when talented Hassan Jalloh scored Goal of The Season.

Marshall swept the ball out to Humphries on the left and the striker cut in before floating a cross into the penalty area. 

Jalloh smashed his right-footed volley into the top left hand corner from 12-yards, the ball swiftly crashing against the stanchion behind the goal and Huntley hailed a magical world-class wonder strike.

He said: “Great, magic strike! You’ll go a long way to get a better goal than that! I must say, it’s a fantastic hit. If it didn’t go in there, it would have gone out of the ground!

“It’s a great bit of skill down the left-hand side, patience from Humphries, dinked it into the right area and Hassan’s done the rest.

“It is a skill what he done there. He caught it perfect. Some people would have skied it over. He’s buried it into the top corner.”

Harrow Borough almost snatched victory four minutes later when De Batista allowed the ball to roll across him before steering his right-footed shot towards goal from 12-yards, which forced Anibaba into making a timely low save to his left.

Huntley added: “Great save but we lost the ball in the middle for that as well!

“Second half we played with a higher tempo. We had less touches on the ball and it worked in our favour.”

Kaba played a one-two with McCluskey on the edge of the box and the Harrow Borough substitute brought the ball under his spell before cracking a left-footed drive which was caught at the second attempt by the Beckenham keeper.

The home side continued to press for a deserved winner but Humphries curled his free-kick wide from 30-yards before Hassan Jalloh unleashed a powerful drive over the bar at the death.

Harrow Borough were clinical from the spot, scoring all four of their attempts, but Lawson skied his kick over the goal before Goode made a great save to dive low to his right as Marshall attempted to find the bottom left-hand corner.

Huntley said: “Dreaded penalties! It’s a lottery and it is and to be fair to them they took their penalties very well and their keeper saved the last one very, very well. It was in the corner and he saved it well.

“Lawson skied his penalty over the bar and Marshall put his to the right of the keeper and he got down and saved it well so I’ve got no complaints.

“They’re a fair side and a good bunch of lads as well.

“Overall, I don’t think we deserved to lose the game. I think we played quite well. We done ourselves proud tonight.”

Huntley takes his side to Greenwich Borough on Saturday sitting in the top five with 45 points from 26 games, fifteen points adrift of leaders Phoenix Sports.

Greenwich Borough sit in seventh-place with 43 points from 21 games and thrashed Lingfield 7-2 on Tuesday night.

Second-from-bottom Lingfield have earlier today highlighted their intent to quit the Southern Counties East Football League at the end of the season to move into the Second Division of the Sussex County League.

Lingfield tweeted: “We have found the league harder than we imagined. We are all fully committed to compete until the last whistle.”

The Surrey side are three points clear of Erith Town, who remain bottom after being thrashed 5-0 at home to Rochester United.

Looking ahead to playing Ian Jenkins’ side, Huntley said: “I said to them we’ll take all the positives out of tonight and if you play like that against anyone in our league you’ll do more than better.  The high tempo football that we played, we’ll beat most teams in our league.

“We’re not going to win the league. We’ll have a say in who does win it. We’ve got to play Phoenix twice, we’ve got to play Greenwich Borough twice.  We want to win every game. We won’t do anyone any favours and finish as high as we can.”

Beckenham Town welcome Erith & Belvedere to Eden Park Avenue next Wednesday in the Quarter-Finals of the Macron Southern Counties East Football League Challenge Cup.

Huntley added: “Another cracking game! Erith & Belvedere are a decent side as well. They’re up there and they’re doing well in the Vase and good luck to them this Saturday (at Holbeach United).  That’s a tough game for us next Wednesday but I fancy us against any one in our league.”

Beckenham Town: Rilwan Anibaba, Adam Wadmore, Danny Lawson, Gassimu Jalloh (Travis Gregory 71), Nathan Paul, Harry Draper, James Marshall, Tyrone Guthrie (Junior Alade 84), Hassan Jalloh, Jamie Humphries, Chris Hubbard (Damian Ramsamy 58).
Subs: Alfie Nunn, Frankie Warren

Goals: Jamie Humphries 14, 48, Hassan Jalloh 76

Booked: Adam Wadmore 39, Nathan Paul 62

Harrow Borough: Ben Goode, Joe Oseyemi, Anthony Massiat (Michael Barima 46), John Sonugu, Michael Peacock, David Taylor (Seko Kaba 57), Raheem Sterling-Parker (Michael Bryan 71), Ryan Hope, Ryan De Batista, Karl McCluskey, Dan Moody.
Sub: Kameron English

Goals: Dan Moody 2, Karl McCluskey 36, 63

Booked: Raheem Sterling-Parker 39

Attendance: 43
Referee: Mr Craig Kissi (Clapham, London SW4)
Assistants: Mr Martyn Cannon (Colindale, London NW9) & Mr Gareth Bridge (Holloway, London N19)