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Harefield United 1-2 Dunstable Town: Dunstable take three points at Preston Park to move within a point of The Hares

Harefield United 1-2 Dunstable Town: Dunstable take three points at Preston Park to move within a point of The Hares

Ryan Fitzgerald-Nolan5 Feb 2020 - 16:22
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By Ryan Fitzgerald-Nolan Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division

A tardy goal from captain Joe Hankins condemned Harefield to another loss and meant the three points went back to Bedfordshire with Dunstable, finishing 2-1.

Few could argue the final score was unwarranted, but it was United that opened the scoring through Harry McCorkell, heading in his first league goal of the season.

Khyreece Smith-Reid was in the right place in the right time just after half hour, where Hankins provided a pacy, whipped free kick which took a few touches before finding the forward to tap in.

Despite a commanding second half performance, the visitors left it late to walk away victors, again finishing not far from the goal line but this time through Hankins and making sure the Blues stay unbeaten in four.

The win now means Dunstable have climbed to fifteenth and within a point of their opponents, while The Hares stay rooted in thirteenth place in the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division.

Harefield’s best period of the game was in the opening stages, not before Helder Lopes sent a volleyed effort from the edge of the area off target.

Foday Sesay saw an effort sail wide while Lenny Farhall thought he put his side in front, only to be ruled out for a handball in the build up.

It was instead Harry McCorkell who put Jason Shaw’s men ahead after latching on to Sam Shaw’s free kick and nod home after being relatively unmarked in the 18-yard box.

Another positive attribute on display from the home side was the defence, most notably from full backs Steven Green and Rowan Larrington and midfielder Blaise Riley-Snow, who if on the rare occasion didn’t match Dunstable’s speed, was recovered solidly by Ryan Wharton.

Regrettably for the Reds, their upper hand in the tie began to fade soon after as Cameron Brookes fired over to deny Kissiedu a more than deserved assist for his showing in the first half.

An uncharacteristic poor challenge from Riley-Snow afforded the Blues a set piece in a dangerous position, coolly taken advantage of by Joe Hankins who replicated his counterpart Shaw’s whipped delivery to initiate multiple rapid deflections, eventually falling to Smith-Reid to draw level.

The half drew to an evidently frustrating close for the Hares- where the divide between attack and defence and the space purveyed to Dunstable in between was foreboding for the remainder of the game.

Khyreece Smith-Reid was one of many to cause the backline of Harefield issues, but should have come away from Preston Park with more than one goal to his name after a pacy cross flew across the face of the goal and just out of the reach of the forward.

Such was the onslaught of Dunstable pressure in the second 45 that the home side were unable to play out from the back, constantly on the back foot and using the long ball tactic proved ineffective for the half’s majority.

At the other end of the pitch, Eric Ameyaw replicated his excellent showing from the earlier meeting this season in the Premier Division Cup by ruling the Blues’ final third with an iron fist, persistently keeping tabs on Sesay and Farhall alike.

United’s best chance of taking the lead perhaps came the way of Aderi Dede, after the other half of Dunstable’s centre-half pairing Sam McClelland interceded Farhall on the break, with the ball falling to Dede, whose poorly executed chip attempted to catch out Coulson off his line.

Substitute Jack Harvey-Bailey forced a good save from Ballheimer with a header from close distance to compel the keeper to go low and keep his side in it, for a few minutes at least.

The all important winner came within five minutes of time, although in truth it was in the pipeline for a while, as Jerimiah Debayo’s ball found Smith-Reid’s replacement Luke Little, cushioning a header over to his captain Joe Hankins finish and to assure the win.

Harefield never looked like coming away with anything from the game thereafter, only Harry McCorkell’s directed free kick meant Coulson had to tip the ball over the bar late on.

The final score was duplicated from the October meeting of the sides, and unfortunately, things just aren’t falling in to place for the Hares at the present moment, even with Dunstable’s top scorer Chris Stapleton missing and the decent defensive display unable to spare Harefield’s blushes- who will return to face North Greenford United on Saturday (8th).

Harefield United Team:
Jacob Ballheimer (GK)
Rowan Larrington
Steven Green
Ryan Wharton (c)
Harry McCorkell
Blaise Riley-Snow
Luke Baldwin
Foday Sesay
Lenny Farhall
Samuel Shaw
Paul Underwood

Subs:
Lee McManus
Danny Glock (Used)
Zak Basekonda
Aderi Dede (Used)
Reece Mallett

Dunstable Town Team:
Connor Coulson (GK)
Daniel Triff
Jerimiah Debayo
David Pobbe
Sam McClelland
Eric Ameyaw
Helder Lopes
Cameron Brookes
Joe Hankins (c)
Khyreece Smith-Reid
Jake Kissiendu

Subs-
Craig Packham (Used)
Adam Sawyer
Oliver Resan
Jack Harvey-Bailey (Used)
Luke Little (Used)

Further reading