Enterprise National League North
Saturday 5th September, 2026
Brackley Town 1-0 Harborough Town
(Fogarty 15′)
Report – James Lee
Photo – Rob O’Brien
Man of the Match – George Carline
Attendance – 928
Bees can’t make their chances pay in a 1-0 defeat away at Brackley Town as Harborough suffer their second defeat of the season at St James Park in a physical game not short of chances; a first-half Saints goal sees them take the points.
Manager Mitch Austin made three changes from Monday’s victory over Marine, with Rory McAuley, Michael Jacobs and Callum Powell coming into the lineup for Dempsey Arlott-John and Sam Osborne, who dropped to the bench and Liam Dolman, who wasn’t in the matchday squad. Riley O’Sullivan and Josh Walsh returned to the bench.
The game got underway in a busy St James Park, with Harborough winning a free kick in the opposition half, which was crossed in by Michael Jacobs, who made his first competitive start for the Bees, but Brackley goalkeeper Harrison Rhone claimed it. The Bees started well, seeing the majority of the ball, and with the first big chance coming on the ten-minute mark when Callum Powell produced a good piece of skill to beat his man and put a neat ball into Britt Assombalonga, who didn’t get the connection he wanted, and the ball was collected by Rhone.
Brackley Town took the lead with their first shot of the game in the 15th minute; it came from a low corner that wasn’t dealt with, and Tommy Fogarty put it in the bottom right corner. Harborough responded well, taking control of the game again, and in the 24th minute Powell made another run up the right wing and crossed it into the box, with Bees’ captain Connor Kennedy getting in front of his man to poke it towards goal, but it was denied by the post.
The Bees had another big chance in the 29th minute when Devon Kelly-Evans crossed the ball in from the right towards Rory McAuley, whose header hit the side netting. After ten minutes of battling football in the middle of the park, Mancinelli managed to get a shot off which went just wide of the goal. Brackley had another chance in the 43rd minute when a long ball over the top looked certain to set Tahvon Campbell through on goal, but August Player of the Month Alex Morris recovered really well to get the ball away from danger. The Bees kept pushing as we entered added time of the first half when Assombalonga attempted to get on the end of Jacobs’ cross with a diving header, but a Saints defender managed to make the block.
There were no changes at the half-time break, but it was Brackley Town that had the early chances in the second half, seeing a cross flash across the face of goal and a free kick within the first two minutes after the restart.
The referee gave the Bees an indirect free kick for a back pass by a defender on the hour mark, but Assombalonga couldn’t find a gap through all eleven Saints players who were standing on the line. Sam Osborne had a chance to equalise in the 70th minute when he shot on the turn, but Saints goalscorer Rhone jumped in front to block the shot. The Saints slowed the game down for ten minutes, committing fouls and picking up a couple of yellow cards. The Bees nearly took advantage of this with ten minutes to go when Kelly-Evans whipped in a free kick that was headed just wide of the post.
The Bees continued to push in the 87th minute when Dempsey Arlott-John ran from his own half and pulled it back to the edge of the box where Paul Malone picked it up, but Rhone was equal to his shot. In the second minute of six added on at the end of the second half, Osborne cut in from the left wing and forced another save by Rhone. Brackley Town defended like their lives depended on it in the final few minutes of added time, dealing with an aerial bombardment by Harborough to see the game out.
Austin cut a frustrated figure post-match, saying: “If we were still playing now, we probably wouldn’t have scored. I’ve never seen so many guilt-edge chances missed; I’ve never ever seen it.” He continued: “Someone put a spell on us today; it was something like that because it was impossible to score at times because of their defending; we became the best Brackley Town defenders in front of goal we’ve ever seen.”
Brackley Town: Rhone; Harmon, Cooper, Armitage, Williams (Pennant 69’), Campbell, Yearn, Tomlinson, Fogarty (Lissimore 76’), Morris, Ellis. Subs not used: Roberts, Worby, Sturridge, Edwards,
Harborough Town (4-3-3): Taylor; Carline, McAuley, Morris, Bello; Kelly-Evans, Kennedy (Walsh 84’), Mancinelli (Malone 74’); Powell (Arlott-John 65’), Assombalonga (Newton 61’), Jacobs (Osborne 57’). Subs not used: O’Sullivan, Putman.
The Bees won’t have to wait long to make this right as their next game will see them return to the Beehive on Tuesday evening to take on Hereford at 19:45.