An Encouraging Harborough Town Display Undone By Powerful Wellingborough Tow
Harborough Town came into this fixture still relishing in their dominant and enthralling second half victory over Desborough Town a week ago. The composure shown during that result saw them come back from 1-0 down to win 2-1, and with such resilience exhibited, Harborough fans were eager to see if it could be taken into further games. Only a single point separated Harborough and Wellingborough in the table, with a win and a draw putting Wellingborough a point ahead, this fixture looked set as a true mid-table clash.
An explosive start to this game saw end-to-end exciting football for the best part of the opening 20 minutes. It began when a Harborough corner was drilled low across the Wellingborough box, and a smart Daniel Forbes run saw him connect first, but his effort went only as far as the Wellingborough man on the post. At the other end, a lovely switch ball was brought down well by James Gillard, but an unflinching Tony Bartlett slid in brilliantly to break up the attack. On 6 minutes, Forbes was threaded through and found himself 1-on-1 with Wellingborough keeper Jak Riley; his mind was clearly still in goal-scoring mode from last week, and he calmly slotted home through the legs of Riley. Harborough’s lead did not last long, however, just minutes later a free kick was awarded to the right of the Harborough box. It was taken well, and the floating cross found Jeremiah Adams free from his man, leaping high, and a strong head home for the equaliser. A break in the excitement lasted a mere 8 minutes when Albert Akineemi wriggled his way into the box and attempted to get a shot away from a tight angle and Glen Giles got down well, but only for his reaching arms to take down Akineemi and a penalty was awarded. Adams stepped up looking for his second, but his penalty attempt was fired over the bar. Wellingborough kept the pressure on, and a dangerous squared ball saw Adams rushing onto it, but his first-time effort, again, rose over the bar. The remainder of the half was much quieter, with Wellingborough keeping the pressure high, leading to a defiant defensive effort from Harborough. Glen Giles pulled off multiple brilliant saves, most notable of which came in the 33rd minute when miscommunication between him and Perry Johnson saw them collide in the box after a high cross was delivered; Giles quickly got back onto his feet to pull off a sublime fingertip save from a powerful, close-range effort. A share of the spoils at the break was a fair half-time result, with Wellingborough keeping their foot on the gas whilst Harborough defended valiantly and attacked when they could.
Similar to the first half, the second half opened thunderously. 4 minutes in, Harry Henbury picked the ball up on the edge of the Harborough box, he outpaced his marker and hurtled down the left; Joe Rich looked to slide in and break up the attack, but Henbury skipped past him and continued. Henbury got to the box where a beautiful delivery found the outstretched leg of Tony Bartlett, who got the all-important touch that directed the ball into the back of the net. The game lost its tempo again, with inaccurate passes from both teams breaking up the flow of the game. It picked up again on the 69th minute, as a long ball over the top by Wellingborough saw Jams Gillard latch onto it, he outmuscled Pez Johnson and slid his effort under Glen Giles from a very tight angle to bring the game back onto level terms. Harborough looked to respond and Greg Usher, brought on for Jamie Mastropierro, cut-back a nice ball into the path of Aaron Preston who just couldn’t get enough power behind it to truly test Riley. A minute later, another ball over the top of the Harborough defence caused the same result; Connor Hanson tusselled with his marker and won, before smashing the ball past Giles from close-range. A Wellingborough 4th followed shortly after, after Dan Owen tricked his way into the box and found his way to the by-line before driving a low cross into the path of Hanson to tap home once more. The 4th goal buried the game for Wellingborough, and in the final few minutes Giles had to work hard to prevent a 5th Wellingborough goal, but he did so superbly.
4-2 was no fair reflection on the performance of The Bees, who worked tirelessly and played positively throughout; but it was a fair reflection of the attacking prowess and power that Wellingborough displayed. A hard day for the Harborough defence, but they fought courageously and were unfortunate not to hold onto their 2-1 lead. Also, going 2-1 up with the goal of the game after Harry Henbury’s exceptional run and Bartlett’s incredible effort to get to the Wellingborough box from his usual right-back position was absolutely outstanding. There were an array of positives from this game, not least continuing their goalscoring form which is great to see after a slow start to Harborough finishing this season. Harborough now partake in both the League Cup (Tuesday 11th) and FA Vase (Saturday 13th), before returning to League duties in a fortnights time – hopefully their positive performances of late and confidence in-front goal remains throughout.